NanoVNA V2 aka S-A-A-2

[Gandalf_Sr]

It should be mentioned: this is a really nice device Good work!
I have two questions: Is there a way to see the battery level on the device? Will it charge (and with how much current) from USB?

I don't have mine yet but I did read the user guide.
Battery level isn't displayed on the LCD, instead there are 4 LEDs on the left of the PCB which indicate battery level.
The batteries do charge and the max charge current is 1.2A

At least that's what the user guide says.

[ch_scr]

It's almost as if I should have read the user guide first! Thanks for the clarification.

[Gandalf_Sr]

It's almost as if I should have read the user guide first! Thanks for the clarification.

You're welcome 

[ch_scr]

I've made a small test fixture for 0805-size parts (should work for smaller parts as well), to use the NanoVNA as LCR meter. The pogo pins used are "P160-H2" from ebay, but the SHORT cal would benefit from something higher quality. Yes, the pogo pin heads are cross drilled with a 0.6mm PCB drill to help grab them with tweezers, that was a lot easier to do than expected as well. If you are interested in self resonance of SMD parts for e.g. filter construction something like this is highly recommended. The OPEN is a piece of 2.9mm white PLA, the LOAD are two 100R 0805 soldered in parallel.

[insine]

Show us some measurement results

[Mechatrommer]

Didn't notice this post until now. I was the layout and RF engineer on the nanovna V2 team. I can answer technical questions.

any plan to build NanoVNA 6GHz version?

[Bud]

Didn't notice this post until now. I was the layout and RF engineer on the nanovna V2 team. I can answer technical questions.

What is the specification figure for Total Measurement Uncertainty ?

[Bud]

Didn't notice this post until now. I was the layout and RF engineer on the nanovna V2 team. I can answer technical questions.

any plan to build NanoVNA 6GHz version?

Lets be real, at this level of the hardware your measurements will not differ much from those taken using a kettle and a pot.

[ch_scr]

You say that, but still: http://www.dd1us.de/Downloads/Brief%20comparison%20of%20NanoVNA%20V2%20with%20a%20professional%20VNA%20HP-8753E.pdf
What have you got to back up your opinion?

[Mechatrommer]

Didn't notice this post until now. I was the layout and RF engineer on the nanovna V2 team. I can answer technical questions.

any plan to build NanoVNA 6GHz version?

Lets be real, at this level of the hardware your measurements will not differ much from those taken using a kettle and a pot.

probably the 5,6 figure price HP or R&S brand too... if price is right, i want to compare with my Deepace KC901 VNA. 2 devices to confirm each other is better than 1. sub $100 GHz VNA was never be seen before. and recently w2aew published series of videos using NanoVNA, i think he got excited with it.

https://www.tindie.com/products/hcxqsgroup/nanovna-v2/

[OwO]

Trace noise is 0.1dB typ and nonlinearity error is also ~0.1dB, and phase error is +/- 2 degrees max, at 0dB reflection magnitude. If you use perfect calibration kits that is the total measurement uncertainty for S11. Most of the time, however, the cal kits and cables are the bottleneck.
These specs apply to devices from the official manufacturer ("HCXQS" on Tindie), I have not yet characterized the clones.

[Berni]

I gave a shot at ordering one from Bandgood:
https://www.banggood.com/NanoVNA-V2-3G-50KHz-3GHz-Vector-Network-Analyzer-Tester-Antenna-Analyzer-Shortwave-S-A-A-2-Nano-Vna-HF-VHF-UHF-Cable-Tracker-p-1690543.html?rmmds=search&ID=511646&cur_warehouse=CN

Mostly because Banggood tends to be good at dodging under customs in my country. Hopefully its not a crappy performing clone.

[ch_scr]

I had a play with this, and the bottom-of-the-barrel pogo-pin made the SHORT cal infuriating. Once i got it to play ball, measurements looked reasonable.
I suspect something like the "INGUN GKS-002 206 191 A 2800" would be the next logical step up. Hmm.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Didn't notice this post until now. I was the layout and RF engineer on the nanovna V2 team. I can answer technical questions.

any plan to build NanoVNA 6GHz version?

Lets be real, at this level of the hardware your measurements will not differ much from those taken using a kettle and a pot.

It's not clear from what you wrote but I think you meant at 6GHz, right?

[Gandalf_Sr]

So my new NanoVNA V2 (S-A-A-2) arrived (very fast shipping) from Tindie and, apart from loads of flux around the through hole parts, it looks really nice.  I cleaned the PCB and fitted a 1.2 AHr battery that I already had (from HobbyKing) and that battery includes a protection circuit; in <24 hrs of testing, it seems to charge and run the VNA fine.  I didn't have the right JST-XH connector so I used a 2-pin breakable header which works fine but runs the risk of reverse polarity if I'm not very careful.

[EDIT] I fixed the R&L link...
Then I saw that R&L are selling what appears to be my VNA but with cables, Cal items (open, short, & load), and fitted with a battery, for $60.  I wish I'd known that before paying $25 to ship from China with no cables etc.

I like the NanoVNA but my old eyes find that the tiny fonts are at the limits of what I can manage so I'm happy that I've ordered a 4" display.

Here's a few pictures of my unit testing a log periodic PCB antenna (0.4-1 GHz).

[Mechatrommer]

https://www.tindie.com/products/hcxqsgroup/nanovna-v2/

is this the authorized seller? (corrected the above link) any other authorized seller in aliexpress?

Then I saw that R&L are selling what appears to be my VNA but with cables, Cal items (open, short, & load), and fitted with a battery, for $60.  I wish I'd known that before paying $25 to ship from China with no cables etc.

i think thats V1 1.5GHz max version like w2aew demo'ed

[OwO]

Only the Tindie store is official. Aliexpress, ebay, etc are mostly selling clones. R&L is probably selling Hugen manufactured units (speculation; hugen himself hasn't yet confirmed this). Only the Tindie and nanorfe store provide funding to the development team, but V2s from other manufacturers generally perform fine. Banggood seems to sell a mix of official devices and clones.

EDIT: I'm not so sure that R&L is selling hugen units because the pricing doesn't check out. The V2 is basically selling at the same price as the original Nano ($55 vs $50), even more so if you take into account the cable cost difference (the "low end" V2 bundle has a more expensive cable than the original Nano). I know for a fact that the BOM and manufacturing cost of the V2 is around double the original Nano, so whoever is supplying these units to R&L seems to be selling at extremely thin margins.

[JohnG]

- S-A-A-2 design is open source, which means anyone can manufacture it. Most clones perform fine, but please consider buying from the official stores if you want to support our development team. Other major players in the NanoVNA space do not share their design files, and all 3 of us are working on competing V3 (6GHz) designs. Please support us if you want to see an open source V3 rather than a proprietary one.

I bought mine from Tindie, $64 shipped. I am happy to pay a few extra $$ and have an open source design. For one thing, the longevity and the device itself can be improved by those who know how. After all, that approach is a major reason we have this in the first place. And I, for one, would really like to see an open source 6 GHz version, either with higher accuracy, or perhaps the option to get higher accuracy built into the design for those who are happy to buy more expensive parts or do crazy things like mount resistors upside down.

Many thanks to the designer!

Cheers,
John

[Mechatrommer]

and all 3 of us are working on competing V3 (6GHz) designs. Please support us if you want to see an open source V3 rather than a proprietary one.

put it in Crowd Fund or Kickstarter, if the price is within $200 (depending on my financial condition/recovery state ie when the timing is right) i will get one, the cheaper the better . i dont have Kickstarter account nor Crowdfund to do the "backing" stuff. but i bought Erasynth Micro from Crowdfund (Crowd Supply) after backing/production period. it seems they keep producing it for future customers. keep us informed

ps: err sorry to say... if you keep everything open (incl pcb gerber files), inevitably you will be doomed by cloners from your own flag, imho... not really a problem if that is your intention.. cheers.

[0culus]

Only the Tindie store is official. Aliexpress, ebay, etc are mostly selling clones. R&L is probably selling Hugen manufactured units (speculation; hugen himself hasn't yet confirmed this). Only the Tindie and nanorfe store provide funding to the development team, but V2s from other manufacturers generally perform fine. Banggood seems to sell a mix of official devices and clones.

EDIT: I'm not so sure that R&L is selling hugen units because the pricing doesn't check out. The V2 is basically selling at the same price as the original Nano ($55 vs $50), even more so if you take into account the cable cost difference (the "low end" V2 bundle has a more expensive cable than the original Nano). I know for a fact that the BOM and manufacturing cost of the V2 is around double the original Nano, so whoever is supplying these units to R&L seems to be selling at extremely thin margins.

I noted that you guys had them in stock again on Tindie so I took the plunge and ordered one. Can't wait to get it.  Yeah. it's not an 8510C (I am still planning to add one to my lab in order to have capability in the bands I want to work in), but this costs less than $100 and fits in your hand. Hard to argue with the what you're getting for the money based on everything I've read.

[OwO]

ps: err sorry to say... if you keep everything open (incl pcb gerber files), inevitably you will be doomed by cloners from your own flag, imho... not really a problem if that is your intention.. cheers.

Yeah, clones are going to come out whether or not you publish the layout files The original nano didn't have any publicly released layouts or gerbers, but it's cloned to death. Difference is that V2 clones tend to perform ok since they learned to use the published layouts rather than doing PCB copying. https://gitlab.com/bepissneks/S-A-A
I don't have a problem with clones as long as users can tell what they are getting.

Look forward to a 6GHz design soon. There are 3 competing players all working on their own 6GHz design; one of them even hired edy555/ttrftech. How come they are paying to develop their own design rather than wait for the OwOComm one and just clone it (which is allowed)? That is left as an exercise to the reader

[Noy]

Hi, does somebody can tell me the pcb dimensions?
I have to order some parts and will save shipping costs. I will order a nice case for my nanovna v2 which is still in transit...

I will remove the display because i don't need it. Will use it as desktop device with the pc software without battery...

[rudolf]

Hello Noy,

The dimensions are 90 x 50 x 25 (no display: 20) mm.

73, Rudi DL5FA

[Noy]

Hm, i cannot find any suitable case for this dimension.

Anybody an idea?

[Gandalf_Sr]

Hm, i cannot find any suitable case for this dimension.

Anybody an idea?

I'm waiting for my 4 inch display to arrive and then I plan to update the firmware and test. If it works well (and I can read the fonts), I plan to design a 3D-printable case for the S-A-A-2 with the 4" display that I posted a picture of earlier.