I am in the midst of looking at nanoVNA's (leaning heavily toward the NanoVNA V2 Plus 4) and found a very interesting YouTube review by Joe Smith on the NanoVNA V2 Plus 4 and two of the earlier versions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaYBpPCo1qk

One of his complaints was that, since he uses his on the bench a lot, the PC software package was pretty darned slow and unresponsive.  So he wrote his own package and there are links in the presentation to that. He has a LOT of interesting information in his rather long video including modifications to the calibration loads, etc.   I highly recommend watching it (if you haven't already).

So a question for the group: has anyone tried Mr. Smith's package? And, if so, what are your thoughts.

Bob Groh

Yes, I have both the 32 bit and the no longer supported 64 bit versions
and like them both. Don’t take any shortcuts with the 32 bit installations
and it will work. Best not to ask Joe for installation help (he tends to
get a bit testy).


On Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 8:59 AM Bob Groh wa2cky <bob.groh@gmail.com> wrote:

> I am in the midst of looking at nanoVNA's (leaning heavily toward the
> NanoVNA V2 Plus 4) and found a very interesting YouTube review by Joe Smith
> on the NanoVNA V2 Plus 4 and two of the earlier versions.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaYBpPCo1qk
>
> One of his complaints was that, since he uses his on the bench a lot, the
> PC software package was pretty darned slow and unresponsive. So he wrote
> his own package and there are links in the presentation to that. He has a
> LOT of interesting information in his rather long video including
> modifications to the calibration loads, etc. I highly recommend watching
> it (if you haven't already).
>
> So a question for the group: has anyone tried Mr. Smith's package? And, if
> so, what are your thoughts.
>
> Bob Groh
>
>
>

I've been watching his videos for , not sure 2-3 yrs.
Have not used because I have not got my V2 Plus 4 to work yet , then next I use a Mac .

Got the Plus4  ?
KD0CAC

I use my NanoVNA V2 Plus 4 with NanoVNA-QT version 1.1. It looks very similar to the first program he was using in the video, but there were some slight differences. I have not had any of the problems he showed (that I can remember).

Regarding Joe's PC application, it looks very well done and sophisticated. But as a new ham experimenting with HF antennas, it is beyond what I need. Frankly, my calibration doesn't need to be super precise. And it appears his software is not open source, so I can't look at the details of how the calculations are being done.

I was surprised that he said that, for lower frequencies, the older and cheaper VNA is probably a better choice.

I have the V2 Plus 4, bought from the official store in China.

On Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 1:49 PM John tf <john.faughn@gmail.com> wrote:

> I've been watching his videos for , not sure 2-3 yrs.
> Have not used because I have not got my V2 Plus 4 to work yet , then next
> I use a Mac .
>
> Got the Plus4 ?
> KD0CAC
>
>
>

I don't have any issue with the speed using my PC. Actually it is very fast. Still working through all the menus and where some of the functions are hidden. Would have been nice to have both the Nano and the PC screens and menus the same but maybe that will come in a future update.

Hi chaps does anyone have links for YouTube video please as I too am having
probs with v2 plus 4,thanks Dave 2E0DTB UK




> On 24 Oct 2022, at 05:01, Gene Schroeder <gene@schroeder4.com> wrote:
>
>

> I use my NanoVNA V2 Plus 4 with NanoVNA-QT version 1.1. It looks very
similar to the first program he was using in the video, but there were some
slight differences. I have not had any of the problems he showed (that I can
remember).
>
> Regarding Joe's PC application, it looks very well done and sophisticated.
But as a new ham experimenting with HF antennas, it is beyond what I need.
Frankly, my calibration doesn't need to be super precise. And it appears his
software is not open source, so I can't look at the details of how the
calculations are being done.
>
> I was surprised that he said that, for lower frequencies, the older and
cheaper VNA is probably a better choice.

_._,_._,_

* * *

Joe Smith comes from a test engineering background and that is reflected in
his software. His software adds many features found in commercial network
analyzers, such as group delay, time domain, port extension, etc. The
programs were written in LabView; one reason why the UI and graphics are so
good.

I consider the NanoVNA V2 Plus 4 a good bench instrument for characterizing
passive components, such as filters. It also works for active devices with
some limitations. However, it is not ideal as an antenna analyzer. The
inputs are susceptible to damage due to static and strong signals and the
SMA connector to board interface is weak. It is not easy to use on top of a
tower. For field antenna measurements, I use a RigExpert analyzer as is
quite rugged and I can operate it with one hand on a tower. It also can
store multiple measurements for later upload and analysis. With the Nano, I
would also need to bring a laptop up the tower to store measurements.

On Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 12:01 AM Gene Schroeder <gene@schroeder4.com> wrote:

> I use my NanoVNA V2 Plus 4 with NanoVNA-QT version 1.1. It looks very
> similar to the first program he was using in the video, but there were some
> slight differences. I have not had any of the problems he showed (that I
> can remember).
>
> Regarding Joe's PC application, it looks very well done and sophisticated.
> But as a new ham experimenting with HF antennas, it is beyond what I need.
> Frankly, my calibration doesn't need to be super precise. And it appears
> his software is not open source, so I can't look at the details of how the
> calculations are being done.
>
> I was surprised that he said that, for lower frequencies, the older and
> cheaper VNA is probably a better choice.
>
>
>

John,
No, I haven't purchased anything yet.

I am very interested in your statement '....Have not used because I have not got my V2 Plus 4 to work yet...."  What is the hang up?

Bob, WA2CKY