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Re: [TowerTalk] What Insertion Testing Devices Are Out There?

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] What Insertion Testing Devices Are Out There?
From: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 09:55:21 -0700
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On Mon,8/25/2014 8:47 AM, Stephen Davis wrote:
  Short of an HP Net. Analyzer,   $ 40,000 category,  what do you read about, 
hear about, or have for
such devices that are good for the ham service (testing cable, connectors, 
other devices)  at various freq's up to perhaps  10 GHz  ?

Not 10 GHz, but the VNWA built and sold by a ham in the UK and designed by a prof at a German university goes to 1.3 GHz. It's a small box with the RF circuitry and a USB interface to a computer that also powers from the USB. Two years ago, the 3E version cost me $700 with the SMA calibration kit, delivered to my door. A real winner! It also does TDR by transforming a frequency sweep. Generates data in standard format for import into analysis software like Sim Smith.

http://sdr-kits.net/VNWA3_Description.html

There's a good yahoo group, with active participation by the designer, DG8SAQ, who also authored both firmware and control software, and by the UK ham who sells them. Both firmware and software are stable, but also continue to be developed to add features. Last I heard there's now a Linux version.

Software is a free download, and runs without a connection to the hardware. The manual is a 300+ page pdf.

73, Jim K9YC
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