[NCARC] 1.3 GHz Vector Network Analyzer Kit (USB powered) available

[chris at yipyap.com]

Ed,

Equipment like this always attracts me, but I wonder
how much I will actually use it.  Maybe if I had one
I would find it indispensable; maybe not.

Can you give a bit of an idea how often you use
your HP VNA ?

I copy your lines about loss in coax and characterization
of various filters.  Is that really something you do frequently?
Is this going to be a "I wish I always had one" kind of
thing?

Thanks,
73
Chris Howard
w0ep


WA5SWD at att.net wrote:
> 
> http://www.sdr-kits.net/VNWA/VNWA_Description.html
> 
> As I mentioned at the last NCARC meeting, there is now a VNA kit available from England.
> The USB powered version seems most likely to be the preferred version but postings to 
> the Yahoo group seems to indicate that the development of the software is not yet stable.
> 
> An assembled version of this kit IS available for those with limited kit-building skills, and even 
> I would be willing to part with the extra cash as the equipment to properly troubleshoot this 
> kit would be a hassle to obtain, and I've built kits and 'scratch' RF equipment for nearly half
> a century.
> 
> The payment has to be in British pounds, through PayPal.  Alternate payment methods may
> be acceptable by arrangement with the provider.  I have found PayPal to be deceptive in the 
> past and refuse to use them, ever again.  Your experiences may be different with PayPal but
> I use the 'Once burnt, twice shy' rule.
> 
> For those of you unfamiliar with an RF Vector Network Analyzer, consider your MFJ259B on steroids.  Imagine getting a pictorial representation of the complex impedance for your antenna
> over whatever frequency sweep you want.  The whole HF spectrum?  Easy?  Oh, you want to
> do it at the end of a random length of coax?  No problem.  Oh, how about checking that new 
> bandpass filter or Duplexer?  Piece of cake!  ALL of the HF frequencies AND VHF?  How 
> about HF, VHF and UHF?  Same deal.  EASY!  Oh, Let's do Path loss and relative gain on
> antennas, as in 'Antenna shoot-out'  Still easy.  Measure RF loss on an unknown sample of 
> coax?  Can do!  How hard?  Still easy!
> 
> OK.  There has  to be a catch somewhere, right?  A used HP 8753D costs at least $7000,
> is a large 19 inch rack width and quite heavy (70+ lb?).
> 
> This little kit, assembled, is under $500, is light weight and powered by your laptop USB port.
> A minor drawback is that it only measures as a two port device where the 8753 is a four port
> device.  Don't worry too much about that unless you are well advanced in RF measurements.
> Two port measurements will do everything I mentioned.  
> 
> Read about their kit.  My HP8753 goes up to 3 GHz where their kit only goes up to 1.3 GHz.
> They push the parts to get that high.  I think the PC has to have a very high clock rate to attain
> the highest frequency, and the kit will not work with Vista and one other operating system.
> I'm a bit fuzzy on this point.
> 
> OK.  I have not purchased their kit yet.  I have no financial interest with these folks of any kind.
> The opinions I have expressed are purely my own.  There are several other competing products 
> out there but this one has the highest frequency coverage of any I have seen so far.  If this
>  seems interesting to you I advise that you check it out yourself.  Please report back to the 
> group if you find incorrect or misleading statements, either theirs or mine.
> 
> Ed Lawrence  WA5SWD
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
> You and I are each unique, just like everyone else!
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