At 14:10, when you start the calibration, it's a good idea to hit the RESET first. In some devices/firmware, this is a required step to clear the existing calibration. At 19:54, when you changed the stop frequency, notice that calibration indicator changed from C1 to c1, indicating that the current calibration condition doesn't match the current stimulus settings, and that the calibration is interpolating (not ideal).
Hey Alan, so this instrument was straight from the factory and had never had a user calibration applied. You make a fair enough point about resetting even though it’s evident no calibration was applied, it might not have been clear to everyone. The much larger offense was, as you mentioned, was adjusting the stop frequency, at the back of my mind I was thinking about discussing how it wasn’t matching the calibration. Which is why I did at 20:30…. Thanks for watching and for the comments.
Well presented, and articulated information. Although I'm not as familiar with it's operation(s) as those who commented prior to me, your video will be an asset when I started getting acclimated to mine, which arrived today (11/9/2023) Thank you.
New to all this... On your recommendation, and others, bought a nanoVNA-SAA2N from Amazon. Needed an SWR meter; glad I bought the VNA instead. Tested a 300 ohm twin lead fed folded dipole/doublet with a 1:1 balun that I built for a President Richard... President's SWR yields 1.0 across the 11m band, but the VNA yields 1.5 over the same range. I do believe the VNA is properly calibrated... Wondering if I should try to improve the SWR as tested by the VNA..., can I trust the President? It is named after Dick Nixon, afterall... Also, tested SWR for a number of rubber ducks (mostly Baoeng), and 771 types, as well as two Nagoya NA320a. The rubber ducks are all pretty good in a narrow range around 2m and 70cm. The Nagoya NA771s are terrible on either band, but the Abbree NA771 are very good. Nagoya 320a are very bad... looking for an alternative triband... The 1.5m rubber duck antennas, though different, that came with my Baofeng BF-R3 and my BTech UV-5X3 are both great in that band.
Personally, I would trust the calibrated VNA over the Nixon. Also, 1.5 isn't bad and you should be fine. My experience with the HT antennas mirrors yours, I have yet to find what I would consider a "good to great" tribander.
@@TheSmokinApe Contacts in Maine, Pennsylvania, and Washington state all reported my transmissions, using the Dick and the diy antenna, as strong and clear. Next is getting a 160m doublet for my new FT-991a hung...
I watch a lot of your videos and I have a question thats kinda off topic about this video. I make a lot of my own yagi's and QFH's (for receive only) and I sometimes use 75 ohm RG6 coax...the kind for cable tv. When I go through the standard calibration for calibrating the vna and set my start and stop freqs for checking the swr..am I getting a false reading with it having 75 ohm coax or is it not enough of a difference to notice? My swr's seem to be pretty good on my yagi's but Im not sure if its way off having the 75 ohm coax on them. Thanks for the videos
Hey J. The radio expects a 50 ohm impedance you when you calibrate the VNA at 50 ohms what you see is what the radio "sees" if you are testing from where the radio connects to the coax. if you want to know the impedance at the antenna feedpoint you would need to calibrate with a 75 ohm test standard. Hopefully that makes sense.
Nice video but it is more of a tutorial. Do you recommend this model? How does it compare to other brands? Is it a good buy? What else should I consider? Thanks.
Hey David. I like this unit very much, as for recommendations it will really depend on what you want to use it for... for most hams the H4 model is plenty by YMMV. I have a playlist showing a bunch of different models that may be helpful.
I passed all 3 Ham exams, and am now learning about ham radio by trying to use it. At the moment I just have a Baofeng HT and am only communicating and experimenting with that HT and antennas for VHF and UHF. Before long I will purchase an HF system and I will then be interested and experimenting with HF antennas. My Baofeng uses an SMA connector and my experimental UHF and VHF antennas use BNC connectors (so I go through an adapter). I see that the NanoVNA SAA-2N uses N type connectors. How much of a disadvantage is that. (I assume every connector I go through adds loss and distortion.) Should I just go with the regular NanoVNA that uses SMA connectors, or is there an advantage for stepping up to the V2 model even thought it will required another connector type? Is the connector type and adaptor loss a non issue?
You can account for the adapters and cables in the calibration. Yes, anything added to the transmission line will cause some level of loss. I don’t think you could go wrong with the 2n but I typically recommend the h4 to most hams 👍
Hello Ape, I am a noob to all the VNA's. Will this unit perform all the functions that the H4 will do? Along with testing antennas and feed line I want to be able to check attenuators. What are the benefits of purchasing this unit over the H4? Tnx, NI6J
Question: My antenna coaxes are terminated with either PL-259 or BNC connectors (portable). I''m leaning to this NanoVNA model because of the more robust "N" connectors (vs SMA). How does one calibrate with an "N" jumper and an N to SO-239 (or "N" to BNC) adapter? In order to calibrate with the extended plane in the right place, it seems to me that you'd need to use a PL-259 Short, Open and Load, rather than calibrating with the jumper and the provided "N" connector SOLs and then adding the adapter after calibration to connect the antenna? How do most people deal with this? Thanks! Great presentation!
thank you for your videos they are very helpful especially since I am very ignorant about NanoVNAs. Also in your accent I think I hear a bit of South Philly?
As someone with zero VNAs, looking to make it one VNA, would you go SMA or N? Especially given that most antenna are SO/PL, you'll need adapters either way, thoughts? Thanks.
Hey Ryan, you are exactly right you will need adapters either way so I would suggest placing the VNA features above the connectors. Thanks for watching!
Hi, Ape , first time I used the NANO VNA SAVER PC app it worked, second time the window is shutting down after " connect to device" , as soon as it connects the screen disappeares.i am using the current VNA SAVER app Any advise.? Cheers.
Very good video. What you did not mention is, "How many sampling points can you set this model to do. My NanoVNA H4 came from the factory as only having 101 sampling points. Not near enough for me. After doing the firmware update, I was able to choose from 101 up to 401 sampling points. I let mine set at 401 sampling points 100% of the time. I wish they would allow up to 1000 sampling points. This amount is needed for checking antennas like a 160 meter off center fed antenna. Barry, KU3X
1,000points would be fantastic! I thought I did but I may have missed it in the video, I do have a separate video on the SA-2N just about data points: th-cam.com/video/d7ZulQdfGo4/w-d-xo.html Thanks for the comment Barry!
@TheSmokinApe I ask because watching your video, some of the options to select on your saa2n are not available on mine. Where you go to select more than 201 data points.....that icon is not showing on mine. I rewatched that part 4 times, it's not there....
Thanks for making the video and giving a methodical and concise procedures; really helps! Question. I have this same unit and would like to update it but am nervous about 'bricking' it! Also, don't know of a reliable FW source. My firmware is: "git-20201117-9659de4". Is yours later? Have you updated yours? It would be really nice to see a video updating the '2N' properly without damage. Anyway, thanks for all you do! 73...
Hey SS, I actually passed mine along to someone else. Not that I didn't like it but I have a few VNA's floating around. Pretty sure this is the project page but you might want to double check me on that: nanorfe.com/nanovna-versions.html
@@TheSmokinApe thank you for responding. I have concluded that the SAA-2N is actually an illegal clone, even though sold through R&L Electronics. If you go to the original developers sight (actually is the link you sent) they actually make this very accusation and complaint about R&L; even going so far as to asking R&L to quit selling the illegal clone! Well, this was a surprise to me, as R&L was originally touted as a legit-source to receive a ‘real’ NanoVNA; which is why I purchased from them! Guess ‘legit’ is now a multi-tiered and relativistic term! So, from what I can ascertain, there is no updated FW, nor (apparently) continued support. I really do like the N-connectors which are not available from the original developers. So, I guess I’ll eventually just repurchase a V2 Plus 4 Pro (also known as a V2 Plus 5) in the future, and live with the SMA’s which (to-me) make the unit a bit fragile. Again, thank you very much for replying, and for all you do for the Ham community! 😀 73…
@@TheSmokinApe That would be awesome, I'm really enjoying your videos, I've learned heaps between you and Hayden. I've been a Ham for about 30 years and we didn't have this sort of information back then.
![🔴 ฟุตบอลแชมป์กีฬา 7HD แชมเปียน คัพ 2024 [รอบรองชนะเลิศ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zPm8ClLVhoE/mqdefault.jpg)
At 14:10, when you start the calibration, it's a good idea to hit the RESET first. In some devices/firmware, this is a required step to clear the existing calibration. At 19:54, when you changed the stop frequency, notice that calibration indicator changed from C1 to c1, indicating that the current calibration condition doesn't match the current stimulus settings, and that the calibration is interpolating (not ideal).
Hey Alan, so this instrument was straight from the factory and had never had a user calibration applied. You make a fair enough point about resetting even though it’s evident no calibration was applied, it might not have been clear to everyone. The much larger offense was, as you mentioned, was adjusting the stop frequency, at the back of my mind I was thinking about discussing how it wasn’t matching the calibration. Which is why I did at 20:30…. Thanks for watching and for the comments.
Very easy and explanatory description.
Thank you for your nice presentation.
Thanks for watching 👍
Ape, I just bought one of these today. Thanks for the in-depth video on this device. I am saving video for future use.
Hey Tater. Glad you liked the video and congrats on the pick up 👍
Thank you everytime I get a better understanding VNA
KQ4CD
Awesome, thank for watching Paul. BTW, I have you on the list for an antenna. How do I get a hold of you?
The NanoVNA is such a useful piece of affordable test equipment. Thanks for the great review.
Thanks for watching Peter 👍
@@TheSmokinApe One of my favourite channels. Keep up the good work.
Well presented, and articulated information. Although I'm not as familiar with it's operation(s) as those who commented prior to me, your video will be an asset when I started getting acclimated to mine, which arrived today (11/9/2023) Thank you.
Awesome, glad the video was helpful
Class is in session! Great info
Thanks for watching TO 👍
I just got one of these models. Would love to see a video on how to update the firmware.
I’ll put it on the list, thanks for watching Nelson 👍
Would you consider making a video about nanoVNA firmware updates? Or did you already do one that I missed? Keep up the great vids
Hey Nick, I will put it one the list 👍
What kind of connectors am I gonna need to hook up to normal vhf/uhf and hf stuff ? I don’t use N style most of mine are pl259
Hi, have a older Version S-A-A v2 with open Case, how to power Off the device. Disconnect the cable to the battery works but is not a fine solution.
New to all this... On your recommendation, and others, bought a nanoVNA-SAA2N from Amazon. Needed an SWR meter; glad I bought the VNA instead.
Tested a 300 ohm twin lead fed folded dipole/doublet with a 1:1 balun that I built for a President Richard... President's SWR yields 1.0 across the 11m band, but the VNA yields 1.5 over the same range. I do believe the VNA is properly calibrated... Wondering if I should try to improve the SWR as tested by the VNA..., can I trust the President? It is named after Dick Nixon, afterall...
Also, tested SWR for a number of rubber ducks (mostly Baoeng), and 771 types, as well as two Nagoya NA320a. The rubber ducks are all pretty good in a narrow range around 2m and 70cm. The Nagoya NA771s are terrible on either band, but the Abbree NA771 are very good. Nagoya 320a are very bad... looking for an alternative triband... The 1.5m rubber duck antennas, though different, that came with my Baofeng BF-R3 and my BTech UV-5X3 are both great in that band.
Personally, I would trust the calibrated VNA over the Nixon. Also, 1.5 isn't bad and you should be fine.
My experience with the HT antennas mirrors yours, I have yet to find what I would consider a "good to great" tribander.
@@TheSmokinApe Contacts in Maine, Pennsylvania, and Washington state all reported my transmissions, using the Dick and the diy antenna, as strong and clear.
Next is getting a 160m doublet for my new FT-991a hung...
I watch a lot of your videos and I have a question thats kinda off topic about this video. I make a lot of my own yagi's and QFH's (for receive only) and I sometimes use 75 ohm RG6 coax...the kind for cable tv. When I go through the standard calibration for calibrating the vna and set my start and stop freqs for checking the swr..am I getting a false reading with it having 75 ohm coax or is it not enough of a difference to notice? My swr's seem to be pretty good on my yagi's but Im not sure if its way off having the 75 ohm coax on them. Thanks for the videos
Hey J. The radio expects a 50 ohm impedance you when you calibrate the VNA at 50 ohms what you see is what the radio "sees" if you are testing from where the radio connects to the coax. if you want to know the impedance at the antenna feedpoint you would need to calibrate with a 75 ohm test standard. Hopefully that makes sense.
Nice video but it is more of a tutorial. Do you recommend this model? How does it compare to other brands? Is it a good buy? What else should I consider? Thanks.
Hey David. I like this unit very much, as for recommendations it will really depend on what you want to use it for... for most hams the H4 model is plenty by YMMV. I have a playlist showing a bunch of different models that may be helpful.
Very good review
Glad you enjoyed it!
Just received my same exact unit today. Looking forward to building some VHF/UHF antennas with it.
That's awesome Chris, I really like this particular model.
I passed all 3 Ham exams, and am now learning about ham radio by trying to use it. At the moment I just have a Baofeng HT and am only communicating and experimenting with that HT and antennas for VHF and UHF. Before long I will purchase an HF system and I will then be interested and experimenting with HF antennas. My Baofeng uses an SMA connector and my experimental UHF and VHF antennas use BNC connectors (so I go through an adapter). I see that the NanoVNA SAA-2N uses N type connectors. How much of a disadvantage is that. (I assume every connector I go through adds loss and distortion.) Should I just go with the regular NanoVNA that uses SMA connectors, or is there an advantage for stepping up to the V2 model even thought it will required another connector type? Is the connector type and adaptor loss a non issue?
You can account for the adapters and cables in the calibration. Yes, anything added to the transmission line will cause some level of loss. I don’t think you could go wrong with the 2n but I typically recommend the h4 to most hams 👍
Hello Ape, I am a noob to all the VNA's. Will this unit perform all the functions that the H4 will do? Along with testing antennas and feed line I want to be able to check attenuators. What are the benefits of purchasing this unit over the H4?
Tnx, NI6J
Bigger screen, higher frequencies and durable case would be the list. Of all my VNA's I continue to use the H4 the most 👍
These really are great tools. Good review Professor! I need to get me some of that N action.
Thanks for checking it out FEP 👍
Question: My antenna coaxes are terminated with either PL-259 or BNC connectors (portable). I''m leaning to this NanoVNA model because of the more robust "N" connectors (vs SMA). How does one calibrate with an "N" jumper and an N to SO-239 (or "N" to BNC) adapter? In order to calibrate with the extended plane in the right place, it seems to me that you'd need to use a PL-259 Short, Open and Load, rather than calibrating with the jumper and the provided "N" connector SOLs and then adding the adapter after calibration to connect the antenna? How do most people deal with this?
Thanks! Great presentation!
Some folks will sue so-239 standards. You can also add time delay to account for the movement in reference plane. Thanks for watching CW
thank you for your videos they are very helpful especially since I am very ignorant about NanoVNAs. Also in your accent I think I hear a bit of South Philly?
Thanks, glad you like the videos and fine them helpful. Not South Philly but I do love a good cheesesteak.
As someone with zero VNAs, looking to make it one VNA, would you go SMA or N? Especially given that most antenna are SO/PL, you'll need adapters either way, thoughts? Thanks.
Hey Ryan, you are exactly right you will need adapters either way so I would suggest placing the VNA features above the connectors. Thanks for watching!
👍😎 Thank you Professor Ape!♡
Thanks for watching Aname 👍
Hi, I'm looking for a pocket VNA which can support upto 7.2Ghz. Any recommendations? And also a spectrum analyzer.
I'm not aware of any that meet that spec.
Hi, Ape , first time I used the NANO VNA SAVER PC app it worked, second time the window is shutting down after " connect to device" , as soon as it connects the screen disappeares.i am using the current VNA SAVER app
Any advise.?
Cheers.
Try this: Ape Answers 001: NanoVNA-Saver Common Problems Solved
th-cam.com/video/2qacmLljMAA/w-d-xo.html
It works if I reset the calibration everytime I restart the NanoVnaSaver software..
Thanks m8.
Very good video. What you did not mention is, "How many sampling points can you set this model to do. My NanoVNA H4 came from the factory as only having 101 sampling points. Not near enough for me. After doing the firmware update, I was able to choose from 101 up to 401 sampling points. I let mine set at 401 sampling points 100% of the time. I wish they would allow up to 1000 sampling points. This amount is needed for checking antennas like a 160 meter off center fed antenna.
Barry, KU3X
1,000points would be fantastic! I thought I did but I may have missed it in the video, I do have a separate video on the SA-2N just about data points: th-cam.com/video/d7ZulQdfGo4/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the comment Barry!
So what connector do I need to purchase so I can use this on all my rigs male or female n to so239
N Male
what kind of connector do we need to hookup Nano saa-2n to PL-259 connector male ,and what about the H-4 thanks 73
The H-4 is great! You just need an adapter, there are many options on Amazon.
If you were buying a VNA what would you recommend for brand and model?
It would depend a little on how I was going to use it, I am really happy with my H4 for Ham Radio use 👍
QUESTION. How does one read a Nano outside, next to impossible in my experience.
It can be a challenge
Curious if an update would increase the data points above 201, i believe the newer versions go to 401?? 73
I updated my H4 and it increased to 401 👍
@TheSmokinApe I ask because watching your video, some of the options to select on your saa2n are not available on mine. Where you go to select more than 201 data points.....that icon is not showing on mine.
I rewatched that part 4 times, it's not there....
there a few different flavors of firmware each with different options.
What connector do I need to hook to a normal radio female or male to so239
N Male to pl-259
So is this unit worth $100 bucks usb? Is calibration easy? This one comes with the blue cables etc I need a analyzer bad
It’s a good VNA 👍
@@TheSmokinApe compared to a sark100 but not a mfj right
Not a fan of the SARK
@@TheSmokinApe yah I heard alot of mix reviews
Thanks for making the video and giving a methodical and concise procedures; really helps!
Question. I have this same unit and would like to update it but am nervous about 'bricking' it! Also, don't know of a reliable FW source.
My firmware is: "git-20201117-9659de4". Is yours later?
Have you updated yours? It would be really nice to see a video updating the '2N' properly without damage.
Anyway, thanks for all you do! 73...
Hey SS, I actually passed mine along to someone else. Not that I didn't like it but I have a few VNA's floating around.
Pretty sure this is the project page but you might want to double check me on that: nanorfe.com/nanovna-versions.html
@@TheSmokinApe thank you for responding. I have concluded that the SAA-2N is actually an illegal clone, even though sold through R&L Electronics. If you go to the original developers sight (actually is the link you sent) they actually make this very accusation and complaint about R&L; even going so far as to asking R&L to quit selling the illegal clone!
Well, this was a surprise to me, as R&L was originally touted as a legit-source to receive a ‘real’ NanoVNA; which is why I purchased from them! Guess ‘legit’ is now a multi-tiered and relativistic term!
So, from what I can ascertain, there is no updated FW, nor (apparently) continued support. I really do like the N-connectors which are not available from the original developers. So, I guess I’ll eventually just repurchase a V2 Plus 4 Pro (also known as a V2 Plus 5) in the future, and live with the SMA’s which (to-me) make the unit a bit fragile.
Again, thank you very much for replying, and for all you do for the Ham community!
😀 73…
Thanks for the info
You need to calibrate the open without a coax jumper.
Could someone please do a video in Smith Charts and polar charts?
I find them really hard to read.
Hey Mike, I could probably put something together 👍
@@TheSmokinApe That would be awesome, I'm really enjoying your videos, I've learned heaps between you and Hayden. I've been a Ham for about 30 years and we didn't have this sort of information back then.
Thanks Mike, glad you like the videos...
I bought one now I'm scared haha seems like alot of calibration every time I wanna use it
You don’t need to, check out this video NanoVNA Calibration: Expert Tips and Tricks
th-cam.com/video/2I9-RL9wOsk/w-d-xo.html
Just don't know what one to get in KQ4CD Paul
That is a common problem.
Hi Ape this is david w4btt how do you do a antenna sweep if you have 49:1 unun in line
I always to them with the unun in line. When I do that I just disconnect from the back for the radio or tuner and then patch into the Nano
How hard is calibration
It’s easy, the same as any NanoVNA.
@@TheSmokinApe I got a NanoVNA SAA-2N V2.2
Any recommendation for firmware version?
There are a few different firmware flavors you can run in these, for my H and H4 I have been running Dislord 1.1
We use N-Type in the telecommunication industry
Yeah, better for higher frequencies. Thanks for watching HOLTZ...
I have a cheap version but she works! I think 😆
They are super handy, so glad I got one when they came out 👍
Thanks for sharing! 73 DG1GHR
Anytime, thanks for watching Roland 👍
Please someone tell this guy his START freq is lower than the LOW END of his DUT.
you dont speak, you wispere and I can not understand
I actually had a cyst on my vocal cords when I made that video, it's since been removed.