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Features wanted for NanoVNASharp software

 

There are several features missing in current version:
* Two permanent markers. There is only one marker displayed when hovering with mouse over graph. Not so easy to make a screen shot and still displaying marker value.

* With two markers a delta marker funktion would be fine.

* Sometimes the plots are rather noisy, so an averaging funktion would help.

Ernst


August firmware release notes in Files section

 

I translated and placed a copy of hugen's August 2nd firmware release notes in the Files section.

The latest '20190802' releases are here:


Regards,
Larry


Re: Defective NanoVna

 

For every upgrade you need to calibrate it.

Before any calibration, you need to reset the calibration data.

Once saving the calibration to position 0 (zero) it will always load that
calibration data.

Turn off and on your unit after calibration.

Have a go and let us know!

Cheers

Lu¨ªs CT2FZI

On Wed, 7 Aug 2019 at 11:09, <jimcking@...> wrote:

Got it. Thanks. The 800 MHz ch now shows going to 800 MHz. It has
another issue though. Spikes are all over and go all the way to the top of
the screen when no load is attached. Looks OK with 50 Ohm load.

Jim K.




Re: Defective NanoVna

 

Got it. Thanks. The 800 MHz ch now shows going to 800 MHz. It has another issue though. Spikes are all over and go all the way to the top of the screen when no load is attached. Looks OK with 50 Ohm load.

Jim K.


Re: Some basic load measurements

 

That is expected Peter. Have you got the imaginary parts or phases? Best to plot on a Smith chart too and see how your samples rotate from low to high frequency.? 1.02 swr corresponds to about 40dB return loss which is very respectable at 900MHz.Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------From: Peter Gottlieb <hpnpilot@...> Date: 07/08/2019 04:43 (GMT+01:00) To: [email protected] Subject: [nanovna-users] Some basic load measurements Resending from website as it didn't seem to go through as a message.? Also my pasted table from Excel lost formatting so I tried to fix it to be more readable.I just did some very simple resistance and SWR measurements using a HP 8753ES with 85046A, resistance was measured using a calibrated Agilent 34401A in 4 wire mode.I did a very basic one port 3 point cal using a Anritsu OSL which is specified to over 3 GHz.I took measurements at 900 MHz.Load????????????????????? R ohms????? SWR????????? SWR notesOSL??????????????????????? 50.052?????? 1.001???????? FlatCheap BNC??????????? 51.104?????? 1.908???????? Sloping up with freqNano load?????????????? 49.044?????? 1.019???????? FlatNarda 12.4 GHz????? 49.536?????? 1.018????????? FlatTiny SMA???????????????? 50.787????? 1.009????????? FlatI am guessing there is some significant reactive component in the BNC terminator.? All three of the SMA loads showed a flat SWR with frequency so I'm thinking they all have a minimal reactive component.The difference in resistances while keeping SWR low was a bit of a surprise to me.? The load that came with the Nano is over an ohm off of the load I used to calibrate yet the SWR remains at a low 1.019. Why is this?? I did the math and surprisingly this is indeed correct, per calculation the SWR should be 1.021 vs my measured 1.019.? I'd say this is darn close seeing one measurement is DC resistance and the other is at 900 MHz.So my conclusion is that SWR is not a sensitive number to see resistance differences.Once I read some of the references cited I can do some more advanced measurements.Peter


Re: Defective NanoVna

 

Hi,

Please check here:


[image: image.png]

On Wed, 7 Aug 2019 at 09:57, <jimcking@...> wrote:

Hi SPACE OPQA,

Thanks for the info. Where is the August Version?

Thanks,

Jim K.




Re: Defective NanoVna

 

Hi Jim

I think we're all struggling to identify and track the different versions
of the firmware. I suspect they're all ones written by Hugen who wrote them
for the version he sells at gen111.taobao.com and now on Alibaba (search
his posts for a link).

Mike

On Wed, 7 Aug 2019, 09:53 , <jimcking@...> wrote:

Hi Mike,

Thanks very much for that information. The 800 MHz aa version of the
firmware corrected the problem. The 800 MHz ch version did not. In fact
the 880 MHz ch version still goes out to 900 MHz. I got the firmware from

Is there a newer version somewhere?

Thanks,

Jim K.




Re: Some basic load measurements

 

Very interesting results Peter. It prompted me to check out the various
dummy loads I have with my multimeter. The decent ones with N type
connectors came out at 50 ohms +/- 0.2 ohms, which might imply my meter
isn't far out.

My Nano load measures 51.3 and a longer reactive sma load measures 51 ohms.
Nothing quite as bad as a Zetagi CB-type dummy load at 53.3 ohms though.

I guess the next question is whether we can get better loads without
spending more than the price of the Nano!

Mike

On Wed, 7 Aug 2019, 03:43 Peter Gottlieb, <hpnpilot@...> wrote:

Resending from website as it didn't seem to go through as a message. Also
my pasted table from Excel lost formatting so I tried to fix it to be more
readable.


I just did some very simple resistance and SWR measurements using a HP
8753ES with 85046A, resistance was measured using a calibrated Agilent
34401A in 4 wire mode.

I did a very basic one port 3 point cal using a Anritsu OSL which is
specified to over 3 GHz.

I took measurements at 900 MHz.

Load R ohms SWR SWR notes
OSL 50.052 1.001 Flat
Cheap BNC 51.104 1.908 Sloping up with freq
Nano load 49.044 1.019 Flat
Narda 12.4 GHz 49.536 1.018 Flat
Tiny SMA 50.787 1.009 Flat


I am guessing there is some significant reactive component in the BNC
terminator. All three of the SMA loads showed a flat SWR with frequency so
I'm thinking they all have a minimal reactive component.

The difference in resistances while keeping SWR low was a bit of a
surprise to me. The load that came with the Nano is over an ohm off of the
load I used to calibrate yet the SWR remains at a low 1.019. Why is this?
I did the math and surprisingly this is indeed correct, per calculation the
SWR should be 1.021 vs my measured 1.019. I'd say this is darn close
seeing one measurement is DC resistance and the other is at 900 MHz.

So my conclusion is that SWR is not a sensitive number to see resistance
differences.

Once I read some of the references cited I can do some more advanced
measurements.

Peter




Re: Defective NanoVna

 

Hi SPACE OPQA,

Thanks for the info. Where is the August Version?

Thanks,

Jim K.


Re: Defective NanoVna

 

Hi Mike,

Thanks very much for that information. The 800 MHz aa version of the firmware corrected the problem. The 800 MHz ch version did not. In fact the 880 MHz ch version still goes out to 900 MHz. I got the firmware from
Is there a newer version somewhere?

Thanks,

Jim K.


Some basic load measurements

 

Resending from website as it didn't seem to go through as a message. Also my pasted table from Excel lost formatting so I tried to fix it to be more readable.


I just did some very simple resistance and SWR measurements using a HP 8753ES with 85046A, resistance was measured using a calibrated Agilent 34401A in 4 wire mode.

I did a very basic one port 3 point cal using a Anritsu OSL which is specified to over 3 GHz.

I took measurements at 900 MHz.

Load R ohms SWR SWR notes
OSL 50.052 1.001 Flat
Cheap BNC 51.104 1.908 Sloping up with freq
Nano load 49.044 1.019 Flat
Narda 12.4 GHz 49.536 1.018 Flat
Tiny SMA 50.787 1.009 Flat


I am guessing there is some significant reactive component in the BNC terminator. All three of the SMA loads showed a flat SWR with frequency so I'm thinking they all have a minimal reactive component.

The difference in resistances while keeping SWR low was a bit of a surprise to me. The load that came with the Nano is over an ohm off of the load I used to calibrate yet the SWR remains at a low 1.019. Why is this? I did the math and surprisingly this is indeed correct, per calculation the SWR should be 1.021 vs my measured 1.019. I'd say this is darn close seeing one measurement is DC resistance and the other is at 900 MHz.

So my conclusion is that SWR is not a sensitive number to see resistance differences.

Once I read some of the references cited I can do some more advanced measurements.

Peter


Re: NanoVNA Under The Covers

 

I just did some very simple resistance and SWR measurements using a HP 8753ES and 85046A.

I did a very basic one port 3 point cal using a Anritsu OSL which is specified to over 3 GHz.

I took measurements at 900 MHz.

Resistance was measured using a calibrated Agilent 34401A in 4 wire mode.

Load R ohms SWR SWR notes
OSL 50.052 1.001 Flat
Cheap BNC 51.104 1.908 Sloping up with freq
Nano load 49.044 1.019 Flat
Narda 12.4 GHz 49.536 1.018 Flat
Tiny SMA 50.787 1.009 Flat


I am guessing there is some significant reactive component in the BNC terminator.? All three of the SMA loads showed a flat SWR with frequency so I'm thinking they all have a minimal reactive component.

The difference in resistances while keeping SWR low was a bit of a surprise to me.? The load that came with the Nano is over an ohm off of the load I used to calibrate yet the SWR remains at a low 1.019. Why is this?? I did the math and surprisingly this is indeed correct, per calculation the SWR should be 1.021 vs my measured 1.019.? I'd say this is darn close seeing one measurement is DC resistance and the other is at 900 MHz.

So my conclusion is that SWR is not a sensitive number to see resistance differences.

Once I read some of the references cited I can do some more advanced measurements.

Peter

On 8/5/2019 3:01 PM, Warren Allgyer wrote:
Tuck

I am not sure if you are misunderstanding (I don't think so) or simply miss-stating the concept. A load, any load, does not have an inherent return loss. It only has a return loss as measured relative to a reference. Typically the reference is understood to be 50 ohms. Minute differences in the resistance and reactance of the reference load can lead to huge differences in return loss, especially when you are talking RL on the order of 40 or more dB.

The numbers that I have shown are not the result of design or calibration routine errors but, in fact, differences in the characteristics of the loads themselves.

As a verification I have re-run the tests I made prior with the nanoVNA on my spectrum analyzer/tracking generator/RF bridge combination. It has an inherent dynamic range of 100 dB at a resolution bandwidth of 1 kHz..... 130 dB if I engage the preamp. I again used each of the three loads as a reference on the bridge with the other two measured for return loss in succession. Here is a comparison table of the nanoVNA as compared to the professional setup.

As you can see, the results are remarkably close. Especially at return losses less than 40 dB. I have no concerns whatsoever about relying on the nanoVNA results for hobby and home lab use.

Warren Allgyer
WA8TOD


Re: A few entry level questions

 

Bob,
In case you need to enter the frequency manually, select stimulus as stated, then after you select what you want (start, stop, centre, etc) and the Freq appears across the bottom of the touchscreen, press the open white bar on the right side of the numbers to bring up the onscreen keyboard.
Play with to to get familiar. You can't break anything.

One thing I found is you can actually go down as far as 10khz but the display will be all over the place.

Regards
Larry

On Tue, Aug 6, 2019 at 05:20 PM, Larry Goga wrote:


The screen is touch sensitive. Tap it to bring up the home display menu.
Select ¡°stimulus¡±. That¡¯s where you enter the frequencies and other
information. You can also push down on the jog wheel to activate the menu and
then scroll and select.

Go to ¡°files¡± on the groups.io website and download the PDF titled ¡°Menu
Map¡±. It will show you how to navigate the menu structure.

Have fun,

Larry

On Aug 6, 2019, at 3:01 PM, Stuart Landau via Groups.Io
<stuartl73@...> wrote:

Certainly reasonable questions. I would add entering frequencies and other
entries. I am new to the NanoVNA but not network analysis.
Stuart K6YAZ
On Aug 6, 2019, at 11:56 AM, Larry Rothman <ac293@...> wrote:

Hi Bob, welcome to the group.
There are a number of references in the FILES and WIKI sections.
You can also do a search of key words from the many posts that have good
info.
Note - there are several versions of the NanoVNA, the best being one of the
black units.

Although this unit will never compare to a lab quality VNA, it does perform
remarkably well for its simple design.
Read up on the lengthy discussions regarding calibration to get the best
results from your new 'toy'.

I have posted a number of references here:
/g/nanovna-users/wiki/External-links
/g/nanovna-users/files/Miscellaneous

Regards,
Larry VE3LRI



On Tue, Aug 6, 2019 at 02:26 PM, Bob Kozlarek wrote:

After discovering the Nanovna I decided to order one. A short introductory
discussion formed on AMFONE.NET, which mentioned this group, so I decided
to join. I¡¯ve been reading through the posts and already learned a lot.
It
sounds like most of you are part of an advanced user group. I¡¯m
wondering
if anyone can suggest any entry-level on-line resources which would
summarize what should / must be done when you first receive the Nanovna?
I¡¯m wondering about matters such as does the firmware need to be updated
and from where it would be obtained, is calibrating required each time you
use it, and the matter about extra shielding be added to some units? I
apologize for asking these entry level questions in what appears to be a
very advanced user group, but I¡¯ve always believed that the only dumb
questions are those we don¡¯t ask.

Bob, WA2SQQ





Re: Defective NanoVna

 

Hi Jim

The 800MHz versions of the firmware are the ones that avoid glitches at 300
and/or 600MHz.

The design seems to be based on pushing chips beyind spec and using
harmonics of the oscillator signal for higher frequencies - I assume the
changeover points are 300 & 600 MHz with the 900 MHz builds.

Mike

On Tue, 6 Aug 2019, 22:14 , <jimcking@...> wrote:

Yes, I did reload firmware with nanoVNA_900ch_20190722.dfu

Forgot to mention that earlier. The above firmware did help on one I got
earlier with a lot lower spike but did not help much on this one.

Thanks for the help though.

Jim K.




Re: A few entry level questions

 

The screen is touch sensitive. Tap it to bring up the home display menu. Select ¡°stimulus¡±. That¡¯s where you enter the frequencies and other information. You can also push down on the jog wheel to activate the menu and then scroll and select.

Go to ¡°files¡± on the groups.io website and download the PDF titled ¡°Menu Map¡±. It will show you how to navigate the menu structure.

Have fun,

Larry

On Aug 6, 2019, at 3:01 PM, Stuart Landau via Groups.Io <stuartl73@...> wrote:

Certainly reasonable questions. I would add entering frequencies and other entries. I am new to the NanoVNA but not network analysis.
Stuart K6YAZ
On Aug 6, 2019, at 11:56 AM, Larry Rothman <ac293@...> wrote:

Hi Bob, welcome to the group.
There are a number of references in the FILES and WIKI sections.
You can also do a search of key words from the many posts that have good info.
Note - there are several versions of the NanoVNA, the best being one of the black units.

Although this unit will never compare to a lab quality VNA, it does perform remarkably well for its simple design.
Read up on the lengthy discussions regarding calibration to get the best results from your new 'toy'.

I have posted a number of references here:
/g/nanovna-users/wiki/External-links
/g/nanovna-users/files/Miscellaneous

Regards,
Larry VE3LRI



On Tue, Aug 6, 2019 at 02:26 PM, Bob Kozlarek wrote:

After discovering the Nanovna I decided to order one. A short introductory
discussion formed on AMFONE.NET, which mentioned this group, so I decided
to join. I¡¯ve been reading through the posts and already learned a lot. It
sounds like most of you are part of an advanced user group. I¡¯m wondering
if anyone can suggest any entry-level on-line resources which would
summarize what should / must be done when you first receive the Nanovna?
I¡¯m wondering about matters such as does the firmware need to be updated
and from where it would be obtained, is calibrating required each time you
use it, and the matter about extra shielding be added to some units? I
apologize for asking these entry level questions in what appears to be a
very advanced user group, but I¡¯ve always believed that the only dumb
questions are those we don¡¯t ask.

Bob, WA2SQQ





Re: Defective NanoVna

 

OK, so please try the 800Mhz version.

Its used for high temp. Will also eliminate some harmonics. Hope
it helps... There is a August version already.

Cheers!

On Tue, 6 Aug 2019 at 22:14, <jimcking@...> wrote:

Yes, I did reload firmware with nanoVNA_900ch_20190722.dfu

Forgot to mention that earlier. The above firmware did help on one I got
earlier with a lot lower spike but did not help much on this one.

Thanks for the help though.

Jim K.




Re: Defective NanoVna

 

Yes, I did reload firmware with nanoVNA_900ch_20190722.dfu

Forgot to mention that earlier. The above firmware did help on one I got earlier with a lot lower spike but did not help much on this one.

Thanks for the help though.

Jim K.


Re: A few entry level questions

 

Certainly reasonable questions. I would add entering frequencies and other entries. I am new to the NanoVNA but not network analysis.
Stuart K6YAZ

On Aug 6, 2019, at 11:56 AM, Larry Rothman <ac293@...> wrote:

Hi Bob, welcome to the group.
There are a number of references in the FILES and WIKI sections.
You can also do a search of key words from the many posts that have good info.
Note - there are several versions of the NanoVNA, the best being one of the black units.

Although this unit will never compare to a lab quality VNA, it does perform remarkably well for its simple design.
Read up on the lengthy discussions regarding calibration to get the best results from your new 'toy'.

I have posted a number of references here:
/g/nanovna-users/wiki/External-links
/g/nanovna-users/files/Miscellaneous

Regards,
Larry VE3LRI



On Tue, Aug 6, 2019 at 02:26 PM, Bob Kozlarek wrote:

After discovering the Nanovna I decided to order one. A short introductory
discussion formed on AMFONE.NET, which mentioned this group, so I decided
to join. I¡¯ve been reading through the posts and already learned a lot. It
sounds like most of you are part of an advanced user group. I¡¯m wondering
if anyone can suggest any entry-level on-line resources which would
summarize what should / must be done when you first receive the Nanovna?
I¡¯m wondering about matters such as does the firmware need to be updated
and from where it would be obtained, is calibrating required each time you
use it, and the matter about extra shielding be added to some units? I
apologize for asking these entry level questions in what appears to be a
very advanced user group, but I¡¯ve always believed that the only dumb
questions are those we don¡¯t ask.

Bob, WA2SQQ


Re: Defective NanoVna

 

Hello,

Have you tried to upgrade (firmware) your unit?

That issue was already addressed.

Cheers!

LL

On Tue, 6 Aug 2019 at 21:18, <jimcking@...> wrote:

I just received a NanoVna from Amazon (AURSINC). It is a black one with
the shields.

The receive side shows a signal at 300 MHz with input connected to dummy
load. The signal is so strong that it shows at -6 dB from the top of the
screen. I have two others that are from other sources and they show a very
small signal at around 300 MHz that does not interfere with measurements.

The interference on this one is so bad that it is unusable.

Any idea what this could be and is it something I can fix without
returning it to Amazon? Tried calibration and it did not help.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Jim K.




Defective NanoVna

 

I just received a NanoVna from Amazon (AURSINC). It is a black one with the shields.

The receive side shows a signal at 300 MHz with input connected to dummy load. The signal is so strong that it shows at -6 dB from the top of the screen. I have two others that are from other sources and they show a very small signal at around 300 MHz that does not interfere with measurements.

The interference on this one is so bad that it is unusable.

Any idea what this could be and is it something I can fix without returning it to Amazon? Tried calibration and it did not help.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Jim K.