Cheetah HE-4650
The Cheetah HE-4650 is not a musical synthesizer, sampler, or drum machine, whatever the Archive's category listing says. It is cable television headend equipment. Period ads in Communications Technology (November 1990, p.2) describe the HE-4650 (Headend) and PC-4650 (Line) Series as part of the Cheetah System, an automated remote testing platform "going beyond status monitoring all the way to system analysis." The HE-4650 was a headend unit with bandwidth to 650 MHz. It measured signal levels and temperature, with optional frequency counting, distortion measurements, and AML readings. The system had a call-back alarm for round-the-clock unattended operation, and results were displayed graphically through interactive software.
Very little else is documented about this model. The Cheetah System appears to have been marketed to cable operators for compliance monitoring. Later ads (1993) stress non-interfering frequency measurements, programmable out-of-spec reporting, and visual-to-aural frequency separation at 4.5 MHz ± 5 kHz. No production years, pricing, or technical specifications beyond the above have turned up in available sources.
Similar items on eBay
No exact Cheetah HE-4650 listings are live right now — these searches show current Cheetah and similar vintage synth gear on eBay:
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.