Hi all,
I recently bid and won a HP 8720A in a B2B auction. I got carried away with the bidding and eventually ended up paying £1760 which was more than I intended. The specifications are excellent but I think I don't need most of the frequency range and will struggle to calibrate it up there too. The equipment arrived and appears to be in working order. The test ports are scuffed but the insides seem to be good. It passes the internal tests, but I'm waiting for some new connector savers/semi-flexible cables from Amphenol before I do any real testing.
First question, did I pay too much? This should be a fun question for everyone else to either laugh or cry at. If I've paid too much its too late now.
Second question, what is the underlying connector beneath the test ports? They seem to be female SMA/3.5mm connectors but is behind them a PSC-3.5mm connector? I ask as I'm tempted to change the front connectors to APC-7 as there's a Agilent cal kit I can access to play with at my work and some of the test fixtures I intend to use for materials work have these connectors. I can't find details on the front connectors, although I've not completely read the on-site service manual yet.
Third question, any advice about installing two connectors APC-7->SMA(M) and SMA(F)->APC7, assuming they're a symmetric through, thus calibrating it out, then breaking the "through" connect to my DUT? if i did change over to APC-7 for cal/cables/etc, most of my own hobby designs will probably use SMA hence the want to use adaptors.
I realise the VNA probably doesn't have this ability itself, but (Edit: port extensions are available on both ports) One thing I am proficient at is mathematical modelling/programming, so I could develop my own cal model in python and fit it using the GPIB interface. I'm happy to process/plot the VNA data myself rather than use the front panel. Any comments/advice would be welcome.
Finally, is there anything you want a better photo of? I'll even break the magical cal sticker if you want internal shots, but I'm going to probably leave most of it connected until I'm more comfortable with the unit.
Thanks!
More pictures are here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/h9Eotp65HYpVhZxk6