Hi Paul,
I just finished it this evening......................it is a
good piece of equipment, and worth the money. Tomorrow, I will do more
in-depth testing. It appears to have resolution to 6 digits, which is good.
It consists of a pair of 9851 DDS chips, with a 1496 being used as a direct
conversion detector. I think I am going to build another one, so I can use
one at home and one at work.

Pete

"Paul Burridge" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 14:17:15 GMT, "Pete KE9OA"
wrote:

I just got through building up the VNA that Dale mentioned. Kit price is
250
dollars, plus 5 dollars shipping in the USA.
Right now, I am etching the power supply board, and I hope to have the
unit
up and running later this afternoon.

Please let us know how you get on....
--

The BBC: Licensed at public expense to spread lies.

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 01:51:41 GMT, "Pete KE9OA"
wrote:

Hi Paul,
I just finished it this evening......................it is a
good piece of equipment, and worth the money. Tomorrow, I will do more
in-depth testing. It appears to have resolution to 6 digits, which is good.
It consists of a pair of 9851 DDS chips, with a 1496 being used as a direct
conversion detector. I think I am going to build another one, so I can use
one at home and one at work.

Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit. If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...
--

The BBC: Licensed at public expense to spread lies.

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 01:51:41 GMT, "Pete KE9OA"
wrote:

Hi Paul,
I just finished it this evening......................it is a
good piece of equipment, and worth the money. Tomorrow, I will do more
in-depth testing. It appears to have resolution to 6 digits, which is good.
It consists of a pair of 9851 DDS chips, with a 1496 being used as a direct
conversion detector. I think I am going to build another one, so I can use
one at home and one at work.

Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit. If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...
--

The BBC: Licensed at public expense to spread lies.

Paul Burridge wrote:
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 01:51:41 GMT, "Pete KE9OA"
wrote:

Hi Paul,
I just finished it this evening......................it is a
good piece of equipment, and worth the money. Tomorrow, I will do more
in-depth testing. It appears to have resolution to 6 digits, which is good.
It consists of a pair of 9851 DDS chips, with a 1496 being used as a direct
conversion detector. I think I am going to build another one, so I can use
one at home and one at work.

Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit.

N2PK's website (www.qsl.net/n2pk) gives exhaustive information about
measurement accuracy, standards and comparisons with professional VNAs.

When used correctly (a necessity for any VNA), N2PK's instrument is so
accurate that he had to go to extreme lengths to find any real
differences from commercial equipment. For example, the measured signal
magnitude tracks a 'standard' step attenuator to better than 0.1dB over
a 90dB range... but which is in error, the VNA or the attenuator? At
those levels of performance, it's almost impossible to tell.

Bottom line: you'll hardly ever need to worry about accuracy as such,
only about using the instrument correctly.

The only minor drawbacks are a small amount of thermal drift (because
this is a DC-coupled system) and the possibilities of responding to DDS
harmonics and spurs; all of these are very thoroughly documented.

If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...

Having had one running for about six months, I can confirm it's
excellent. Far from being infrequently-needed, it has become one of
those instruments I couldn't possibly manage without!

Read the documentation and you'll see exactly why.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)

http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

Paul Burridge wrote:
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 01:51:41 GMT, "Pete KE9OA"
wrote:

Hi Paul,
I just finished it this evening......................it is a
good piece of equipment, and worth the money. Tomorrow, I will do more
in-depth testing. It appears to have resolution to 6 digits, which is good.
It consists of a pair of 9851 DDS chips, with a 1496 being used as a direct
conversion detector. I think I am going to build another one, so I can use
one at home and one at work.

Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit.

N2PK's website (www.qsl.net/n2pk) gives exhaustive information about
measurement accuracy, standards and comparisons with professional VNAs.

When used correctly (a necessity for any VNA), N2PK's instrument is so
accurate that he had to go to extreme lengths to find any real
differences from commercial equipment. For example, the measured signal
magnitude tracks a 'standard' step attenuator to better than 0.1dB over
a 90dB range... but which is in error, the VNA or the attenuator? At
those levels of performance, it's almost impossible to tell.

Bottom line: you'll hardly ever need to worry about accuracy as such,
only about using the instrument correctly.

The only minor drawbacks are a small amount of thermal drift (because
this is a DC-coupled system) and the possibilities of responding to DDS
harmonics and spurs; all of these are very thoroughly documented.

If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...

Having had one running for about six months, I can confirm it's
excellent. Far from being infrequently-needed, it has become one of
those instruments I couldn't possibly manage without!

Read the documentation and you'll see exactly why.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)

http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit. If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...

Paul, what part of the comparison between my Boonton and the N2PK VNA do you
have a difficult time with? Or for that matter, the comparisons with Chip
Owens HP 5783C? The accuracy is primarily limited by the quality of the OSL
standards used in setup, and the experience of the user in establishing
his/her reference plane.

W4ZCB

Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit. If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...

Paul, what part of the comparison between my Boonton and the N2PK VNA do you
have a difficult time with? Or for that matter, the comparisons with Chip
Owens HP 5783C? The accuracy is primarily limited by the quality of the OSL
standards used in setup, and the experience of the user in establishing
his/her reference plane.

W4ZCB

I did play with it today, sweeping a couple of filters. The unit is amazing!
I understand that one fellow in England is developing Windows based software
to control this unit. I am pretty excited about that.
I don't have any suitable transfer standards for checking the accuracy of
this instrument, but the designer has done a very good job of characterizing
this unit. See the following posts.
One more thing.............I think you would be very happy with this unit.

Pete

"Paul Burridge" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 01:51:41 GMT, "Pete KE9OA"
wrote:

Hi Paul,
I just finished it this evening......................it is a
good piece of equipment, and worth the money. Tomorrow, I will do more
in-depth testing. It appears to have resolution to 6 digits, which is
good.
It consists of a pair of 9851 DDS chips, with a 1496 being used as a
direct
conversion detector. I think I am going to build another one, so I can
use
one at home and one at work.

Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit. If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...
--

The BBC: Licensed at public expense to spread lies.

I did play with it today, sweeping a couple of filters. The unit is amazing!
I understand that one fellow in England is developing Windows based software
to control this unit. I am pretty excited about that.
I don't have any suitable transfer standards for checking the accuracy of
this instrument, but the designer has done a very good job of characterizing
this unit. See the following posts.
One more thing.............I think you would be very happy with this unit.

Pete

"Paul Burridge" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 01:51:41 GMT, "Pete KE9OA"
wrote:

Hi Paul,
I just finished it this evening......................it is a
good piece of equipment, and worth the money. Tomorrow, I will do more
in-depth testing. It appears to have resolution to 6 digits, which is
good.
It consists of a pair of 9851 DDS chips, with a 1496 being used as a
direct
conversion detector. I think I am going to build another one, so I can
use
one at home and one at work.

Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit. If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...
--

The BBC: Licensed at public expense to spread lies.

Agreed.....................a super good unit.

Pete

"Harold E. Johnson" wrote in message
news:bJRWb.300189$na.451700@attbi_s04...


Thanks, Pete. Resolution is one thing, accuracy is another. Do you
have a proprietory instrument within calibration to compare it
against? I want to believe in this kit. If it works as advertised then
it's a significant breakthrough for those of us who feel reluctant to
part with 20,000 quid for a piece of relatively infrequently-needed
test equipment! Please report back here when you've had the chance to
check it out properly and let us know how it performs...

Paul, what part of the comparison between my Boonton and the N2PK VNA do
you
have a difficult time with? Or for that matter, the comparisons with Chip
Owens HP 5783C? The accuracy is primarily limited by the quality of the
OSL
standards used in setup, and the experience of the user in establishing
his/her reference plane.

W4ZCB