An interesting project...

[Andy]

A little while ago a friend of mine died and I've been flogging his stuff for his family. There are a few items that he left to me personally, and one of them was a cardboard box full of odd-looking stuff. The other day I had a good look at it and it's a Rohde & Schwarz EB150 RX . It's all in bits, but it's all there (even all the screws etc) plus lots of documentation re the original fault. No workshop manual, of course!
I couldn't pass this one up, so I assembled it (it's all modular) and applied the volts. Ah! Start-up screen indicates a DC/DC converter problem, so my next move - once I've found it - is to investigate. I'll tell the story as it unfolds.
According to Mr Google, the EB150 is the EB200 without the remote operation option. It covers 10KHz to 3GHz all mode with digital filters and demodulation. Apparently it was designed for portable tracking of EMC problems. It seems to date from around 1999.

[Admiral]

A very generous friend. I'd love one of them puppies, but waaaaaay out of my income range.

[Andy]

Same here, Admiral. you can imagine the look on my face when I saw the R&S logo! I've now looked inside the converter can and spotted two *very* tired electrolytics. One is bulging, the other is brown. Fingers crossed a pair of replacements will get this thing off its arse.

[Andy]

Well that wasn't too bad. Two electrolytics and a repair to a shaft encoder and it works a treat! It's built like the proverbial brick out-house too. It's on test now and it seems very happy.

eb4.jpg

[ghost123uk]

Well I can see that one sold on ebay a while back for €2.203,39 - but I still don't know what it's prime function is?

[paulears]

It's a very high quality wide band receiver and what it displays is accurate - as in can be used for evidentiary purposes. Accurate enough to give a proper readout of frequency down to a few Hz - enough to determine frequency accuracy in commercial systems. None of the radios I have are that accurate. They're also very sensitive. A bit like a broadcast camera vs a consumer one - both produce pictures at wildly different prices. That firm make test gear products for all kinds of users. The sort of thing you would buy if rich as a hobbyist.

[Andy]

Paul has it right. Receivers like this are built for (among other things) EMC evaluation and RFI tracking. The digital 'back end' makes it easy to log noise profiles etc which can be downloaded to PC for investigation.
This one covers 9KHz (although it doesn't hit full spec until about 40 KHz) to 3 GHz with AM, FM, CW, USB, LSB and pulse. Bandwidths from 150 Hz to 150 KHz in 12 steps.
It's not as convenient for tuning around the bands as a dedicated scanner or SW receiver as it has only one VFO and if you want to change step size you have to go flipping through the menu system, but it's very nice. Although it's only the size of an FT897 it weighs about 2 tons. There are a number of them on Ebay, but they are way beyond my wallet!
I'll put the HP sig gen on later and check the frequency accuracy.

[stratocaster]

That's a VERY cracking receiver Andy! And for the age of it, I'd say it looks current! A wee fantastic project and I'll bet it gives you many happy times!

[Admiral]

I'm not familiar with that model, but you can also plug a PC into some and they are accurate and stable enough to be used as the front end for a spectrum analyser, the difference between a Fiat 500 and a Bentley, a wet dream for radio nerds. Beautiful set Andy, and a legacy to your deceased friend that you've assembled it and fixed it, they are so good and strong that it will be in your SK kit too in 40 years time.

€2,000? Snap it up if it's a good one, I would value that particular one Andy has at around £2,000 - £2,500 Sterling, but as it was a gift from a departed friend then it's priceless.