Over on YouTube several hams and radio enthusiasts have recently uploaded videos demonstrating and reviewing the NanoVNA. The frequency range is from 50 kHz to 900 MHz, although you should note that above 300 MHz dynamic range performance is reduced. When purchasing you can opt to include a small battery for portable operation for a few dollars extra. It has a built in LCD screen that can be used to display graphs directly, or it can also be connected to a PC and the graphs viewed via the NanoVNA Windows software. The NanoVNA is a small credit card sized VNA.

The NanoVNA: A $50 Vector Network Analyzer All the listings we've seen seem to come with simple calibration kits as well. The open source NanoVNA project by and ttrftech has been around since 2016, but only recently have Chinese sellers begun mass producing the unit and selling them on sites like Aliexpress, eBay and now Amazon. We note that it seems that there are some sellers selling them without shielding, so it might be worth double checking the listing to see if they mention that. However, the cost of owning a VNA has now been reduced to only US$50 thanks to the NanoVNA.

Until just recently, VNA's have cost roughly US$500 for a decent USB PC based unit like the miniVNA or PocketVNA, and have set people back thousands to tens of thousands of dollars for bench top units. Compared to a standard SWR or network analyzer a VNA supplies you with phase information as well. For example if you are building a QFH or ADS-B antenna to use with an RTL-SDR, a VNA can help ensure that your antenna is properly tuned to the correct frequency. It is a very useful tool to have if you are building and tuning home made antennas, filters or other RF circuits. It can also be used to characterize and tune filters.

ExtIO with Decimation & Tuner Bandwidth ControlsĪugReviews of the NanoVNA: An Ultra Low Cost $50 Vector Network AnalyzerĪ vector network analyzer (VNA) is an instrument that can be used to measure antenna or coax parameters such as SWR, impedance and loss.

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Vna antenna analyzer