Products > Test Equipment
Agilent E8357A
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Forzaman:

--- Quote from: joeqsmith on November 07, 2022, 05:39:17 pm ---
--- Quote from: Forzaman on November 07, 2022, 04:53:33 pm ---
--- Quote from: joeqsmith on November 07, 2022, 03:14:46 pm ---
--- Quote from: Forzaman on November 07, 2022, 01:49:52 pm --- I will clone my HDD before ...

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Smart!  This is the first thing I typically do when working on old equipment.    I am using a Transcend 2.5" PATA SSD in mine...

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I was thinking about trying a PATA SSD, but was reading on the Internet that it wouldn't make much difference...

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I made no mention of any noticeable improvements in VNA performance.   That said...

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Thanks for the clarification, and detailed background info! BTW, did you write that VI program that you posted the screen capture of with the impulse response? Very impressive!
joeqsmith:

--- Quote from: Forzaman on November 07, 2022, 06:20:42 pm ---
--- Quote from: joeqsmith on November 07, 2022, 05:39:17 pm ---I made no mention of any noticeable improvements in VNA performance.   That said...

--- End quote ---

Thanks for the clarification, and detailed background info! BTW, did you write that VI program that you posted the screen capture of with the impulse response? Very impressive!

--- End quote ---

Yes, I wrote it.   You can follow the link in my signature to my Github account and select the Solver32 link to see a few screen shots, or for more recent efforts, you can check the following link where I post about using it with the low cost VNAs:
 
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/rf-microwave/nanovna-custom-software/2150/

Anymore, I only develop for the LiteVNA.   $120 gets you square wave drive, 2-port 1-path, 9.3GHz using harmonics and a bit of noise (see post above comparing the noise floor with the PNA).  Still, it's been a lot of fun to play with and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about VNAs.   
caesarv:
Regarding hard drives.  When the PNA first shipped, we used 10GB Hitachi drives.  They were pretty bad and we had to replaced a lot of them.  Then we switched to 40GB Fujitsu/Toshiba drives.  They were much better, but would still fail occasionally.  Eventually we switched to Intel SSDs.  We had virtually no failures with the Intel SSDs.  We may have switched to Micron SSDs recently. 
joeqsmith:
Good info Caesar.  Mine was supplied with a Fujitsu MHV2040AH.   

I had started a link for this VNA that has my notes including some of your responses to my questions.   Had you stayed on at Keysight a little longer,  I would have hit you up for an computer board upgrade and alignment.  Are you aware of any companies who offer alignment for these?   I should be clear, I'm not asking about calibration. 

After upgrading to the last firmware that supported it in order to enable some of the more advanced diagnostics, it then barked about the receiver cal which appears to have never been done.   When I dug into it,  I suspect the system was old enough that that the MXCAL files were not yet being used.   Seems straight forward enough to go through.     

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/agilent-e835xa-pna-vna-notes/
Forzaman:

--- Quote from: joeqsmith on November 07, 2022, 06:44:15 pm ---
--- Quote from: Forzaman on November 07, 2022, 06:20:42 pm ---
--- Quote from: joeqsmith on November 07, 2022, 05:39:17 pm ---I made no mention of any noticeable improvements in VNA performance.   That said...

--- End quote ---

Thanks for the clarification, and detailed background info! BTW, did you write that VI program that you posted the screen capture of with the impulse response? Very impressive!

--- End quote ---

Yes, I wrote it.   You can follow...

--- End quote ---

Very cool... both software and Lite VNA. If it had Direct Receiver Access I would be all in. Need it for High-Power S-Parameter measurements; hence the E8357A acquisition with opt 015. Cheers.
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