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Re: Testing dummy loads with a VNA

 

I've been piecing together an 8754a VNA set. I recently picked up the
8748a S param set for around $100. It only works with the 8754a and
that's about as obsolete a VNA as you can get but still be usable.
When you point out to sellers how useless it is, you can sometimes
get them down to a reasonable price point.

It also needs the reference plane set which generally does not come
with it.

I found a storage normalizer for $35 and the VNA itself was around $150.
So I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel, but it's all I can justify on
RF work since it's not in my main line interests (but projects are always
an excuse to buy new equipment). It gets worse when you start buying all
the cables, adapters and connectors you need to do anything.

Paul

On Sun, Mar 08, 2020 at 08:35:11PM -0400, Dave McGuire wrote:
On 3/8/20 8:10 PM, Jinxie wrote:
Yeah, but I don't like the Nanovna type stuff; it's not a/proper/ VNA in
my view. How about I buy the matching S-parameter test set for my VNA?
I've been offered one for USD450 Would that solve all my
problems? And is there anything else I might need in the future?
$450 seems a bit steep, but admittedly I've not been watching that
market. It would certainly give you good functionality, including the
specific functionality that you need for the task at hand. I can't help
but think you should be able to get away a good bit cheaper than that,
but I could be wrong.

The only other thing you might want is a calibration kit, but as the
8754A has no automated correction capability, it would be of limited use
there. Our own Dave Kirkby makes and sells decent calibration kits at
good prices.

I agree about the NanoVNA. I did pick one up recently, though...it
was on sale, and I want to put it next to my HP 8510C for some
side-by-side comparisons. For what it is (a hobbyist toy) it is
surprisingly capable and a very nice piece of work. But a piece of lab
equipment "it ain't".

-Dave

--
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA




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Paul Amaranth, GCIH | Manchester MI, USA
Aurora Group of Michigan, LLC | Security, Systems & Software
paul@... | Unix & Windows
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