Vector Network Analyzer - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mountainman
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 12, 2017, 11:11:59 pm
content: Hi,haven't yet seen a EEVBlog where VNAs are explained.I know how to use one to adapt a antenna (They spit out the smith chart and the bandwith chart i need), but i've never understood how they actually do the measurement.AFAIG (As far as i'd guess) they're a more or less a high frequency LCR meter. Pls correct me if i'm wrong.Would be great to have a few episodes on these:- How to use em- How they actually do work- A teardown of a VNAProfessional VNAshttp://www.keysight.com/de/pcx-x2015001/network-analyzers?cc=DE&lc=ger&tab=x901102https://www.anritsu.com/en-US/test-measurement/devices-components/vector-network-analyzerhttps://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/products/test-measurement/network-analyzers/pg_overview_64043.htmlThe poor man's VNAshttp://pocketvna.comhttp://miniradiosolutions.com/RegardsMountainman

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 13, 2017, 12:27:29 pm
content: Quote from: mountainman on March 12, 2017, 11:11:59 pmAgree, that would be very interesting.

author: Bicurico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2017, 05:04:03 pm
content: In the past, I found this very nice reading to understand the differences:http://www.testandmeasurementtips.com/how-spectrum-analyzers-differ-from-network-analyzers/Regards,Vitor

author: brumster
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2017, 04:44:01 pm
content: I'd like to see one used, too, would find this interesting. I've read up a bit anyway but always good to get a Pro's angle...

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2017, 06:18:03 pm
content: Yes - VNA is such an interesting tool that is tough to wrap your head around. Why it exists, what it can accomplish, the myriad of traps they offer, calibration, interpretation, etc......

author: Lukas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2017, 06:21:51 pm
content: When reading about VNAs, don't forget to take a look at this guy's blog:http://hforsten.com/improved-homemade-vna.html

author: metrologist
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2017, 07:53:55 pm
content: I read a lot about the N2PK and wanted to build one. I started collecting the more difficult components and never got to the board. Anyway, I think that would be a very educational and useful project on the subject.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2017, 12:54:34 pm
content: I'll add my +1 on this. This is still one of those subjects where if you don't already know, don't bother to ask.A video on VNA with maybe some non-obvious application (like putting a capacitor to find self resonance)

author: PA4TIM
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2017, 12:03:36 am
content: I made a series tutorials about using a VNA for beginners. Seehttp://www.pa4tim.nl/?cat=26I want to make video' s to accompany them but I do not know if I still can do that because the only thing I did not think about was the video edditing.My modern fast laptop just died (for the 3rd time and now definitive) and now I use a very nice but rather slow Toshiba Tecra S1 (with a wopping 750 MB mem) a dear friend gave me, (it is running Linux) and I do not know if that is usable. I hear horror stories about massive amounts of memory, huge drives and hex-cores...I'm now in the middele of recording a review from an isolated Siglent scopemeter I borrowed for this. A nice start for a you tube channel but I hope I can do the edditing.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 19, 2017, 12:31:06 am
content: Video editing is going to vary depending on what software you are going to use - but I would like to offer my observations ....I have a product from Cyberlink called Power Producer. I have run it on a dual core Athlon processor that is a few years old, with 2GB RAM. The import and editing I found to be quite reasonable - it's the "production" step that takes the time. That is, the process of taking the result of all the editing and creating the output video file. A 4 minute video took a big chunk out of an hour elapsed on my system. Fortunately, you can just fire this off and walk away.I suspect this will be similar for any video editing software - but the better hardware facilities speed up the end-to-end processing time.