Characterization of a portable and low cost system for practical dielectric spectroscopy
A portable setup for measurements of complex permittivity based on ad-hoc arrangements is proposed and its performance compared to the ones of a bench system. The measurement setup consists of a portable spectrum analyzer (used as vector network analyzer, VNA) connected to an open-end coaxial cable for S-11 acquisition. Scattering parameters were processed using custom Labview software specifically developed to obtain complex permittivity of liquids and soft materials in real-time. A suitable calibration procedure, based on a differential principle, enables accurate measurements.