FreeLists / si-list / [SI-LIST] TDR vs. VNA? Which to purchase?

[Tom Cipollone <tom_cip_11551@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,
   
  I realize that this thread has been done before, but as we all know, 
technology changes pretty fast, and what might have been true a year or two 
ago, may not still be true today.
   
  I am ready to make a large investment in signal integrity test equipment for 
my company. I'm probably no more than a week away from the decision. As some of 
you will no doubt suggest to get both, let me just say that I can not afford 
both. I will have one or the other.
   
  I have had the demos and seen the equipment. 
   
  What I do for a living is design boards for digital video, that are comprised 
of many differential pairs, routed closely together. Rising edges are in the 
neighborhood of 100 ps. I want to be able to find and modify discontinuities 
(either capacitive or inductive), determine crosstalk between the pairs and 
measusre jitter (yes, I will need a signal source for that).
   
  If this were as little as two years ago I would have believed that the VNA 
solution would have been the most versatile. However, Tektronix has made a lot 
of progress with their TDR equipment and with their "Iconnect" software. Also, 
there is a big difference in price between the TDR solution and the VNA 
solution.
   
  In appealing to the SI group for opinions I am trying to go beyond my own 
predjudice and the marketing hype.
   
  Thank You
  Tom
   

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