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What accessories do I need for a TinySA Ultra?

 

I'm new here and new to my TinySA Ultra and NanoVNA. Trying to keep it affordable, I'm just trying to figure out what accessories I should buy first and which ones I should still buy but can wait until later. What attenuators should I get first? I have an assortment of connectors/adapters and I have these two attenuators, . And a 15w 0-500Mhz Dummy Load

Is there anything I should buy to protect the SMA connectors with adapters on the TInySA like some people have mentioned? And do I need anything for the antenna? Someone mentioned a DC blocker like this, Is there an upgraded antenna worth buying? I'd like to have a second one on hand as backup anyway.

I'm wanting to test out some Ham radio handhelds and my mobile Anytone AT-778UV Ham Radio. They are UHF/VHF. And then I'd also like to test out some CB radios.

I've been reading mixed reviews on everything so I figured I'd ask here before I started ordering things I don't need or end up ordering the wrong things.

Thanks for the help.

 

The main things I think of are a set of attenuators and some in-between adaptors for the various connector types. I have 2 watt SMA attenuators (male on one end, female on the other ehd) covering 1 to 10 dB in 1 dB increments, and then more attenuators up to 30 dB. I have attenuators rated to 18 GHz because I do a lot of microwave stuff, not just with the TnySA. If you don't plan on going that high in frequency, the ones rated to lower frequencies are fine. I have a bunch of SMA to BNC, N, UHF and TNC adaptors of various types (male to male, male to female, etc.) Also some cables longer than the ones that come with the TinySA with male SMA's on each end.

Zack W9SZ


On Thu, Mar 13, 2025 at 7:04?AM asron87 via <asron87=[email protected]> wrote:
I'm new here and new to my TinySA Ultra and NanoVNA. Trying to keep it affordable, I'm just trying to figure out what accessories I should buy first and which ones I should still buy but can wait until later. What attenuators should I get first? I have an assortment of connectors/adapters and I have these two attenuators, . And a 15w 0-500Mhz Dummy Load

Is there anything I should buy to protect the SMA connectors with adapters on the TInySA like some people have mentioned? And do I need anything for the antenna? Someone mentioned a DC blocker like this, Is there an upgraded antenna worth buying? I'd like to have a second one on hand as backup anyway.

I'm wanting to test out some Ham radio handhelds and my mobile Anytone AT-778UV Ham Radio. They are UHF/VHF. And then I'd also like to test out some CB radios.

I've been reading mixed reviews on everything so I figured I'd ask here before I started ordering things I don't need or end up ordering the wrong things.

Thanks for the help.

 

Also some higher-power attenuators. I have some 5W, 10W and one 50 watt attenuator (that one is 30 dB). If you're concerned about wearing out the connectors on the TinySA, just get a few straight-through or right-angle SMA male to female adaptors. Put one on the TinySA and leave it there. Then it will wear out, not the one on the TinySA.

I don't know if you'd need a DC blocker or not. I do not have one and never needed one. All of the RF equipment I have used already had DC blocked and only had RF on the output. Note, if you are going to connect something with higher power and suspect DC is on the output, you'll need something a lot bigger than the one you referenced.

I have various telescoping antennas that came with various SDR modules I've purchased over the years. Just about anything will work. One of mine has an MCX connector on it and I had to come up with an adaptor for MCX to SMA.

Also, as an addition to my last post, you can stack the SMA adaptors. I have two 20 dB and one 10 dB attenuator stacked to use with my HP 435B power meter. The maximum power to the 8484A power head I have is 10 microwatts.

Zack W9SZ


On Thu, Mar 13, 2025 at 7:39?AM Zack Widup <w9sz.zack@...> wrote:
The main things I think of are a set of attenuators and some in-between adaptors for the various connector types. I have 2 watt SMA attenuators (male on one end, female on the other ehd) covering 1 to 10 dB in 1 dB increments, and then more attenuators up to 30 dB. I have attenuators rated to 18 GHz because I do a lot of microwave stuff, not just with the TnySA. If you don't plan on going that high in frequency, the ones rated to lower frequencies are fine. I have a bunch of SMA to BNC, N, UHF and TNC adaptors of various types (male to male, male to female, etc.) Also some cables longer than the ones that come with the TinySA with male SMA's on each end.

Zack W9SZ

On Thu, Mar 13, 2025 at 7:04?AM asron87 via <asron87=[email protected]> wrote:
I'm new here and new to my TinySA Ultra and NanoVNA. Trying to keep it affordable, I'm just trying to figure out what accessories I should buy first and which ones I should still buy but can wait until later. What attenuators should I get first? I have an assortment of connectors/adapters and I have these two attenuators, . And a 15w 0-500Mhz Dummy Load

Is there anything I should buy to protect the SMA connectors with adapters on the TInySA like some people have mentioned? And do I need anything for the antenna? Someone mentioned a DC blocker like this, Is there an upgraded antenna worth buying? I'd like to have a second one on hand as backup anyway.

I'm wanting to test out some Ham radio handhelds and my mobile Anytone AT-778UV Ham Radio. They are UHF/VHF. And then I'd also like to test out some CB radios.

I've been reading mixed reviews on everything so I figured I'd ask here before I started ordering things I don't need or end up ordering the wrong things.

Thanks for the help.

 

For the VNA you need a second calibration kit, to get a second 50 Ohm load and barrel connector to do the ISOLATION step of the calibration process -- for S21 type tests. Amazon has inexpensive kits.?
?
For the SA you need a handful of attenuators. The one you put first in line at the radio's antenna port is the most important. It must be able to dissipate the max power you expect to test. If you have only HTs to test (10W max power) that first attenuator is inexpensive. If you need to test at 50W, expect to pay much more...
?
Personally all my attenuators are multiples of 10dB because their effect is easy to calculate -- divide by 10... E.g. 5W thru 10dB = 0.5W, thru 20dB = 0.05W etc...?
?
Most here recommend a total of 60dB for a 1-5W input. I like 80dB... Don't be afraid to experiment?
 

What is the second calibration kit for the NanoVNA for? Or what kit should I buy off of amazon to do it? I have the calibration kit that came with the NanoVNA, can you post a link to the one I should get?

And maybe some links to attenuators that are worth buying?

 

Absolutely no need to buy a second calibration kit.
The kit supplied with the nanoVNA is good
--
Designer of the tinySA
For more info go to

 

That was my thought. It would be ideal to have two 50 ohm resistors to calibrate the isolation setting, but not really needed from my experience.

Back to TinySA discussions.

Zack

On Thu, Mar 13, 2025 at 2:47?PM Erik Kaashoek via <erik=[email protected]> wrote:
Absolutely no need to buy a second calibration kit.
The kit supplied with the nanoVNA is good
--
Designer of the tinySA
For more info go to


Virus-free.
 

Some people like to have a spare or backup set of calibration kits in case one gets lost or misplaced.
Myself, I have a set for my NanoVNA H and a set for my H4.
Both NanoVNAs are in separate cases with all adapters for each.
Some use only one set for multiple VNAs.
It is a individual choise.
You will find the less expensive ones vary in resistor value.
As an experiment I purchased 4 of the load parts of the cal. kits from different vendors and checked each load for actual value. Each was different. I then chose which ones was closest to 50 ohms and use those. I put the others in a spare parts or junk bin.
Unless you buy the very expensive certified cal. kits, you will find most load parts in the inexpensive kits will run around 49.** ohms and 51.** ohms.
Clyde KC7BJE?

On Thu, Mar 13, 2025, 12:42?PM asron87 via <asron87=[email protected]> wrote:
What is the second calibration kit for the NanoVNA for? Or what kit should I buy off of amazon to do it? I have the calibration kit that came with the NanoVNA, can you post a link to the one I should get?

And maybe some links to attenuators that are worth buying?

 

On Thu, Mar 13, 2025 at 02:47 PM, Erik Kaashoek wrote:
Absolutely no need to buy a second calibration kit. The kit supplied with the nanoVNA is good
?
For meticulous as I am, About the 3rd time I calibrated my NanoVNA 2-3 years ago.. Calibration was funky and the supplied 50 ohm load was, I recall OPEN... Fortunately AMAZON? solved that with a pair of 50 ohm SMA loads for very little money..
I chalked it up to ADOA...Almost Dead on Arrivial.?
?
Thank you for bringing the Amateur Radio Community, this wonderful item. I have both the NanoVNA H4 and the TinySA Ultra plus quite a collection of adapters, attenuators and a 0-1Ghz LNA? I have used for repairs, and experimentation, and alignments of pass band cavities.
?
Larry W8LM
ARRL Life Member- Licensed 59 years...
 

Hello Erik!?
To do a proper ISOLATION calibration you need 2 load stubs. The nanoVNA only comes with one???
?
Matthew?
KD6KVH?
 

1)? Yes, for isolation, both ports should have a non-reactive 50-ohm resistor installed.

2)? It's excellent insurance to install the following on each port.? From MiniCircuits:

????????? VLM-33W-2W-S+

It's especially important on the source port.


It's presently under redesign by MiniCircuits.? Just wait.? Both Mouser and Digikey will stock it.

Dave - W?LEV

On Sat, Mar 15, 2025 at 12:57?AM Matthew Rapaport via <quineatal=[email protected]> wrote:
Hello Erik!?
To do a proper ISOLATION calibration you need 2 load stubs. The nanoVNA only comes with one???
?
Matthew?
KD6KVH?



--
Dave - W?LEV
 

So help me understand... This is basically an attenuator, but only for signals above a certain threshold, letting weaker ones through without attenuating them??
?
Matthew?
KD6KVH?
 

No this is not just an attenuator.? It is a limiter with silicon devices.? You can buy limiter diodes and build several yourself if you don't want to pay $63 for good insurance.? That's your decision.? I have and use one on every spectrum analyzer I have (too many).?

Dave - W ?LEV

On Sat, Mar 15, 2025 at 6:40?PM Matthew Rapaport via <quineatal=[email protected]> wrote:
So help me understand... This is basically an attenuator, but only for signals above a certain threshold, letting weaker ones through without attenuating them??
?
Matthew?
KD6KVH?



--
Dave - W?LEV
 

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?If I remember right, the HP network analyzers have a ‘skip isolation’ option in their cal routine, making me think it won’t make much difference in most cases - especially in a Nano.

On Mar 15, 2025, at 10:47?AM, W0LEV via groups.io <davearea51a@...> wrote:

?
1)? Yes, for isolation, both ports should have a non-reactive 50-ohm resistor installed.

2)? It's excellent insurance to install the following on each port.? From MiniCircuits:

????????? VLM-33W-2W-S+

It's especially important on the source port.


It's presently under redesign by MiniCircuits.? Just wait.? Both Mouser and Digikey will stock it.

Dave - W?LEV

On Sat, Mar 15, 2025 at 12:57?AM Matthew Rapaport via <quineatal=[email protected]> wrote:
Hello Erik!?
To do a proper ISOLATION calibration you need 2 load stubs. The nanoVNA only comes with one???
?
Matthew?
KD6KVH?



--
Dave - W?LEV
 

No need for self righteousness. There are RF environments where strong signals can flood an antenna. I can see why such devices would be useful. But I am nowhere near such a RF environment.?
 

Erik.... are you really the guy that made these? That's awesome to be a beginner and get an answer from the creator. So thank you for that.

What accessories would you recommend?

Is a VLM-33W-2W-S+ something I should look into getting? Here's a link to what was mentioned.

https://www.minicircuits.com/WebStore/dashboard.html?model=VLM-33W-2W-S%2B&srsltid=AfmBOorOt7cyUDyF3pdAGc_SH-yOIsH96Bhd95iHfDJP0W3xAr0t1ozV
?
If anyone has any other recommendations can you post some links to them so I don't mess up ordering? I think I already ordered some wrong parts lol
 

Hi,
Our of the above mentioned items, I bought a set of EMC SMA probes for a few �.
They are very useful for servicing radio equipments without disturbing their circuitry.
You can measure frequencies, tune,,,
Best regards,
Georges F6DFZ?
 

Oh and can someone link to a 0-1Ghz LNA worth buying. And also a link for a backup 50ohm calibration kit? Or how do I test if i buy one to see if its 50ohms??

Links to attenuator worth buying?

And can someone explain the VLM-33W-2W-S+ part to me? That ones going way over my head.

 

On Wed, Mar 19, 2025 at 10:22 PM, <asron87@...> wrote:
Erik.... are you really the guy that made these?
Yes
That's awesome to be a beginner and get an answer from the creator. So thank you for that.

What accessories would you recommend?
DC block for when measuring with any DC offset and at least 10, 20 and 30 dB 2 Watt attenuators.
Leave the 10 dB always on the input and it will be safe.
When trying to probe (low or high impedance) circuits a active RF probe is useful, see:
This probe also acts as a rather good protection.
?

Is a VLM-33W-2W-S+ something I should look into getting?
No, either a 10 dB attenuator or the active probe will do.
And please do not connect the tinySA directly to the transmitter output but use either a high power attenuator or a home made power sampler. These are easy to make for below 500 MHz
?
--
Designer of the tinySA
For more info go to

 

If I'm understanding you correctly I should leave a 10db attenuator connected and then the antenna connected to that?
Like this Constant Attenuator (10db)? (Or do you recommend a different one?)


And then a DC block for when measuring with any DC offset. (I'm not sure what that means yet but I'll look into it)
Does this DC block work? (Or go with something different?)

I swear I tried looking all of this up before asking here but I ran into a lot of misinformation so I'm glad I asked.
I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

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