Coax/Antenna Analyzer Recommendations

[cpg178]

Looking to purchase something so I can sweep coax and antennas, I see a Anritsu S330A Site Master Cable & Antenna Analyzer for sale on embay for about $600, it looks like it will do what I need... is this worth it or should I spend a bit of money on something newer? This is mainly for hobby use

 

[rf_patriot200]

Looking to purchase something so I can sweep coax and antennas, I see a Anritsu S330A Site Master Cable & Antenna Analyzer for sale on embay for about $600, it looks like it will do what I need... is this worth it or should I spend a bit of money on something newer? This is mainly for hobby use

Enritsu's are Very good from what our repeater owner says. He owns one himself, but I don't recall the model.

 

[mmckenna]

Anritsu is nice, they make good stuff. If you can find a good one in good shape.
I've got an Agilent spectrum analyzer at work with the tracking generator.
Hobby use? NanoVNA will do what a lot of people need. I have a Nano VNA at home so I don't have to bring the work stuff to do quick tests.

 

[tweiss3]

It also depends how high you need to go? Is 900MHz high enough, or do you want GHz coverage? I have a NanoVNA and a TinySA, but I did end up getting a RigExperts Stick XPro that does up to 1000MHz. For the quick check, its instantly faster than the NanoVNA, and the app is helpful for capturing data, but it was expensive. Beyond that, the NanoVNA will do anything you need hobbywise.

For the Anritsu S330A, it only does 700MHz to 3300MHz, so it won't do typical UHF/VHF/HF if that's what you intend to use it on.

 

[cpg178]

For the Anritsu S330A, it only does 700MHz to 3300MHz, so it won't do typical UHF/VHF/HF if that's what you intend to use it on.

Thanks for this, there was limited info on the ebay listing. Looking for VHF/UHF no need for 7/800 or higher

Hobby use? NanoVNA will do what a lot of people need. I have a Nano VNA at home so I don't have to bring the work stuff to do quick tests.

Looking to have something to sweep my coax for my repeater, and some unused runs/antennas on the site that may be of use.

 

[mmckenna]

Looking to have something to sweep my coax for my repeater, and some unused runs/antennas on the site that may be of use.

That would be worth the extra cost for a good one, especially one with a good tracking generator so you can tune duplexers. One with a nice big display makes life easier.

 

[cpg178]

That would be worth the extra cost for a good one, especially one with a good tracking generator so you can tune duplexers. One with a nice big display makes life easier.

Any recommendations, it looks like a lot of these are meant more for the cellular world.

 

[mmckenna]

Any recommendations, it looks like a lot of these are meant more for the cellular world.

I've got an Agilent at work. N9342C. I think about 12 years ago it was $18K new. Probably find it a lot cheaper on the used market. It'll do up to 7GHz, which you probably don't need. You would want the tracking generator. Mine will sweep coax and analyze antennas. I don't use it very often anymore, but when I do, it's a nice unit to work with.

I've heard the FieldFox units are nice, but never used one myself.

I know there's a lot of cellular only stuff out there on the used market. I think just looking closely at what they are selling is important.

 

[merlin]

My suggestion is the NANO VNA. I have the H4 model that includes a TDR which is perfect for analyzing coax and feeds.
It has more functions than the average hobyist would need, but capable of the engineering grade like the Anritsu.
Pretty good for less than $100.

 

[N4DES]

I'm using the Rig Expert and have been very pleased with it.

Antenna and Cable analyzers (VNA) Архіви - RigExpert

Antenna and Cable analyzers (VNA) . Rig Expert Ukraine Ltd. Is a leading developer and manufacturer of antenna analyzers, transceiver interfaces, and amateur radio software

rigexpert.com

 

[freddaniel]

Attached is the comparison chart for the older Anritsu antenna analyzers. These also sweep feedlines for total loss and do TDR sweeps for shorts, lumps and kinks. Some also come with Spectrum Analyzers built in. Like with a VNA, to calibrate you need a SIMPLE shorted connector and a reasonably flat 50 ohm load that covers 0 to 1 GHz. I also use a 10 dB attenuator that measures at 20 dB return loss for a calibration test.

Also look for a MT8212B analyzer. It has everything and lots are available on Ebay.

 

[cpg178]

Thanks everyone for the help! All this will get me pointed in the right direction!

 

[speedway_navigator]

I got a nano VNA about a month ago and just started testing it. The cal load for my Site hawk shows as 34.9 dB return loss at 454.250 on the Bird, my Copper mountain R54 shows 32.3 dB and the nano 25.9 dB. This was done using 400-500 MHz. I am still learning the nano menu system, I did calibrate before taking the S11 reading so I'm wondering about the 6 dB difference.

The Bird reading was done with their blue cable, I had to use a female barrel adapter with the cable on the R54. I used the nano SMA cable with an adapter to the N load so that accounts for some difference. The SMA coax has 0.11 dB cable loss.

The cal kit with the nano is pretty poor for the short and open, the load is 40 dB on my R54 calibrated with a Siglent kit. These Smith charts show the short and load, the red arrows show the ideal reading on the horizontal line.

 

[Ubbe]

When measuring antennas they are still active receiving everything in the air. A bad analyzer has no protection for that and could also very easily overload and give false results. The best analyzers use some kind of coded signal, a special modulation scheme, so that only the signal that comes back with that specific signature are analyzed and not a bunch of other transmitters in the frequency band you are analyzing.

I worked with a Site master, don't remember the model but it was something like $3,500, and that still had some issues if it was a transmitter antenna in the same frequency band too close on the roof. They can't handle too big signals, at least not in that price range.

/Ubbe

 

[speedway_navigator]

A bad analyzer has no protection for that and could also very easily overload and give false results.

I use an example of that in my ETA class. Even a good VNA has limits, the R54 is 23 dBm, the Site hawk is 22 dBm, even has ! next to the connector extra warning. One of our intrepid members saw this situation the day after he took my class and was kind enough to send a photo of the screen.

 

[cavmedic]

I use an example of that in my ETA class. Even a good VNA has limits, the R54 is 23 dBm, the Site hawk is 22 dBm, even has ! next to the connector extra warning. One of our intrepid members saw this situation the day after he took my class and was kind enough to send a photo of the screen.

Yes, it was a VHF paging transmitter about 30 feet away . There was 7 watts reflected power every time that transmitter went on the air and the site master gave me the middle finger. The only way I could properly test the antenna system was to unplug the inbound link antenna on the offending paging machine.