Summary - Wavetek 3000 series Signal Generators

[Don Buska]

To the many who have sent me their experiences on the Wavetek 3000 series Signal
Generators, thank you so very much.

For the reflector members, here is a summary of what others have emailed me.

1) Poor Reliability - Synthesizer Unlocks Alot  (always get a manual!)
   Most people indicaed this fact!
2) Drifty - Some model use no TXCO, just plain old crystal master oscillators.
3) Lots of Spurs.
4) A great deal of Phase Noise, especially when compared to the HP8640.

So over all the $100 might not be to bad a price if your willing to work to keep it
going and don't do alot of critical receiver work where the spurs and phase noise will
kill you.  IMHO it is to much money!

As a side note, Scott Johnson added a comment about the HP8640's I felt was important
enough to pass along to the group.  The HP8640's do use some custom IC's that are no
longer available from HP (Agilent).  So if you intend on buying an 8640 it might be
wise to also look for a few parts junkers for future use.

At this time I think I'm going to stick with my ICOM IC-745 transceiver as an HF
signal source.  Actually it's a pretty good signal generator guys!  The 745 can
transmit from 1MHZ through 30MHz continuous coverage and if you supply a transverter
control voltage (8VDC if memory surves me correctly) to the rear ACC Jack. Then the RF
Output control on the front panel will allow adjusting an RF signal from zero through
around 150mW.  The tranverter output on the 745 simply bypasses the final amplifier.
So for around $300 to $450 (going price for a good IC-745) you have a very stable RF
signal generator that can do CW, SSB and FM (with FM option board) across the HF
bands.  Unfortunately, the 745 doesn't do AM transmit.  How many other signal
generator can also receive, hi.

Again, to all of you that replied a sincere thank you for sharing your Wavetek
experiences.

73

Don N9OO
http://www.qsl.net/n9oo