NanoVNA Custom Software

[joeqsmith]

Just loaded.  It appears to be for the small display.  I'll go ahead and run it anyway. 

[DiSlord]

Archive contain 2 firmwares LiteVNA 64 for big and LiteVNA 62 for small displays

[joeqsmith]

Archive contain 2 firmwares LiteVNA 64 for big and LiteVNA 62 for small displays

I don't think I ever sorted out where you have them archived.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/rf-microwave/nanovna-custom-software/msg3928550/#msg3928550
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/rf-microwave/nanovna-custom-software/msg3928592/#msg3928592
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/rf-microwave/nanovna-custom-software/msg3930395/#msg3930395

I never joined that groupio mail list for beta testers.  Is that the only way to gain access?

Anyway, the new firmware does appear to correct the AGC limitation.   Shown with a 1mOhm, 0.1mOhm and short.   Graph is S21, not resistance.   Not anything useful below 50kHz but certainly improves the lower region. 

[gf]

Not anything useful below 50kHz but certainly improves the lower region. 

If there is no error in my calculation¹⁾, then 1mOhm shunt has S21 of -91dB, and 0.1 mOhm -111dB.
Noise floor is still too high for that use case. Ideally, you'd rather need a noise floor of say -120dB, or even lower.
You could try to increase the averaging further to 100x or 1000x. Rather reduce the number of points, if it becomes too slow.
But even if you can further reduce the noise floor, I wonder whether the gain calibration will be accurate enough at such low levels.
The discontinuity at 400 kHz is quite large, too.

¹⁾ https://cds.cern.ch/record/1415639/files/p67.pdf, page 88, "3. shunt admittance", for Y1=Y2=1/50, and Y=1kS and Y=10kS

[joeqsmith]

Math seems in the ball park.

Some time ago when I made these two standards and transformer, I used my higher end equipment.   I am using them with the Lite only for a fringe case.   The original NanoVNA did a much better job of it.   

10x average takes a very long time to run.  One sweep maybe 6 minutes or so.  100X about an hour per sweep.   Compare with a few seconds on my vintage VNA.   

[joeqsmith]

Working on a rotor to make 3D radiation measurements. 

[joeqsmith]

5 deg resolution.   

[joeqsmith]

I was wanting to try something a little more directional on the new 3D mount and decided on putting a simple antenna together with a discarded bean can.     

https://jacobsalmela.com/2013/09/07/wi-fi-cantenna-2-4ghz-how-to-make-a-long-range-wi-fi-antenna/

The can I used measures 109mm x 73mm.  From their drawing, this can should be good for 2.1GHz, or a wavelength of 143mm.    After construction, the Lite showed very poor SWR so I added a few stubs to try and tame it. 

[joeqsmith]

CAN9
Running the can at 4GHz.

CAN10
Comparing the 4GHz radiation pattern with running the same setup at 5GHz.  It looses all directivity.

CAN11
Comparing previous data sets with the same setup at 2GHz (1.94GHz).

CAN12
Looking at the 2GHz data in 3D.

[joeqsmith]

CAN13
Moving the bean can further away and running a much higher resolution sweep.   Next time I have beans, I'll lengthen the waveguide.

***
This was a paper I had read on making these measurements.   
https://www.ets-lindgren.com/WhitePapers/APM.pdf

[joeqsmith]

Using the newer 3D plotting with the wire frame disabled.   This scan was taken at 2 degrees or 16,200 data points.   Imagine taking that by hand. 

Next step is add some sort of auto align and measurement readouts.  Maybe a basic field calculator.   

[joeqsmith]

Rather than having an auto alignment for the antenna, I just rifle through the data to find the peak and consider that head on.   Showing calcs for the half power beam width.  Both azimuth and elevation are calculated.  For the front-to-back ratio I plan to use the BASTA standard. 

Without a chamber and reference antennas, it's more just for the fun of it. 

http://www.mobi-antenna.com/uploadfiles/2017/07/201707241212321232.pdf

[metrologist]

Motors for rotor system.

Would you be willing to create a block diagram of your system setup?

[joeqsmith]

Motors for rotor system.

Would you be willing to create a block diagram of your system setup?

If you read those few links I had posted and watched the video, it should have been fairly clear but let me try and expand on it for you.

I have the PC tied to the LiteVNA using USB.   I have two M-Drive motors as my document describes fitted with a gear drive.   These are configured for multi-drop on an RS-485 bus.  One motor is used for the azimuth (horizontal) the other for elevation (vertical).   There is a separate power supply for the two motors.    The RS485 to USB adapter is connected to the PC as well.    The LiteVNA has two ports.  Port 1 connects to the AUT (antenna under test) and Port 2 to the reference antenna.    The LiteVNA sends the signal out Port 1 to the AUT.  The signal is then received by the reference antenna on Port 2.   The software tracks the signal strength while it moves the antenna. 

Currently, the software starts by pointing the AUT downwards and sweeps the azimuth from 0-360 degrees.  The elevation is then set to the next angle and the process repeats until the elevation has swept from 0-180 degrees.   This gives us our full sphere.   

I made a quick block diagram for you but it isn't very helpful as there really isn't much to it.  There are lots of papers and videos on this subject if you are interested.   Maybe the following videos will help.  I hate to guess what that whole setup costs.   

****
Block diagram shows PORT1&2 swapped to my current setup.

[metrologist]

Thanks Joe

[joeqsmith]

Shown is the Vivaldi I attempted to copy from our friend who was experimenting with RADAR.   There is also a poorly constructed dipole along with a fresh can of pork and beans.  Used the Dremel tool to cut off the bottom of the can and removed the ring from the top of the original can.  After that, it was easy enough to solder together.  I moved the mounting bracket to center the antenna. 

The dipole sort of radiates like we would expect. 

[joeqsmith]

The Vivaldi compared with the dipole. 

[joeqsmith]

Showing the new bean can antenna pointing downward compared with the Vivaldi and dipole.  Stubs had to be retuned after extending the waveguide.

[joeqsmith]

Showing the SWR after extending the waveguide and adjusting the stubs.   It seems to improve the side lobes.   
 

[FPSychotic]

I'm not able to make work the nanoVNA solver lite/v2 +4 for the liteVNA.
Anyone have it running in windows 11? I really having a bad time trying to understand the issue, no idea if it is the software that just won't run as it is deprecated, it can run but I had something wrong with the National instruments runtimes that Im unable to understand even what they are, what they do , just unable to make it work.  Other softwares works. I don't want disturb, sorry if this not proceed.

[joeqsmith]

I don't have Windows 11 installed on a PC to try it.   

https://forums.ni.com/t5/NI-Package-Manager-NIPM/Does-LabVIEW-software-support-on-windows-11/td-p/4177747

Windows 11 was announced long ago; and there have been many Windows Insider releases to allow companies like NI to port their products such that they would be fully functional by the time Windows 11 started deployment to user systems.

Telling me that NI is "targeting support in 2022 H2" is basically telling me that they failed to support their user base. The majority of software companies worked hard to get Windows 11 support available contemporaneously with the release of Windows 11. Why didn't NI?

Until I actually try it, I wouldn't trust what I read on the internet.   

Other softwares works.

Windows ships with a lot of software.  When Notepad fails to run with a new release, they have a big problem. 

***
Talking with a friend who has ran some basic tests with the 64-bit LabView on 11 and no problems.   I would imagine he's done a decent shakedown.   

[joeqsmith]

I would start by installing the drivers and making sure your PC recognized the VNA.  I use the standard drivers with Windows 10.  If 11 doesn't find it, you need to locate proper drivers.  If that works, then you need to install the latest the National Instruments 2021 SP1 64-bit runtime and NIVISA.   Then you will need the 64-bit sound dll.  Don't expect anything to work if you are mixing 32-bits and 64.  If you still can't get it to work, then I suggest going to one of the open source applications.  Actually, you may want to just start there.

[FPSychotic]

I don't have Windows 11 installed on a PC to try it.   

https://forums.ni.com/t5/NI-Package-Manager-NIPM/Does-LabVIEW-software-support-on-windows-11/td-p/4177747

Windows 11 was announced long ago; and there have been many Windows Insider releases to allow companies like NI to port their products such that they would be fully functional by the time Windows 11 started deployment to user systems.

Telling me that NI is "targeting support in 2022 H2" is basically telling me that they failed to support their user base. The majority of software companies worked hard to get Windows 11 support available contemporaneously with the release of Windows 11. Why didn't NI?

Until I actually try it, I wouldn't trust what I read on the internet.   

Other softwares works.

Windows ships with a lot of software.  When Notepad fails to run with a new release, they have a big problem. 

***
Talking with a friend who has ran some basic tests with the 64-bit LabView on 11 and no problems.   I would imagine he's done a decent shakedown.

Just thank you by the extensive answer, I will try everything today.
Just congrats you by your knowledge and thank you by share it.
I hope make it work!!

[FPSychotic]

ohh, maybe my problem is NVISIA, as there is a very recent version, there is 20 ,21, 21.5 which of them should I install and that sound file where should be installed? I couldn't see any error of sound. Should I install the firmware included in github?.

[joeqsmith]

ohh, maybe my problem is NVISIA, as there is a very recent version, there is 20 ,21, 21.5 which of them should I install and that sound file where should be installed? I couldn't see any error of sound. Should I install the firmware included in github?.

It could be.  Without you taking time to detail what you are doing, I can only guess.   How many times I have brought up that I do not have a crystal ball.     

The last person I attempted to help was suggesting that my software was throwing up bad data.  They took the time to create a video showing all the steps they were taking.   It was immediately obvious what was wrong.  They did not understand the metric system and were entering numbers like 100mHz which is certainly valid.   Screen shot can also be helpful.  One person was suggesting that the sweep would not show any data.   It turned out they had modified the calibration standards coefficients and created a divide by zero.  Very easy to spot with a screen shot.   

Like many, your stuck on the basic install.  As I already mentioned,  I would have no way of knowing if your PC sees the VNA or not.  It has nothing to do with my software.  If that doesn't work, there is no point in installing any of my or NI's software.    Take the time to document exactly what you have done or there is little I can do to help.

Also, keep in mind that I have abandoned the 64-bit software due to NI's extortion business practice.  I have no way to address any problems you may find with it.  IMO, you are wasting your time with it but it's there for those wanting to try it out.