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Author Topic: HP 8711C as a VNA / SA  (Read 3049 times)

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Offline lincolnTopic starter

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HP 8711C as a VNA / SA
« on: December 24, 2016, 07:40:00 pm »
hello,
   I am starting to mess with more RF but am very much still a noob. Right now i have a cheep SDR dongle and have been looking at getting a spectrum analyzer but also really wanted a tracking generator so I could look at filter responses.

At a local auction house, they have a HP  8711C VNA for a low starting bid. Looking at the manual, it seams that with some care, I could use it as an SA (looking at transmitter outputs). And of course it would be awesome for looking at filters ect, assuming it dose not have the front end blown out of it.

What do you think?
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Offline cncjerry

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Re: HP 8711C as a VNA / SA
« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2016, 07:24:00 pm »
Friend of mine has one and he lurks on the HP yahoo group.  I don't know why it wouldn't work, you would have to check the input power limit as it might be 0DBm or some low value which implies "easy to blow mixer".
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Offline eliocor

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Re: HP 8711C as a VNA / SA
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2016, 08:45:28 pm »
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Offline mc172

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Re: HP 8711C as a VNA / SA
« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2016, 08:58:55 pm »
I've got an 8712C. The input power limit is +20 dBm.

The 8711 is not a vector network analyser from the factory. The 8711 and 8713 are only capable of scalar measurements. The 8712 and 8714 are the vector variants.

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Online TheSteve

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Re: HP 8711C as a VNA / SA
« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2016, 09:31:27 pm »
The 8711 is vector from the factory if accessed via GPIB, but it can also have the menu options enabled by following the thread linked above.
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Offline lincolnTopic starter

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Re: HP 8711C as a VNA / SA
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2016, 12:10:47 am »
hey Guys,
Thanks for the replies>  Talking a look at it today, is seams that it is 75 ohm I/Os. I'm not sure what a set of matching networks would do since most of the things i'm interested in would be 50 ohms....
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Online DimitriP

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Re: HP 8711C as a VNA / SA
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2016, 12:54:03 am »
Quote from: lincoln on December 28, 2016, 12:10:47 am
hey Guys,
Thanks for the replies>  Talking a look at it today, is seams that it is 75 ohm I/Os. I'm not sure what a set of matching networks would do since most of the things i'm interested in would be 50 ohms....

It depends on how low this low bid is. The amount of mismatch between 50 to 75 is inversely proportional to the price of the equipment :)
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   If three 100  Ohm resistors are connected in parallel, and in series with a 200 Ohm resistor, how many resistors do you have? 
 

Offline mc172

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Re: HP 8711C as a VNA / SA
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2016, 12:56:39 pm »
Quote from: TheSteve on December 27, 2016, 09:31:27 pm
The 8711 is vector from the factory if accessed via GPIB

I didn't know that, thanks.
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