I would say so. It's decent test equipment like this that sets apart the good installers from the chancers. Some don't even carry a meter, let alone a decent spectrum analyser. I've had so many customers call me in after another firm had been there previously, and lots of them comment on the analyser saying how the previous people had nothing like it.
It instills confidence in your customers before you've even started. It enables you to charge more than others, because they know you'll do it properly. Trust me it works. I've shown many of them the spectrum screen when explaining what the problem is. They can see the spikes for all the channels, and they can see if one or more has a problem. You can show then each digital multiplex and explain why some Freeview channel work and some don't. You can show them the signal going up and down rapidly if there's trees nearby etc. This way it's easy to build trust and they won't usually worry when you tell them what they need doing to sort it out.
Then, there's nothing better than climbing onto a roof with the aerial in hand, getting comfy and turning on the meter in spectrum mode. You can see instantly the strength of all signals available, and their position across the bandwidth tells you the transmitter immediately. You can also easily pick up any likely sources of inteference such as Tetra and specify filters knowing they are needed. Sometimes you get variable deep notches in the reception due to tree screening or something similar. You wouldn't see these variations on a cheap meter. It's nice knowing that your installations are spot on.
Don't forget that if required, you can take out a loan to buy it. The interest on the loan, and the purchase itself are both tax deductable.
I've tried one of the Wolesey TM2 digital meters and it was awful. You have to punch in the channel and it gives you the strength and pass/fail on the C/N. It doesn't let you see what is going on. During my testing I got a few suspect readings on two muxes. I checked them with my Promax and they were spot on. The TM2 went right back to the shop a few days later for a refund.
I've never had a callback in 8 years where my work has been at fault. I've known other installers waste so much time re-siting aerials and fitting masthead amps etc after the original job. They are just
LANGUAGE! in the wind hoping to get it right. Usually they can't see what the problem is because there crappy bleeper tells them everything is OK.
I had one recently where one digital multiplex was erratic, but everything else was perfect. This was the same at every TV point in the house. Another company came out and said the aerial was fine. It was, but when you checked the amps output on the analyser you could see that the suspect mutliplex had part of an adjacent modulated analogue channel coming right through it. A retune of the RF modulator was all that was needed to get everything running sweetly again. You would be there for hours without a spectrum, retuning everything and making new clashes along the way probably.
Now you're starting out it's the perfect time to show you mean business. Get the correct test gear and put the fly by nighters to shame.
