Paul, I have been following you for two-three years now and really like the "down home" manner in which you make your presentations. I am also very glad you have gotten more into amateur radio lately. You seem to be thriving in tus segment of electronics. You make many hood points re the NanoVNA and, while it's a marvelous instrument, there aren't drawbacks. One of the main ones is that the displays are dim on a sunny day. The other is tgsr that the screen jiggles and it's hard to get a decent reading.
My NanoVNA gets a lot of use in my shop. Although most users probably favor its ability to check an antenna systems SWR, it can also be used to check coax length and quality and test traps and BALUNs and common mode chokes.. Mine sits on my bench while I make and adjust filters , etc. for my rx and tx projects. Calibration does not have to be done for each use. They can be saved and recalled for one's favorite bands or required range of frequencies. The NanoVNA H4 with a later firmware upgrade can give usable results up to 2.7GHz.
I love my NanoVNA. Been using it a lot lately since I got my HF radio and I've been trying different antennas in my super small 25' x 25' backyard. Best $65 I've ever spent! (that's what I paid for it in Canadian about a year ago)
One other thing about UA-cam and such, anecdotally as I don’t know what your metrics look like, but for me I trust your recommendations on 3d printers over a lot of the other main stream 3d printing channels…. Idk if that helps or not but
the correct way to do the isolation calibration is to use TWO 50 ohm loads - one on each port. If you have only one load (that's how nanoVNA is sold), you can place it on port S21 and do the isolation calibration this way. The newer versions allow you to save the calibration, so you only need to re-do it if the frequency range is changed you dont have saved calibration for it.
I'm just a home-assistant type hobbyist. I'm interested in 433mhz, 915mhz, ble, zigbee and various wifi frequencies. I guess this unit could only test 433/915mhz, correct? Also, I think I would need a different load calibration at these frequencies. I'm interested to see how good/bad some AliExpress antennas I bought are. Maybe this unit is just better for Ham radio?
This one is good to 1.5Ghz, they have an upgraded version that goes to 3Ghz - amzn.to/3JbwDqs it's more expensive, it will certainly do the job required.
Perfect. Watched the video, got lost, watched it again, got it straight. Ran out to the car, confirmed my dual band is tuned to the proper range, found the CB antenna was too short for 11, but great for 10. Ran back inside, checked the nonresonant end-fed, found it was well over two to one inside of every band except 10 meters, confirmed easy to tune with the Xiegu (Shay-goo) G90. One happy camper and a new subscriber. 73!
You want to be sure you pick up a legitimate NanoVNA. There are a lot of clones out there that do not work correctly. Paul, will you be going to Hamvention next month?
IMHO there isn't much advancement that can happen in measuring RF equipment, at most you can increase max frequency though anything above 10s GHz is likely RF on chip so unless you work at a manufacturer you aren't probing that. More expensive devices (think lab grade not hobby grade) will have better stability and paperwork describing its accuracy and precision not to mention manufacturer support.
Good video, thanks!🇺🇸
Paul, I have been following you for two-three years now and really like the "down home" manner in which you make your presentations. I am also very glad you have gotten more into amateur radio lately. You seem to be thriving in tus segment of electronics.
You make many hood points re the NanoVNA and, while it's a marvelous instrument, there aren't drawbacks.
One of the main ones is that the displays are dim on a sunny day. The other is tgsr that the screen jiggles and it's hard to get a decent reading.
Very good video! I buy a swr meter and a nanovna, and i know now that i really need only the nanovna for ham radio. Thanks! 73 PU2PQQ
My NanoVNA gets a lot of use in my shop. Although most users probably favor its ability to check an antenna systems SWR, it can also be used to check coax length and quality and test traps and BALUNs and common mode chokes.. Mine sits on my bench while I make and adjust filters , etc. for my rx and tx projects. Calibration does not have to be done for each use. They can be saved and recalled for one's favorite bands or required range of frequencies. The NanoVNA H4 with a later firmware upgrade can give usable results up to 2.7GHz.
Cost vs. benefit.
Unless you are making money installing antenna systems, get the Nano.
☮brother
I love my NanoVNA. Been using it a lot lately since I got my HF radio and I've been trying different antennas in my super small 25' x 25' backyard. Best $65 I've ever spent! (that's what I paid for it in Canadian about a year ago)
I've watched many videos on this device, and by far you have given the best demonstration of it's use and value!
Thanks, I appreciate that!
I have the MFJ 259B, The NanoVNA's were not even thought of back then........But it looks interesting.
One other thing about UA-cam and such, anecdotally as I don’t know what your metrics look like, but for me I trust your recommendations on 3d printers over a lot of the other main stream 3d printing channels…. Idk if that helps or not but
I got one of them lite VNAs because I wanted to go up to 2.4ghz and yea when you first start down this path the learning curve is steep
For SWR only you can stop calibration after the load measurement.
Looks like your antenna could be a few mm longer 🤣🤣🤣
the correct way to do the isolation calibration is to use TWO 50 ohm loads - one on each port. If you have only one load (that's how nanoVNA is sold), you can place it on port S21 and do the isolation calibration this way. The newer versions allow you to save the calibration, so you only need to re-do it if the frequency range is changed you dont have saved calibration for it.
Thank you, have just purchased one online while your video was running!
Thank you! You save me a lot of money. Will pick up one of these nanovna’s instead 👍
I'm just a home-assistant type hobbyist. I'm interested in 433mhz, 915mhz, ble, zigbee and various wifi frequencies. I guess this unit could only test 433/915mhz, correct? Also, I think I would need a different load calibration at these frequencies. I'm interested to see how good/bad some AliExpress antennas I bought are. Maybe this unit is just better for Ham radio?
This one is good to 1.5Ghz, they have an upgraded version that goes to 3Ghz - amzn.to/3JbwDqs it's more expensive, it will certainly do the job required.
Perfect. Watched the video, got lost, watched it again, got it straight. Ran out to the car, confirmed my dual band is tuned to the proper range, found the CB antenna was too short for 11, but great for 10. Ran back inside, checked the nonresonant end-fed, found it was well over two to one inside of every band except 10 meters, confirmed easy to tune with the Xiegu (Shay-goo) G90. One happy camper and a new subscriber. 73!
Right on! Fine business!
You want to be sure you pick up a legitimate NanoVNA. There are a lot of clones out there that do not work correctly.
Paul, will you be going to Hamvention next month?
Yes I am planning on going.
make me curious about the difference is the expensive stuff more accurate or is dx failing to advance in technology keeping there prices stagnant
IMHO there isn't much advancement that can happen in measuring RF equipment, at most you can increase max frequency though anything above 10s GHz is likely RF on chip so unless you work at a manufacturer you aren't probing that.
More expensive devices (think lab grade not hobby grade) will have better stability and paperwork describing its accuracy and precision not to mention manufacturer support.
Always good.👍 👍 👍 👍
Great video