[AusNOG] ISM Spectrum Analysis: What do you use?

[Curtis Bayne]

AusNOG,

For those of you running unlicensed microwave gear, what test kit do you use for spectrum analysis?  I am really hoping to get away without having to drop some pretty significant dollars on a fat and ugly HP/Agilent cellular spectrum analyzer. Even off eBay I doubt I'll escape for less than $6k which seems like a waste of money for something I'll use 2-3 times/year.

I came across http://www.metageek.net/products/wi-spy-dbx but they seem a little TOO cheap and I am not sure how granular they are: it also ONLY supports the 2.4 and 5.8 ISM bands so it makes it a little difficult to check resonance/harmonics/whether my competitors are properly licensed or not ;).

Is there a tip or trick I'm missing here? I am not an RF engineer (or an engineer at all, heh) but I am trying to learn more about operational issues so you may need to dumb things down for me :).

Regards,
Curtis
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