VNA Suggestions for 10k USD - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: strahd_von_zarovich
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2023, 11:04:24 am
content: Hi everyone,Which VNAs can you suggest for up to 10k USD.It doesn't matter if it has screen or not. Frequency and dynamic range are the most important factors for me.I think 2 port is enough. Sometimes I may need to measure 4 port devices like power splitters etc but the only challange here is changing the ports, am I right?Thanks in advance.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2023, 11:49:00 am
content: Quote from: strahd_von_zarovich on September 21, 2023, 11:04:24 amExactly how high are you looking for ?A proper 2 active port VNA can provide S11, S12, S21 and S22 measurements.Maybe SNA5002A can meet you needs:https://siglentna.com/vector-network-analyzer/sna5000a/

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2023, 03:22:13 pm
content: Quote from: tautech on September 21, 2023, 11:49:00 amLooks like is utilizes a rotary encoder. Siglent doesn't appear to know how to implement one properly.From:https://siglentna.com/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/09/SNA5000A_Datasheet_EN03B-1.pdfIf you are going to use non industry standard acronym's, you need to define them first or just don't use them.With a 10Hz IFBW, I wonder how fast it scans. Based on the following from the datasheet:2-port cal, 1601 pts500kHz IFBW, 70ms sweep time100kHz, 92ms10k, 350ms1k, 2904msI'm going to ballpark 10Hz IFBW @ 1601 pts requires 10 minutes or more.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2023, 03:46:37 pm
content: OP, just based on your question, I would recommend a book or two before spending anything.PicoTech offers the PicoVNA 108 for $9835 USD. It's a four-receiver design. Siglent's datasheet makes no mention of the unknown thru or provides basic details.https://www.picotech.com/download/datasheets/picovna-vector-network-analyzer-data-sheet.pdfI almost bought one of these for home use but I didn't like the software. That's been a few years ago and I would guess things have improved. You can download the software and try it. Sweep times are also well defined and for dynamic range they use terms like typical rather than some undefined marketing BS acronyms.Books first...

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2023, 05:12:15 pm
content: Picotech has a 6 hour training course. Listing to part 1, it sounds like they are targeting their sales group. They keep things very basic.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2023, 05:31:37 pm
content: You can also roll the dice. I wouldn't advice it.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/rf-microwave/owss-vna6000-b-110db-dynamic-range-$1500-usd-vna/msg5018041/#msg5018041

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2023, 12:03:02 am
content: I ended up watching the entire series. It's some very good content. OP, if you have a look at Part 3, at the very end they show a decision matrix on how their product compares with various competitors. Siglent was not mentioned but it may be worth having a look.

author: G0HZU
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2023, 08:18:17 am
content: If it helps, SPD usually means Supplementary Performance Data. It's similar to saying 'typical' or 'the most likely result' when an attempt is made to verify the performance.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2023, 12:29:26 pm
content: Quote from: G0HZU on September 22, 2023, 08:18:17 amWhen you have to use words like Usually and similar to describe it, seems it's not common. From the context, I would have assumed typical but then why use an acronym? Searching your exact phrase on Google, the closest match was a site talking about laws in Europe.Proper documentation will define acronyms before using them. Now how fast the 2-port system will scan 1601 pts with a 10Hz IFBW or if it is a 4-receiver system, still up for grabs. Pretty sure I can count on the encoder skipping and randomly incrementing/decrementing when turning the knob in one direction... Oh right, turn it slower or use the keypad.

author: G0HZU
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2023, 01:13:30 pm
content: I would expect that potential customers for the Siglent 5000 series VNAs will have compared specs against other competitors and Agilent/Keysight will be one of them.So they will quickly see that Keysight also uses SPD in their technical literature (especially for their network analysers) and they have been doing this for many years.It looks like Siglent have adopted the same (SPD) acronym to make spec comparisons easier. They should really confirm it somewhere in their documentation though.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2023, 01:58:29 pm
content: I tried to download PDFs for their latest models from their site but all I get is a blank square box.Here's my PNA and the N5247.