The investigation of MINIVNAPRO Vector Network Analyzer

Abstract

There are several types of network analyzers available today. However, Vector Network Analyzer is considered to be one of the best analyzers because it measures magnitude and phase as well as determine the performance of the radio frequency circuits. VNA is a very popular choice among radio frequency engineers and they use this device to investigate the complex circuits to increase the efficiency and signal integrity of circuits. Due to the large size of VNA, the engineers have developed many different smaller versions of VNA and among all them Minivna pro is considered the most popular network analyzer with software interface and many new features like cable length measurement, built-in Bluetooth for remote measurement and the ability to export data in several formats. Since Minivna pro has a relatively low frequency range, an “extender” device is available for increasing the frequency range. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the features of Minivna pro and show that Minivna pro is compatible with HP VNA 8714B. The main idea was to measure the resonance frequency of different types of antennas as well as cable attenuation in both Minivna pro and HP VNA 8714B with 300 kHz- 3000 MHz frequency range. This paper provides cable length measurement using Minivna pro and some of the calculations regarding antenna resonance was done by using an octave. According to the measurement results of this thesis, Minivna pro can be used as effectively as HP VNA 8714B to analyze the RF circuits. The results of the measurements performed by Minivna pro are closer to the specification of cable attenuation in the Coax Cable Datasheet when compared to the HP VNA 8714B. Resonance frequency measurements were also performed and the results were very close between HP VNA 8714B, Minivna pro and the theoretical calculations from an octave.