AliExpress and NanoVNA supplier get 5 stars
I received my NanoVNA today... just 22 days after ordering it. FWIW, I made the purchase via the AliExpress App, and the supplier was the same as used by at least two others with similar delivery reports (~ 3 weeks).
Several points are probably worth noting.
The supplier I used was Guangy0016 store, and his current asking price is $46.99.
I have used AliExpress in the past, and have had no issues to date. By that I mean that the goods received were of anticipated quality, price and delivery. As such I've had no opportunity to test AliExpress's make good policy.
I do use the AliExpress app, which I just learned has a reassuring feature that presumably holds their suppliers accountable . It requests that you report back when you receive the goods and have no issues. You pay for the goods through AliExpress, and they hold back payment to the supplier for 60 days, allowing you time to register a dispute. It serves as an incentive for the supplier to close the deal, and have the goods in your hands before the 60 days are about to expire and you file a dispute for late or no delivery.
My choice of this supplier was the consequence of my own research, and no a reaction to two successful purchases reported on this forum... which I learned of after placing my order. This is only relevant in the context of how I narrowed my search to this supplier.
1. He is an AliExpress supplier.
2. His price was competitive an at the price point I was targeting.
3. He referenced online documentation that appeared to be most up to date, provided links to the best English language repository of manuals, and firmware versions, and a zipped NanoVNA Sharp file, I was able to identify.
4. The NanoVNA came complete with battery, accessories (SOLT Cal kit and cables) and a carrying case roughly the same size as my iPhone X. :-)
Tracking was provided,.. complete with alert updates as it made it's way through China Post and USPS. I was also quite pleased with the way it was packaged, and exceptionally well protected (photos attached).
So... until somebody experiences a legitimate concern with AliExpress or gets burned by Guangy0016 store, I think this source for the NanoVNA is worthy of being added to the satisfactory suppliers list.
--
73
Gary, N3GO
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Re: Source of decent NanoVNAs on eBay
Thanks for the info - useful to know. I had to laugh when I read this though: "About Us 1.We are professional factory to make kinds of motorcycle CNC accessory,such as kinds of modified brake clutch levers,rearsets,foot pegs,steering dampers,kickstand sidestand,handlebar clamp,swingarm spool bolts and so on." Predumably it means they must have at least one engineer on the premises, even if the wrong type. The Ebay seller I bought from seems to specialise in mobile (cellular) phone cases. Regards Mike On Sat, 3 Aug 2019, 16:48 Dr. David Kirkby from Kirkby Microwave Ltd, < drkirkby@...> wrote: I see lots of people having trouble sourceing what they consider a good
version. I bought his one
I can't really complain
* It came with a battery
* It has 4 traces
* It has screening
* It works to 900 MHz with no need to mess about with the firmware.
* There is no evidence of spurious signals.
Downsides
* The build quality is poor - but that seems to be the case was all of
them. I've yet to see any reports of good build quality.
* No mention of where to get the GPL source code.
* The "open" supplied is worst than just leaving the connector open, as the
added capacitance just makes the "open" less like an ideal open. That is
going to tbe the same for any "open" unless you go to great lengths to stop
it.
* Although the load has an excellent return loss, there is a problem with
it which I overlooked the first time I posted about that.
The first did not work (bad display, which Hugen said is delicate), but
they sent another which is okay. I asked them to send that express mail,
which they did, but it had to be without the battery. So I had to swap that
over. I can't really complain, and its probably a lot safer than buying
from Alibaba, or some obscure Chinese website.
--
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
Tel 01621-680100 / +44 1621-680100
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Source of decent NonoVNAs on eBay
Dr. David Kirkby from Kirkby Microwave Ltd
I see lots of people having trouble sourceing what they consider a good
version. I bought his one
I can't really complain
* It came with a battery
* It has 4 traces
* It has screening
* It works to 900 MHz with no need to mess about with the firmware.
* There is no evidence of spurious signals.
Downsides
* The build quality is poor - but that seems to be the case was all of
them. I've yet to see any reports of good build quality.
* No mention of where to get the GPL source code.
* The "open" supplied is worst than just leaving the connector open, as the
added capacitance just makes the "open" less like an ideal open. That is
going to tbe the same for any "open" unless you go to great lengths to stop
it.
* Although the load has an excellent return loss, there is a problem with
it which I overlooked the first time I posted about that.
The first did not work (bad display, which Hugen said is delicate), but
they sent another which is okay. I asked them to send that express mail,
which they did, but it had to be without the battery. So I had to swap that
over. I can't really complain, and its probably a lot safer than buying
from Alibaba, or some obscure Chinese website.
--
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
Tel 01621-680100 / +44 1621-680100
|
Re: Order a original nanoVNA
Hi hugen,
Thanks for the link. I prefer ebay, but I try thisuser.
Regards, Colin.
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Re: VNA S/W & H/W project & theory resources
Having a central repository for files and possibly links is way better than telling people to search all posts for "something discussing what I think was screws" but which actually referenced "bolts". Such a file repository should be structured in some sort of way, if it grows beyond a dozen files or so. Den l?r 3 aug. 2019 02:42Larry Rothman <ac293@...> skrev:
Thanks, I'll have a look.
I want to be careful not to increase the 'noise' with a pile of links but
at the same time, search for and post some really useful ones, IMHO.
73
Larry VE3LRI
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Re: VNA S/W & H/W project & theory resources
Thanks, I'll have a look.
I want to be careful not to increase the 'noise' with a pile of links but at the same time, search for and post some really useful ones, IMHO.
73
Larry VE3LRI
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Re: VNA S/W & H/W project & theory resources
On Fri, 2 Aug 2019 at 10:20, Larry Rothman <ac293@...> wrote: I like to research all my projects and have found a number of software and hardware resources of the NanoVNA, EU1KY VNA,and DG8SAQ VNA that users and/or developers may find useful.
(MOD: Feel free to relocate this to the WIKI area) I took the liberty of creating a page for external links. I don't have my nanoVNA yet, so I don't have anything to add to... well, to any discussion except this: The idea of a wiki is that anyone can edit it, and everyone should. The wiki for groups.io is very primitive, which means it's really easy to use. For this page, all I did was copy Larry's message and paste it into a New Page. I then edited the home page of the wiki to have a link to this new one. I left the boilerplate for the home page intact, in case someone wants to start work on it. It's not that pretty, but the search works fine. /g/nanovna-users/wiki/home73 de buck, kc2hiz
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Re: DL2SBA j-vna software
The NanoVNA USB port was originally designed as a debug interface, according to the original designer (edy555).
Since he open-sourced the code, maybe others will add additional functionality.
The only issue here is how much memory is left over on the uP for adding options.
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On Fri, Aug 2, 2019 at 09:05 AM, Oristo wrote:
he is not interested in making any changes to his code to facilitate the NanoVNA.
IMO, nanoVNA should instead at least optionally emulate USB interfaces
of better-supported VNAs.
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VNA S/W & H/W project & theory resources
I like to research all my projects and have found a number of software and hardware resources of the NanoVNA, EU1KY VNA,and DG8SAQ VNA that users and/or developers may find useful.
(MOD: Feel free to relocate this to the WIKI area)
Yet Another VNA Project:
- uses the NanoVNA H/W & S/W design in part and references his github firmware resource.
SimSmith & tutorial:
- Referenced by the Yet Another VNA link above.
Zplots - Impedance Plots using Excel Charts:
- Use this to model your designs.
- I wonder if it could be modified to accept input directly from the NanoVNA?
DXzone VNA reference page:
- An excellent Amateur Radio website with numerous technical reference links.
Building an S-Parameter Test Set for the VNWA-3E:
- An easily built S-Parameter Test Set - possibly useful for the NanoVNA
Cheap homemade 30 MHz - 6 GHz vector network analyzer :
- Refer to building and using the Calibration adapters close to the end of the article.
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Re: DL2SBA j-vna software
Will have to change their firmware I think.Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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-------- Original message --------From: Oristo <ormpoa@...> Date: 02/08/2019 15:05 (GMT+01:00) To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] DL2SBA j-vna software > he is not interested in making any changes to his code to facilitate the NanoVNA.IMO, nanoVNA should instead at least optionally emulate USB interfacesof better-supported VNAs.
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Re: DL2SBA j-vna software
he is not interested in making any changes to his code to facilitate the NanoVNA. IMO, nanoVNA should instead at least optionally emulate USB interfaces of better-supported VNAs.
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Re: DL2SBA j-vna software
Don't expect he would, but someone with rhe java code can do it surely.?Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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-------- Original message --------From: "Gerry Kavanagh via Groups.Io" <gerrykav@...> Date: 02/08/2019 00:47 (GMT+01:00) To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] DL2SBA j-vna software I have asked Dietmar (DL2SBA) and he is not interested in making any changes to his code to facilitate the NanoVNA. / Gerry
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Re: DL2SBA j-vna software
I have asked Dietmar (DL2SBA) and he is not interested in making any changes to his code to facilitate the NanoVNA.
/ Gerry
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Re: DL2SBA j-vna software
Not necessarily more costly. I have homebrewed the F4GOH Arduino based vna for HF only and it uses that interface. Works well but only up to 60MHz.Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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-------- Original message --------From: Gary O'Neil <n3go@...> Date: 01/08/2019 18:30 (GMT+01:00) To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] DL2SBA j-vna software DL2SBA¡¯s website indicates:¡°vna/J is an alternative application for the following network analysers miniVNA, miniVNAPRO and miniVNAtiny from mini Radio Solutions and the MAX6 from Jarek, SP83SWJ and Gregor, SP8NTH¡±That series of VNA¡¯s uses a significantly different architecture, and I think one of the Atmel processors. Their cost is much higher also.-- 72/73Gary, N3GO
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Dave (G8KBB) has evolved a most wonderfully robust VNA GUI that he calls myVNA. I believe he is open to sharing the interface with those who might be willing to do the work of adding support for other platforms. MyVNA evolved from the N2PK VNA; but I¡¯m certain it would be straight forward to add support for the NanoVNA by someone skilled in the art.
Dave licenses myVNA for free to amateurs, but maintains control of the source.
If somebody is interested in myVNA as a GUI driver for these and willing to volunteer your support; send Dave an email and see what you can work out.
Contact Dave either way, and request a license for his software. It imports up to 4 snp files, and enables them to be displayed and compared in all display formats.
--
73
Gary, N3GO
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Re: Free gift with NanoVNA
I had a similar situation with my eBay vendor and here's my take on what's going on. This is a Catch-22 situation for the eBay vendor. eBay tells their vendors the they must ship using the eBay preferred carrier. That is a company called Speed-PAC. The problem is that Speed-PAC will not accept any merchandise that contains an integrated battery. What's the vendor to do? Some simply remove the battery and ship via Speed-PAC leaving the end user to solve the problem for themselves. Other vendors ship a "free gift" using Speed-PAC and include a note of explanation. This satisfies their requirements with eBay, but leaves us wondering what's going on. They then ship the real merchandise, with battery, using a different carrier. It's a clever solution but it's annoying for the end user to be sure. In my case it took a little over two weeks for the "free gift" to arrive and then a little less than two more weeks for the VNA to show up. Yes, the outer cardboard box was crushed but the contents were fine and as expected.
I offer this for whatever you might think it's worth,
Larry
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Re: Order a original nanoVNA
Agreed. Mine took 7 weeks to arrive and the box was smashed, but the unit in a clear plastic box was alright. Shipping was inexpensive, less than it would cost for me to ship the same box across town. I doubt the seller could answer any questions about the thing.
Peter
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On Aug 1, 2019, at 12:04 PM, Stuart Landau via Groups.Io <stuartl73@...> wrote:
In my experience, few of the Internet sellers have any knowledge of electronics test items; they sell a very wide variety of items from clothing to cooking pans. I was lucky and got my nanovna quickly, without damage and working properly, a few days ago. The shipping cost, via mail to the United States was very low.
Stuart K6YAZLos Angeles, USA
-----Original Message-----
From: Hans J Albertsson <hans.j.albertsson@...>
To: nanovna-users <[email protected]>
Sent: Thu, Aug 1, 2019 8:05 am
Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Order a original nanoVNA
I'm currently in the process of buying from Maggie at the link Hugen
provided, and the shipping charge (to Sweden) seems to be nowhere near $40.
I'll report when i know more exactly.
Den tors 1 aug. 2019 16:49Dr. David Kirkby from Kirkby Microwave Ltd <
drkirkby@...> skrev:
On Thu, 1 Aug 2019 at 06:00, <hugen@...> wrote:
I'm sorry, I don't have experience in international sales, I need to pay
an expensive fee for international couriers, using DHL is about $40, I try
to get my friends to sell through alibaba, but the courier fee will still
be higher than the ebay seller.
I have never looked at Alibaba, but I believe that the buyer protection is
a lot poorer than eBay, so I would be relevant to purchase from there.
There¡¯s no need to spend $40 on DHL shipping. The post office should be
much cheaper.
Mine from eBay had the screening, battery, 4 traces and 900 MHz. The
display didn¡¯t work but, but Hugen said that they are delicate. The seller
replaced it, so I can not complain.
The biggest issue is construction quality.
Personally I would ask eBay sellers to confirm the units they sell have
what you are looking for. Then you have yourself far better covered than
via Alibaba.
Dave.
--
Dr. David Kirkby,
|
Re: Order a original nanoVNA
I was going to mention this weeks ago. However, decided it will take some effort. Nevertheless I will toss it out. It may benefit all interested users of the VNA product going forward. We need a score card or some sort of a matrix as to whom the vendors are and the experience of the buyer(s), good, great, poor, horrible, dis honest or what ever. The idea that a user group is keeping track and a tally, may motivate all the "sellers" to do an up front better job like their competition, or simply drop the product as there is too much effort in sales and support. Suggestions? Comments? Alan W4AMV ________________________________ From: [email protected] < [email protected]> on behalf of Stuart Landau via Groups.Io <stuartl73@...> Sent: Thursday, August 1, 2019 4:04 PM To: [email protected] < [email protected]> Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Order a original nanoVNA In my experience, few of the Internet sellers have any knowledge of electronics test items; they sell a very wide variety of items from clothing to cooking pans. I was lucky and got my nanovna quickly, without damage and working properly, a few days ago. The shipping cost, via mail to the United States was very low. Stuart K6YAZLos Angeles, USA -----Original Message----- From: Hans J Albertsson <hans.j.albertsson@...> To: nanovna-users < [email protected]> Sent: Thu, Aug 1, 2019 8:05 am Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Order a original nanoVNA I'm currently in the process of buying from Maggie at the link Hugen provided, and the shipping charge (to Sweden) seems to be nowhere near $40. I'll report when i know more exactly. Den tors 1 aug. 2019 16:49Dr. David Kirkby from Kirkby Microwave Ltd < drkirkby@...> skrev: On Thu, 1 Aug 2019 at 06:00, <hugen@...> wrote:
I'm sorry, I don't have experience in international sales, I need to pay
an expensive fee for international couriers, using DHL is about $40, I try
to get my friends to sell through alibaba, but the courier fee will still
be higher than the ebay seller.
I have never looked at Alibaba, but I believe that the buyer protection is
a lot poorer than eBay, so I would be relevant to purchase from there.
There¡¯s no need to spend $40 on DHL shipping. The post office should be
much cheaper.
Mine from eBay had the screening, battery, 4 traces and 900 MHz. The
display didn¡¯t work but, but Hugen said that they are delicate. The seller
replaced it, so I can not complain.
The biggest issue is construction quality.
Personally I would ask eBay sellers to confirm the units they sell have
what you are looking for. Then you have yourself far better covered than
via Alibaba.
Dave.
--
Dr. David Kirkby,
|
Re: DL2SBA j-vna software
DL2SBA¡¯s website indicates:
¡°vna/J is an alternative application for the following network analysers miniVNA, miniVNAPRO and miniVNAtiny from mini Radio Solutions and the MAX6 from Jarek, SP83SWJ and Gregor, SP8NTH¡±
That series of VNA¡¯s uses a significantly different architecture, and I think one of the Atmel processors. Their cost is much higher also.
--
72/73
Gary, N3GO
|
Re: Order a original nanoVNA
In my experience, few of the Internet sellers have any knowledge of electronics test items; they sell a very wide variety of items from clothing to cooking pans. I was lucky and got my nanovna quickly, without damage and working properly, a few days ago. The shipping cost, via mail to the United States was very low.
Stuart K6YAZLos Angeles, USA
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
-----Original Message----- From: Hans J Albertsson <hans.j.albertsson@...> To: nanovna-users < [email protected]> Sent: Thu, Aug 1, 2019 8:05 am Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Order a original nanoVNA I'm currently in the process of buying from Maggie at the link Hugen provided, and the shipping charge (to Sweden) seems to be nowhere near $40. I'll report when i know more exactly. Den tors 1 aug. 2019 16:49Dr. David Kirkby from Kirkby Microwave Ltd < drkirkby@...> skrev: On Thu, 1 Aug 2019 at 06:00, <hugen@...> wrote:
I'm sorry, I don't have experience in international sales, I need to pay
an expensive fee for international couriers, using DHL is about $40, I try
to get my friends to sell through alibaba, but the courier fee will still
be higher than the ebay seller.
I have never looked at Alibaba, but I believe that the buyer protection is
a lot poorer than eBay, so I would be relevant to purchase from there.
There¡¯s no need to spend $40 on DHL shipping. The post office should be
much cheaper.
Mine from eBay had the screening, battery, 4 traces and 900 MHz. The
display didn¡¯t work but, but Hugen said that they are delicate. The seller
replaced it, so I can not complain.
The biggest issue is construction quality.
Personally I would ask eBay sellers to confirm the units they sell have
what you are looking for. Then you have yourself far better covered than
via Alibaba.
Dave.
--
Dr. David Kirkby,
|
F4WCV
Oristo