Creating A Calibration Kit

For Network Analysis:
              A Calibration is a characterization of the adapters, hook-up cables, Analyzer, electrically the way they are connected to the analyzer and the removal of their errors. The Calibration will entail an electrical coefficients list that will be called up and compared to the physical connections of calibration standards. This comparison will then be used to generate solutions to the error model inside the Analyzer and create adjustments in the measurements. These adjustments will have the effect of creating a reference plane at which all the errors in the set up will be accounted for and removed.  This will allow the Device Under Test (D.U.T.) to be measured accurately.Calibrations are necessary because they provide a means to remove errors which normally cannot be easily approximated or ignored. Because of their non-linear nature and because of repeatability problems that occur without calibration, the level of uncertainty for the measurement will increase dramatically with the increase of frequency and dynamic range. A calibration kit is the electrical coefficients list (For SPECIFIC PHYSICAL STANDARDS) inside the Network Analyzer. Since this list is specific to certain standards, care must be used when proceeding since errors will be added into the results if the incorrect calibration kit is specified for a coefficients list. Currently calibration kits come in some basic types listed in Table 2. More kits become available when market demand creates new connectors and adapters to test them.

A calibration is the completed effort of physically connecting the standards, the Network Analyzer measures them for it’s calculations, the Network Analyzer stores the calibration coefficients. Calibrations should never be re-used if physical changes are made to a set-up. (simply turn off the correction and re-calibrate when recalling an instrument state.) A calibration set is the list of electrical calibration coefficients for the removal of errors. It can not be used or saved without an accompanying instrument state.  An Instrument state is all of the settings the Analyzer may have. This may be recalled to speed up testing needs because these setting are independent of errors. It cannot be used or saved without an accompanying calibration set. (simply turn off the correction and re-calibrate when recalling an instrument state.)  A Calibration kit is a physical group of carefully constructed standards that is defined electrically by the Calibration set.  The Calibration set to use must be selected after considering the options listed in Table 1, 2, 3. More options may present themselves as the choices of store bought and designed locally calibration kits and fixtures increase. Table 2 has the current calibration kits and their intended use listed.