PicoVNA

[D3f1ant]

It certainly a pity the software needs some work. Having said that, the hardware is great, results are completely repeatable and there is no problems with temp drift. The software is 'functional' and does get the job done. I really hope they are quietly working away on something.

[julianhigginson]

Thanks guys, I did download the Pico Vna software. I find it's mostly ok - looks neat and clean enough for me. And behaves pretty intuitively...

What I don't like is the display isn't flexible... Seems impossible to zoom in on a graph? Which makes the Smith charts pretty crappy... Also seems hard to use when using in a non full screen mode..

If s1p and s2p can be imported with a bit of formatting work, that I can make a python script to do, I'd say it's probably usable.

The issue with this kind of purchase, is it's a tool with a 10 year (at least!) lifetime... And right now, I'm not certain I can rely on the companion software for that long.

The Tek option is a big stretch, even with the discount. It seems that this and the small 2 port copper mountain and the R&S unit are all in direct competition for price and features... Pico is still significantly cheaper, for "good enough" specs.... Guess I'll see what can be done for copper mountain and r&s discounts....
:-)

[Noddy14]

I have been using VNAs for nearly 30 years and the UI is a personal thing. What pleases some annoys others. Personally, if you are going to be using the instrument frequently then what matters is that it does the job reasonably easily. For example, extracting s-parameter data from an old HP8753 can be quite very tricky requiring third party tools if you have nothing to read the floppy disk.
Anyway, I suggest anyone interested in the PicoVNA to try out the demo software and see how they get on. I know Pico plan long term support and new updates are in the pipeline.

Regarding the Tek instrument, I have never used one but one thing I wonder about is speed. If you plan to use the instrument to help you tune circuits then you need reasonable speed. I remember looking at a preliminary Tek data sheet and there it had figures equating to around 11 milliseconds per point at the highest bandwidth setting. That is really shockingly slow if correct.

[ColinC]

I just ordered a Tektronix TTR506A VNA from Fotronic Corp. in Melrose Massachusetts. It is currently on special for $6,600 discounted from$11,400. The USB VNA market is quickly becoming very competitive. The heart of this instrument is on a custom ASIC that contains 6 receivers and 2 RF sources. In addition to the ASIC chip there are a couple of directional couplers and the control logic interface circuits. Once the cost of the design of the ASIC was paid for the actual cost of production is probably not that expensive. The Pico 106 probably helped push the current price discount on the TTR506A.  I expect that other manufactures of USB based VNA's to consider reducing their prices.

No accessories. The recommended Spinner Cal kit is $900. Reasonable cal kits are available on ebay in the $100-$200 range. Search ebay for OSLN50. I purchased this unit and it looks good on my HP VNA. The carrying case is $550. I purchased a plastic carrying case from Amazon for $37.20 and did my own cutouts. Due to demand, the lead time for delivery of this unit is 6 weeks. I will provide an update after I receive it and have some time to experiment. 

[Yashu]

Seems like the "PicoVNA" was actually designed by LA Techniques
https://latechniques.net/products/

Looks like PicoTech also rebadged their amazingly rudimentary GUI. This is really a show stopper for me... even with very good hardware specs.

The unit uses FTDI USB silicon.

See timestamp 51:00 of the PicoTech sales training video below for VNA market overview:



Tek seems to be price gouging as prices go up alot every year and they nickel/dime you to death on software "features" (for the RSA600 RT SAs anyways). The TTR supposedly also has substandard port matching and needs to make up for it during cal. Also it seems slow for the price. They repackaged the SRS SG390 w/ a graphics front panel for the TSG4100 and kicked the price way too much IMHO.  So eh.... Tek is rubbing me the wrong way recently.


The MegiQ 6GHz unit does seem to only target the IoT craze, but their GUI is very nice, simple and effective. They look like a small team of engineers that are doing an offshoot product of what they needed to develop for IoT apps in their FT jobs.
http://www.codec-telecom.com/references_int.php#Tools

Looks like this team is trying to go FT with their new "startup"... so they are moving at snails pace... but their stuff does look very clean. They don't list real specs like dyn range, uncertainty, etc... so not really sure about the price tag on this type of introductory unit.

So not sure what to choose... the PicoVNA unit seems ideal, but need a real GUI like the MegiQ... still searching if anybody can provide it.. would rather not take on yet another project myself for this GUI.

[joeqsmith]

I looked at getting a Pico.  Downloaded the software and at $6k, it was less than impressive.   I also couldn't see rolling my own.   I ended up just buying another vintage boat anchor.   

Depending on your requirements, you could look at that NanoVNA V2+4.   At $130, it's certainly cheap enough.  I understand that there are a few different software packages that support it.     I wouldn't recommend the V2+ as I have had problems with mine right out of the box.  It locks up from time to time and requires a power cycle to clear the fault.