Inexpensive VNA

[Stretchyman]

Cal for the band you are using never across the whole range as you'll have lots of errors.

I speak from using Agilent and R&S VNAs in a lab.

If I cal'd them over the whole range and expected accurate results I'd be daft and get laughed at and probably loose my job.

Use best engineering practices, always!

Str.

[JimIO]

Back in the 80's I used to tune FM Broadcast antennas. It took a whole cart full of equipment: sweep generator, marker generator, frequency counter, X-Y scope, return loss bridge, attenuater pads and lots of cables. Calibration was done with a 1.0 and 1.2 load (50 and 60 ohms) and a section of open ended transmission line. You youngsters got it made now with your shirt pocket size VNA's   

~

[nickcarr3151]

Cal for the band you are using never across the whole range as you'll have lots of errors.

Okay fair enough but to what degree of accuracy are we talking about?  I'm a stickler for precision but in my measurements I'm not really concerned about a SWR of 1.03 vs 1.09...

[ChrisSmolinski]

I looks as though a Nano-VNA version 2.0 will be available soon:

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/nanovna-version-2-0-first-pcb-pictures-released-nanovna-naming-credit-clarifications/
https://ghz-europe.com/2020/01/04/nanovna-2-0-first-photos/

[Josh]

NanoVNA V2’s Now for Sale on eBay and Tindie

We've received a few notices that the NanoVNA V2 design that we've been following since last year is now available for sale on eBay and Tindie (or Taobao if you live in China). The original official sales appear to have been from Tindie, where it is priced at $58.25 + shipping, although it is now out of stock. On eBay resellers are selling it for up to $150. If you're interested in purchasing the V2 we recommend entering your email into the Tindie form as they will notify you when it's back in stock. Initial reviews posted on the Tindie store indicate that the unit has excellent performance for the price so we expect that it will be popular enough to manufacture many more in the future.
https://www.rtl-sdr.com/nanovna-v2s-now-for-sale-on-ebay-and-tindie/

[Brian]

Tempted to get one but as I have 2 of the V1, I can't really justify it.
I decided to drag the battered HyGain multiband vertical antenna out and finally look at in on the NanoVNA.
I literally just stuck it in the ground, no radials or tuning.
When i do decide to tune it to my preferred bands, the VNA is going to make it an easy job.


Haven't posted images in a long time so I hope it works 

[chanito]

Not sure I understand the need for 3.8GHz coverage for a cheap antenna analyzer unless you are doing some sort of low band satellite or whatever. If it can do HF through UHF, I'm good.