Need your help on picking a Service Monitor on a Budget

[BikerScout]

Ok, I have decided that I need a Communication Service Monitor. I do radios as a hobby and don't need the latest and greatest. In fact, Budget is the what narrowed my choice down to either a Motorola R-2001 or a R-2210B. I would like to check my radios after I fix them. So I want to be able to check things like deviation, modulation, output, tone, sinad and maybe if I find the right one, a tracking generator so I check duplexers. Like right now, I just got a GE Mastr IIe repeater fixed. I would now like to tune it up since it is working in the ham bands now. Instead I have to drive 100 miles one-way to a friend who has a IFR to tune it up for me. So anyway. What do you all think about my choices? Mainly because I can find either of these for under $1000.

[Bill_G]

The R2200 series is lighter and easier to carry around than the R2001. They both have all the basic functions but I don't know if either had a tracking gen option. I would chose the R2200 since it is easier to drive and will get the job done.

[WB6DGN]

but I don't know if either had a tracking gen option.

The 22xx had neither a spectrum analyzer nor a tracking gen, The 2001 I'm not sure. Don't think it had the tracking gen. but it did have spectrum anal. As I recall, the 24xx was basically a 22xx with a spectrum analyzer but no tracking gen. I'm going on (an increasingly weak) memory here but I believe that's right.
Tom

[Tom in D.C.]

You could save a ton of money and do just about everything you need done if you were to find a Cushman CE4 or CE6 monitor. I run a 3 and a 6 and they're great old machines if they're maintained properly. The 4 has thumbwheel switches instead of illuminated windows which is an improvement over Cushman's usual window setup but I've never found one at the right price at the right time but maybe some day...

Deviation checking is the reason I have two of them, one with the scope and the other with the meter.

Regards,

[BikerScout]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Right now I am leaning towards the 2200 series. Tim in DC, I will look into the Cushman series.

[GlennD]

Avoid a CE-3 since it is band segmented. Ce-4,5,6 are continous coverage.

[Andy Corbin]

Ok, I have decided that I need a Communication Service Monitor. I do radios as a hobby and don't need the latest and greatest. In fact, Budget is the what narrowed my choice down to either a Motorola R-2001 or a R-2210B. I would like to check my radios after I fix them. So I want to be able to check things like deviation, modulation, output, tone, sinad and maybe if I find the right one, a tracking generator so I check duplexers. Like right now, I just got a GE Mastr IIe repeater fixed. I would now like to tune it up since it is working in the ham bands now. Instead I have to drive 100 miles one-way to a friend who has a IFR to tune it up for me. So anyway. What do you all think about my choices? Mainly because I can find either of these for under $1000.

The R22xx did not have the spectrum analyzer and subsequently a tracking generator. The R2001 series did have a spectrum analyzer but never saw one with a TG function. Either will easily do the other things you want.

Cushmans are OK but getting old and increasingly difficult to find parts and/or someone to work on them. Last year, I sold a Cushman CE50 with SA and TG. Brings tears to my eyes when I think how much (little) it went for on Ebay. The CE50s were notorious for having flaky power supplies. I had refurbed this on with a new switching supply and it was working fairly well.

I have switched to IFR. I have an IFR1500 and IFR500A. Also have a Motorola R2400 as a backup. (The 24xx series had the spectrum analyzer).

If you consider IFR, be aware there are 3 versions of the IFR1200. You have the IFR1200 which is a basic monitor w/o the spectrum analyzer. The IFR1200S which has the spectrum analyzer and the IFR1200SuperS which has the spectrum analyzer AND tracking generator.

The IFR1500 came stock with spectrum analyzer and tracking generator.

There are some good deals to be had on Ebay, but BE CAREFUL!!! There are people selling junk out there and worse, people pretending to sell high dollar test equipment that just take your money and run.
Consider looking at service monitors at hamfests. I see tons of them at Dayton and other events. Advantage there is often times you may be able to actually check it out (if they have electrics available) and inspect it for damage, and talk with the seller face to face.

[mancow]

It's not at all portable but if that's not an issue you might take a look at the HP8924C. I got mine off ebay for around a grand and got a power upgrade kit from a different seller for around $60. It is now a 60 watt model with all the appropriate power level stickers and updated software.

It has just about every option you need, spec an, tracking gen, etc........... I love the thing.

[BikerScout]

<SNIP> Deviation checking is the reason I have two of them, one with the scope and the other with the meter.

Regards,

They can't check for deviation by themselves? Been cruising around and checking out my options. When I was looking at a CE-5 on ebay, the person said it would do deviation. You can't use the scope and deviation meter at the same time?

[Bill_G]

On a CE-5, you check deviation with the scope. There is no meter.

And you can't key into one to check power.

And they only gen 1khz tone. They don't do PL.

It is strictly a signal gen, and an off-the-air signal monitor that functioned across a narrow range of freqs. Very useful in their day. Classic machine.

[tvsjr]

It's not at all portable but if that's not an issue you might take a look at the HP8924C. I got mine off ebay for around a grand and got a power upgrade kit from a different seller for around $60. It is now a 60 watt model with all the appropriate power level stickers and updated software.

It has just about every option you need, spec an, tracking gen, etc........... I love the thing.

The HP 8921 is similar to the 8924 - same options, but all of the CDMA options are external. It doesn't handle as much power - be careful on the options, some are limited to 10W or less - but models handling up to 60 watts continuous are available. A calibrated pad on the RF input does fine - you can even enter the loss present on that port in the setup menu and the monitor will automatically calculate the true value for you.

I've aligned many an ASTRO25 radio with mine with no trouble.

You should be able to find one for $1K if you look hard enough.

[Tom in D.C.]

My CE6 has the deviation meter plug-in in place of the scope. My CE3 has the scope. I prefer the meter plug-in. Other thing about the Cushman 3 is that it only does 3 decimal places where the 6 does 4 which gives you the ability to check 12.5 kHz splits. And yes, as was pointed out the 6 is the more desirable because it's continuous coverage in its range.

And for some strange reason there has been a relative glut of Cushmans on u-no-what-Bay the past week or so; some of them looked pretty nice. They're not today's state-of-the-art but for hamming they're great to have.

[radio_05]

I have many Cushman monitors, they are a good choice for hams.
They are easily repairable, using through-hole parts throughout, although some component IC's are obsolete and NLA.

They generally cannot be transmitted into ever, unless you have the very-rare wattmeter plugin. I run the Cushman yahoogroup.

[mancow]

I got my power upgrade kit from a guy on Ebay. He used to work for HP and knows his ****. He was super helpful and walked me though the entire process. The calibration data came on a card and he gave me a significant core refund after sending the card back. It was a very painless process that took about an hour to complete.

It's not at all portable but if that's not an issue you might take a look at the HP8924C. I got mine off ebay for around a grand and got a power upgrade kit from a different seller for around $60. It is now a 60 watt model with all the appropriate power level stickers and updated software.

It has just about every option you need, spec an, tracking gen, etc........... I love the thing.

The HP 8921 is similar to the 8924 - same options, but all of the CDMA options are external. It doesn't handle as much power - be careful on the options, some are limited to 10W or less - but models handling up to 60 watts continuous are available. A calibrated pad on the RF input does fine - you can even enter the loss present on that port in the setup menu and the monitor will automatically calculate the true value for you.

I've aligned many an ASTRO25 radio with mine with no trouble.

You should be able to find one for $1K if you look hard enough.

[tvsjr]

I got my power upgrade kit from a guy on Ebay. He used to work for HP and knows his ****. He was super helpful and walked me though the entire process. The calibration data came on a card and he gave me a significant core refund after sending the card back. It was a very painless process that took about an hour to complete.

Dan, I bet? I talked to him, but the price was way high... he didn't mention the "core" charge. I'll ping him again - I'd love to upgrade the load in mine.

[WB6DGN]

but models handling up to 60 watts continuous are available

Actually, up to 100 watt continuous. Mine has the 100 watt continuous load but the little yellow sticker doesn't give an intermittent rating. Wonder if that's why my fan is so noisy? It's normal fan noise, not bad bearings, but it's pretty loud. Guess that's better than burning up the load, though. Anybody know what the intermittent rating is for that load?
Tom

[escomm]

I thought it was 60 watts continuous for those models and 100 watts for 5 minutes per hour or something to that effect. I remember reading it in the manual somewhere but mine grew some feet and walked away

[BikerScout]

Just to update everyone. I finally settalled on a Motorola R-2210B. Got a good price on it and was pretty happy with myself. Was looking for a R-2008 or similiar. Well somehow I couldn't find a R-2008 at good price. Now today I find a HP/Agilent 8924C at good price. Since my order for the R-2210B had not been shipped yet I cancelled that order and ordered the 8924C. Now the waiting begins. Then tonight I find a R-2008 on e-bay. AARGGHHH! I really hate to cancel another order. What do you guys think? The R-2008 or HP8924C?

[Andy Corbin]

Just to update everyone. I finally settalled on a Motorola R-2210B. Got a good price on it and was pretty happy with myself. Was looking for a R-2008 or similiar. Well somehow I couldn't find a R-2008 at good price. Now today I find a HP/Agilent 8924C at good price. Since my order for the R-2210B had not been shipped yet I cancelled that order and ordered the 8924C. Now the waiting begins. Then tonight I find a R-2008 on e-bay. AARGGHHH! I really hate to cancel another order. What do you guys think? The R-2008 or HP8924C?

I would go with the HP. The R2210B may or may not have a spectrum analyzer. The R2008 has a spectrum analyzer. Neither has a tracking generator. The HP has the tracking generator which of course means it has the spectrum analyzer. Make certain the HP can handle the higher wattage rf in.

I know several people who have the HP units and they are quite pleased with them.

Just my $.02 worth. YMMV.

Andy

[BikerScout]

Well, The HP arrived today and this thing is HUGE! The manual is clear as mud. I get better info from the HP-8920A/B Applications Handbook on how to run regular Analog RF measurements. The Auto Tune Function is Awesome. Still havn't figured out how to test a reciever for PL decode and DPL TX/RX. I guess more reading and I should have it figured out. I did get to watch a IFR in action this week and also got to play with a Motorola for a little while. I was very inpressed with the IFR 120. If it wasn't out of my price range, I think I would have bought one. The Motorola was also nice. Easy to work and navigate the menu's. Also impressed.
Now back to the 8924C. Is there a Applications Manual for the 8924C? One that explains Analog RF measurements better than the manual?

[Bill_G]

Is this the manual you are referring to?

http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb ... -90126.pdf

[BikerScout]

Yes, that is the one.