About VNA Lab

Making Accurate RF Measurements More Accessible

VNA Lab was founded with a straightforward goal: to make high-quality VNA calibration accessible without the price tag that has traditionally come with it.

Roger Henderson, who drives the vision behind VNA Lab, has a background spanning automation, software development, and electronics, with many years of hands-on experience building, repairing, and experimenting with vector network analysers. That time spent working directly with VNA hardware — understanding what makes them tick and what makes them fail — is what drives the approach taken here.

VNA hardware has come down significantly in price over recent years. Capable instruments are now within reach of small labs, universities, independent engineers, and serious hobbyists. But quality calibration kits have not followed the same trajectory. A calibration kit that meets the accuracy demands of a modern VNA can still cost as much as the instrument itself. VNA Lab exists to close that gap.

How the Kits Are Characterised

Every VNA Lab calibration kit is individually characterised — not batch-characterised or assumed to match a generic model. Measurements are performed on a VNA calibrated with a genuine Agilent 85052C precision 3.5 mm calibration kit, one of the reference standards used by HP, Agilent, and Keysight for their own calibration work.

Each standard in the kit is measured and the results are provided as:

  • Touchstone S1P data files — measured reflection data across the frequency range, ready to load directly into your VNA, custom software or RF modelling package
  • Polynomial coefficients — fitted to the measured data for use directly on older VNAs which lack Touchstone support
  • Companion calibration software (coming soon) — performs offline calibration calculations using the Touchstone S1P data and uploads the result directly to your VNA, regardless of whether it natively supports Touchstone files. This brings the higher accuracy of Touchstone-based calibration to older instruments that would otherwise be limited to polynomial coefficients

This means your VNA is working from characterisation data specific to your kit, not a population average. The result is calibration accuracy that reflects the actual behaviour of the standards you are using.

Reference Standards and Calibration Methods

The characterisation process references HP/Agilent/Keysight calibration methodology, including the 85033 and 85052 series standards. Supported calibration methods include SOLT (Short-Open-Load-Thru), OSLT, and TRL (Thru-Reflect-Line), covering the needs of most modern VNA platforms.

Coming Soon: VNA Calibration Software

We are currently developing a companion software package that takes the complexity out of applying characterisation data to your VNA. The software integrates with most VNA platforms and performs offline calibration calculations using the Touchstone S1P and polynomial data supplied with your kit. Once complete, it uploads the finished calibration directly to your VNA — regardless of whether the instrument natively supports Touchstone files.

This means the full accuracy of individually characterised standards will be available to users of older or more basic instruments, not just those with modern Touchstone-capable VNAs. More details will be announced as development progresses.

Who This Is For

VNA Lab kits are designed for RF and microwave engineers, researchers, and technically demanding users who need calibration they can trust — and who would rather spend their budget on measurement capability than on a brand name. If you have questions about which kit suits your application or VNA platform, get in touch.