[Elecraft] VNA shootout proposal

[John Oppenheimer]

Hi John,

I use my VNWA every few days. Would miss it if gone for a few weeks :-)

Though some thoughts: VNA's are, if calibrated and temperature stable,
inherently accurate. Requirements are:

Must have Log sample spacing.

2 port must have 12-term compensation. Required to normalize Port 2 Zin
to 50.00 Ohm.

For measurements over 100MHz, must have Arbitrary calibration capability.

A way to test capability is measuring Ferrite complex permeability. An
example is: https://www.kn5l.net/S21adapter/FR43-material/

Web page is in notebook style with several iterations. Final measurement
under heading "FT50-43 Panel Jack Fixture."

Follow link for "Calibration Process"

In the example above, I predict Fair-Rite 43 material measurement, using
HP E4991a with 16454A fixture (1MHz-3.0GHz), has a 2.47nH calibration error.

A dynamic range test:
https://groups.io/g/VNWA/message/20899

John KN5L

On 6/25/21 5:53 PM, John Harper wrote:
> I'm as interested as anyone else who might have one to know the accuracy
> and reliability of these affordable VNA's, whether nano- or the one from
> SDR-Kits.
> 
> I have a variety of VNA's available but am lacking the SDR-Kits model.
> Wouldn't it be nice if we knew where it stood compared to the newer
> nanoVNA's costing a fraction of the price for the same dynamic range and a
> higher upper frequency limit?
> 
> Also, how do the hobby VNA's compare to lab-grade VNA's at HF and up to 1.2
> GHz?
> 
> If you own an SDR-Kits VNA, can do without it for 3 weeks and trust me to
> return it to you, please see my offer here:
> 
> https://ae5x.blogspot.com/2021/06/vna-shootout.html
> 
> John AE5X