eBay
Important
eBay have listed this item on multiple European websites, performing a translation of the English language version to local languages. We can only provide technical support in the English language for this product. It is a technical product, so you may require technical support. Please no not purchase this unless you have a fairly good understanding of the English language.


Introduction.
This is a low cost calibration and verification kit that is well suited for Anritsu VNAs. We can supply data files for the Anritsu VectorStar, Lightning and ShockLine VNAs, so setting those instruments up to use this kit is very simple. For other Anritsu VNAs, we can provide the coefficients in the format needed by Anritsu VNAs, but they will need to be entered manually, by whatever method is described in the manual.

Data on the standards is available in the format used by Anritsu from

http://www.kirkbymicrowave.co.uk/support/downloads/Kits/85033/Anritsu/

More general support information about the kit, which is not specific to Anritsu, can be found at

http://www.kirkbymicrowave.co.uk/support/Kits/85033/

We also have an FAQ,

The kit also works with most other makes of VNA such as Rohde & Schwarz, Agilent, HP, Keysight, Copper Mountain and the VWNA from SDR-kits.

Despite being a precision instrument, a vector network analyzer gets most of its accuracy from the calibration kit. A decent calibration kit is essential for accurate use of a VNA. This is true for both phase and amplitude measurements. Accurate electrical models are needed of the opens and short circuits. A number of eBay sellers (e.g. rfshopuk, fitowtestequipment) sell low-cost calibration kits, but these are effectively useless, as they don't have the mathematical models of the opens and shorts necessary to load the constants into a VNA, and I doubt they have optimal phase difference between open and short. With this calibration kit, there is a support page with information on what coefficients to use for Rohde & Schwarz.

The design of this kit is vastly superior to that of other cheap calibration kits sold on eBay and elsewhere.  Using a combination of
  • Accurate physical measurements
  • Computer simulations with a 3D EM modeller,
  • Measurements with a professional VNA which has a calibration certificate after it was recently calibrated by Agilent
  • Design and testing by a chartered engineer with a Ph.D.
an SMA kit has been produced which has good performance to 7 GHz for the majority of applications.

The kit includes all the components necessary to
  • Do single port (S11 or S22 calibration)
  • Do a full 2-port calibration, assuming you have a VNA with a S-parameter test set.
  • Perform unknown-thru calibration, assuming your VNAs firmware supports this powerful calibration technique.
  • Measure the properties of non-insertable devices - those with male SMAs at each end, or females SMA at each end (An insertable device, which has a male connector one end and a female the other is easier to measure)
  • Perform a verification that the calibration has been successful, by comparing the results you measure on the supplied 18 GHz attenuator, to the measurements on a professional vector network analyzer (HP 8720D), with the high-end and very expensive 85052B calibration kit. 
The kits includes
  • Male short,
  • Male open,
  • Male load
  • Female open
  • Female short
  • Female load.
  • An attenuator, complete with both magnitude and phase information of S21 & S12 measured on a 20 GHz HP VNA with the 26.5 GHz HP 85052B calibration kit. The VNA was calibrated by Keysight on 16th September 2014, so it within its calibration period. (A copy of the calibration certificate is available online.) The attenuator will allow you to verify the VNA you are using is accurately calibrated, and with no significant errors. 
  • M-M adapter with measured electrical length, to help in making measurements on non-insertable devices.
  • F-F adapter with measured electrical length, to help in making measurements on non-insertable devices.
  • USB stick with data on it on the measured devices (return loss of loads, S-parameters of the attenuator)
  • A very high quality Peli case, which is waterproof and dustproof (IP67 rated). This is available in yellow and black. If you intend taking the kit outside to use it for antenna work, then we would suggest the yellow case is the most visable. 
Specifications.

Return loss of loads is:
>= 32 dB up to 7 GHz.

Phase difference from open to short.
The ideal difference in phase between the open and short is 180 degrees, but in practice it is not possible to achieve this due to the non-linear fringing capacitance of the opens. However, the design of this kit is such that the difference in phase between the male opens and shorts stays very close to 180 degrees, which is the ideal value. If you look at the photo of the VNA screen, which shows females at the top, and males at the bottom, you might notice the phase difference between the open and short is always close to 4 vertical squares, where each square is 45 degrees, even though the phase has changed by more than 360 degrees on the males! 

On the male standards, the phase never differs by more than 12 degrees from the optimal 180 degrees at 11 GHz, and on the female standards, the difference is never more than 7 degrees to 11 GHz. These values are well within acceptable levels, and do not result in 12 degree phase errors, as the difference is taken into account by the fringing capacitance coefficients. (At 7 GHz, which is the frequency limit of the kit, they are better).

In summary, this is an economical calibration kit, far below the cost of those from Anritsu and is infinitely superior to the cheap junk cal kits sold on eBay and elsewhere.

Shipping
 
Kits will always be Fedex, DHL or UPS in the UK, Europe or USA, but may be different for other locations. The shipping charges are computed automatically when you make the purchase on eBay.

We need a telephone number for the courier. If you order both our N & SMA kits, pay for both then we will refund you the excess carriage charge.

Dr. David Kirkby B.Sc M.Sc Ph.D, C.Eng MIET.