Hugen LiteVNA 64 6.3GHz

[Mechatrommer]

just a very short review and request to Dislord (FW developer).. i did a quick test and tear down on LiteVNA, and comparison with my HCXQS NanoVNA V2.2 in short LiteVNA's PCB is very different from Nano V2.2 i guess totally developed and placement by Hugen, topology maybe the same with Nano, i've not look closely, hinted by OwO with few components changes to deal with extra BW. performance wise, i think its comparable or better than Nano V2.2 and sweeps much faster. 1001 points sweep on LiteVNA feels about the same 201 points sweep of Nano V2.2... S21's noise floor of LiteVNA is i think much better @ 4GHz (-60dB) and maintained up to max BW 6.3GHz (worst is -50dB) where NanoV2.2 is touching -40dB @ 4.4GHz... maybe because NanoV2.2 is operated from Samsung wallwart charger? (if so then its not a fair comparison with battery operated LiteVNA) S11 return loss of 50ohm Load is also better on LiteVNA. and the male Cal Kit provided with the unit is extraordinarily good with only about 0.7ps offset delay estimated with my tool, when i calibrated the LiteVNA with Kirkby Cal Kit using s-parm characterized profile in NanoVNA-QT (modded by Hugen to enable 6.3GHz limit), the 50ohm Load is also dead center on Smith chart. so to conclude in general, i'm happy with LiteVNA and its easily superseded my NanoVNA V2.2 already. and Lite's price is only about 1.5X the price of HCXQS Nano. cheers FWIW...

what i got in LiteVNA (64 )that is not in NanoV2.2:
1) extra BW up to 6.3GHz
2) larger 4" LCD
3) can save screenshot and s*p file to sd card
4) faster sweep time for 1001 points.
5) slimmer in thickness dimension of casing, and properly manufactured casing, unlike lego connection style of NanoV2.2 case.
6) nice box to put the unit, cables, cal kit, manual etc in one safe place.

what i request in next FW upgrade by dislord.
1) use standard older definition of bmp 24/32bits file when screenshot save to sd card. because currently the bmp saved using different (new?) bmp format that my older photo viewers SW dont recognize. one SW shows it as Black White picture. i have to open properly and convert to standard format in Photoshop. (you can ask me the format if you cant find the reference)
2) sd card write failed on FAT32 formatted 32GB micro sd card with size allocation other than 64KB (failed tested on 16KB allocation), hopefully this limitation can be rectified later.

some quirk:
1) battery level cannot be fully charged, it only shows 2 bars max (out of full 4 bars), maybe on older/expired batch battery? not sure. but i guess is still usable measuring something for sometime. easily replaceable if needed. my NanoV2.2 didnt come with a battery.
2) charging battery will increase S21's noise floor. i cant compare with NanoV2.2 i dont have battery for it..


the link of modded NanoVNA-QT 6.3 18GHz version can be downloaded (with AliExpress Zeenko Store's consent) from https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10lU5xnwmHDnPX98z21ky09N8nb_cEOk4 if it matters. otherwise you can use the recommended PC SW NanoVNA-App if you want to.

ps: and to be fair, not to forget to mention.. OwO claimed that NanoVNA V3 6GHz version of his VNA will performs far better than LiteVNA and full 2-port VNA. so if you are interested in better performing and affordable VNA, you can wait for him, save your money instead of buying this LiteVNA, but ETA unknown... ymmv..

[DiSlord]

>1) use standard older definition of bmp 24/32bits file when screenshot save to sd card. because currently the bmp saved using different (new?) bmp format that my older photo viewers SW dont recognize. one SW shows it as Black White picture. i have to open properly and convert to standard format in Photoshop. (you can ask me the format if you cant find the reference)

Fixed in last fw (i change bmp header to correct format)

> 1) battery level cannot be fully charged, it only shows 2 bars max (out of full 4 bars), maybe on older/expired batch battery? not sure. but i guess is still usable measuring something for sometime. easily replaceable if needed. my NanoV2+ didnt come with a battery.
Need fix measured offset in CONFIG->EXPERT SETTING->VBAT OFFSET (typical near 420mV, this depend from current device)
Save config after

>2) charging battery will increase S21's noise floor. i cant compare with NanoV2+ i dont have battery for it..
Yes, try use better quality charger. I hope in new hardware noise from charger reduce.

You can ask me in this group, https://groups.io/g/nanovna-beta-test/topics

[Mechatrommer]

just to clarify from OwO, he said my NanoVNA is V2.2, not V2+ (V2.3) so i've corrected my OP. according to him, the official V2.2 cant go beyond 3GHz, but proof from above picture, my Nano can go to 4.4GHz, so it was a mixed up. V2+ should performs better than my NanoVNA V2, and OwO claims V2+4 performs better than LiteVNA below 3GHz, FWIW. consolidation: ok thank you DISlord. i didnt aware there is vbat offset setting.

[Mechatrommer]

i upgraded to latest FW... from dislord head up in the other thread..
1) still the same different BMP format saved to micro sd card thats incompatible with my older photo viewer... i reconvert using Photoshop (new version) to the correct 16bit bmp format (attached) that can be read with older viewer. for dislord reference..fwiw.
2) failed to write to sd card if i touch screen before finish saving (maybe something to do with interrupt routine?), i can write 1 or 2 files at first, and then failed to write msg appeared if i want to save the next bmp/s1p/s2p. only remedy is i reformat the card from PC.
3) the increased S21 noise floor was due to my noisy wallwart charger. if i charge with power bank, noise floor is ok, same as when not in charging mode.
4) battery level on screen now showing correct full 3 bar level.

[DiSlord]

I use standart bmp file vs BITMAPV4HEADER support from Windows NT 4.0, 95 or later
This need for direct dump data RGB565 from LCD (most easy way for store), not usead any nonstandard fields.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP_file_format

Attached document open in all my software

On problems write to SD can you provide information from CONFIG->DMSG screen (contain debug log from errors)

[Mechatrommer]

just an update in OP. Hugen and Zeenko Corp have updated the NanoVNA-QT to 18GHz limit (i only asked for the 2nd time for 10GHz upgrade) in the same google drive link. i'm not sure if its sarcasm or mocking to me or what, but i'm sure happy with it. now i wonder how long the NanoVNA-QT will need the next update? (when we have > 18GHz Nano/Lite VNA) btw fw LiteVNA64-211227.bin is not including the 9GHz harmonics capability yet, so i cant wait for DiSlord to update the newer fw that can support this. cheers. edit: ops! it seems LiteVNA64-220117.bin is already there i didnt notice. updating now....

edit: installed the latest fw... now it supports built "non-ideal" 3rd order polynomial in cal standard setting including 1st order for the LOAD! thats a big thumbs up so now its several steps ahead, closer and closer to more professional grade VNAs. harmonics sweep mode (whatever it is) 9GHz is now enabled (noisy as been warned), attached is measurement of my kirkby cal kit up to 9GHz, i even tried even beyond up to 12GHz in NanoVNA-QT.. for me, measurement beyond 6.3GHz, albeit noisy, can certainly help me to do some decisions. in short tldr, LiteVNA is the device i was looking for about 4-5 years ago, that i ended up buying Deepace KC901V because no other better and affordable alternative around during that time. ymmv...

[realfran]

Hello, please I see your Nano-VNA QT is a little dark on the edge like light brown, you change the colour? My is too light near white.
There is a possibility to change colour?

[Mechatrommer]

(Attachment Link) Hello, please I see your Nano-VNA QT is a little dark on the edge like light brown, you change the colour? My is too light near white.
There is a possibility to change colour?

this is Windows thing... yours is Win10 or 11, mine is Win7 and i set to classic Win98-XP appearance view, because i hate changes for no good reason you can change it in Windows Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization.

[KimIV]

Mechatrommer, do you have complete LiteVNA calibration loads? What can you say about them compared to kirkby cal kit in terms of SWR measurement in the 5.3 - 6 GHz band?

[Mechatrommer]

Mechatrommer, do you have complete LiteVNA calibration loads? What can you say about them compared to kirkby cal kit in terms of SWR measurement in the 5.3 - 6 GHz band?

attached is the smith chart of the cal kit SOL that came with litevna, measured with litevna calibrated with kirkby cal kit from nanovna-qt. its very good, only about 0.7ps delay of short and open, and load is near dead center 50 ohm. but they are in very simplistic form. open is just open space inside, thats why its almost 0ps delay, pretty much similar as not connecting anything at reference plane while calibrating... and short is solid short, center pin cant be held still while twisting connector, this can wear out both short kit and vna connector quickly i guess, thats what i dont like.