ESG generator have quite beat up look, but thanks to all metal sturdy chassis design it’s not a problem.

Teardown of HP E4436B ESG-DP RF signal generator

System information

Testing performance of the generator

For these quick benchmarks Agilent N9020A MXA spectrum analyzer was used to test level and frequency output parameters of ESG.

It is also easy to enable full output frequency range of these old obsoleted ESG generators, using simple GPIB commands:

SERV:PRODUCTION:CAL:BEGIN;
SERV:PRODUCTION:CAL 165,2,4000000000.000000;
SERV:PRODUCTION:CAL:END;
SERV:PRODUCTION:CAL:STORE 165;
SERV:PRODUCTION:CAL:PUP;

After instrument is rebooted I can output higher frequency out of the RF port, with drawback of the reduced output power stability.

Power +5 dBm is about maximum output that ESG at 4000 MHz frequency output.