Trouble with these devices is the build quality, take it apart it's held together with hot glue and chewing gum, it also drifts on temp changes and the RF output stages die after a few months use, just have a look around online you will see so many ppl having issues, you will find the unit will still power on but over time the RF power will get weaker and weaker, it also has zero protection for accidental RF input so if you add much as even accidentally key up with anything over 1/4 watt with no attenuator you will blow the RF drivers. A much better bet is to use the tiny sa as your signal generator because it's more accurate, will do both am and fm and you can offset your attenuator in the software, these meters are super old now, expensive, not accurate and unreliable. Good review by you as always but this is a poor product, I thought this was ok 3 years ago when I reviewed it but it wasn't, I really wouldn't recommend this to your subscribers, the tiny sa is cheaper, works and isnt even primarily a sig gen but a spectrum analyser as well you would be mad to ignore it and use one of these, I would never connect one of these to any radio I cared about especially an ftdx10. Happy New Year, I heard you on simplex the other day, your boiler had broken down, I hope it's now working it's not exactly warm, take care.
Don't buy one, use a tiny sa if you want a budget sig gen, it does FM and AM over a much wider range and you can modulate a tone of your choice, these old meters are so poorly made and will break.
@@knoxieman On a cost / performance eval, I'll second that. With the TinySA you can do many more useful things. But then you begin to lust for the TinySA Ultra ;)
I have one that looks almost identical. It came with a warning not to exceed 12 v on the power input. The implication was that they had a number of returns as a result of people running them on their 13.8 v power supplies. I have found it to be good. Mine allows me to transmit into it as well, so not quite the same.
Question - doesn't the Tiny SA have a signal generation mode? In your video on the Tiny SA, I think you used it exactly that way. Does this device do anything the Tiny SA doesn't do?
I have one , The Anttenuator blew within a few weeks , So not able to reduce the signal , It's ok for very very basic indication testing , But it's certainly not accurate enough for doing any valid measurements .
In the video he says he gives about -93dbm of power directly feed into the handheld radio. If you think about it that's alot of RF energy an antenna will pickup in real life. You only need a tiny amount of RF energy and the handheld HT radio will amplify/process the signal so you can hear it. Also it's dbm, not db. It's a logarithmic scale as db but different meaning. For example, 0 dbm is 0.1 watts. If you feed 0.1 watts directly into the handheld, you'd fry the receiver input for sure. VE7VKN
It's not a good product, use a tiny sa if your on a budget it does all this does and much more including am and it won't break, you must always use an attenuator with these budgets generators as well.
@@VictorNomura "0 dbm is 0.1 watts" You misplaced a couple of zeros there, but I think I've got some extra... Ah, here they are! 0 dBm = 0.001 Watts. Otherwise you're spot on!
@Capitaine.Albator: dBm is a measurement unit for power into a 50 Ohm load. The base unit is 1 milliWatt (mW) or 0.001 Watts and the scale is logarithmic (log base 10). So 0 dBm = 1 mW. Every 3 dBm more is double the power. Every 3 dBm less is half the power.
@@Randrew thanks but it is still complicated for me… trying to learn. My maths skills are far gone with the time. Again thanks for all the reply… Is there a book I can buy that is explained in plain English or better in French?
That's funny. I always use my ears to test radio receive sensitivity. If I hear anything coming from the speaker, it works fine. If the sound is weak, the sensitivity is poor. If it is loud and clear, it is good.
Ali Express has become my replacement for ebay. That and the major banks will not allow most Americans to use ebay. The only item so far that was a disappointment was a device called an EvilCrowV2
Hi Matt, i have it also and I love it, I use the signal generator *no FM modulation to test sensitivity on CW and SSB. Take care!
Cheers mate!
Trouble with these devices is the build quality, take it apart it's held together with hot glue and chewing gum, it also drifts on temp changes and the RF output stages die after a few months use, just have a look around online you will see so many ppl having issues, you will find the unit will still power on but over time the RF power will get weaker and weaker, it also has zero protection for accidental RF input so if you add much as even accidentally key up with anything over 1/4 watt with no attenuator you will blow the RF drivers.
A much better bet is to use the tiny sa as your signal generator because it's more accurate, will do both am and fm and you can offset your attenuator in the software, these meters are super old now, expensive, not accurate and unreliable.
Good review by you as always but this is a poor product, I thought this was ok 3 years ago when I reviewed it but it wasn't, I really wouldn't recommend this to your subscribers, the tiny sa is cheaper, works and isnt even primarily a sig gen but a spectrum analyser as well you would be mad to ignore it and use one of these, I would never connect one of these to any radio I cared about especially an ftdx10.
Happy New Year, I heard you on simplex the other day, your boiler had broken down, I hope it's now working it's not exactly warm, take care.
WOW! That Yeatsu You Have Is A TRUE DREAM OF MINE, WOW! Im Soo Glad That You Are Able To get Such Good Things In Your Life And Be Casual About It :)
Great review as always. You are costing me a small fortune!
Don't buy one, use a tiny sa if you want a budget sig gen, it does FM and AM over a much wider range and you can modulate a tone of your choice, these old meters are so poorly made and will break.
@@knoxieman On a cost / performance eval, I'll second that. With the TinySA you can do many more useful things. But then you begin to lust for the TinySA Ultra ;)
@@knoxieman @Randrew - thanks dudes. Ill look for the Tiny SA instead.
I have one that looks almost identical. It came with a warning not to exceed 12 v on the power input. The implication was that they had a number of returns as a result of people running them on their 13.8 v power supplies. I have found it to be good. Mine allows me to transmit into it as well, so not quite the same.
Works a treat for me. Was surprising to discover my ancient Alinco DJF4-E is the most sensitive UHF handie I have by 4dB!
can I used this for the standard FM radio station band 88-108 MHz to align an FM radio receiver?
Yes because the frequency is precise and it transmits on FM too
Question - doesn't the Tiny SA have a signal generation mode? In your video on the Tiny SA, I think you used it exactly that way. Does this device do anything the Tiny SA doesn't do?
Don't believe the TinySA can test CTCSS plus add a modulated signal on a selectable carrier frequency
Positive points, low output not requiring further attenuation and output in dB !
Nice video.
Put it in an spectrum analyzer and lol at its output.
On power up, there is a 490 MHZ spike even with the generator off.
Will this work on the AM bands ?
I have one , The Anttenuator blew within a few weeks , So not able to reduce the signal , It's ok for very very basic indication testing , But it's certainly not accurate enough for doing any valid measurements .
Cool product. Now I have to understand why - db give s9 reception. So much things to understand 👍🏻✌🏻🇨🇦
In the video he says he gives about -93dbm of power directly feed into the handheld radio. If you think about it that's alot of RF energy an antenna will pickup in real life. You only need a tiny amount of RF energy and the handheld HT radio will amplify/process the signal so you can hear it. Also it's dbm, not db. It's a logarithmic scale as db but different meaning.
For example, 0 dbm is 0.1 watts. If you feed 0.1 watts directly into the handheld, you'd fry the receiver input for sure.
VE7VKN
It's not a good product, use a tiny sa if your on a budget it does all this does and much more including am and it won't break, you must always use an attenuator with these budgets generators as well.
@@VictorNomura "0 dbm is 0.1 watts"
You misplaced a couple of zeros there, but I think I've got some extra... Ah, here they are! 0 dBm = 0.001 Watts.
Otherwise you're spot on!
@Capitaine.Albator: dBm is a measurement unit for power into a 50 Ohm load. The base unit is 1 milliWatt (mW) or 0.001 Watts and the scale is logarithmic (log base 10). So 0 dBm = 1 mW. Every 3 dBm more is double the power. Every 3 dBm less is half the power.
@@Randrew thanks but it is still complicated for me… trying to learn. My maths skills are far gone with the time. Again thanks for all the reply… Is there a book I can buy that is explained in plain English or better in French?
how do you upgrade to a newer firmware version?
I have one with input output with an internal dummy load for repeater and for radio power and frequency and tone ctcss tone decoder
Thanks 😁
Can it do am?
I see that DBX 286s 👀👀👀
lol gotta have it! :)
That's funny. I always use my ears to test radio receive sensitivity. If I hear anything coming from the speaker, it works fine. If the sound is weak, the sensitivity is poor. If it is loud and clear, it is good.
Ali Express has become my replacement for ebay. That and the major banks will not allow most Americans to use ebay. The only item so far that was a disappointment was a device called an EvilCrowV2
I’ve got an Evil Crow, but hard to make a video without breaking TH-cam terms and conditions lol.
Sir.plz.this.signal.Genarator..testig.digitol.radio..shows....ok
Better the UNI-T generator, not much money that this but you get a full generator
This looks like an inexpensive way to calibrate SDR dongles and devices.
A signal generator that's not accurate is completely useless no matter how cheap it is.
stay safe?
These are absolute rubbish. Have had 3 fail on me in a row. They are rubbish
There are RUBBISH.
Great video! Thanks! ka9vun, Chgo