5. Calibration of the analyzer

The various operations performed by the user prior to measurement are encompassed by the English term calibration, which we will translate as calibrage even though the term calibration is too often used in manufacturers' instructions. These are in fact operations that allow the device to be placed in conditions where its readings are representative of the quantity to be measured: without this adjustment, the raw readings from the analyzer are in fact meaningless (especially with regard to phase). Since a network analyzer is in fact a measurement chain rather than a measuring device, its calibration constants (or correction coefficients) are stored digitally and are used to calculate the measurement values from the raw readings of the analyzer. These correction coefficients are obtained from the measurement of reference junctions that act as working standards: these are junctions with well-known...