Beware of cheap underperforming clones

As of 2022 there are many badly performing clones on the market. V2/3GHz NanoVNA uses parts like ADF4350 and AD8342 which are costly and clones have been cutting costs by using salvaged or reject parts.

See official store and look for V2 Plus4/V2 Plus4 Pro versions only to avoid getting a bad clone. We have stopped selling V2.2 versions since October 2020, so all V2 hardware that are not Plus or Plus4 are not made by us and we can not guarantee performance.

NanoVNA V2 Forum

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Firmware from ojisankoubou in Japan


John Gord 2020/09/14 16:42

All,
The latest -V2firmware (Binary20200913test.Bin) from:
https://ojisankoubou.web.fc2.com/nanovna/nanovnav2.html#document
Has a lot of nice features:

Variable RBW
Averaging
Interpolation
CW when paused
Shunt and series impedance measurement on S21
Extraction of crystal characteristics

I haven't used this latest version much, but I was happy with the earlier versions..

--John Gord

pe2kxh 2020/09/15 14:07

hello

is this nice japanese software for 2.8 inch or 4 inch !

regards jac pe1kxh

On Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 1:42 AM John Gord via groups.io <johngord=
verizon.net@groups.io> wrote:

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/09/15 13:25

i also tried that new version (just flashed minutes ago) ...

yes ... VERY nice features added in that version

does anybody know what color numbers are available for the traces??

with try and error its a bit difficult :-) ... so where do i find a
color "table" or similar thingy??

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 14.09.2020 um 23:42 schrieb John Gord via groups.io:

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/09/15 14:16

with google translate i could get a more or less readable translation of
that page to english .. now i know how to dconfigure the trace colors :-)

that new firmware version rocks .... works superb

so i recommend to try it out ... (you can always flash anorher version
if you do not like it)

yes the trace colors did change BUT YOU CAN SET THAT TO YOUR PERSONAL
NEEDS ... so not a problem

dmesg shows bb gain around 19 on sn saa2n and around 20 on the sma
version i have ... so they seems not to be identical

... now to find out where the difference is is sure not easy but i will
try with carefully inspection if i see a difference

both versions work well withthat new fw from 13th of sept ... i will
play around with both units and that new fw today and will report

greetz sigi dg9bfc

ps ... THANK YOU JOHN FOR POINTING MY NOSE TO THAT FIRMWARE

Am 14.09.2020 um 23:42 schrieb John Gord via groups.io:

Gyula Molnar 2020/09/15 07:18

Hi,

if you read the link above with a translator, you will both get answers to your questions.
Yes it is 2.8 and it has 4 inches firmware.
Yes, the colors are adjustable.

73, Gyula HA3HZ

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/09/15 14:48

yepp ... i already found that out ... google translate worked well (more
or less)

thanks anyway for pointing that out ... if i had not read the page with
translate i would have tried years for setting colors ;-)

especially cause it knows TWO different color settings (rgb 8.8.8  =
0-255.0-255.0-255 ... and rgb565 0-65535 no dots!)

a bit complicated in my view to set the colors by numbers ... a bit
easier would be you select the trace you wanna configure and the colors
are shown (like in start screen) and you select it with pointing on it
... means replace numbers (in color setup) with colored buttons
(guessing a 4x4 or 16 colors should be enough for the traces grids and texts

white, light and dark grey (and black as background)

yellow (light and dark)

orange (light and dark)

red (light and dark)

blue (light and dark)

green (light and dark)

magenta (light and dark)

that is 15 (16) ... with the color table that is included now (direct
setting by numbers) the setup is more freely (you can get 16 million
colors or in rgb565 you have 65535) ...

but in my view just 16 instead of 16 million is enough ... not??? (just
thinking)

anyway ... thanks for pointing out that the translate works and you then
get a (more or less) readable page where that added functions and setup
is explained ... sure others have the same problems with that firmware ...

now to play a bit with the new fw ... and see its pros and cons ... find
out a bit about the new functions added etc etc

back to the bench

greetz sigi dg9bfc



Am 15.09.2020 um 14:18 schrieb Gyula Molnar:

soundlimited 2020/09/18 00:54

Hello,

"Ojisan-koubou" is a Japanese word that means "Uncle Ichiro's workshop".

He is an excellent RF engineer who interacts with edy555.
And he has also written many interesting production commentary articles in famous Japanese technical magazines.

I bought a decent SAA2 because I wanted to use his firmware.
My first V2 clone MCU was unfortunately an errata without an FPU.
His farm requires a hardware FPU.
And soon I will receive SAA-2N. ST7796(4-inch) firmware has already been released, so I'm really looking forward to it.

A few years ago, I made two edy555's original kits and only one was successful.
Well, I had a hard time soldering them.
According to edy555, the color of the NanoVNA trace is based on the HP8753C.

I hope many people will know and enjoy the activities of "ojisan-koubou" in Japan.

Thank you.

Sora

CT2FZI 2020/09/18 00:59

Hello Sora,

Thank you very much for your input.

Just to compliment version Ojisan-koubou:

2020/09/13 The latest builds for the 4-inch LCD (480x320 ST7796) and ILI9341 have been uploaded ( firmware is here: https://ojisankoubou.web.fc2.com/nanovna/nanovnav2.html#document ).

The 4-inch LCD (480x320 ST7796) has arrived, so let's build it for this LCD. It was.
By the way (whatever it is), I built and uploaded the latest version for ILI9341 as well.


-The changes from the 20200906 version are as follows (to be clear, there are no major changes).
The output from PORT1 during PAUSE is set to CW so that it can be used as a signal generator (until now it was intermittent).
Fixed the font size to make it easier to see.
Changed the FORMAT menu depending on whether TRACE is PORT1 or PORT2 (until now, meaningless settings were possible).
I put Z-SHUNT and Z-SERIES in ANALYZE menu in FORMAT.
The contents of the SELECT MARKER menu were put in MARKER, and ALL OFF and SMITH VALUE were deleted. (SMITH VALUE is in SCALE.)
GRID was added to the COLORS menu.


In the ST7796 version, if you touch input with the numerical keypad, an overline will appear in the numerical input field. The ILI9341 version is okay, so is it a problem with the LCD driver? I think (there are other strange behaviors).

Also, the LCD GAMMA of ST7796 doesn't have a very good setting, and the bright part will fly or the dark part will sink.

soundlimited 2020/09/18 02:41

Hello CT2FZI,

This is the 4-inch panel I installed on my V2 clone without FPU.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32812882281.html
(I received it in a very sturdy packing)

It works fine with SAA2 taken out of the steel case.
Ah, the steel case has already been buried somewhere.

Many features have been added to the Ojisan-koubou's firmware, and the menu structure has changed considerably.
(Japanese people are good at packing many stuff in small stuff)
It may take some getting used to to take advantage of them.

So while it's hard to say that we can recommend it unconditionally to everyone, there are features that are very useful to those who need it.
Please see the utilization report on his bulletin board.
http://ojisankoubou.bbs.fc2.com/

Fortunately or unfortunately, I have about 10 old NanoVNAs, H4s (thanks to DiSlord for developing the SD support firmware), and even the new SAA2.
Choosing a VNA with the special features you need for your application and using it quickly is much easier than lining up a dozen HP lab VNAs, and I'm happy with that.

Sora

Dragan Milivojevic 2020/09/18 12:39

Since you obviously understand Japanese could
you send him a message about creating a github
repository so that people that use his firmware can
send bugreports and questions?

On Fri, 18 Sep 2020 at 09:57, <soundlimited@soleil.ocn.ne.jp> wrote:

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/09/18 13:24

And he should add the bigger numeric pad... Like we have in the other versions
Dg9bfc sigi

Am 18.09.2020 12:39 schrieb Dragan Milivojevic <d.milivojevic@gmail.com>:

soundlimited 2020/09/18 06:41

Hello,

Ojisankoubou is an RF engineer who has been enthusiastic about publishing his own electronic work and software.
I'm just an avid follower who learns his insights and enjoys the ideas and kit making.

I think he welcomes bugreports, questions and requests.
If you post a message on his bulletin board, it will be communicated directly to him.
I usually communicate in Japanese there, but maybe English is okay.
Please use Google translate if necessary.
http://ojisankoubou.bbs.fc2.com/

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if he actually owns an account on groups.io or github, and if he's willing to join in the future.
I also hope for his entry. I think it will take some time, I'll contact him about this.

Thank you.

Sora

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/09/19 11:14

hi sora

sadly my japanese is a bit rusty hi hi

best thing maybe would be a mix of the "official" fw and the fw from
ojisan (there are some good things in both!)

cause i have two units i use both fw ("official" and ojisan) to compare
them ... I DO LIKE THE GREEN BUTTONS (SELECTION) ... much easier to
read/see in bright daylight ... and i also like "autoload" of last used
settings

in the github fw you have to recall it when powering on (just a few
button presses) ... in the ojisan fw you just fire the unit up and are
right where you used it before ...

google translate did work for the hp (easy to read then) ... but sadly
not for the bulletin board :-(

so besides direct writing a mail to ojisan i have no idea how to contact
him for a bug report or request ... github and/or groups.io would be an
option ... so if your japanese is better as mine drop him a note to join
... or make an own group

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 18.09.2020 um 13:41 schrieb soundlimited@soleil.ocn.ne.jp:

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/09/19 11:28

Am 18.09.2020 um 07:59 schrieb CT2FZI:
> Hello Sora,
>
> Thank you very much for your input.
>
> Just to compliment version Ojisan-koubou:
>
> 2020/09/13 The latest builds for the 4-inch LCD (480x320 ST7796) and ILI9341 have been uploaded ( firmware is here: https://ojisankoubou.web.fc2.com/nanovna/nanovnav2.html#document ).
>
> The 4-inch LCD (480x320 ST7796) has arrived, so let's build it for this LCD. It was.
> By the way (whatever it is), I built and uploaded the latest version for ILI9341 as well.
>
>
> -The changes from the 20200906 version are as follows (to be clear, there are no major changes).
> The output from PORT1 during PAUSE is set to CW so that it can be used as a signal generator (until now it was intermittent).
> Fixed the font size to make it easier to see.
> Changed the FORMAT menu depending on whether TRACE is PORT1 or PORT2 (until now, meaningless settings were possible).
> I put Z-SHUNT and Z-SERIES in ANALYZE menu in FORMAT.
> The contents of the SELECT MARKER menu were put in MARKER, and ALL OFF and SMITH VALUE were deleted. (SMITH VALUE is in SCALE.)
> GRID was added to the COLORS menu.
>
>
> In the ST7796 version, if you touch input with the numerical keypad, an overline will appear in the numerical input field. The ILI9341 version is okay, so is it a problem with the LCD driver? I think (there are other strange behaviors).

seems to depend on lcd used ... on my saa2n the lcd gamma does almost
nothing (whatever i set it all is very bright) ... on the sma version
(that i could modify with a 4 inch thanks a nice guy from portugal) the
gamma seting "does something" (best to see at the grey lines)

the 4 inch on the saa2n is better to read and is a bit brighter (only to
see in direct compare them) ... so the lcd gamma seems to be "boosting a
bit lower spec" displays while it does near nothing on a very bright and
shiny display

what do you mean with "an overline will appear" ?!?

greetz sigi dg9bfc

soundlimited 2020/09/19 11:16

Hello Siegfried,

As you may have already noticed, there is a new topic written in Japanese on the Ojisan bulletin board.
Kindly there is a hyperlink to NanoVNAV2@groups.io so you can easily find it.

Apparently the theme is a suggestion to merge both firmwares, so it's a good idea to reply to that topic in English.

Thank you.

Sora

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/09/19 21:34

I can not type there!!! Google translate does not work so i have to ask YOU to be "my voice" and my eyes there
Greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 19.09.2020 20:16 schrieb soundlimited@soleil.ocn.ne.jp:

Stephen Laurence 2020/09/20 01:23

I have installed the Japanise firmware on to both my v2 analysers. The reasons were twofold - first I have a strange fault on both which I hoped it would cure ( it did not) and I was interested in the interpolation of the calibration.

Overall I am very pleased with it and see no need to go back, so I would be very interested in the merging of these two major streams of firmware development. I must congratulate the Japanise author for his excellent work.

Regarding my strange fault, (identical in both v2 devices before and after sotware update), it probably deserves its own topic title. However in summary, after calibration, one of the extreme situations ( usually 50 ohm load, but sometimes open or short on ch 0, depending in which order I did the SOL) show huge swings of phase ( up to +-180deg with 50-100 swings) across the screen, whether it is a 4ghz sweep or a 10mhz sweep. Switching calibration off returns everything to normal. Basically I seem not to be able to calibrate, but the devices are pretty good uncalibrated.

I am still learning. I wish I had bought one if those boards with different circuits on. I am beginning to feel they should be a part of the kit, as much as the calibration set and leads. I am away from home and playing with the vnas without much available to test ( except the Tinysa).

Steve L. G7PSZ.

hwalker 2020/09/20 06:59

On Sun, Sep 20, 2020 at 01:23 AM, Stephen Laurence wrote:

..I have installed the Japanise firmware on to both my v2 analysers. The reasons were twofold - first I have a strange fault on both which I hoped it would cure ( it did not) and I was interested in the interpolation of the calibration.

============================================
Steve,
I don't know where you purchased your V2's but you were lucky that the FPU was enabled on both analyzers as it is required to run the 'Koubou' V2 firmware. None of the V2's my ham group purchased from the first Tindie production run have the FPU enabled. All of the V2's purchased by my ham group from hugen, including the SAA-2N's, have the FPU enabled.

I haven't done much testing on port 0 using the Koubou firmware, but on my SAA-2N I've run into the 'toggling trace' issue when making S21 measurements of a 20dB attenuator.

It looks like Gabriel has already merged features from the Koubou firmware and DiSlord modern UI firmware in her current beta release. How much she can merge from the Koubou firmware without leaving behind customers that purchased her early V2's without FPU enabled is uncertain.

- Herb

John Gord 2020/09/20 11:45

Steve,
Extreme phase swings on the display of S11 are normal in some situations.
When looking at the load used in a calibration, the S11 amplitude is very small, hence noisy and with what looks like random phase.
A short has an S11 phase of + or - 180 degrees, so a tiny difference in phase will make the display swing from, say +179.9 degrees to -179.9 degrees.
If you look at the short you used for calibration, then set an Electrical Delay of (say) 1 nanosec, you should see a nice, smooth phase ramp for S11 phase.
--John Gord

On Sun, Sep 20, 2020 at 01:23 AM, Stephen Laurence wrote:

Stephen Laurence 2020/09/20 12:01

Ahhh, thankyou.

I had started looking at utube videos of nanovnas being calibrated. I learned a few tips and also noticed a very “ noisy” phase plot on the screen on one video after calibration.

I will look for the electrical delay bit of the menu, a place I have not yet needed.

I must admit, that the standards, both sma and N which come with the devices seem to be identical in specification, even up to 4.4ghz and seem identical to my “ cheap” N standard set and a Radiall load that Mr Poulson (sorry if spelt wrong) has extolled on this forum is also fine - they were 3 for £12 on Ebay and are still available!

Steve L G7PSZ

Stephen Laurence 2020/09/20 12:11

I got mine from the recommended sites as soon as I was aware of their existence. I was also surprised to see the fpu active but did not know that the Japanise softwaee needed it until today.

A merge of the firmware should be fantastic, but ultimately, I personally wish for smooth, ease of use rather than lots of rarely- used functions. I find that for something I do not use often ( either a device or a function of a frequently-used device), I forget how to use it, so it might as well not be there.

My original aim in my career was to make straightforward, automatically intuitive interfaces between machines and humans, but it never took off. So I had to live (along with my patients) with absolutely crap anaesthetic gear and monitoring which, on occasion I had to switch off to deal with a crisis as all the alarms went off but none actually told you what thevproblem was (Three Mile Island meltdown situation). No patient came to any avoidable harm however in my career.

Stephen Laurence 2020/09/21 02:11

Dear John,

I have spent all evening crashing through the menus on my v2 with the latest Japanise firmware and cannot find where I set a delay.

Is this only available on the official firmwares. If all else fails I will reload the latest official firmware on one of my v2 machines but would be sad to forego the other features of the Japanise version.

Steve L

Stephen Laurence 2020/09/21 03:59

Dear John, Update...

I have found it. I read through his development history of the firmware and he had moved it.

For interest, it is on the SIMULATE submenu, as E-delay.

The two v2 machines are now behaving a bit more as I would expect with the excellent ojisankoubou firmware. I can now see the different reference planes between the load and open/ short standards on the Smith chart. Obviously the 50 ohm loads are a few mm further into the connector than the short plate etc. I realise there is no way to adjust the e- delay just for the load, unless I can change it half way through a calibration...... something to try tonight.

I look forward to getting home for a bit and playing with them attached to some real circuitry.

Steve L. G7PSZ

Reinier Gerritsen 2020/09/21 16:11

Is the delay for the load really important? Given the high return loss
of 30-40 dB for typical loads you'll hardly get any signal back. The
delay of that fraction is insignificant I'd say. Or in Smith chart
visualization: rotating a dot in the centre still is a dot in the centre...


Op 21-9-2020 om 12:59 schreef Stephen Laurence:

Kurt Poulsen 2020/09/21 17:11

Hi Reinier
Yes it is if you want to characterize it against a professional calibration kit. The it seen quite clearly it has an impact.
The reason is that you find the physical position of the load element and mostly such loads are inductive and the L component change when tuning the delay. You may argue that the delay could be simulated by being include in the L value as a different L value but at GHz it is not that simple as the load element contains a parasitic shunt C so....
It may also boil down to what kind of expectation you have to the calibration accuracy
Kind regards
Kurt

David Douard 2020/09/22 13:25

Hi Sora, it's indeed very difficult to reply on the BB, and gg translate fails to render the BB form that seems to be required to post a message there.

Also, thanks to gt I've been able to understand a bit better what has been done in those versions of the firmware, but what a waste of time and energy not to use git to do so! At least the source code seems to be published (thankfully, since it;s GPL), but only as a zip file, so "merging" that firmware (or parts of it) into the main git repo will be a nightmare.

I'd be delighted to send him directly a message, bit have no clue how to do so :-)

David

CT2FZI 2020/09/22 21:32

He has his email address at the website footer.


A terça, 22/09/2020, 21:29, David Douard <david.douard@sdfa3.org> escreveu:

soundlimited 2020/09/23 03:51

Hello David,

Yes, both source codes are required for firmware merging, but Ojisan does not seem to publish the source code for all binaries.
Of course, he has his own policy, which should be respected.

You may be able to write in each language on his bulletin board, but other people's sentences and guidance written in Japanese, etc.
I'm sorry to trouble you, but you may have to cut out that part and throw it into a translation tool.

It's my personal guess and opinion,
Ojisan may not have expected his firmware to be discussed outside of Japan in the first place.
I think he's also using the Github repository, but that wasn't known to us and he may be busy with another project.

On his bulletin board, participants ask, consult, and suggest some of Ojisan's projects (FPGA programming, SDR transceivers, etc.).
Certainly, the atmosphere has the impression of a professor-student interaction, but please understand that
it is one of the Japanese styles that values etiquette and order,sir.

He basically builds hardware with existing modules and devices and develops his own software.
Playing with NanoVNA and SAA2 is like an exception.

There is a story that Ojisan, who has been interacting with edy555 for a long time and was a consultant,
was blessed him at the development of NanoVNA and was particularly interested in it.

Another project of edy555 is the original "Cent SDR" with STM32. (It was also a difficult kit to make.)
Ojisan never published the firmware for this.

He may have written his own codes to better utilize the products of others.
But we were surprised at that because he had never published it.

If I remember correctly, the CT2FZI's topic written last month was the first to introduce Ojisankoubou's nice firmware on groups.io.
That was immediately mentioned on his bulletin board, but it seems that there was no comment from Ojisan.

Sora

On Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 05:29 AM, David Douard wrote:

David Douard 2020/09/23 12:42

On Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 03:51 AM, Sora wrote:

>
> Hello David,
>
> Yes, both source codes are required for firmware merging, but Ojisan does not
> seem to publish the source code for all binaries.
> Of course, he has his own policy, which should be respected.
>

Actually this is not completely accurate: the firmware is licensed under the LGPL license, so technically, as soon as he published a binary firmware compiled fro a modified version of the original source code, he must provide the modifed source code (not necessary publish it on a website, but give access to whom may ask him so).

> You may be able to write in each language on his bulletin board, but other
> people's sentences and guidance written in Japanese, etc.

I understand that, and even if I have very little knowledge of the Japanese culture, I can easily imagine what you describe.


> I'm sorry to trouble you, but you may have to cut out that part and throw it
> into a translation tool.

I did do that, but this has limitations (and the main BB page where there is the form to publish a comment make gg translator fail with an error 500)

> It's my personal guess and opinion,
> Ojisan may not have expected his firmware to be discussed outside of Japan in
> the first place.
> I think he's also using the Github repository, but that wasn't known to us and
> he may be busy with another project.
>
> On his bulletin board, participants ask, consult, and suggest some of Ojisan's
> projects (FPGA programming, SDR transceivers, etc.).
> Certainly, the atmosphere has the impression of a professor-student
> interaction, but please understand that
> it is one of the Japanese styles that values etiquette and order,sir.
>
> He basically builds hardware with existing modules and devices and develops
> his own software.
> Playing with NanoVNA and SAA2 is like an exception.
>
> There is a story that Ojisan, who has been interacting with edy555 for a long
> time and was a consultant,
> was blessed him at the development of NanoVNA and was particularly interested
> in it.
>
> Another project of edy555 is the original "Cent SDR" with STM32. (It was also
> a difficult kit to make.)
> Ojisan never published the firmware for this.
>
> He may have written his own codes to better utilize the products of others.
> But we were surprised at that because he had never published it.
>
> If I remember correctly, the CT2FZI's topic written last month was the first
> to introduce Ojisankoubou's nice firmware on groups.io.
> That was immediately mentioned on his bulletin board, but it seems that there
> was no comment from Ojisan.

I've seen the post on his BB/website, yes.

Any way, I've sent him an email, we'll see how he replies.

> Sora

Thanks a lot Sora for your efforts :-)

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/09/23 21:49

So correct would be if ojisan had made a fork... Or a pull request if it should be added to official
Right?!?
Dg9bfc sigi

Am 23.09.2020 21:42 schrieb David Douard <david.douard@sdfa3.org>:

Sora 2020/09/26 13:45

Hello David,

Thanks to you, I noticed some misunderstandings about the GPL and LGPL and was able to correct them myself.
I must admit that it is very difficult for me to correctly interpret and understand the very elaborate legal texts of both parties.
And now, I am keenly aware of the importance and joy of learning some things every day.

Ojisan's bulletin board is a tiny community.
Active participants who are said to be regulars probably only about 20 people, but Ojisan doesn't ask anyone for a "code review" there.

I don't know if Ojisan's firmware is considered the "fork" mentioned by Siegfried, but I hope everything goes for the better.

Sora

Sora 2020/10/04 14:37

Ojisan-koubou's new firmware binary20201004(ST7796/ILI9341) has been released.
(The source code will also be released)
Due to his busy schedule, Ojisan said, "Maybe it will be the last update."

If you are interested, give it a try.
---------
This change has a lot of user interfaces.
The movement between menus has been reduced so that the current setting status can be seen.

The changes from the 20200913 version are as follows:

- Fixed waveform distortion when returning from PAUSE (PAUSE is now synced to sweep).
- Corrected font size and line spacing to make it easier to see.
- Added ACTIVE (highlight color when touched) to the COLORS menu.
- The frequency can be input by touching the frequency display at the bottom of the screen.
- PAUSE ON / OFF can be turned on by touching PROGRESS BAR. Also, at the time of PAUSE, PAUSE is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
- START / STOP and CENTER / SPAN modes are set when the numerical input screen is canceled by touching START / STOP and CENTER / SPAN in the STIMULUS menu.
- Changed to know each mode of START / STOP and CENTER / SPAN in STIMULUS menu.
- Moved TRACE to the TOP menu. PAUSE has moved to STIMULUS.
- Moved CALIBRATE to CAL so that each CALIBRATE state can be seen by color (red: unCAL, green: CAL, yellow: interpolation).
---------
https://ojisankoubou.web.fc2.com/nanovna/nanovnav2.html

Udo Richter DG8MCQ 2020/10/05 02:33

Hi All -
while reading about this incredible nice Firmware-Offers made by Ojisan Koubou, I can't wait to flash it to my v2 nanoVNA ("Black and Gold"; 3.2" Display).
(Right now I deal with 20200926 to be found here https://nanorfe.com/nanovna-versions.html)
Unfortunately I can not find a compiled Version of 20201004 as a .bin file for flashing it to my 3.2" nanoVNA.
(Also I am not sure, if this package will work on my nanoVNA?)
Is there an OM outside who might give me a friendly hand to find such a Version?
Udo, DG8MCQ

hwalker 2020/10/05 07:10

On Mon, Oct 5, 2020 at 03:11 AM, Udo Richter DG8MCQ wrote:

.... I can not find a compiled Version of 20201004 as a .bin file for flashing it to my 3.2" nanoVNA. (Also I am not sure, if this package will work on my nanoVNA?)
========================

Udo,
The bin files are located at: https://ojisankoubou.web.fc2.com/nanovna/nanovnav2.html#20201004 . Binary_st7796_20201004.bin is firmware for the 4-inch LCD (ST7796) and Binary20201004.bin is firmware for the ILI9341 (2.8 and 3.2-inch LCD).

The Ojisan Koubou firmware requires that the V2 have the FPU enabled, which some early V2 units did not. Check CONFIG-VERSION or CONFIG-DMESG and there should be a message saying if the FPU is enabled or not. If it is you should be set to load the firmware.

- Herb

Udo Richter DG8MCQ 2020/10/05 07:34

Hi Herb - many thanks for your kind answer!
The reason that I asked here:
- I did what you recommend previously: Download the ILI9341 File
- Flashing the File did not work (I did it with success several times in the past, using Files from nanorfe.com)
- What I did and what happens here is: Set to DFU mode / Open QT / Want to flash? / yes / Guiding to the File-Location / hit Go:
==> Immediately after hitting GO, QT closes unexpected completely down, without opening the small Window which shows the ongoing flashing procedure ...
- I repeated that several times with the same behavior.
This is why I thought that I might use the wrong File for my nanoVNA v2!
Would be more than appreciated, if you have an Idea ...
Regards, Udo, DG8MCQ

Udo Richter DG8MCQ 2020/10/05 07:44

I forgot to answer your questions regarding FPU:
=> Config / DMSG => Regarding FPU: There are some Data in, but nothing like FPU yes or no
=> Config / Version => There is a clear message to be seen: Has FPU: yes
Not sure if that also stands for: FPU enabled?

Udo

hwalker 2020/10/05 08:50

On Mon, Oct 5, 2020 at 07:44 AM, Udo Richter DG8MCQ wrote:

=> Config / Version => There is a clear message to be seen: "Has FPU: yes"
Not sure if that also stands for: FPU enabled?
===================================
Udo,
Yes that let's you know that the FPU is enabled. VNA-QT should allow you to upgrade using the Binary20201004.bin firmware. If not, maybe someone else has an idea why not.

On my computer, Windows reports the Binary20201004.bin file size as 108 KB. If your down loaded file differs very much from that you may have a bad down load.

- Herb

- Herb

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/10/05 16:02

hello herb ...

i dropped a direct mail to udo (and included BOTH firmware cause i do
not know his screen size)

both tested and work well (small and big lcd)

yes just for that test i plugged on the small screen to my "testbed v2"
... fw tested ... works ... then flashed the 4 inch version and plugged
on the 4 inch (thank you lius) ... and tested it as well ... works ...
so flashed then the fw for the 4 inch on my saa2n

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Am 05.10.2020 um 15:50 schrieb hwalker:

Udo Richter DG8MCQ 2020/10/05 09:57

Gentlemen - :-) thanks a lot that you are willing to help!

But so far ==> No success!
Sigi's File size (Thanks @Sigi) is precise equal to mine (110.416) - With identical behavior; QT shuts down immediately...
That is so strange - I did this while upgrading the FW a minimum of 5 times without any problems!
Thinking loud: Hmmm - is that a Win-10 Problem?

I will dig out my Laptop (Win-8.1) right now and give that a try ...
Will respond a bit later after Dinner ...

Udo

Udo Richter DG8MCQ 2020/10/05 10:26

... Could not wait until Dinner ...

==> I have had a good nose! :-)
==> Using Win-8.1, FW is flashed without Problems - went well, as I have seen it a couple of times before!
No Idea what is the root cause for the Win-10 trouble while flashing.

@Herb & @Sigi: Thanks a lot to both of you 4 supporting me!
Now I have to make Cal Files again with pleasure, and learn a new software package ...

Regards from Bavaria
Udo, DG8MCQ

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/10/05 20:02

great news ... so it worked on the win8.1 but not on win 10??

let me do a guess ... "bin file" ... and "security settings" in
windoze?!? (app tries to write a bin file and windows thinks its a virus
or similar??)

------------------

for standalone use i use each of the memory slots for a hamband
calibration (vhf uhf shf)

0 13cm, 1 23cm, 2 70cm, 3 2m, 4 shortwave and also used for non hambands
like tune adsb on 1090 or so ... so if you allways use the same test
cables its easy to reuse the calibration ... memory 4 is used as
"flexible memory" here (as long as there are not more slots) ... 0-3 for
our "classical" hambands vhf uhf shf ... calibration for each slot is
done a bit wider and when zooming in the results are still very good
caused by the interpolation (as far as i could test here) ... for real
precise tests just recalibrate your test setup again

i do like that you can set the colours ... but not the way HOW it is
done now ;-)

SIDENOTE ... THANK SORA FOR TELLING US THE NEWS ABT NEW FW!! ...

cause i can not write in the bulletin board ... and reading with
translator is not easy i asked sora to be our "ears and eyes" on the
board so again

thank you sora

something for the professionals (i am not a programmer just a user)  ...
if we copy ojisan fw (the source) on a github "fork" off the official fw
... would it then be easier to make a "mix of both" ?!? (just thinking)
... there are good things in both fw versions so why not make a mix of
them??

greetz sigi dg9bfc


Am 05.10.2020 um 17:26 schrieb Udo Richter DG8MCQ:

Sora 2020/10/05 16:30

Hello Udo,

Wow, I'm glad you did well with your "Black and Gold"!
I was relieved because I didn't know the success or failure of the 3.2-inch variant.

Ojisan's firmware is a "private fork" that adds interesting features he wants and implements a more user-friendly UI.
Its development motives, ideas, release notes, and usage are all on his V2 site,
so I think it will be of great help to you. I hope you like it and enjoy it.

As far as I've tried, even if I try to flash his firmware on a V2 unit without an FPU,
even if I installed another firmware for ST7796 on the 2.8-inch assy, ​​the LCD only displayed ridiculous crap,
did not destroy the unit, and was able to recover with the correct firmware.

Sora

Sora 2020/10/05 16:45

Hello Siegfried,

At the end of the day, I think Ojisan has exposed almost all of his cards.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rutnrj71n5cntnd/NanoVNAv2-release20200619_20201004.zip?dl=1

I'm just an amateur playing with the code a bit, so I can't say I understand the difficulty exactly.

But there are great developers here.
I think those respected experts can find a way to incorporate and merge parts of his code as needed, but what about?

Sora

Siegfried Jackstien 2020/10/06 03:56

Am 05.10.2020 um 23:30 schrieb Sora:
> Hello Udo,
>
> Wow, I'm glad you did well with your "Black and Gold"!
> I was relieved because I didn't know the success or failure of the 3.2-inch variant.
>
> Ojisan's firmware is a "private fork" that adds interesting features he wants and implements a more user-friendly UI.
> Its development motives, ideas, release notes, and usage are all on his V2 site,
> so I think it will be of great help to you. I hope you like it and enjoy it.
>
> As far as I've tried, even if I try to flash his firmware on a V2 unit without an FPU,
> even if I installed another firmware for ST7796 on the 2.8-inch assy, ​​the LCD only displayed ridiculous crap,


the st7795 is not for 2.8 but for 4 inch

the other fw works for 2.8 to 3.2 inch (i am not sue but were there also
3.5 or 3.8 with same controller??)

Sora 2020/10/06 17:34

Hi Siegfried,

"What happens if the device eats the wrong binary?"
Oh my,I still do something like a naughty kid.

Well,as far as I've searched, the 4-inch (480x320) use ST7796 driver, and the more smaller 320x240 display seems to use the ILI9341 driver chip.

By the way, Ojisan installed a 4-inch assy on the V2 unit and proceeded with the development.
"When you touch input with the numerical keypad, an overline appears in the numerical input field."
He states that this is an open issue.

Enter the 1st digit on the keypad.
Only while touching the next digit with the keypad, an overline that does not blink appears to the right of the last digit in the numeric input field.
When you release the keypad, the digit is entered and the overline disappears.
It looks like a nifty prompt indicating where the next digit will be entered.

Only the programmer himself will be able to notice that it is an unintended strange behavior. There is no problem at all.
Perhaps this seems to be a problem specific to Ojisan's 4-inch assy.

Sora

DiSlord 2020/10/08 05:06

On Tue, Oct 6, 2020 at 05:34 PM, Sora wrote:

>
> "When you touch input with the numerical keypad, an overline appears in the
> numerical input field."
> He states that this is an open issue.
>

This problem in fast SPI speed change for read touch data and draw after, i can`t solve it (this also can hang NanoVNA if try drag marker in long time) Drag marker, and continue hold it in 3-5second after NanoVNA halt, and pnly reboot help.
Line can see only in 4` module, but problem exist in all cases

Sora 2020/10/08 09:49

Hello DiSlord,

Thanks to your detailed commentary, I think I was able to understand the essence of this problem.

After checking my V2 + 4-inch assy (FW: git-20200718-832a618 / Jul. 21 2020 18:30:55), I noticed that this unit had the same problem.

The first V2 I got had no FPU and it didn't work with Ojisan's firmware,
so I replaced the display with a 4-inch assy and tried various other firmware.

I have tried various FWs other than Ojisan's FW with the SAA-2N I got after that, but it seems that no problem has occurred so far.

Thank you.

Sora

On Thu, Oct 8, 2020 at 09:06 PM, DiSlord wrote:

DiSlord 2020/10/08 10:38

V2 use hardware touch module XPT2046 it use some SPI bus as LCD, but can`t work on full speed as display.

One touch event - CPU wait LCD draw complete by DMA, switch SPI to low speed, read touch data, switch back to high speed.

No problem if not do it fast, like on touch and redraw screen, this happen in drag marker/tiuch test (see not white line in some cases), digit input or some thing.
Bad LCD draw can see only on 4` display.

Also on marker drag, need slowdown SPI get touch data, set high speed redraw marker, slow down, get new touch data, set high redraw ....... and after some time NanoVNA halt and no responce, need only reboot (this happen on all displays, need just drag marker and continue drag in 3-5 seconds).

DF1HD 2020/10/10 07:23

Hello Udo,

first I had the same problem with W10 but as soon as I put the bin-file into the same directory as the vna_qt.exe it works.

Regards
Horst, DF1HD

Udo Richter 2020/10/11 01:01

Thank you very much Horst!
I will give it a try and report the result here.
(I already tried so much to identify the root cause, that I am not sure if I had this on my list of actions or not - but we will see ...)

Regards,
Udo, DG8MCQ

reuterr 2020/11/29 02:45

Hello DiSlord,

Would it be possible for you to add your very useful nanoVNA-V2 screen capture extension
(320 & 480 version) to the latest ojisan software (2020-10-04) ?

It would make writing some documentation for the ojisan software easier.
There are nice features to document, like the *Calibration data list*.
See the attached photo nanoVNA-V2_ojisan-Cal-List_IMG_2646.JPG.

The obijan source code is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rutnrj71n5cntnd/NanoVNAv2-release20200619_20201004.zip?dl=1

Additional notes to it:
So finally, I built and built up for 4-inch LCD (480x320 ST7796) and 2.8-inch LCD (320x240 ILI9341).

I also uploaded the source file (it's a bit embarrassing to keep it dirty).
When compiling for ST7796, set the 10th line of Makefile to LCD = -DDISPLAY_ST7796.
When compiling for ILI9341, comment out Makefile line 10 LCD = -DDISPLAY_ST7796.
If you change the Makefile, execute make clean before making.

73, Rudi DL5FA

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