Electronics > RF, Microwave, Ham Radio
VNA recommendation
Nikos A.:
Hi guys,
We are looking to purchase a VNA for under 1000$.
Our target RF applications are under 3GHz.
Do you recommend any reliable VNA that you've used in the past?
Berni:
I use the NanoVNA V2 for a lot of things.
It might look like a toy but it is a perfectly usable VNA. Might not quite have the stability, dynamic range or source flexibility as a real boatanchor VNA, but is also a lot cheaper and smaller than one. I have compared it to a real HP VNA at work and it measured up pretty well
Grandchuck:
https://www.tindie.com/products/hcxqsgroup/4-nanovna-v2-plus4/
I have this unit and it works well. I have no way to compare it to a pro unit.
0culus:
Just be aware that most of the cheaper VNAs are reflection/transmission only. They are not full two port VNAs (i.e. you need to manually reverse your DUT to measure S12/S22).
joeqsmith:
--- Quote from: Nikos A. on January 28, 2022, 02:38:22 pm ---Hi guys,
We are looking to purchase a VNA for under 1000$.
Our target RF applications are under 3GHz.
Do you recommend any reliable VNA that you've used in the past?
--- End quote ---
Missing one or two zeros? :-DD
Even in the used market, I'm afraid you're not going to find much at that price. If you want to try one of the low cost VNAs, which I highly recommend for anyone just starting out, just keep in mind all the limitations. There's no input attenuators, output power setting, square wave drive, poor dynamic range .... But they are very inexpensive and a lot of fun. They are very low risk IMO.
***
We can add an external transfer relay, step attenuators, bias Ts and even a PC to the mix.
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