Getting Started with Meshtastic [BONUS] - NanoVNA

[@n1kkri]

If I wanted to buy a nanoVNA which one should I buy? I am a bit confused on who makes the one that will be best supported with updates and which one has the best hardware/firmware. There are a few out there will similar frequency and feature specs. What is a clone and what isn't a clone when it comes to open source programming. I get the specs you mentioned about frequency range and I want something also that will let me play with Ham Radio antennas and Bluetooth/WiFi antennas. I am concerned about the best hardware/firmware and update supports. What is the Impedance of the LOAD for calibration your using and how does it effect measuring antennas SWR of a different Impedance, for example 75 ohm or 300 ohm antennas. Thanks,

[@The_Comms_Channel]

As far as support goes, the NanoVNA is an opensource project. Everything from the software to the schematics is all open source and you could even build one yourself. Buying one of these pre-made ones from Amazon is for the convenience of getting one made for you. Since they are based off this open source project, they all receive the same updates as the project gets updated. A link to the project is here - github.com/hugen79/NanoVNA-H One of the better companies that makes these products is AURSINC and here's a link to their Amazon page amzn.to/3R0qSzn For your needs, they make a 3GHz version that will let you work with WiFi/Bluetooth as well as Ham Radio Antennas and a link to that is here amzn.to/3GlXKO3 These will come with a 50 Ohm calibration kit, but others have made their own calibration kits for other impedances. Thanks for the question!

[@n1kkri]

@@The_Comms_Channel I assume besides the 50 Ohm they also come with the OPEN and SHORT fixtures as well. I am reading some have problems when updating the firmware with certain MFG of the hardware which raises my concern to buy one that is known not to have firmware update problems. Thanks,

[@GH0ST369]

Buy one that has the range of your antenna and cables.

[@Meshtastic]

Thanks for the constant stream of informative content! You're the best!

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Sure thing! Meshtastic has such a great community and I'm excited to see it grow!

[@RoguePlank]

Man that smith diagram look like we dialing in some stargate coordinates

[@The_Comms_Channel]

🤣🤣🤣 For real!

[@kenneth6731]

I still haven't found the seventh symbol. I need Carter to run this thing!

[@paulnagel8161]

This is a great series! Can't wait to see it in action.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it! If you have anything you want to see, let me know and I'll see if I can do a video on it. Thanks for the comment!

[@paulnagel2700]

Actually, I would love to see some range testing with direction antennas.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

I'll see what I can do with that. I live in a hilly/mountainous area.

[@kerbalairforce8802]

This is the best Nano VNA instructional video I've found, and it happened to be in the middle of an interesting playlist on LoRa. Very well done.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Thank you! Glad it was helpful!

[@mumbles1justin]

I want to start by saying Ive enjoyed watching this getting started with Meshtastic series. Im Not saying the way your showing is wrong. But why would you cal using SWR and not Smith chart? The way your showing to cal doesn’t show wether or not any of your cal loads are even good or not. In other words your not checking weather the short is a true short, your 50 ohm load is a true 50 and your open is a true open. I point this out because most loads that have come with my devices are trash and had to purchase good loads separately. I understand this video is to get people started with the nanoVNA. But I think new users should learn how to at least use the smith for cal. Because this way of calibrating the nanovna is going to trip up new users getting started do to faulty loads.

[@GH0ST369]

You have a gifted voice for teaching. You also have a good pace and systematic method. Keep up the fantastic content!

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Thanks, I really appreciate it! More content coming soon!

[@mikesanders6875]

Underscored and bolded. Great presentation and pace.

[@JD_Manufacturing]

Great information. I have a RAK Wizbloc I just put in an enclosure with 10500mah lipo. There’s a notable power efficiency compared to my Heltec v3s. The heltec boards have a sleep mode but not the RAK.. Going forward I will consider the RAK devices because they are compact high quality and well designed. I bought a nano VNA that goes up to 1.5 ghz that’s half the price. It covers my HT And Lora antennas only.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Nice! Hard to beat the power efficiency of NRF52! Love the modularity of the WisBlock and will be going over some of the sensors that can be added in the next video.

[@RoguePlank]

YEEEEEEES NERD TIME

[@The_Comms_Channel]

YESSSS NERD TIME IS THE BEST

[@zerobow9413]

FYI you cant test any antenna if its touching the table! and I would start at 850 to 950 or so to see more

[@flat-earther]

okay thanks for your insight

[@smg950u]

Awesome video, I just received a couple meshtastic devices and have been playing with them! I really appreciate how a lot of the barriers that were holding back a lot of radio hobbies (cough cough, ham community) are getting broken down. Thanks!!

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Thanks! There's some good people in the ham community, but there's certainly plenty of sad hams too. It's a shame really. I've had a number of them comment on my videos from their mom's basement.

[@Anonymous-b3m]

Just got the NanoVNA, the cheapest one on Amazon ($50), today and tested an antenna from Amazon to see how well it'd do for Mestastic. Works great. Thanks for videos to help me through the whole introduction to Meshtastic...and testing antennas. :)

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Nice! Sure thing! I'm glad you're finding the videos helpful!

[@flat-earther]

do you know what is different between NanoVNA-H and NanoVNA-H4

[@millbean13]

This could not have dropped at a better time. Bought a vna after watching last vid, got it, brought it to work today to start playing with it, and quickly remembered, “oh yea, I’m not an RF eng., I don’t know what any of this shit means.” Very helpful video.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Haha, perfect timing! Glad the video is helpful.

[@millbean13]

@@The_Comms_Channelthis might be too long of a response for you to type but how do I set the VNA to show which specific frequency the antenna is set to, if that makes sense. I saw another video by Ham Radio Crash Course I think and he was using this same thing but his little scope had just a linear output with a dip at the specific frequency the antenna was “set to” was the wording I think he used. He said something about sometimes you’ll get an antenna with these Meshtastic radios that are bad to use cause they are work on a completely different frequency like 430 mhz or something like that. Does that make sense? If so, how do I show that graph? Thanks for sharing

[@ryanleathers9025]

​​@@millbean13Its not a simple button press, but it is a simple process. the biggest factor determining where an antenna will be effective is the antennas length. Assuming you are testing an antenna designed for your desired frequency range, you might start by expanding the frequency range slightly beyond the ideal range and see how your results turn out. If the results are poor, expand the test range even farther until you see where the SWR drops, then re-center there and retest with appropriate granularity to get a good picture of how the antenna performs based on its default construction/tuning/length.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Yeah, the one that comes with the T-Beams aren't great. The part where I enter in the Start and End frequencies, just expand the range a bit (can try 400MHz and 1000MHz) from there you will want to look for a dip in the graph and use the left or right to put the marker on the dip to see what frequency is the best for that antenna. You may have to play around with what you enter into the Start/Stop range until you see the dip.

[@carlosbruno4142]

Awesome. Wondering if you can include some words on batteries and battery life on upcoming videos. Thanks!

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Good idea! I'll do something on that.

[@owlcricker-k7ulm]

Why don't you need an SMA to RSMA adapter to connect the antenna?

[@Francois_Dupont]

dont do that! instead of calibrating for such a small range, always keep some band on the side. for example 800mhz to 1100mhz. with this method you will see if your antenna is too short or too long. by the shape of the waveform you could also detect a "fake" antenna that has some cheats inside, a bad connection or something. also always press [Clear] to erase the previous calibration before doing a new calibration.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Good idea!

[@BunnyMcHusky-cg1tj]

Awesome video. Thanks for the walkthrough. Super helpful.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Sure thing! Glad it was helpful!

[@coreyperez13]

I appreciate your info. I've been looking at these and wondering what all the info was on the screen. Judging by the videos on YT, nobody else seems to know how to actually use these Nano's!

[@jeanmarccierniewski837]

i read we have to avoid to remove antenna on standard radio when it work to avoid burning it. it not the same problem with nanovna ?

[@The_Comms_Channel]

No worries with the NanoVNA since it isn't transmitting

[@mlentsch]

How about a proper dipole - like the ones that come with the Radiomaster Bandit?

[@biaspriene]

Quick question. I am working on a sturdier case for my T-Echo and want to put the GPS Antenna externally separate from the LoRa antenna (Gizont 17cm 915). Is there a small GPS SMA antenna that you would recommend? I haven't found one specifically tuned for L1 or L2. Thanks in advance!

[@biaspriene]

BTW I read in a comment on the LilyGo site that the stock antenna seems more resonant at 1,200 mhz which seems more in line with an L2. Have you by any chance tried using the T-Echo stock antenna as a GPS antenna? I would be interesting to be able to recycle. Thanks!

[@coastalpoodlerescue]

😊😊👍🏼👍🏼

[@TheWingnut58]

After looking over the selection of NanoVNAs that Amazon offers, I'm even more confused.... In the 10Khz-1.Ghz model descriptions, it states that SWR can be tested from 10Khz - 900Mhz. What am I missing?

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Hmmm, that is weird. May be a typo? Amazon descriptions aren't the best sometimes.

[@TheWingnut58]

That's a very good point...lol But it seems odd that several different brands would have the exact same typo.....unless maybe they're all being made in the same factory....maybe....? I'm thinking I'll just wait until after the holidays and pick one up like you're using....that will allow me to work with 2.4 routers and my r/c stuff too.

[@The_Comms_Channel]

I've had mine a while and it's been good to me. If I was buying a new one today, I'd probably get one from AURSINC. I've updated the links in the video for the different models from them.

[@SpyStaMia]

I apologise …

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Go touch grass

[@SpyStaMia]

@@The_Comms_Channel - your content on the Meshtastic RAK gear is fantastic. Thank you!

[@The_Comms_Channel]

Sure thing! Glad you're enjoying it!