NanoVNA: All the Little Stuff Nobody Explains

[@sandroreis5593]

This was very good. Thank you! Saved in 4 or 5 playlists of mine, lol

[@JoeN2DI]

Glad it helped!

[@janiceemery2008]

Happy Thanksgiving Joe and thank you for the valuable information on the NanoVNA. You are just so rich in information, like Alan. Both of you provide such a wealth of information, it makes it so easy to understand. I just love your analogy of the NanoVNA and the swiss army knife. I did get a laugh out of that one. I like the smith chart on the NanoVNA. I will be looking to purchase one in the near future. Thank you again Joe.

[@JoeN2DI]

Thank you Jan and Happy Thanksgiving.

[@Coyotehello]

0k That was crazy, my head hurts. But it kind of re-kindle stuff from where I was in IT-Networking and Telecom. LOL I love geeking-out!

[@JoeN2DI]

There was a lot packed into that short video. You'll get it after a while. If you've done IT netorking and telecom stuff then you've already learned harder stuff IMO.

[@R50_J0]

Thanks

[@JoeN2DI]

Thank you.

[@jamesmoffat9754]

Can the VNA be used as a spectrum analyzer? How to get rid of the Circular chart

[@JoeN2DI]

No, a spectrum analyzer is something completely different. It's a device that displays power by frequency like the spectrum display or waterfall on a radio. You would transmit from your radio through a device that decreases the power into the spectrum analyzer to check for spurious emmissions and things like that. A VNA on the otherhand is used to scan passive components (meaning something that doesn't produce power) like an antenna or a filter or coax. The circular chart is the smith chart. That's the format of one of the traces. It's usually on trace 2. You can just turn that trace off by going into Display | Trace | Trace 2 then uncheck it.

[@sandroreis5593]

I'd like to measure those expensive Antenna Analyzers with my NanoVNA H4. Possible?

[@JoeN2DI]

You would most likely damage one or both. Remember, they are for scanning passive components. If something outputs its own power like an RF signal, then you wouldn’t want to connect it to a VNA or antenna analyzer.

[@sandroreis5593]

@JoeN2DI of course, makes sense. A spectrum analyzer should be the thing help there, I guess

[@jamesmoffat9754]

I've heard stories about how easy it is to destroy a Nano VNA by hooking up to an antenna without discharging accumulated static charge first. I own a H4 and find the menu structure map somewhat confusing.

[@JoeN2DI]

Yes that's correct. Most test equipment is sensitive including antenna analyzers. You can short the center conductor of the coax to the shield with something to discharge any static build up, especially if you have an antenna and a lot of coax up on a tower before you attach it to the NanoVNA. The menu structure is confusing until you start to understand the difference between S11 and S21 measurements and the different ways to display the data it collects. There are a lot of options but they are mostly for controlling how to scan, where to scan and how to display the data it collects.

[@Bazzawombat]

there must be some way to use the nano vna as a Grid dip meter, Anyone have any idea's? GDO's now days are Hens teeth.

[@JoeN2DI]

You can bend a stiff piece of wire into a loop and solder it to a male sma connector with one end on the center conductor and the other end on the shield. Attach it to port one then set the nanoVNA to do a S11 logmag scan. Move the loop near a resonant device like a coil and the peak on the logmag trace should be the resonant frequency.