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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New Information: integration of NanoVNA Saver with the NanoVNA V2Plus4


Dave VE3TLY 2022/06/10 14:00

Hi,

I just received my NanoVNA V2Plus4 and have been exploring its behaviour with the NanoVNA-Saver and NanoVNA-QT software. I've encountered some interesting observations which I have reported to HCXQS as follows:

1. If I flash the NanoVNA V2Plus4 with an older version of firmware, 20211227, then NanoVNA-Saver recognizes the V2Plus4 and runs. This points to a problem with the latest firmware release, 20220301 which appears to corrupt the USB interface, rendering the Saver application unusable with the V2.

2. Unfortunately when I try to capture data using the older firmware, 2021122, the data is corrupted and is not usable. Capturing data using the latest firmware, 20220301 gives good results.

At this time, this leaves me with no alternative other than to use NanoVNA-QT and the current firmware. Obviously I look forward to your NEXT firmware release.

In minutes I received an email response from HCXQS thanking me for my comments and indicating that they will look into the problem. Whether the fix lies with a V2 firmware update or with Saver itself is their decision. In the meantime I will keep an eye open for new updates.

Hope this helps.

73
Dave VE3TLY

Marc Nordquest 2022/06/12 07:19

What I do is connect with NanoVNA-QT and then close the program. Now start
up NavoVNA Saver and connect. Works everytime for me.

On Sat, Jun 11, 2022, 12:31 AM Dave VE3TLY <dave.green@ncf.ca> wrote:

Anne Ranch 2022/06/13 13:45

This  probably will; not help . but ...
ever since PC with serial port came to be
once the serial port is used by ONE application it has to be
released (!) to be free to be used by another application

Sometime closing the original user application is not enough....
if the coder included (!)  the release and closing the app does not run it...

Dave VE3TLY 2022/06/13 14:29

Thanks for the suggestion Marc. I tried that on two different WIN10 machines while using the most recent NanoVNA V2Plus4 firmware (20220301). No luck. I tried several versions of NanoVNA-Saver from Vers. 0.3.7 to Vers. 0.4.0, but got no satisfaction. In all cases, NanoVNA-Saver failed to find any COM ports.

73
Dave VE3TLY

Vladimir Lebedev 2022/06/13 22:57

Hello Dave!
Have You installed Cypress driver for Windows, but Windows 10 install own driver?
Vladimir,  dl7pga

Vladimir Lebedev 2022/06/13 23:01

Dave, this driver
https://nanorfe.com/downloads/NanoVNA-QT/CypressDriverInstaller_1.exe
Without this driver works not.
Vladimir, dl7pga

Dave VE3TLY 2022/06/14 05:57

Thanks Vladimir. Yes I have installed the Cypress drivers and NanoVNA-QT runs correctly. My problem is that NanoVNA-Saver does not find the device, when using the current firmware release 20220301. As I mentioned previously, it does find the device if I flash the previous firmware release 20211227.
--
Dave VE3TLY

gouzou82 2022/06/14 10:00

What i did was to uninstall the cypress drivers and saver could find the device.
I have win10 home 64bit.

Vladimir Lebedev 2022/06/14 13:02

Hello gouzu82!

It is very easy. See this picture - Windows 10 Control Panel ---> Apps & Futures
Sypress driver uninstall only.

Best regards
Vladimir

Dave VE3TLY 2022/06/14 13:22

Thanks. I tried that but it didn't work here. I too have Win10 home 64-bit machines.

BTW I have been communicating with the developers of NanoVNA-Server who are currently working on a fix for this problem. I'll post an announcement, if/when a solution becomes available.
--
Dave VE3TLY

Steve K3FZT 2022/07/10 11:01

On my Windows 10 Pro machine UNinstalling the Cypress driver, including deleting the files from the computer, unplugging the USB cable, rebooting the computer and then both applications load and operate without difficulty so long as one is closed before the other is open.

Thank you, Vladimir Lebedev.
--
73 de K3FZT / Steve

Dave VE3TLY 2022/07/12 17:42

Thanks for the comments Steve. Unfortunately I had no success when I tried your suggestions.

I am running Win10 Home. When I removed the Cypress driver and rebooted as you suggested, the S.A.A.2 could not be found by either NanoVNA application. The fact that your WIN10 machine could find the device is curious. It would be very interesting to know what driver was used in your machine to communicate with the S.A;A.2 (and which versions of the software and firmware were being used.)

The firmware installed in my S.A.A.2 is 20220301.

The version of NanoVNA-Saver I'm running is V0.4.0 that I downloaded on 2022-06-14. HCXQ had notified me that they had just updated the Saver application and asked me to test it. ( https://nanorfe.com/nanovna-v2-software.html#nanovna-saver )  I found with the new version that the S.A.A.2 was now recognized by Saver but the application crashes as soon as I click "Connect". The error report indicates errors in a function call - apparently a different code bug.

As it stands now, QT runs fine, but I much prefer Saver. I will continue to watch for any new code releases.
Thanks again.

73
Dave VE3TLY

Ambro_IW2FVO 2022/07/13 07:11

I recently updated the Firmware of my nano VNA V2_2 black and gold and I have this behavior:
NanoVNA_APP   > good USB connection and operationNanoVNA Saver v 0.3.8 > good USB connection and operationVNA_QT > good USB connection and operationNanoVNA Saver v 0.4.0 (32 or 64 bit)   NO Connection at all:  No port displayed: If you press "connect" then tha program is terminated.
nanoVNA FW: 20201310Win_10 64 bit PRO 8GRAM  SSD :500GB CPU intel I_5 @ 3.2 GHz
Hope this could help.Regards,Ambrogio


On Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 06:55:31 AM GMT+2, Dave VE3TLY <dave.green@ncf.ca> wrote:

Thanks for the comments Steve. Unfortunately I had no success when I tried your suggestions.

I am running Win10 Home. When I removed the Cypress driver and rebooted as you suggested, the S.A.A.2 could not be found by either NanoVNA application. The fact that your WIN10 machine could find the device is curious. It would be very interesting to know what driver was used in your machine to communicate with the S.A;A.2 (and which versions of the software and firmware were being used.)

The firmware installed in my S.A.A.2 is 20220301.

The version of NanoVNA-Saver I'm running is V0.4.0 that I downloaded on 2022-06-14. HCXQ had notified me that they had just updated the Saver application and asked me to test it. (https://nanorfe.com/nanovna-v2-software.html#nanovna-saver)  I found with the new version that the S.A.A.2 was now recognized by Saver but the application crashes as soon as I click "Connect". The error report indicates errors in a function call - apparently a different code bug.

As it stands now, QT runs fine, but I much prefer Saver. I will continue to watch for any new code releases.
Thanks again.

73
Dave VE3TLY

Vladimir Lebedev 2022/07/13 00:20

Hello Dave!
You can try NanoVNA-APP, here is download link

https://disk.yandex.ru/d/PgLthVAsG90TGg

Unzip and start.
You need Cypress driver. Windows 10 install own driver, unusable.

73 de Vladimir, dl7pga

Albert Kleyn 2022/07/13 01:26

Dave... apologies for butting in here. Why not try to run Joe's wonderful program on your SAA-2 ?   While I have the nano-QT and nano saver programs... Joe's program runs circles around them... but be warned !, it has a learning curve.  It is the nanovna solver64.exe    ( I too have the N type SAA-2 here )
BUT... I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE.  I only got this working because of the great help I received in this forum from several people. Without that help I would still be trying an would have given up LONG AGO !
Don't get me wrong... the QT and Saver programs are great... nothing wrong with them.
I run windows 10 prof on here and do note my VNA will be about 8 months old( from Amazon USA) and I have NEVER touched the firm ware. Too risky i.m.o.
FYI..... for all my main antenna work I use a RIGEXPERT 650 Zoom... ye cannot beat that unit.
Albert   EI7II.

Siegfried Jackstien 2022/07/13 15:26

There is newer fw available for your device

Dg9bfc sigi



Am 13.07.2022 09:11 schrieb "Ambro_IW2FVO via groups.io"
<iw2fvo=yahoo.com@groups.io>:

> I recently updated the Firmware of my nano VNA V2_2 black and gold and I
have this behavior:

>

>
>

>

> NanoVNA_APP > good USB connection and operation

>

> NanoVNA Saver v 0.3.8 > good USB connection and operation

>

> VNA_QT > good USB connection and operation

>

> NanoVNA Saver v 0.4.0 (32 or 64 bit) NO Connection at all: No port
displayed: If you press "connect" then tha program is terminated.

>

>
>

>

> nanoVNA FW: 20201310

>

> Win_10 64 bit PRO 8GRAM SSD :500GB

>

> CPU intel I_5 @ 3.2 GHz

>

>
>

>

> Hope this could help.

>

> Regards,

>

> Ambrogio

>

>
>

>

>
>

>

>
>

>

> On Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 06:55:31 AM GMT+2, Dave VE3TLY
<dave.green@ncf.ca> wrote:

>

>
>

>

>
>

>

> Thanks for the comments Steve. Unfortunately I had no success when I tried
your suggestions.
>
> I am running Win10 Home. When I removed the Cypress driver and rebooted as
you suggested, the S.A.A.2 could not be found by either NanoVNA application.
The fact that your WIN10 machine could find the device is curious. It would be
very interesting to know what driver was used in your machine to communicate
with the S.A;A.2 (and which versions of the software and firmware were being
used.)
>
> The firmware installed in my S.A.A.2 is 20220301.
>
> The version of NanoVNA-Saver I'm running is V0.4.0 that I downloaded on
2022-06-14. HCXQ had notified me that they had just updated the Saver
application and asked me to test it.
(<https://nanorfe.com/nanovna-v2-software.html#nanovna-saver>) I found with
the new version that the S.A.A.2 was now recognized by Saver but the
application crashes as soon as I click "Connect". The error report indicates
errors in a function call - apparently a different code bug.
>
> As it stands now, QT runs fine, but I much prefer Saver. I will continue to
watch for any new code releases.
> Thanks again.
>
> 73
> Dave VE3TLY
>



_._,_._,_

* * *

Dave VE3TLY 2022/07/13 09:50

Thanks. My S.A.A.2 runs QT and APP correctly but can't run Saver. It's
apparent that different versions of the NanoVNA V2xx behave differently
when interfaced to NanoVNA-Saver. I have also found that my S.A.A.2 will
not operate correctly when I burn the previous version of firmware. My
preference then is to evaluate the latest version of firmware and
applications as they become available.

73
Dave VE3TLY

Dave VE3TLY 2022/09/19 20:38

This is an update on my earlier post of June 11 2022.

Today I installed the latest release of NanoVNA-Saver (v0.5.3) available from https://github.com/NanoVNA-Saver/nanovna-saver/releases
The S.A.A.2 was recognized by Saver and now runs correctly. This is new.

I'm running the latest firmware release for the S.A.A.2, 20220814.

I have also briefly tested the new release of NanoVNA-QT (V1.1) and find that it also appears to run correctly. Of particular interest is that I am using a Windows 11 laptop and I find that it was NOT necessary to install the Cypress USB driver. The driver seems to be included with Win11.

Hope this helps.
73
Dave VE3TLY
--
Dave VE3TLY

Leif M 2022/10/16 14:50

"Today I installed the latest release of NanoVNA-Saver (v0.5.3)"
How did you install it, when there no exe-file or anything else executable?

Vladimir Lebedev 2022/10/17 04:47

Hello Leif!
https://github.com/NanoVNA-Saver/nanovna-saver/releases/download/v0.5.3/NanoVNASaver.x64.zip

Have You Windows 10/11? Download, open the ZIP file, start executable. It is all.

73 de Vladimir, dl7pga

Dave VE3TLY 2022/10/17 08:20

This is likely my final comment on this topic. I now have the NanoVNA V2Plus4 (S.A.A.2) running with NanoVNA-Saver (v0.5.3) and Nano-QT (V1.1) on various Win10 and Win 11 PCs, The S.A.A.2 is running the latest Firmware (20220814).

My first conclusion is that the recommended Cypress Drivers do NOT work on any of my PCs. Instead, I rely on native Microsoft drivers. I can't explain why these drivers did not function previously, perhaps they were only installed with a recent Windows update. The associated Microsoft USB serial device drivers are 10.0.22000.1098 (Win11) and 10.0.19041.1202 and 10.0.1941.2130 for my Win10 machines.

I had to fix one final problem on my HP Win10 ProBook. While NanoVNA-Saver worked correctly, NanoVNA-QT now  failed to connect when the appropriate COMxx was selected from the dropdown list.

The fix is as follows:
Under "Device", select "other"
Enter "\\.\Comxx" replacing "xx" with the COM port number (8, 10 etc.).

The S.A.A.2 is now fully functional and I hope these discoveries will helpful for others.

73
Dave VE3TLY

Gregg Myers 2022/10/17 12:39

Wow, Dave, you just fixed my issue with Windows 10 and Nano-QT v1.1.

I had exactly the same symptoms… NanoVNA Saver worked but Nano-QT would not connect. The fix as you suggested:

Under "Device", select "other"
Enter "\\.\Comxx" replacing "xx" with the COM port number (8, 10 etc.).

I did not have to replace the Cyprus driver in my case.

Well, thanks very much! I actually spent a long time yesterday and this morning trying to get this to work and your easy work-around resolved the connection problem perfectly.

73,
Gregg W7GRM

Dave VE3TLY 2022/10/17 19:17

Thanks Gregg, you made my day! I came across the "\\.\com..." com port syntax in an online document, similar to this one, from Microsoft.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/howto-specify-serial-ports-larger-than-com9-db9078a5-b7b6-bf00-240f-f749ebfd913e

73
Dave VE3TLY

Gregg Myers 2022/10/18 05:21

Hi Dave,

That makes sense since I was trying to connect to my V2 plus4 with COM19 and the Microsoft link says that problems may happen with ports over COM9. I guess this also explains why some people have connected with no trouble and other people were having connect problems. Note that I was able to connect with older versions of Nano-QT but not the 1.1 version. The Windows enumeration of COM ports can be very tricky... I have a different device (not a Nano) that will screw up the COM port enumeration sometimes, depending on when it is plugged in. The problem there is that Windows tries to be too tricky and 'remembers' the COM port by writing the information into the registry. That turns out to be a bad thing if it writes to the registry incorrectly, as the device will fail to function on the COM port for an indeterminately long time, ha, ha!

Anyway, thanks again and I am looking forward to playing around with Nano-QT and also upgrading software using it. The procedure trying to upgrade the software on a V2 Plus4 also seemed to be surprisingly cryptic but once I realized that I was supposed to be using Nano-QT to do it, all was very easy.

73,
Gregg W7GRM

Dave VE3TLY 2022/10/18 14:14

Siegfried, could you elaborate please? I've followed the example post on the NanoVNA website, https://nanorfe.com/nanovna-v2.html which says:

"NanoVNA V2 (S-A-A-2) is a 4GHz vector network analyzer (VNA) capable of measuring antennas, filters, duplexers, and amplifiers. It is a new from-scratch design by HCXQS/NanoRFE not based on the earlier edy555 V1 design.

The V2 Plus4 is the latest design based on our novel VNA-R architecture, featuring temperature drift cancellation and reduced crosstalk, showing no visible drift in all indoor conditions"

Am I missing something?

73
Dave VE3TLY

Leif M 2022/10/24 10:48

A late answer. I have both Win7 and Win10.

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