Anritsu Early prototype Cellmaster MT8213E - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: auxin
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 13, 2023, 06:07:12 am
content: I recently picked up a Anritsu interference hunter "movie prop" at an auction that was selling off stuff from a "engineering business". There was a wide range of stuff for sale and it looked like someone dream tinker shop. Metal working equipment, electronic equipment, mold making stuff, it went on and on. I spent 10 years of my career supporting and running our counties P25 trunked radio system. We used Anritsu's and they are fantastic kit. Im thinking I was the only one who even knew what this thing was and figured I would see what this "movie prop" was all about. at $7.00 USD I walked away with what felt like a very real unit. I took the unit apart and found electronics inside! woot!In the meantime i started looking around and found out that the auction was in the same town as IDE inc and they happened to design the case for Anritsu.https://www.ideinc.com/work/anritsu-e-platform-series/I also found a page from the designer who had some of the early sketches :https://www.coroflot.com/riphraph/Anritsu-Interference-HunterSo I start digging around in this thing and find that there are no installed internal cables. Otherwise the thing seems complete. I roll the dice and order the internal cables from Anritsu and plug the thing in and to my surprise it boots up.....eventually. It was horrible slow. When it did boot, it had fatal errors. After a lot of tinkering i found that this unit had what looked like pre production firmware that was prepended with a "T" then a version number which looked different from what was offered on the website. I also found out that the Case said SiteMaster S332E but the logo doesn't match production. The bigger surprise was that the board was reporting that it was a MT8213E loaded with options. Woot! It took a while to figure out that the spectrum analyzer has problems and is not functioning. The unit seems to be operating fine in Cable & Antenna Analyzer mode which is cool because that is what I would be using the most.Inspecting the board there are a number of places the board has been reworked and are noted with little red flags. I suspect this was a early engineering prototype and there were corrections to the early design that they were trying out. Maybe some of you would have a better idea. Im thinking they gave the prototype board to the design company for prototyping the case figuring it would never be used again. Im tempted to see if Anritsu would be interested in fixing this but I fear that it would be too expensive and that they wouldn't even entertain the idea considering its a pre production board. I was able to upgrade the firmware and it seems to run better now. The pre production firmware said the battery self test was ok even though I don't have a battery. Im a bit lost at what my next steps should be. I would really like to have the spectrum analyzer working but I feel like this might be as good as it gets and even if it is, I'm ok with that. I like the history of the unit and the fact that I can run S11 up to 6Ghz is pretty cool. I plan on making a Vivaldi antenna to go in the empty antenna housing. It came with a MA2700A housing (no electronics) and a 2000-1715-R antenna housing. I want to make the antenna at least functional and it looks like it was just a simi Vivaldi type. With the S11, I can test the antenna I make for it which is cool. Anyway, I've been nerding out and excited about the history of these units and excited that I found something unique. I figured I would share and see if anyone has any ideas on getting the Spectrum analyzer going.If anyone is interested in pictures:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1acdOUKz3zLnF9eetF1OeSDxtCZDdKg20?usp=share_link

author: metrologist
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2023, 09:25:32 pm
content: Looks like a fun project. The handle just had a GPS and eCompass that would interface via USB with the handheld SPA products.

author: auxin
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 16, 2023, 04:03:48 am
content: @metrologist - Thanks, I'm having fun with it.The quote to get the GPS and Compass for the handle was over $3K which is out of my price range especially considering a SDR Kraken would get you most of the way there and I don't have a "need" for something like that, it would just be a nice to have. I don't know. I haven't given up on the idea yet but its not a priority. I've tinkered with the Unit some more and found that the Non-Anritsu Power supply wasn't up to snuff. I found a better supply and the SPA board started functioning and I can now load all the applications. I have been looking at the documentation some more and this unit is set up like a S332E with a spectrum analyzer but the main board identifies as a MT8213 so there may be some compatibility issues there. For one, the Software allows for network connectivity but this unit doesn't have the Network jack on top like the MT8213's. Another difference is the E1 test ports. That's probably why the unit had a sticker saying it was running modified software. The spectrum analyzer is working but it looks like it might have been tortured. I had one guy who kept trying to use these as a service monitor like a IFR-3920B. The front ends don't appreciate that much. Either that or Its the wrong boards talking to each other and I'm lucky its doing anything at all. The power meter is doing something but the numbers don't seem right but I'm not sure I know how to use that feature correctly yet either.The 2000-1715R didn't have anything inside but based on the design sketches it looks like it was a Vivaldi-ish design. I went ahead and used some scrap copper to make the largest size that would fit in the case and spent the day tuning the feed point to get something that works on the 700 - 800Mhz cellular bands decent. I think I can do better though, so I'll probably continue to work on that. Its nice that the antenna analyzer portion is working. That part is all contained on the main board so little risk of incompatibility.I think Ill ask Anritsu if they have a history on this Serial number and see what they come back with. "oh THAT thing?!"