Scalar network analyzer
can i measur the directivity vs frequency of an antenna using scalar network analyzer ?
I'm not an expert in this topic, but you need to in an anechoic chamber to perform some of these measurements.
Hi Palpurul; Thanks for your reply
i know about the anechoic chamber...
my question is about the scalar network analyzer. If you can watch this video on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ToqJtAs4lU
you can see that it is possible to measure the gain an Amplifier with spectrum analyzer.
i wondring if i can measure the gain of an antenna with same methode with an scalar network analyzer
You need another antenna to receive the radiated field, connected to port 2 of your network analyzer. That receiving antenna will not receive all the power radiated by your antenna, so you need to to calibrate your setup with an antenna of known gain.
You CAN use a scalar network analyzer to measure antennas.
But you have to understand the limitations:
1) Scalar network analyzers have a limited dynamic range....so if the antenna is far away the received signal might be too low to see it. You might have to add a calibrated gain amplifier between the receive antenna and the detector
2) Scalar analyzers receive ALL input signals and display them in unison. So if your antenna has a lot of 2nd harmonic gain, and your signal source is outputing a lot of 2nd harmonic, you will get some odd results. You COULD add an external lowpass filter to fix this