Keysight Streamline Series USB Vector Network Analyzers

[msliva]

Dear Mr, G0HZU, may I ask you for your opinion?

https://www.keysight.com/en/pcx-2912772/streamline-series-usb-vector-network-analyzers?nid=-31920.0&cc=CZ&lc=eng

[G0HZU]

Hi msliva
I'm afraid I didn't even know these VNAs existed

However, I've had a quick skim of the specs and I can give a few initial observations... These are clearly aimed to compete with similar USB VNA products from numerous competitors. So this market must be quite busy!

I'd be interested to find out what 3.5mm connectors are used on the RF ports. Are they Keysight's own high performance (but very fragile) version of the 3.5mm connector or a regular 3.5mm connector?

The source harmonics (and subharmonics?) seem very high. I'm not sure how relevant this is but it seems a lot higher than on any VNA I've ever used.

There don't seem to be any bias tee options which is a shame. Or did I miss this somewhere?

The uncorrected port performance at very low frequencies (<2 MHz) seems a bit poor but this will be improved with calibration. Otherwise, the performance of any lab VNA is often dominated/limited by the choice of cal kit and most VNA users tend to degrade the potential of VNAs through the way they use the cal kit and with their choice of RF test cable and how old and phase stable the test cables are.

So the RF performance is probably OK for most users and they do seem to be quite good and reasonably fast. The big bonus is that you get a display size/resolution set by your desktop PC and any collected VNA data goes straight to the PC. With my old E5071 VNA I have to use a USB stick which can become tiresome during a busy VNA session if the data is being exported for simulation on a PC.

The saving in desktop space is huge and this type of compact high performance product is a sign of the future I think. I suppose a few of them will end up damaged on the floor because they are so easy to drag/move about so some care would be needed when organising the workspace. I'd love to have the 20GHz or 26GHz version here. I'm on the lookout for an old/used 20GHz VNA but I have no idea where I'd put something like a big old HP8720C. I've run out of space for any more big old school test gear. Realistically nothing is going to dislodge my 4 port E5071 for many years but it only goes up to 8.5GHz.

How much do these new VNAs cost? I did a quick search but couldn't find anything online. Thanks for posting up the info. We might even consider the 26GHz versions of these VNAs at work...

[Gribo]

The Canadian site shows 13K CAD
So, ~10K USD

[msliva]

Dear Mr G0HZU,

Thank you very much for your time. If you will have some other informations, be so kind and share them.

Best regards

Mira

P.S. Prices enclosed

[TheSteve]

I'm a little surprised they don't appear to support network connections, only USB.

I'd still like one, but it seems unlikely they will show up cheap on eBay anytime soon

[ezalys]

I had the pleasure of playing with one of these a while ago. It feels very well built and shares the same software that drives keysight's high end VNAs. Not sure how much I can share from their talk but the pricing seemed reasonable and it seems like a great, more portable alternative to our fleet of ENAs.

[G0HZU]

I can add some speculation based on what I see in the datasheet. All the devices work down to 300kHz and the lower frequency spec data may apply to all models. Also, the high harmonic content (and subharmonics) suggest that the synthesiser is probably based on a small PLL/VCO chip containing multipliers and dividers to get up to 26GHz.
There is an ever increasing range of "all in one" chips like this available from Analog Devices as below:

http://www.analog.com/en/products/rf-microwave/phase-locked-loop/phase-locked-loop-w-integrated-vco.html

So it could well be that there is little difference (no difference?) in hardware between some of these models if the main RF and synthesiser parts are similar. Of course, it would be great if they were all the same platform but the >15GHz versions probably have x2 or x4 paths for the LO that might not be there on the lower frequency models. But a teardown of a 4.5GHz version alongside a 15GHz or 20GHz version would be interesting to see

I'm a little surprised they don't appear to support network connections, only USB.

I guess you can always use the LAN port on the PC it connects to. I'm not sure how all this works out in an ATE rack though.

[ezalys]

According to keysight, they're all precisely the same box with higher frequencies unlocked and cal data programmed.

[G0HZU]

Wow, that's interesting, thanks!

After reading your post I just had another look on the Keysight website and they do indeed suggest upgrades in SW and frequency range are possible. It would be great to see one of these reviewed in depth to explore the performance limits.

[KE5FX]

Somebody needs to do a head-to-head comparison with the similar offering that Tektronix recently released.  READY... FIGHT!   

[G0HZU]

I guess the other main USB VNA contenders would be from Copper Mountain and from PICO.
However the Keysight USB VNAs stand out as the most suitable for me... it's probably the most exciting piece of test gear since the Flir E4 thermal camera hit the scene and was hacked. I bought a Flir E4 within days of seeing the hacked version.

However, I can't justify the high cost of the 20+GHz version and I'd want to play with one first. I might try and get a demo unit at work but we don't evaluate as much test gear as we used to. I might not get approval for the time allowed unless I can do something like take it home and test it over a weekend.

The Tek VNA doesn't appear to have very good port/directivity performance but this might be hampered by the quality of their bundled cal kit options. It only goes to 6GHz so no good for me anyway. It does have bias tees and better harmonic suppression than the Keysight VNA though.
I know very little about the Copper Mountain VNAs. I've been offered a trial via Melcom here in the UK but I've been too busy at work to take up the offer. They have so many models I'm not sure which one I'd want to play with anyway! Some of their top VNAs look to be very good indeed but they are probably very expensive. At work in the design labs we mainly have Agilent PNA and HP8753ES VNAs but we also have some R&S ZVB models and I think we still have a 20GHz ZVM somewhere. In the production/ATE area we have loads of ENA5071 models and I've also got an ENA5071 here at home so I have experience of using all these VNAs.

[msliva]

One question for US$ 11,840. How necessary (essential) is this "S97007A - Automatic Fixture Removal Software?"
S97007A-1FL    Automatic fixture removal, node-locked 12 month license    US$  4,499
S97007A-1FP    Automatic fixture removal, node-locked perpetual license    US$ 11,840

There is only short "Key Features & Specifications" and "Description".
https://www.keysight.com/en/pd-2917517-pn-S97007A/automatic-fixture-removal-software?nid=-32996.1243791&cc=US&lc=eng

"View Data Sheet" is the link to "Streamline Series USB Vector Network Analyzer P937XA 2-port, up to 26.5 GHz, Data Sheet, 5992-2765EN.pdf".

[msliva]

I guess the other main USB VNA contenders would be from Copper Mountain and from PICO.
However the Keysight USB VNAs stand out as the most suitable for me... it's probably the most exciting piece of test gear since the Flir E4 thermal camera hit the scene and was hacked. I bought a Flir E4 within days of seeing the hacked version.

However, I can't justify the high cost of the 20+GHz version and I'd want to play with one first. I might try and get a demo unit at work but we don't evaluate as much test gear as we used to. I might not get approval for the time allowed unless I can do something like take it home and test it over a weekend.

The Tek VNA doesn't appear to have very good port/directivity performance but this might be hampered by the quality of their bundled cal kit options. It only goes to 6GHz so no good for me anyway. It does have bias tees and better harmonic suppression than the Keysight VNA though.
I know very little about the Copper Mountain VNAs. I've been offered a trial via Melcom here in the UK but I've been too busy at work to take up the offer. They have so many models I'm not sure which one I'd want to play with anyway! Some of their top VNAs look to be very good indeed but they are probably very expensive. At work in the design labs we mainly have Agilent PNA and HP8753ES VNAs but we also have some R&S ZVB models and I think we still have a 20GHz ZVM somewhere. In the production/ATE area we have loads of ENA5071 models and I've also got an ENA5071 here at home so I have experience of using all these VNAs.

Dear Mr G0HZU,

Is there any chance you will have the demo unit at work?

Best regards

Mira