[Elecraft] The Technical Side of Ham Radio

[Jim Brown]

On Fri,10/30/2015 4:35 AM, Harry White wrote:
> What new ANAN radio are you referring to?

http://www.gigaparts.com/Product-Lines/HF-6M-Radios/Apache-Labs-ANAN-10E-SDR.html

> How will it improve your measurement capabilities?

I'll use the receiver as a spectrum analyzer. It has greater dynamic 
range (big signals to small ones) and frequency resolution (a few Hz) 
than anything else currently in my arsenal, and it costs less than $1,000.

> What is a VNWA?

A Vector Network Analyzer. It can

1) measure the complex impedance of anything from an antenna to a 
complicated network, swept over frequency.  "Complex" means it can 
separate R and X, and give magnitude and phase.

2) measure the gain through a network (like a bandpass filter), again 
both magnitude and phase

3) measure the reflection coefficient of a network, which provides SWR

4) do Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) to measure the electrical length 
of a feedline, and to look for damage to it

5) export data to modeling programs like SimSmith, which can be used to 
design matching networks for antennas

VNWA refers to a specific model of VNA designed by a German EE professor 
and built by hams in the UK. It's a little box that connects to the USB 
port of a Windows computer.

Good questions. Thanks for asking.

73, Jim K9YC