[time-nuts] VNA design

Attila Kinali attila at kinali.ch
Mon Jun 2 13:15:58 EDT 2014


On Mon, 2 Jun 2014 09:01:37 -0700
Chris Albertson <albertson.chris at gmail.com> wrote:

> Today you can do most of the processing in software.  All you need is A/D
> and D/A converters that can handle the required bandwidth and get the raw
> numbers into the computer.   Look up "SDR" type radios and search on the
> combination of SDR and VNA and you'll find a few.     Then with the same
> hardware you have a VNA, spectrum analyzer, oscilloscope, low power
> transceiver and so on.   This idea is somewhat easy through HF.

That's actually the base idea. Get some wide range synthesizer
(eg like HMC832LP6GE or LTC6946) for the test signal and one for
the detection part. Mix down the received signal and use some ADC
to move into digital domain. There preprocess the data in an FPGA
(data reduction) and do all difficult stuff in the PC.

Yes, it all sounds so easy. But i'm sure there must be some trap
in there, which i cannot see yet.

				Attila Kinali

-- 
I pity people who can't find laughter or at least some bit of amusement in
the little doings of the day. I believe I could find something ridiculous
even in the saddest moment, if necessary. It has nothing to do with being
superficial. It's a matter of joy in life.
			-- Sophie Scholl


More information about the time-nuts mailing list