Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Maynard and others:
You and we were most fortunate to be initiated with one of the most robust sunspot cycles of modern times in 1957!!
Same story at pre-Nano VNA KN1CJO in southern Maine. Worked all over the place, including all TV sets in the neighborhood.
Antenna was classic Windom, usual length, but fed with 300 feet of single wire to bannana plug into the DX-20 antenna port, me serving as T-R relay.
We are equally fortunate to still be able to remember all that, and be alive to write about
Ed McCann
AG6CX
Sausalito
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On Mar 31, 2025, at 8:45?AM, Maynard Wright, P. E., W6PAP via groups.io <ma.wright@...> wrote:
?I got my Novice license in 1957 and used a single wire routed out the window and up to the brick chimney and then across the yard about 100 feet to a pole. It worked fine, with my best DX using a Knight Kit 50 watt (input) transmitter being an Argentine station in Antarctica. I worked a few Japanese stations and some South Americans from my QTH in Northern California, never realizing that my antenna was really awful.
When I upgraded from Novice to Conditional in 1958, I used a 100TH with the same antenna to work folks on AM and CW. With either transmitter, I had to stand up and throw a knife switch on the wall to go from receive to transmit.
I also still have a bunch of QSL cards from that era that bring back nice memories.
The important thing was that my Knight Kit with a pi-network and my 100TH with a swinging link coupler didn't care much about the SWR. I simply tuned for about a 10% drop in plate current and no red glow from the 100TH and everything worked fine. With a modern transmitter that wants something approximating 50 ohms, such an antenna would require a tuner and the losses in the tuner might use up a lot of the generated RF energy.
My most modern rigs here still use pi-networks, which is why I can get away with using a wire in the attic draped over air conditioning ducts and water pipes and work DX, not like a real DXer would want, but enough for a casual guy.
73,
Maynard
W6PAP
On 3/31/25 08:07, Jon via groups.io wrote:
Joe,
I got licensed a decade after you and did not have a chance to use a balun
or 50 ohms coax then. My 40 and 80m dipoles were fed by 75 ohms TV cable. I
did not have an SWR meter either. Still I could work a lot of DX including
a few W land stations with my homebrew 3 x 807 radio, 120W CW and straight
key. I still have a couple of W land QSL cards in my precious collection.
73
Jon, VU2JO
On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 7:50?PM Joe WB9SBD via groups.io <nss=
[email protected]> wrote:
Yup!
The Balun Craze is a new Generation thing. Got licensed in 1975, Never
ever heard of a Balun.
All my dipoles were direct feed.
Only till recently has the myth of a dipole without a balun will not work.
just like a 40 meter Dipole will not work on 15 meters!
tell that to all the Novices that got their license in the 70's.
Joe WB9SBD
On 3/31/2025 8:53 AM, Zack Widup via groups.io wrote:
I have never seen a problem feeding a dipole directly with an unbalanced
feedline. The last dipoles I had up (which were for 40 and 30 meters) were
just fed by connecting the two leads of the coax directly to the antenna
wires attached to an insulator at the center of the antenna. SWR in both
cases, when the antenna was trimmed, were around 1.05:1. And I worked 180
countries on 40 m CW with that antenna and Japan fairly often on 30 m CW.
Zack W9SZ
<
Virus-free.www.avg.com
<
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 7:59?AM Bob Ecclestone VK2ZRE via groups.io
<becclest@...> wrote:
Hello Hobride,
Unfortunately you have not supplied a photo of your test setup.
A dipole is balanced at the feedpoint, your VNA is unbalanced.
I suspect your problem is that you do not have a balun or choke at the
antenna feedpoint to prevent the feeder from affecting the measurement.
I won't make any guess as to why the VSWR appears lowest at 513MHz, but
I do suggest you use a balun or choke at the antenna.
HTH...Bob VK2ZRE
On 31/03/2025 11:25 pm, Milton Engle via groups.io wrote:
You did not indicate the range of your sweep.
Try setting the sweep range to 150MHz to 190MHz, recalibrate open/short/load, then measure.
I suspect that you will find the lowest VSWR near 171MHz, indicating that the element lengths are a bit long.
The third harmonic of 171 is 513
Milt
N3LTQ
On Mar 31, 2025, at 03:51, hobride via groups.io <hobride= [email protected]> wrote:
?Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be
tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is
~41.5
cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a
lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord
and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
I got my Novice license in 1957 and used a single wire routed out the window and up to the brick chimney and then across the yard about 100 feet to a pole. It worked fine, with my best DX using a Knight Kit 50 watt (input) transmitter being an Argentine station in Antarctica. I worked a few Japanese stations and some South Americans from my QTH in Northern California, never realizing that my antenna was really awful.
When I upgraded from Novice to Conditional in 1958, I used a 100TH with the same antenna to work folks on AM and CW. With either transmitter, I had to stand up and throw a knife switch on the wall to go from receive to transmit.
I also still have a bunch of QSL cards from that era that bring back nice memories.
The important thing was that my Knight Kit with a pi-network and my 100TH with a swinging link coupler didn't care much about the SWR. I simply tuned for about a 10% drop in plate current and no red glow from the 100TH and everything worked fine. With a modern transmitter that wants something approximating 50 ohms, such an antenna would require a tuner and the losses in the tuner might use up a lot of the generated RF energy.
My most modern rigs here still use pi-networks, which is why I can get away with using a wire in the attic draped over air conditioning ducts and water pipes and work DX, not like a real DXer would want, but enough for a casual guy.
73,
Maynard
W6PAP
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On 3/31/25 08:07, Jon via groups.io wrote: Joe,
I got licensed a decade after you and did not have a chance to use a balun
or 50 ohms coax then. My 40 and 80m dipoles were fed by 75 ohms TV cable. I
did not have an SWR meter either. Still I could work a lot of DX including
a few W land stations with my homebrew 3 x 807 radio, 120W CW and straight
key. I still have a couple of W land QSL cards in my precious collection.
73
Jon, VU2JO
On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 7:50?PM Joe WB9SBD via groups.io <nss=
[email protected]> wrote:
Yup!
The Balun Craze is a new Generation thing. Got licensed in 1975, Never
ever heard of a Balun.
All my dipoles were direct feed.
Only till recently has the myth of a dipole without a balun will not work.
just like a 40 meter Dipole will not work on 15 meters!
tell that to all the Novices that got their license in the 70's.
Joe WB9SBD
On 3/31/2025 8:53 AM, Zack Widup via groups.io wrote:
I have never seen a problem feeding a dipole directly with an unbalanced
feedline. The last dipoles I had up (which were for 40 and 30 meters) were
just fed by connecting the two leads of the coax directly to the antenna
wires attached to an insulator at the center of the antenna. SWR in both
cases, when the antenna was trimmed, were around 1.05:1. And I worked 180
countries on 40 m CW with that antenna and Japan fairly often on 30 m CW.
Zack W9SZ
<
Virus-free.www.avg.com
<
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 7:59?AM Bob Ecclestone VK2ZRE via groups.io
<becclest@...> wrote:
Hello Hobride,
Unfortunately you have not supplied a photo of your test setup.
A dipole is balanced at the feedpoint, your VNA is unbalanced.
I suspect your problem is that you do not have a balun or choke at the
antenna feedpoint to prevent the feeder from affecting the measurement.
I won't make any guess as to why the VSWR appears lowest at 513MHz, but
I do suggest you use a balun or choke at the antenna.
HTH...Bob VK2ZRE
On 31/03/2025 11:25 pm, Milton Engle via groups.io wrote:
You did not indicate the range of your sweep.
Try setting the sweep range to 150MHz to 190MHz, recalibrate open/short/load, then measure.
I suspect that you will find the lowest VSWR near 171MHz, indicating that the element lengths are a bit long.
The third harmonic of 171 is 513
Milt
N3LTQ
On Mar 31, 2025, at 03:51, hobride via groups.io <hobride= [email protected]> wrote:
?Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be
tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is
~41.5
cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a
lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord
and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
|
|
I ran into a research paper on measuring capacitors using a VNA that might be of interest. It analyzes capacitance and ESR accuracy for the S11 reflection, S21 series-through, and S21 shunt-through measurement methods. The paper covers connector parasitics and fixture deembedding. Lots of useful graphs.
Brian
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Have you turned on the VNA's Smith chart? At what frequencies thru your sweep does the trace cross the chart's center (no reactance) line? Those are your antenna's resonant frequencies. The one closest to the center is your best resonance...
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Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Joe, I got licensed a decade after you and did not have a chance to use a balun or 50 ohms coax then. My 40 and 80m dipoles were fed by 75 ohms TV cable. I did not have an SWR meter either. Still I could work a lot of DX including a few W land stations with my homebrew 3 x 807 radio, 120W CW and straight key. I still have a couple of W land QSL cards in my precious collection. 73 Jon, VU2JO On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 7:50?PM Joe WB9SBD via groups.io <nss= [email protected]> wrote: Yup!
The Balun Craze is a new Generation thing. Got licensed in 1975, Never
ever heard of a Balun.
All my dipoles were direct feed.
Only till recently has the myth of a dipole without a balun will not work.
just like a 40 meter Dipole will not work on 15 meters!
tell that to all the Novices that got their license in the 70's.
Joe WB9SBD
On 3/31/2025 8:53 AM, Zack Widup via groups.io wrote:
I have never seen a problem feeding a dipole directly with an unbalanced
feedline. The last dipoles I had up (which were for 40 and 30 meters) were
just fed by connecting the two leads of the coax directly to the antenna
wires attached to an insulator at the center of the antenna. SWR in both
cases, when the antenna was trimmed, were around 1.05:1. And I worked 180
countries on 40 m CW with that antenna and Japan fairly often on 30 m CW.
Zack W9SZ
<
Virus-free.www.avg.com
<
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 7:59?AM Bob Ecclestone VK2ZRE via groups.io
<becclest@...> wrote:
Hello Hobride,
Unfortunately you have not supplied a photo of your test setup.
A dipole is balanced at the feedpoint, your VNA is unbalanced.
I suspect your problem is that you do not have a balun or choke at the
antenna feedpoint to prevent the feeder from affecting the measurement.
I won't make any guess as to why the VSWR appears lowest at 513MHz, but
I do suggest you use a balun or choke at the antenna.
HTH...Bob VK2ZRE
On 31/03/2025 11:25 pm, Milton Engle via groups.io wrote:
You did not indicate the range of your sweep.
Try setting the sweep range to 150MHz to 190MHz, recalibrate open/short/load, then measure.
I suspect that you will find the lowest VSWR near 171MHz, indicating that the element lengths are a bit long.
The third harmonic of 171 is 513
Milt
N3LTQ
On Mar 31, 2025, at 03:51, hobride via groups.io <hobride= [email protected]> wrote:
?Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be
tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is
~41.5
cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a
lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord
and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Yup!
The Balun Craze is a new Generation thing. Got licensed in 1975, Never ever heard of a Balun.
All my dipoles were direct feed.
Only till recently has the myth of a dipole without a balun will not work.
just like a 40 meter Dipole will not work on 15 meters!
tell that to all the Novices that got their license in the 70's.
Joe WB9SBD
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 3/31/2025 8:53 AM, Zack Widup via groups.io wrote: I have never seen a problem feeding a dipole directly with an unbalanced
feedline. The last dipoles I had up (which were for 40 and 30 meters) were
just fed by connecting the two leads of the coax directly to the antenna
wires attached to an insulator at the center of the antenna. SWR in both
cases, when the antenna was trimmed, were around 1.05:1. And I worked 180
countries on 40 m CW with that antenna and Japan fairly often on 30 m CW.
Zack W9SZ
<>
Virus-free.www.avg.com
<>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 7:59?AM Bob Ecclestone VK2ZRE via groups.io
<becclest@...> wrote:
Hello Hobride,
Unfortunately you have not supplied a photo of your test setup.
A dipole is balanced at the feedpoint, your VNA is unbalanced.
I suspect your problem is that you do not have a balun or choke at the
antenna feedpoint to prevent the feeder from affecting the measurement.
I won't make any guess as to why the VSWR appears lowest at 513MHz, but
I do suggest you use a balun or choke at the antenna.
HTH...Bob VK2ZRE
On 31/03/2025 11:25 pm, Milton Engle via groups.io wrote:
You did not indicate the range of your sweep.
Try setting the sweep range to 150MHz to 190MHz, recalibrate open/short/load, then measure.
I suspect that you will find the lowest VSWR near 171MHz, indicating that the element lengths are a bit long.
The third harmonic of 171 is 513
Milt
N3LTQ
On Mar 31, 2025, at 03:51, hobride via groups.io <hobride= [email protected]> wrote:
?Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be
tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is ~41.5
cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a
lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord
and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
It's measuring the 3rd harmonic which shows a nice low SWR. how far below 172 Mhz did you start your scan?
Joe WB9SBD
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On 3/31/2025 2:50 AM, hobride via groups.io wrote: Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is ~41.5 cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
I have never seen a problem feeding a dipole directly with an unbalanced feedline. The last dipoles I had up (which were for 40 and 30 meters) were just fed by connecting the two leads of the coax directly to the antenna wires attached to an insulator at the center of the antenna. SWR in both cases, when the antenna was trimmed, were around 1.05:1. And I worked 180 countries on 40 m CW with that antenna and Japan fairly often on 30 m CW. Zack W9SZ <> Virus-free.www.avg.com <> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 7:59?AM Bob Ecclestone VK2ZRE via groups.io <becclest@...> wrote: Hello Hobride,
Unfortunately you have not supplied a photo of your test setup.
A dipole is balanced at the feedpoint, your VNA is unbalanced.
I suspect your problem is that you do not have a balun or choke at the
antenna feedpoint to prevent the feeder from affecting the measurement.
I won't make any guess as to why the VSWR appears lowest at 513MHz, but
I do suggest you use a balun or choke at the antenna.
HTH...Bob VK2ZRE
On 31/03/2025 11:25 pm, Milton Engle via groups.io wrote:
You did not indicate the range of your sweep.
Try setting the sweep range to 150MHz to 190MHz, recalibrate open/short/load, then measure.
I suspect that you will find the lowest VSWR near 171MHz, indicating that the element lengths are a bit long.
The third harmonic of 171 is 513
Milt
N3LTQ
On Mar 31, 2025, at 03:51, hobride via groups.io <hobride= [email protected]> wrote:
?Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be
tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is ~41.5
cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a
lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord
and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Bob, Would you suggest a voltage balun or current balun at antenna feedpoint? One ham told me that if you use a voltage balun, it can bring down the high noise I have on 80m. Regarding the original question, I am tempted to think like Milt. I see a lot of harmonic resonance in NanoVNA tracings when I set the range high on purpose. In fact I use them to work higher bands. I am able to work North America from VU on 12m, using my 80m center-fed dipole mounted at just 5m height and 100W, with a little bit of touching up with the N7DDC tuner. That would be the seventh harmonic resonance! 73 Jon, VU2JO On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 6:29?PM Bob Ecclestone VK2ZRE via groups.io <becclest@...> wrote: Hello Hobride,
Unfortunately you have not supplied a photo of your test setup.
A dipole is balanced at the feedpoint, your VNA is unbalanced.
I suspect your problem is that you do not have a balun or choke at the
antenna feedpoint to prevent the feeder from affecting the measurement.
I won't make any guess as to why the VSWR appears lowest at 513MHz, but
I do suggest you use a balun or choke at the antenna.
HTH...Bob VK2ZRE
On 31/03/2025 11:25 pm, Milton Engle via groups.io wrote:
You did not indicate the range of your sweep.
Try setting the sweep range to 150MHz to 190MHz, recalibrate open/short/load, then measure.
I suspect that you will find the lowest VSWR near 171MHz, indicating that the element lengths are a bit long.
The third harmonic of 171 is 513
Milt
N3LTQ
On Mar 31, 2025, at 03:51, hobride via groups.io <hobride= [email protected]> wrote:
?Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be
tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is ~41.5
cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a
lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord
and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Hello Hobride,
Unfortunately you have not supplied a photo of your test setup.
A dipole is balanced at the feedpoint, your VNA is unbalanced.
I suspect your problem is that you do not have a balun or choke at the antenna feedpoint to prevent the feeder from affecting the measurement.
I won't make any guess as to why the VSWR appears lowest at 513MHz, but I do suggest you use a balun or choke at the antenna.
HTH...Bob VK2ZRE
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Show quoted text
On 31/03/2025 11:25 pm, Milton Engle via groups.io wrote: You did not indicate the range of your sweep.
Try setting the sweep range to 150MHz to 190MHz, recalibrate open/short/load, then measure.
I suspect that you will find the lowest VSWR near 171MHz, indicating that the element lengths are a bit long.
The third harmonic of 171 is 513
Milt
N3LTQ
On Mar 31, 2025, at 03:51, hobride via groups.io <hobride@...> wrote:
?Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is ~41.5 cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
You did not indicate the range of your sweep.
Try setting the sweep range to 150MHz to 190MHz, recalibrate open/short/load, then measure.
I suspect that you will find the lowest VSWR near 171MHz, indicating that the element lengths are a bit long.
The third harmonic of 171 is 513
Milt
N3LTQ
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Mar 31, 2025, at 03:51, hobride via groups.io <hobride@...> wrote:
?Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is ~41.5 cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Hello,
yes, I have also performed an OSL calibration in the 150-190 MHz range. The SWR at 172 MHz is 4.5
I made the legs from copper wire with ~1mm diameter. The legs are mounted in a plastic tube. The feed element is a BNC - 4mm connector as shown in the attached picture. The antenna is mounted in vertical position and hangs from the ceiling.
by the way, the antenna works fine at 172 MHz
|
Re: NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Did you do an OSL calibration of the NanoVNA over the frequency range of interest? How is the antenna supported? How is it fed? I cannot imagine an antenna being that far off. Your length calculations for 172 MHz are correct. The third harmonic of 172 MHz IS 513 MHz. So the antenna will work at that frequency. Dipole antennas typically work well at odd harmonics of the lowest resonant frequency. What is the SWR at 172 MHz? Zack W9SZ On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 2:51?AM hobride via groups.io <hobride= [email protected]> wrote: Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be tuned
for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is ~41.5 cm
(1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a
lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord and
Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
NANO VNA H4 , Implausible measurement results?
Hello everyone,
I have bought a NANO VNA H4 to build simple dipole antennas.
Now I have made a simple dipole antenna for testing. This should be tuned for 172 MHz. The total length is ~83 cm (2,72 feet), one leg is ~41.5 cm (1,36 feet).
When I now connect this antenna and try to measure it, the result is a lowest SWR (1.15) at 513 MHz.
Can this be possible? I am not a radio specialist. I am an IT guy.
I have flashed the NANO VNA H4 to the latest firmware (tried DiSlord and Hugen) and also calibrated it.
Perhaps I need to make further settings after flashing?
|
Hi
a Calibrated smith diagram can show you easily the serial resonance frequency and the parallele one ( Xr = 0 Omh ) ,
- use the 401 sweep points option to have maximum frequency accuracy .
- Stimulus band should be selected to be the minimum needed .
- Calibration and measurement prefered after at least 10 minutes for thermal stability .
you can use open coax terminaison or short one , they should give approximatly the same results .
73's Nizar.
|
Well that makes it simple doesn't it.
Make it slightly longer than expected, then partially cut through the cable or snip it completely off as needed for the short at freq! Cool!
Joe
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On 3/30/2025 1:45 PM, Gary W9TD via groups.io wrote: Joe,
If you short the far end of the coax and connect the NanoVNA to the other end, each half wave will read a short on the VNA. half wavelengths repeat the impedance on the end, quarter wavelengths invert the impedance at the end, i.e. a short will look like an open.
Gary
W9TD
|
Joe,
If you short the far end of the coax and connect the NanoVNA to the other end, each half wave will read a short on the VNA. half wavelengths repeat the impedance on the end, quarter wavelengths invert the impedance at the end, i.e. a short will look like an open.
Gary
W9TD
|
I have a NanaVNA-H4,
And how would I use it to make an exact 1/2 wave or multiple there-of coax?
1/2, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, etc...
Joe WB9SBD
|
hobride
Gary W9TD