5. Analyzer calibration

The various operations carried out by the user prior to measurement are referred to as calibration, even though the term is all too often used in manufacturers' manuals. In fact, these operations enable the device to be placed in conditions where its indications are representative of the quantity to be measured: in the absence of this adjustment, the analyzer's raw indications are in fact a priori insignificant (especially where phase is concerned). Since a network analyzer is in fact a measurement chain rather than a measuring device, its calibration constants (or corrective coefficients) are stored digitally, enabling measurement values to be calculated from the analyzer's raw indications. These corrective coefficients are obtained from the measurement of reference junctions, which act as working standards: these are junctions with well-known coefficients (for example, the short-circuit...