I have been asked to give a presentation on these small VNAs, partly because I was an early adopter, even if I have not been that active for the past 18 months.
I borrowed a
-H v3.6 firmware DisLord r1.1.101
-H4 v4.3 firmware DisLord r1.1.401 (it appears)
-F v?? firmware BH5HNU r0.1.4

I ran some in-VNA scans, and saved the 2sp files for comparison.
I then thought to try the extended calibrations, so I began with the -H.
NanoVNA-App 1.1.208 was not very intuitive, but I managed [apparently] to complete an 800 point cal over 1MHz-31MHz. I save the scan and screen image. I also saved the cal, but it is not clear how to apply it next time I start NanoVNA-App.
NanoVNA Saver 0.3.10 was less tractable. I completed a 1010 point cal. Each time I /apply/ it, NanoVNA Saver crashes and exits.
I actively search the web and forums before I post, but I can't find a reference to this.

~R~
72/73 de Rich NE1EE
The Dusty Key
On the banks of the Piscataqua

On Fri, Apr 1, 2022 at 09:26 AM, Rich NE1EE wrote:

I ran some in-VNA scans, and saved the 2sp files for comparison.
I then thought to try the extended calibrations, so I began with the -H.
NanoVNA-App 1.1.208 was not very intuitive, but I managed [apparently] to
complete an 800 point cal over 1MHz-31MHz. I save the scan and screen image. I
also saved the cal, but it is not clear how to apply it next time I start
NanoVNA-App.
NanoVNA Saver 0.3.10 was less tractable. I completed a 1010 point cal. Each
time I /apply/ it, NanoVNA Saver crashes and exits.
I actively search the web and forums before I post, but I can't find a
reference to this.

I find NanoVNA Saver calibration occasionally fails and the program crashes. Others have reported this as well. This has existed for many versions and seems to happen less on one of my NanoVNA's than the other. The reason given is that it only does limited out-of bounds checking when doing the calibration math equations.

NanoVNA-app has a much more robust cal routine and I have not had any problems. Attached is a screenshot which shows what you need to do to use it. First step is to select whether you are using the NanoVNA cal parameters or the NanoVNA app ones.

Roger

1. NanoVNA Saver calibration occasionally fails and the program crashes. --- Well, that sorta limits the usefulness of using segmented sweeps, which I wanted to demo. Oh, well.
2 NanoVNA-app --- thanks for this tip and the image. Turns out that it was already set to app, unknown to me. So I
a. made sure the VNA was running/sweeping
b. set points to 801
c. when I hit Reset SOLT, it set the Cal to None.
d. I did a cal, assuming as I went that it was doing an 801-pt cal. It seems to capture data much faster than NanoVNA Saver, making me suspicious of the 801 value.
e. It seems to have worked. I am analyzing an antenna, and the results are similar to what I expect.
f. I think I discovered another TRICK. I saw a scroll bar at the bottom of the -App screen, and moved the slider. My plot /disappeared/ and /reappeared/. It may well be that I was looking at the wrong history index previously, and that is why I saw nothing on the plot, and assumed the sweep had failed.
g. I loaded the -App s2p file into Saver, and ran a Saver sweep. It was sorta uncalibrated, because Saver won't apply a 10X sweep cal or 1010 points.Those 2 sweeps are close enough for me.
I owe many folks here some thanks, because without their effort and tips, I'd still be stumbling along. I still need to prepare for my VNA presentation to the local ham club, so maybe I'll make that deadline.
--
~R~
72/73 de Rich NE1EE
The Dusty Key
On the banks of the Piscataqua