Welcome, and first-hour box opening experience (6/3/2019)
Welcome to nanovna-users. This group is intended as a discussion forum for users of nanovna small VNA devices. A co-moderator will be needed (please contact if you'd like to participate.) My NanoVNA was ordered May 18, 2019 and delivered (US) June 3, 2019. ebay seller was "vrg5612" (selected with no particular research) and price paid was US$ 85.21 shipped. I have near-beginner-level experience with HP 8753 series. Included: Translucent plastic carry box (might be sufficient to carry it around.) NanoVNA unit (has transparent plastic peel-off screen protector.) Two ~30cm SMA M-M patch cables (appear to be LMR100 or similar size coax, fairly flexible.) SMA-M open, short and load; SMA F-F adapter (all are "standard" SMA, not RP type.) USB-C cable No documentation nor software. Physical observations: 1. The "enclosure" is not a full enclosure - the sides are exposed; only a top, bottom and middle layer cover exists between the circuitry and the outside world. Major disappointment. 2. The thumbwheel switch (upper right corner) is very very poor quality and may not survive normal use. Fortunately, it seems like it isn't often necessary to use, but not sure if unit remains usable if the switch fails. Major disappointment. 3. Handy size and definitely usable without a PC (I haven't tried attaching PC yet.) If it works suitably, will meet my need for a quick tool for non-critical measurements within it's limitations. Start-up/first use observations: 0. Plug it into a USB charger immediately. Not sure if the battery had an initial charge. Started it after sitting on charger for a few minutes. No idea about battery life yet, but kept going for some minutes after I unplugged the cable. Haven't tried connecting to a PC yet. 1. Boots in a bit over 1 second from power switch on to an initial default start state (50 kHz - 900 MHz sweep, all 4 trace colors enabled - first order of business is to disable the unneeded traces as the screen is very busy otherwise.) Pleased about boot time (although it probably does little if any self-testing, and I saw no menus that lead to any sort of self-testing.) 2. Screen intensity, resolution and size are adequate for my needs (size any smaller and I'd regret it.) 3. Touch screen navigation works sufficiently so far. Slightly small for my fingers, but I'll probably get used to it (I hate typing on my cell phone but I survive, after a fashion.) Menu (upper right corner touch) and direct numeric input (lower right corner touch) activation areas and buttons are large enough. The numeric input screen has no method for minus sign input (i.e., reference value = -20 dB wasn't possible, still puzzling over this one). I *think* the screen buttons are also time sensitive (short vs long press) but not sure yet (sometimes a menu disappears, other times is transitions to the next menu; seems likely this is just a "get used to it" situation to figure out what the author intended.) 4. Menu hierarchy is loosely patterned in some areas after HP 8753 (in a few cases very similar). During first-hour so navigation (with the non-supplied documentation) navigation was sufficiently "figure-outable" to examine a SAW filter I'm playing with right now. Some trial-and-error was necessary but within the first hour I was making an uncalibrated measurement (haven't tried calibration yet). Discovered (fortunately) that the (expect to be cursed) thumbwheel seems unessential, at least so far. The 8753-inspired (generous term) menu system was a relief to see as it did speed up the learning curve. 5. I was looking for something analogous to the HP 8753 "preset" button to quickly return to a default state. Found nothing. Turning off and on (slide switch; no apparent menu entry for this) has the same effect. Don't know if any data can be preserved across a reset (didn't try). Summary first thoughts - $86 (I've since seen some cheaper offers) was OK price for the item received (I wouldn't have paid much more than this). My only significant complaints at this point are the incomplete enclosure and the thumbwheel control. My biggest relief s
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Corrected group account misconfiguration (was "announcement group", set in error)
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My configuration error has been corrected. You should be able to post without error, however, your first two posts will require moderator approval, beyond which your posts will be unimpeded. Thank you for your patience. 73 Dave WB0GAZ wb0gaz@...
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nano vna form ebay seller pincei-de
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All, I won an auction on eBay for my NAno VNA from the eBay seller pincei-de. According to his positive Reply he seems to be new. They sent the item very fast via air mail. But: instead of the VNA I only got a gift and the promise that they will send the vna in a a second parcel. Concerning their tracking number they gave me in an acompaening letter this number does not exist.--- yet???? Very strange! https://www.ebay.de/itm/50KHz-900MHz-Vector-Network-Analyzer-NanoVNA-HF-VHF-UHF-Antenna-Analyzer-2-8/382978147325?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 Who in this group has already received his Nano VNA?
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Anyone pushed the available firmware versions to their unit yet? Comments?
I've pushed both the nanoVNA_900_AA_20190611.dfu and nanoVNA_900_ch_20190505.dfu firmware to my 'Gecko' VNA and have found that they were compiled by gen111.taobao.com as that URL appears on the startup screen under the nanoVNA name. I would be interested to hear if any others have pushed any of the firmware found in the download archives mentioned previously in this group. I've noticed that they don't always start up and just hang at the boot screen. Comments?
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Ordered a VNA, seller no longer listed
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Last week I ordered a NanoVNA on ebay from a seller in Hong Kong. Ebay later sent me a message stating that they had dropped the seller (idesheng999) and saying "This user is no longer registered on eBay". Hopefully it will arrive; if not, ebay will refund my payment, but it certainly will delay my getting a hold of the VNA. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this seller or this situation? Stuart K6YAZLos Angles, California USA
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what does your NanoVNA circuit board look like?
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I just received my NanoVNA yesterday and it was shipped without the battery. I noticed there are unused pads directly below the coil, one of which connects to VCC batt. There is also a spot for a TF card slot. I would appreciate if other NanoVNA owners could post photos of their boards for a comparison to see if there are different versions being sold. Also, does anyone know if there is a touchscreen calibration routine available? Mine is way off. Thanks Larry
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New member new user of nanoVNA
Good day, I received the unit this week and so far the out of box experience has been positive. A ham colleague who has built several other VNA's as well as he and I used big box VNA's are quite surprised by its capability. The unit arrived with battery, still holding charge as it ran out of the box for about 45 minutes. Run time after full charge, about 2.5 to 3 hours. I suspect I have a 375 mA/hr battery in the unit. There PC software connects easily to the nanoVNA - 2 track or S11 and provides real time measurements. I constructed a simple impedance match network and easily adjusted while monitoring the pc screen. The cal routine is a bit convoluted. So take care there! I measured there standards on the 8753 after I did a SOLT cal with my hp 3.5 mm standards. And to make a long story short, I believe there top frequency 900 MHz return loss quality is limited to about 18 dB. At VHF and below, 35 to 40 dB is easily met. So as an HF AA, quite excellent. I would like to know if the firmware actually incorporates the SOL standards as defined polynomial coefficients or did they set the SOL standards as IDEAL. I would be happy to the extent I can, answer or discuss topics on this unit. Alan W4AMV
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nanoVNA as an AA
Works very nice. Just measured a NVIS antenna on 40 meters. Spot on with other devices. Suggest putting unit in a black box unless the Sun is hidden by a cloud. For the HF band, suggest store pre cal freq segments to improve resolution. I use 3-10 MHz and 7-21 MHz as examples, that way easy to see the SWR null if one exists. Alan W4AMV
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USPS mis-delivery of nanova package - to wrong zip and STATE! Scam or error?
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I live in Ohio. My nanovna package tracking shows delivery to "Mailbox" in Nebraska on Saturday. USPS "Email Us" site is "temporarily unavailable" and their phone tree is a complete FAIL. I think this is not likely the eBay seller's fault, but an amazing USPS error, since tracking is present. Scam or error? Anyone with advice or comments? Thanks, AC8FD
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Calibration procedure
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Would someone be willing to publish a pictorial description of the calibration process. I have read thru the English version of the manual (no photos of the Cal process at all) and am unclear how I should calibrate for a two port filter measurement. In fact, if someone could show a two port measurement being made, that would be awesome. Tell you what, if someone illustrates the Cal process, I will publish a two port measurement of an LC low pass Butterworth filter... Thanks, Bill
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Inside views...
And with battery upgrade. My unit doesn't have a built in battery, so I found one, for now works... but pretend to update the connections and the battery itself, this one is a "little" big for the place (24x30x5mm) but should be 20x30x5 73's Nuno CT1JQJ
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Active Loop Antenna captured S11
Here is the nanoVNA capturing a 40 meter table top loop. The pre selector is in bypass mode. At these frequencies the response is essentially spot on with the big box. This much fun should be illegal. Alan
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Calibration coefficients - can one change them?
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I've got nanoVNA on order, but don't have it yet. It's not due to at least 4th July, so that's no big surprise. Can anyone tell me if one can change the coefficients of the open/short/load kit? I just have done a test with 4 sorts of opens. The connector was a male N, so the calibration standard a female N. But anyway, here are the results at 902.625 MHz, which is the nearest frequency I have any data. (I had calibrated to 18 GHz for another job, so don't have data at exactly 900 MHz, but this is as close as makes no practical difference) *Male N plug just open. No female standard*. Phase = +4.64722 degrees @ 902.62500 Female open standard from HP 85032B open standard, used without any extender, as it is NOT supposed to be. Phase = +4.64014 degrees @ 902.62500 MHz Female open standard from HP 85032B calibration kit, with the extender, as it SHOULD be used -3.65161 degrees @ 902.62500 MHz Female Open standard from HP 85054B 18 GHz calibration kit. Phase = -18.18457 @ 902.62500 MHz IMPORTANT The male N plug was a metrology grade male-male adapter from an HP 85054B VNA calibration kit. Since the shape of the male pin is not well defined, and commercial grade connectors are recessed by various amounts, I would not expect this result to be reproducible with different connectors, but fairly substantial variations Anyway, the conclusion is that for the female N calibration standards, the phase varies from +4.6 to -18.2 degrees at 902 MHz. So a phase variation of 22.8 degrees depending on what calibration standard one uses. The variation would be smaller at lower frequencies, but depending on what the nanoVNA assumes about the calibration standard, one could get quite different results. Ideally, one needs to be able to enter the offset delay of the calibration standards as an *absolute minimum.* The fringe capacitance would be nice too, but could just about get away without that, as one could do a rough job of compensation via changing the offset delay. Better still would be a third order polynomial, which would make entering coefficients from a commercial calibration kit easy, without trying to work out any compensation values. If the firmware is dumb enough to assume the open standard is ideal (phase = 0 degrees), and the short is ideal (phase = 180 degrees), then it would cause significant errors. Likewise, if the firmware made assumptions about the SMA kit supplied, those assumptions would be wrong if a different SMA, 3.5 mm, N or APC cali kit was used. Even if you are not interested in phase measurements, be aware of the fact the point of the vector correction is to correct for amplitude variations too. Anyone that believes that they don't need to worry about vector correction, as they are only interested in amplitude measurements, is seriously mistaken. Dave -- Dr David Kirkby Ph.D C.Eng MIET Kirkby Microwave Ltd Registered office: Stokes Hall Lodge, Burnham Rd, Althorne, CHELMSFORD, Essex, CM3 6DT, United Kingdom. Registered in England and Wales as company number 08914892 https://www.kirkbymicrowave.co.uk/ Tel 01621-680100 / +44 1621-680100
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Battery/software?
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Has anyone got a source for the battery? Mine came without one. Also, I see a reference to vers 1.2 of NanoVNASharp. I have 1.01. Any link to a possible update? Does it require a firmware update to use 1.2? Tnx! -- 73, Mike, N1JEZ "A closed mouth gathers no feet"
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Link to google drive
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Can someone re-post the link or show what message the google drive link is? Thanks Frank
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Messaging (over USB-C) between nanovna and PC client - documented (or could be)?
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This is somewhat prompted by a recent question about PC application function/capabilities. Is the (USB Communications) messaging between the nanovna unit and the host PC - 1. Documented? 2. Could be documented or reverse engineered (i.e., not encrypted or obfuscated)? If the messaging is or can be documented, that suggests some new capabilities such as headless/scripted operation in a linux host environment (something I could make use of.) Thanks, Dave
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Type of USB connector for the "white nano vna
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Which type of USB connector mtes to the usb port of the nano vna (White Version)? i tried the USB C connector, but it does not match. Furterhmore: how is the internal battery charged: USB cable connected, but powre swithc off?bad battery or At least: on Arrival the unit worked, but after three weeks of non use the battery seems to be discharged although the power switch is off. Very strange. Is mine a bad battery or is tehre some quiescent cutrrent even unde r the off postion Regards Henning Weddig
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Two port response
This is from the nanoVNA black. I think I almost have my head around the cal for this particular box and what traces are meaningful and which are BOGUS. The HF dynamic range is decent. You can set the traces to start from the TOP. The default is 1 box division down, i.e. 007 vs. 008. Alan
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A crystal filter
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Here is a 9 MHz crystal filter which is matched to 50 ohms. The response is in good agreement despite not re calibrating over the proper passband range; say 8-10 MHz. Instead I used the 50 kHz - 900 MHz cal and reset the stimulus range to cover a narrower passband. It would be best if you cal with prior knowledge the filter center and span and not task the interpolation routine. The update rate between the PC and the COM port on the nanoVNA is fast enough to permit real time tuning of the Z match networks. I set the refresh rate to 800 mS. Alan
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Just ordered SA612A
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I looked at my white Gecko, and they are 602's, so I just ordered 4 to replace my 3 (1 spare). They were $1.41 each,, bus ground was $9.26 from?? Newark
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