Although I prefer to work from my home office, where all the necessary tools and equipment are to hand, clients will sometimes ask me to work at their own offices. Practically, this can be a real issue for both parties as although the client will probably have some basic RF measurement equipment, they are unlikely to own some of the specialist kit required for antenna design, such as a VNA (Vector Network Analyser). Short team equipment rental isn’t always possible or economical and for long team hire, a good VNA can cost several thousand pounds a month and would almost certainly be left idle when I wasn’t on site.

So, when it came to updating my old equipment, portability became one of the key factors in my selection, though I was keen not to let quality and functionality suffer as a result. After much research, I selected the Shockline MS46122A 8 GHz Analyser from Anritsu. At around 1/12 the physical volume of my old VNA it was decidedly more portable. OK it doesn’t have a screen so you need to use it with your laptop, but since I’m bound to have this with me on a client visit, it’s hardly an issue.

This is a win for both the clients and myself. They don’t incur the additional cost of hiring the equipment each time I visit and I can offer a more flexible, value added service.

The portability problem!

Andy Knowles

Tuesday, August 16, 2016