Anyone Can Use a VNA
This entire week the four of us (me, Kristy, Michelle, and Konstantin) have been taking measurements of our amplifiers with a VNA — which stands for Vector Network Analyzer. This device basically sends a given amount of power into the input of the amplifier and measures the power coming out of the device. It more complicated than that, but that is the general idea. The test procedure requires one to be fairly meticulous and patient, and new problems arose every time we tried taking measurements. From bad calibrations to a thunderstorm that reset all the instruments, from buggy computer programs to incorrect formulas, we’ve learned a lot this week. Things are definitely picking up for us, because we have only about 3 weeks left perform the experiments before we enter into full-time data analysis and paper/presentation writing mode. I’ve been leaving the lab lately at past 7pm.
We played Ultimate Frisbee on Wednesday, which felt good except for the heat and humidity. I missed some easy catches, but overall it was good. Konstantin was jackknifed by Amanda, which was a sight to see. There is a MERIT/TREND Basketball tournament in the works as well, so I need to start practicing my shot again.
I spent a few hours in the library on Tuesday looking through graduate school rankings. I want to devote a few hours each week to looking into graduate schools and getting ready to apply for national scholarships and fellowships.
I was planning on heading into Washington, D.C. tomorrow but it looks to be raining the whole weekend. Tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. is the Germany vs. Sweden match, so I’ll watch that. Go Sweden!
