Anyone have an inkling of what you get for your £350-odd?

Is it a simple matter of a VFO together with a VSWR bridge
to assess the difference between the forward and reverse waves?

Despite its high price and snazzy interface, does it provide any more
useful information then the tried-and-trusted (transistorised!) GDO?

Just curious.

Also, is the DG8SAQ VNWA pretty much the same principle, or will it also
assess transfer functions?

These questions are raised by the possibility of resurrecting a project with
a former colleague from uni 43 years ago, now that we are both retired,
although it will be dismissed cynically as vapourware by some nasty
individual,
to produce a speccy covering up to 10GHz together with tracking genny
but based aroind COTS components that feature more and more
in domestic white goods.

As I said, at the moment, it's just a feasibility investigation, but the
target is
to equal the persformance of HP, Agilent, and R&S instruments of, say, 20
years
ago, but coming in at of the order of £200.

Obviously, all the intelligence will be based around the ubiquitous PC
(which
will have a hidden cost of £200+ extra), so all that needs to be considered
in reality
is the signal paths.