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I read on @Twitter last night there was a new TinySA with a range just past 5GHz, covering some Wi-Fi, and a 4 inch display for $140.
I know some users like myself who use a Nano VNA are also interested in Spectrum Analysis, so I m surprised I had not seen it here.
So FYI. eJ, WB4LVA
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TY. I did not know. Should have checked.
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hello, yes ,I have purchased one . Try to make a desktop with the TinySA ultra
Pierre Sohl
Belgium Europe
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Be careful about buying one via eBay. There have not been any reports of the Ultra being cloned yet but it is inevitable and the clones are inferior. You can find a list of authorized sellers here: 73 -Jim NU0C On Fri, 24 Mar 2023 08:37:08 -0700 "WB4LVA" <ernie50Johnston@...> wrote: TY. I did not know. Should have checked.
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I have just bought one of the 6Ghz ones I needed something to test the YIG in my faulty 6Ghz VNA, It was around AUD$300. They can be bought on Amazon and Ebay.
Initial impressions -
Cons-
1. I nearly sent the unit back as I couldn't get it to turn on, eventually figured out by trial and error that you must hold the "standby" button down for several seconds before it turns on. Absolutely nothing in the pathetic little pamphlet that comes with it about this.
2. Seems to be NO documentation on the unit whatsoever on the web that I could find after a half hour of searching - maybe someone knows of some info somewhere? No evidence of later firmware's etc.
3. No settings at all for sweep speed, Res bandwidth, calibration etc - all automatic.
4. Unit failed after a few days. Finally figured out the on-off switch was intermittent. A dab of WD40 and its going again!
5. If you do a full sweep up to 6Ghz there are MANY spurs all across the spectrum including a giant one at about 3.5Ghz. Unless you zoom in, its quite hard to separate real signals from fake ones.
6. Calibration is no better than about +-5dB on signal levels and seems to vary when changing the Ref. level.
Pros's
1. Actually works OK when you zoom in but Res bandwidth pretty wide
2. Sig Generator also works well and was very handy for testing another spec analyser I have here.
3. Frequency seems fairly accurate.
Summary:
The unit does have its uses, but I'm not sure I would buy another one. Maybe when some updated firmware's come out it will improve. Maybe the one for $140 is better, but I suspect not. At least there may be some more firmware's available.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Cheers,
Peter - VK2AN
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It sounds like you do not have a genuine TinySA or TinySA Ultra. If you buy on eBay or Amazon you stand a good chance of getting junk clones. The TinySA products have overwhelmingly positive user feedback in the support group. The developer is responsive and stands behind his product. I am a happy owner of both Tiny variants. Everything you need to know is here: /g/tinysa/g/tinysa/wikiIf you do have a TinySA please take your issues up with the TinySA group. 73 -Jim NU0C On Fri, 24 Mar 2023 17:17:36 -0700 "Peter E" <elekessy@...> wrote: I have just bought one of the 6Ghz ones I needed something to test the YIG in my faulty 6Ghz VNA, It was around AUD$300. They can be bought on Amazon and Ebay.
Initial impressions -
Cons-
1. I nearly sent the unit back as I couldn't get it to turn on, eventually figured out by trial and error that you must hold the "standby" button down for several seconds before it turns on. Absolutely nothing in the pathetic little pamphlet that comes with it about this.
2. Seems to be NO documentation on the unit whatsoever on the web that I could find after a half hour of searching - maybe someone knows of some info somewhere? No evidence of later firmware's etc.
3. No settings at all for sweep speed, Res bandwidth, calibration etc - all automatic.
4. Unit failed after a few days. Finally figured out the on-off switch was intermittent. A dab of WD40 and its going again!
5. If you do a full sweep up to 6Ghz there are MANY spurs all across the spectrum including a giant one at about 3.5Ghz. Unless you zoom in, its quite hard to separate real signals from fake ones.
6. Calibration is no better than about +-5dB on signal levels and seems to vary when changing the Ref. level.
Pros's
1. Actually works OK when you zoom in but Res bandwidth pretty wide
2. Sig Generator also works well and was very handy for testing another spec analyser I have here.
3. Frequency seems fairly accurate.
Summary:
The unit does have its uses, but I'm not sure I would buy another one. Maybe when some updated firmware's come out it will improve. Maybe the one for $140 is better, but I suspect not. At least there may be some more firmware's available.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Cheers,
Peter - VK2AN
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Hi Jim,
I don't have any "issues". I was just replying to the original thread so others could make a more informed decision on whether to buy one or not...
Cheers,
Peter
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For not having any issues you sure listed a lot of complaints. :) In re-reading what you wrote I will note that the TinySA/TinySA Ultra do not have a "Standby button". They have an old fashioned power on/off switch. Other comments are not valid for the TSA either. You do not have a TinySA. 73 -Jim NU0C On Fri, 24 Mar 2023 21:41:08 -0700 "Peter E" <elekessy@...> wrote: Hi Jim,
I don't have any "issues". I was just replying to the original thread so others could make a more informed decision on whether to buy one or not...
Cheers,
Peter
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OK Jim, from now on I shall only wax lyrical about how marvelous and reliable these cheap VNA's and SA's are. I also won't mention that my H4 failed after less than a year (it definitely is a NanoVNA).
I'm sure that will be much more useful to everyone. :)
Cheers,
Peter - VK2AN
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On Sat, Mar 25, 2023 at 07:15 AM, Peter E wrote:
I shall only wax lyrical about how marvelous and reliable these cheap VNA's
and SA's are.
No, but if you blame it you should name it - show a picture of your worse little SA! Maybe the one for $140 is better, but I suspect not. And about which device do you talk actually, how much was it? Very confusing...
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On 25/03/2023 00:10, Peter E wrote: Peter - VK2AN Suggest you read the TinySA group for firmware updates and much more. /g/tinysa/Have you seen: Cheers, David GM8ARV -- SatSignal Software - Quality software for you Web: Email: david-taylor@... Twitter: @gm8arv
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I am not saying you should not post your negatives. I am just saying that is sounds very much that although you have a tiny SA you do not have a TinySA?. 73 -Jim NU0C On Fri, 24 Mar 2023 23:15:19 -0700 "Peter E" <elekessy@...> wrote: from now on I shall only wax lyrical
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Peter E.
See
This site has links for the introductory videos from YouTube as well as a link to the 35 page user manual.
73
David
AK9F
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 3/24/2023 7:17 PM, Peter E wrote: I have just bought one of the 6Ghz ones I needed something to test the YIG in my faulty 6Ghz VNA, It was around AUD$300. They can be bought on Amazon and Ebay.
Initial impressions -
Cons-
1. I nearly sent the unit back as I couldn't get it to turn on, eventually figured out by trial and error that you must hold the "standby" button down for several seconds before it turns on. Absolutely nothing in the pathetic little pamphlet that comes with it about this.
2. Seems to be NO documentation on the unit whatsoever on the web that I could find after a half hour of searching - maybe someone knows of some info somewhere? No evidence of later firmware's etc.
3. No settings at all for sweep speed, Res bandwidth, calibration etc - all automatic.
4. Unit failed after a few days. Finally figured out the on-off switch was intermittent. A dab of WD40 and its going again!
5. If you do a full sweep up to 6Ghz there are MANY spurs all across the spectrum including a giant one at about 3.5Ghz. Unless you zoom in, its quite hard to separate real signals from fake ones.
6. Calibration is no better than about +-5dB on signal levels and seems to vary when changing the Ref. level.
Pros's
1. Actually works OK when you zoom in but Res bandwidth pretty wide
2. Sig Generator also works well and was very handy for testing another spec analyser I have here.
3. Frequency seems fairly accurate.
Summary:
The unit does have its uses, but I'm not sure I would buy another one. Maybe when some updated firmware's come out it will improve. Maybe the one for $140 is better, but I suspect not. At least there may be some more firmware's available.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Cheers,
Peter - VK2AN
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Peter, I also wonder which spectrum analyzer you bought. You write it's a 6GHz one. Is it the SA6?
I'm very interested in this, because I'm looking for an inexpensive 6GHz spectrum analyzer, and I saw the SA6 some time ago, but the specs didn't convince me. Then the TinySA Ultra came up, but rated only to a little over 5GHz, which doesn't cover the range I need. So I'm still looking and waiting for the "perfect" SA to appear.
I did buy a TinySA (not ultra) some time ago, and it has served me well for a number of tasks, but I had also hoped to use it on HF, to measure intermodulation in SSB signals, and was disappointed by it having insufficient resolution to do that properly.
So my ideal SA would be one that covers to 6GHz or more, and has selectable bandwidth, without being expensive. If it's slow, that's not a big issue to me.
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Worldwide it is about US$140 delivered from the Zeenko Store on AliExpress.
It's a tad more in the US from R&L Electronics, but it's faster because you
don't have to wait for shipping from China. There is also an EU local
seller.
The TinySA Ultra does go to 6 GHz, but the dynic range is reduced above 5
GHz.
All the info can be found at TinySA.org
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Sat, Mar 25, 2023, 10:03 AM David Rounds <drrounds@...> wrote: Peter E.
See
This site has links for the introductory videos from YouTube as well as
a link to the 35 page user manual.
73
David
AK9F
On 3/24/2023 7:17 PM, Peter E wrote:
I have just bought one of the 6Ghz ones I needed something to test the YIG in my faulty 6Ghz VNA, It was around AUD$300. They can be bought on
Amazon and Ebay.
Initial impressions -
Cons-
1. I nearly sent the unit back as I couldn't get it to turn on, eventually figured out by trial and error that you must hold the "standby"
button down for several seconds before it turns on. Absolutely nothing in
the pathetic little pamphlet that comes with it about this.
2. Seems to be NO documentation on the unit whatsoever on the web that I
could find after a half hour of searching - maybe someone knows of some
info somewhere? No evidence of later firmware's etc.
3. No settings at all for sweep speed, Res bandwidth, calibration etc -
all automatic.
4. Unit failed after a few days. Finally figured out the on-off switch
was intermittent. A dab of WD40 and its going again!
5. If you do a full sweep up to 6Ghz there are MANY spurs all across the
spectrum including a giant one at about 3.5Ghz. Unless you zoom in, its
quite hard to separate real signals from fake ones.
6. Calibration is no better than about +-5dB on signal levels and seems
to vary when changing the Ref. level.
Pros's
1. Actually works OK when you zoom in but Res bandwidth pretty wide
2. Sig Generator also works well and was very handy for testing another
spec analyser I have here.
3. Frequency seems fairly accurate.
Summary:
The unit does have its uses, but I'm not sure I would buy another one.
Maybe when some updated firmware's come out it will improve. Maybe the one
for $140 is better, but I suspect not. At least there may be some more
firmware's available.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Cheers,
Peter - VK2AN
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None of the inexpensive handheld spectrum analyzers has a low enough RBW
for checking out IMD and other in-passband spurs on SSB signals. Use the
spectrum display on an SDR for that. I have gotten good results with SDR#,
PowerSDR, and HDSDR and compatible receivers.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Sat, Mar 25, 2023, 10:23 AM Manfred Mornhinweg <manfred@...> wrote: Peter, I also wonder which spectrum analyzer you bought. You write it's a
6GHz one. Is it the SA6?
I'm very interested in this, because I'm looking for an inexpensive 6GHz
spectrum analyzer, and I saw the SA6 some time ago, but the specs didn't
convince me. Then the TinySA Ultra came up, but rated only to a little over
5GHz, which doesn't cover the range I need. So I'm still looking and
waiting for the "perfect" SA to appear.
I did buy a TinySA (not ultra) some time ago, and it has served me well
for a number of tasks, but I had also hoped to use it on HF, to measure
intermodulation in SSB signals, and was disappointed by it having
insufficient resolution to do that properly.
So my ideal SA would be one that covers to 6GHz or more, and has
selectable bandwidth, without being expensive. If it's slow, that's not a
big issue to me.
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The TinySA Ultra has RBW down to 200Hz. How tight do you need to go? 73 -Jim NU0C On Sat, 25 Mar 2023 10:41:17 -0400 "Shirley Dulcey KE1L" <mark@...> wrote: None of the inexpensive handheld spectrum analyzers has a low enough RBW
for checking out IMD and other in-passband spurs on SSB signals. Use the
spectrum display on an SDR for that. I have gotten good results with SDR#,
PowerSDR, and HDSDR and compatible receivers.
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On Sat, Mar 25, 2023 at 07:41 AM, Shirley Dulcey KE1L wrote: None of the inexpensive handheld spectrum analyzers has a low enough RBW
for checking out IMD and other in-passband spurs on SSB signals. The tinySA Ultra will show IMD on SSB signals just fine. Maybe not ideal, but certainly adequate. Attached is a screen shot showing a 10 meter band SSB signal with the standard 700 Hz and 1900 Hz test tones (deliberately driven hard enough to show 3rd, 5th, and 7th order IMD products).
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Hi Manfred,
Yes it is an SA6. (and sorry guys that I did not make it clear that it is not a TinySA - not that I'm exactly sure what defines a TinySA..)
Actually it has proven quite useful for what I wanted to do - measuring and generating sig's above 3Ghz. If you have no other choice, buy one, but the biggest issue for me seems to be the complete lack of any documentation and no access to any updated firmware, etc, similar to what you get with the NanoVNA. Maybe someone can correct me on this?
Contact me direct if you need any more info on the unit.
Cheers,
Peter - VK2AN
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WB4LVA
Jim Shorney
Ho-Ro
David J Taylor
Shirley Dulcey KE1L
Jim Allyn - N7JA
