On Sat, 27 May 2017 21:25:42 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-RF-Sign...nter-Cymometer
-Tester-0-1-60MHz-20MHz-2400MHZ/172396798620
The basic counter goes from 100KHz to 60MHz. The other ranges use a
prescaler to divide down the input frequency so that it ends up at
less than 60MHz and can be counted.

I have two of those. I bought the second because I thought I'd
broken the first, it performed so badly. They're as bad as each
other.

Thanks. I was thinking of buying some of those. I should have known
as much of the low cost "modules" that I've purchased seem to have
deficiencies as a result of crude design or cost cutting exercises.

To clarify my my comments a little, I was not recommending the
purchase of any of the devices I pointed to on eBay. I meant them as
examples of devices that have prescalers, which was part of the OP's
rant on requiring multiple counters to cover the frequency range. My
comment "Something like this:" usually preceeds something that I
haven't worked with.

If you have a strong and stable signal, it can work ok, but
the input design is poor. The HF and the pre-scaler both
have dual-gate mosfets, but there's no gain control (automatic
or otherwise) and the inputs are paralleled. I've disconnected
the two inputs by cutting a track and soldered on a little bit
of RG-158 to an SMA connector for the high range.

I picked that particular example because it has a drawing of the PCB
showing i/o and controls:
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hBYAAOSwAPVZGlOn/s-l1600.jpg
It has two adjustments labelled "High channel sensitivity adjust"
which I guess would help with the tiggering. Do these controls work,
or were they deleted in yet another cost cutting exercise?

Although I am not willing to spend big money on this, I tend to avoid
those super cheap boards with no cabinets. I dont know how they can even
sell them that cheap, so obviously they are not quality. Not to mention
it costs 5 times the price of the board to buy some sort of box to put
those boards in, and for all the connectors and stuff. So, by that time
I'd have $25 or $30 invested. I'd rather find a complete unit that is
better quality and eliminate all the hours it takes to put them into
some sort of box. Making boxes and drilling all the holes and that sort
of thing has never been something I am real fond of anyhow.

I am currently looking at a Hickok 380, several HP counters, and a C&C
150. That Hickok is a BID sale, which means I dont have much of a chance
of getting it. (Being on dialup, I cant place a bid in the last 10
seconds). Normally I dont even bother with bid sales, and just do the
"Buy It Now" items.

The HPs are all over my price range, but I dont need to buy it today or
even this week. I can wait till I find a better deal. That C&C 150 seems
like a real good deal, (about $39 with shipping), but I have never heard
of that brand so I am looking to see if I can find more reviews of it.
It appears to be a rather high-end device, with lots of features and a
very wide freq range.

My main reason to get a counter is mostly just to check the frequency
coming from my Signal Generator. Having one that also checks audio freqs
would be kind of nice, since I have a tone generator that I'd like to be
able to know the frequencies it's outputting, but that is not an
absolute necessity.

I probably got more use from the Freq counter I used in the 70s (which
was borrowed). Back then I was doing a lot with CB radios and that
counter would check the CB channel output for accuracy. But I dont do
much with CBs anymore, since no one uses them now.