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Author Topic: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!  (Read 1343 times)

KJ4RWH

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NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« on: October 16, 2019, 04:34:19 AM »

I saw these NanoVNA mentioned in some online Ham forums and bought one ($46) They are simply amazing for the price. Actually it competes with devices costing 6X as much. It displays Smith charts, SWR, phase where ever you set it to view. Has a range of 500kc to 9gHz. You can set a band with of 1.5mHz to 150mHz and display your 2-160 OCF dipole's SWR. I enclosed a couple of pix to get you an idea of what it is.
https://flic.kr/p/2hvRJBR
https://flic.kr/p/2hvRJCx
« Last Edit: October 16, 2019, 04:54:12 AM by KJ4RWH »
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N5INP

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RE: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2019, 05:21:59 AM »

I saw these NanoVNA mentioned in some online Ham forums and bought one ($46) They are simply amazing for the price. Actually it competes with devices costing 6X as much. It displays Smith charts, SWR, phase where ever you set it to view. Has a range of 500kc to 9gHz. You can set a band with of 1.5mHz to 150mHz and display your 2-160 OCF dipole's SWR. I enclosed a couple of pix to get you an idea of what it is.

Yes I already have two of them  :o .

I've used an expensive VNA when I was working and this little item really works well for the price. I didn't believe it would be more than a little "toy" but since several people in town had got them I decided to check it out. It's the real deal. It does many things the more expensive VNAs do and very well. It's a two port VNA and can check attenuators and filters as well. The battery lasts well over two hours. You can connect it to a PC and execute terminal commands or download a full-screen program to use it. Check out the many reviews of it out there.

It can also check your antennas and show return loss, VSWR, and responses on a smith chart, and the response over any frequency range from something small like 10.1 to 10.15 MHz or 50 kHz to 900 MHz. As soon as it catches on MFJ will be out of the antenna analyzer business. If you check their products they have nothing that can compete with it.

It also does Time Domain Reflectometry. I tried that last week and measured a 36' piece of RG-8X by hand then check it with the NanoVNA - the error was 1%.

Here is a sweep of my main 5 band fan dipole looking at return loss, but you can also view it as VSWR if you wish and also overlay a smith chart. The extra little case surrounding it is something I printed on my 3D printer. Get one and sell your outdated "antenna analyzers" on Ebay as soon as you can!

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ZENKI

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2019, 01:38:29 AM »

Within limitations they are a great tool, very accurate as well. I bought some to use at work just as verification tools to check  things like RF current probes on HF  they are almost as accurate as expensive VNA's. The quality on these units are variable and you really need to spend time  trying to learn it, this is not your grandfather antenna analyzer as the saying goes. It wont be long before hams are going to have access to 3ghz VNA's with fantastic dynamic range. What I like most about these units is its reliability and especially the repeatability. On other ham VNA's the repeatability   of say taking measurements throughout the day produced different outcomes. These NANO VNA's seem very consistent especially on the HF bands.
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W9IQ

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2019, 01:53:25 AM »

I agree, Zenki, that they are amazing instruments at even two or three times the price.

You mentioned limitations - what are they from your experience?

- Glenn W9IQ
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- Glenn W9IQ

God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the wave theory and the devil runs it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Quantum theory.

KL5L

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2020, 10:50:26 AM »

For anyone considering these. make sure you get an original (these white ones are knockoffs that usually cannot be updated). The interface has been improved and new features added in newer firmware releases. the real ones only come in black (though that does not guarantee it's legit). There's also a new 4.2 inch screen model available.
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NO9E

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2020, 11:15:16 AM »

Quote
I enclosed a couple of pix to get you an idea of what it is.
https://flic.kr/p/2hvRJBR
https://flic.kr/p/2hvRJCx

Perhaps they do more than ham radio. I tried to access the pictures, and the response from Flickr is "Adult Content"

Ignacy, NO9E
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W0CKI

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2020, 11:20:45 AM »

Mine doesn't do more than ham radio, did I buy the wrong one?
73, Gary W0CKI
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KL5L

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #7 on: February 09, 2020, 01:20:04 PM »

Mine doesn't do more than ham radio, did I buy the wrong one?
73, Gary W0CKI
I have not seen any differences between the units in regards to the frequency range they work in.
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KM1H

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2020, 05:26:54 PM »

I saw these NanoVNA mentioned in some online Ham forums and bought one ($46) They are simply amazing for the price. Actually it competes with devices costing 6X as much. It displays Smith charts, SWR, phase where ever you set it to view. Has a range of 500kc to 9gHz. You can set a band with of 1.5mHz to 150mHz and display your 2-160 OCF dipole's SWR. I enclosed a couple of pix to get you an idea of what it is.
https://flic.kr/p/2hvRJBR
https://flic.kr/p/2hvRJCx

The upper range of the basic small screen version is 900 MHz
The H model with a metal shield goes to 1 GHz.

The 4" display K goes to 1.5 GHz.

Ive been enjoying a H and K version for awhile.

Carl
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N6YFM

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2020, 11:58:17 PM »

Yes, even the old model goes to 900Mhz.    All of them, even the crappy clones on ebay, work
JUST FINE and VERY accurately on HF, and more than enough to align band pass filters and other types of work on HF frequencies.   I am amazed and what this thing can do on HF for $50.  Just amazing...
And educational too.  At DC to 300Mhz, the accuracy rivals very expensive HP / Agilent Gear.
At 1 Ghz, um, not so much.   But at DC to 450Mhz Mhz, this thing rocks...

Cheers,

Neal
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W9WQA

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #10 on: February 15, 2020, 09:36:55 AM »

dont think mfj needs to worry. most guys can put batteries in a 259 and use it. not so with vna learning curve.
read about calibration for accurate results. lots of fumbling with tiny connections...
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N4UE

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #11 on: February 15, 2020, 01:24:06 PM »

Yes, can't beat the features for the price. I currently have 3 (one of them has the 4.3" display). If these don't have enough features, take a look at the MINI600 and MINI1300. I got my new 1300 last week and it's just fantastic. I also have a 259B and the Comet 500. Each does it's job just fine. Different strokes...….

ron
N4UE
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If you're not the lead sled dog, the view never changes......

W9WQA

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #12 on: February 19, 2020, 09:54:39 PM »

i still dont know enuf but learning and having fun just "messing" with it.
my 900 mhz ends up going to 1500..!
and if you want to see what looks like fireworks, hook up a wide band discone! its like a multi pointed star with untold criss cross lines.
i dont understand all menu functions but chipping away. oh and instructions are hard to read ???
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W4CLJ

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2020, 04:58:22 AM »

I have one and it is an amazing device. If you decide to buy one, do yourself a favor and download the free software.  You will be glad you did.

73
Dave
W4CLJ
Pace, FL
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W9IQ

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Re: NanoVNA Have you seen these?!
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2020, 05:21:33 AM »

There is a nice introduction to them in the latest issue of QST.

They are an amazing device for the price. The larger screen version is worth the extra money.

- Glenn W9IQ
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- Glenn W9IQ

God runs electromagnetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the wave theory and the devil runs it on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the Quantum theory.
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