Eternal,
Congratulations on your 8510 VNA - this ought to keep you busy for a while. You must have got a great deal on theses units if your budget is under $5K; I know the HP 83621B series usually list/sell over several thousand dollars on eBay.
I have a system with an 8515A (26.5 GHz) using a 8340B (26.5GHz) RF source.
It's really frustrating when you realize to cost of calibration standards, connectors, and cables. All precision mechanical - the electronics seems less expensive pound for pound.
I am not an expert but here is some guidance from my experience putting together an 8510 system.
Even with out a cal-kit you should be able to run the system and get reasonable results. That is you should be able to functionally check your system without running the calibration routine. At the very least you should get a decent M/F 50-ohm load for reflection reading and some trust worthy adapters. There is also a short document showing all the cabling and configurations for a typical system. I'll include at the bottom a list of documents you can find on line in pdf format.
Some tips on putting your system together:
1. You can use a $15.00 straight male to male cable (37-pin??? connector) for the cable between the IF and Display rather than the $100.00 HP cable.
2. You can use high quality used HP/Agilent bulkhead connectors as adapters. These are typically taken off scraped equipment.
-- I have used a couple of HP 3.5(m) to 3.5(m) on the 2 ports of my 8515A (basically a barrel connector). HP PN 08513-20017; These are rated to 26.5GHz. I typically sees these listed for $30-50.00 but have purchased mine for $15.00 to $20.00. Look for a US sellers who has a history of selling HP test equipment and parts. Make sure they are listed as "used" and not "repair".
-- I've also bought some HP/Agilent N to SMA bulk head. These can be found for around $10.00 to 15.00 as there are more out there. I can't remember the P/N.
3. I'm still working on a more complete cal-kit solution. However you can find some intermediate solutions for the lower ranges.
-- sdr-kits.net in the UK sell several kits to support the VNWA. I bought their 'Female SMA SOL 4 pcs Calibration Kit of Rosenberger' kit for my 8753C. You can also duplicate their Amphenol base kit ordering from mouser. The Rosenberger pieces are harder to order and the kit was the easy way to go and they really where not marked up significantly over the piece parts.
-- Even if you don't have a HP level cal-kit it is still a good idea to have a precision 50-ohm load like HP 909X series. These would also be included in a complete HP cal-kit. You can also find these at ebay but they are not cheap - expect to pay in the $100.00 range. However this will provide some confidence regarding your system - compare against the internal loads in the 8510 systems test set.
--- I have a set of 909 loads. I also use mini-circuits ANNE-50-8 loads these are surprisingly good price performers. Not as good as the HP 909 but certainly runner up with the Rosenberger load in my SDR-kit.
-- If you join the yahoo WVNA group there is member based in Germany who has done a lot of work characterizing these SDR-kits and has some printed reports posted on line in English these include important coefficients.
-- Ultimately to get the most accuracy out of the system especially at the upper RF ranges you will have to acquire bonafide calibration standards (HP/Agilent).
Document To Find Online:
8510C...Service Quick Reference Guide (08510-90317.pdf) pages = 52
PAGE DESCRIPTION
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9
Basic system cabling diagram showing back of system "preflight checkout"51 8510C System Level Troubleshooting Block Diagram
Other Manuals:
8510C...Operating and Programming Manual (08510-90281.pdf) pages = 391
8510C...On-Site Service Manual (08510-90282.pdf) pages = 439
85395...Using Your Upgraded Receiver (85395-90007.pdf) pages = 10
8510...Key Word Dictionary (08510-90280_8510KeyWords.pdf) pages = 826
HP 115755 Performance Upgrade Package (hp_115755_8510C_install.pdf) pages = 26
HP 85108L Pulsed-RF Network Analyzer System (85108-90036.pdf) pages = 122
HP 8510 Quick Reference Guide(08510-90292.pdf) pages - 115
-rastro