Will 2020/11/15 17:50
Nooelec NanoVNA-H 4 - Open Hardware Vector… is this one a good one? (Amazon)
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.
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Which one to get?
Siegfried Jackstien 2020/11/16 03:57
hmm ... i prefer one of the v2 variants
best one is v2plus4 (that is newest on the market)
a tiny bit lower in performance would be any of the v2plus versions (be it a genuine v2plus or a modded v2)
then all "normal" v2 versions (incl saa2n) with smaller or bigger lcd
be aware that nearly ALL variants that you find on amazon or aliexpress are clones
only real genuine device now is the v2plus4
if you wanna stay a bit cheaper and can live with a tiny bit lower performance then maybe just grab an saa2n and modify it to the plus version (would be saa2nplus then) ... good thing is the n sockets and the nice metal case
in my iew all the older nano variants (h4 or f or whatever) are now outdated or obsolete
they may hae a few pros on lower frequency ... but as soon as you go to higher ham bands the v2 (and its cousins) begin to shine (and older nano variants are not good on higher bands)
greetz sigi dg9bfc
Stephen Laurence 2020/11/16 09:07
I would endorse all that.
If you wished to stay with sma connectors, the “Black and Gold” Hugen V2 which has a complete case and a slightly bigger 3.2” screen is a possible choice. It is also the most aesthetically accptable to my eye, followed by the V2N which is the most robust.
I have all V2 variants except the V2plus and plus4 variants, but most will be converted to 2plus soon. I cannot say if any or all of the V2N devices now on sale are clones, but I am thinking between buying a Plus4 or another V2N as a spare device.
Steve L
Siegfried Jackstien 2020/11/16 18:12
i converted my saa2n to plus ... happy with that but tomorrow i will get
a brand new v2plus4 :-)
18 more hours to wait ... ... ... ... ... and wait ... ... ... and
greetz sigi sg9bfc
Am 16.11.2020 um 17:07 schrieb Stephen Laurence:
Keith Hoffmann 2020/11/16 21:18
I may have missed it. How do you convert a SSA2N to Plus ?
On Tuesday, 17 November 2020, 4:12:33 am AEST, Siegfried Jackstien <siegfried.jackstien@freenet.de> wrote:
i converted my saa2n to plus ... happy with that but tomorrow i will get
a brand new v2plus4 :-)
18 more hours to wait ... ... ... ... ... and wait ... ... ... and
greetz sigi sg9bfc
Am 16.11.2020 um 17:07 schrieb Stephen Laurence:
Siegfried Jackstien 2020/11/16 22:30
https://github.com/eried/Research/tree/master/NanoVNA/v2/upgrade_v2.2_to_plus
3 things ...
1. change 3 parts (thats easy)
2. upload a special bootloader (explain below)
3. upload "plus" firmware
the bootloader can only uploaded with an st link dongle (or similar ...
i used an stm32 discovery board) over the programming port in the device
... and a "special" bootloader is needed (that includes the serial
number of your device so must be compiled for YOUR serial number)
after first two steps are solved then uploading of the new fw is as
usual via usb port so the easiest step on the modding hi hi)
greetz sigi dg9bfc
Am 16.11.2020 um 21:18 schrieb Keith Hoffmann via groups.io:
Will 2020/11/16 14:53
I like the N connectors where to get this Plus version?
Allasso 2020/11/16 16:26
1) How do you know if you have a clone?
2) Does it matter?
On Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 3:53 PM Will <echocomms@gmail.com> wrote:
Siegfried Jackstien 2020/11/17 00:43
on my unit i now added 470 on 3v3 rail and 1470 on the 5v rail ... not
the smith is cristal clear :-)
the clones (especially with a big lcd) draw a bit high current on the
3v3 rail (that rail also powers other units that are used for measure)
see v2 without screen and compare it with screen (second and third picture)
if you do not buy a "geniune" v2 (now sold out) and do not get the new
v2plus or v2plus4 ... then definitely you will get a clone
not all of them are noisy ... my v2went noisy after upgrading to a
bigger lcd (see above the current issue)
with a few caps added it is much cleaner ... as next stage i try to add
a resistor in the 3v3 rail towards lcd (and a cap ... forming an rc filter
now i only added a cap in parallel on the 3v3 rail ... but will make a
"cut" with a sharpie and solder a small resistor over it
then i will see if that further lowers the noise a bit :-)
so .. how do you know?? (you get what you pay for ... buyers beware ...
get a genuine unit to be safe) ... best one now is v2plus4 for sure
does it matter?? see above pictures ... IT DOES MATTER!! (but if you
have no fear of modding your unit a bit it can be made much cleaner!!)
i think that should answer your questions (and maybe adds some new)
greetz sigi dg9bfc
ps finally see how clean my modded saa2nplus (with extra caps on 3v3 and
5v) looks withoiut avg used ;-)
Am 16.11.2020 um 23:26 schrieb Allasso:
Siegfried Jackstien 2020/11/17 00:57
with 1000 pt it gets a bit scratchy but that is totally gone with 5 pt avg
and that tiny bit that i see on a 1000pt scan and no avg is what i want
to get away with next modding stage (series resitor on 3v3 rail towards
lcd and a bigger cap forming an rc filter) ... i keep you informed
dg9bfc sigi
ps is that splitting hairs?? maybe :-)
Am 17.11.2020 um 00:43 schrieb Siegfried Jackstien:
Will 2020/11/16 17:21
On Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 04:57 PM, Siegfried Jackstien wrote:
>
> ps is that splitting hairs?? maybe :-)
>
No, seems good idea to me.
Allasso 2020/11/17 06:45
Thanks Sigi, yes that helps a lot. In the last attachment, the filename
says, "with_caps", are you referring to the 470 on 3v3 rail and 1470 on the
5v rail?
"but if you have no fear of modding your unit..." – I don't know if I fall
into that category :-/ (Especially since it's brand new)
I bought my SAA2N from Aursinc off Amazon for $130, this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G4GXTKK
On Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 5:43 PM Siegfried Jackstien <
siegfried.jackstien@freenet.de> wrote:
Allasso 2020/11/17 07:07
```"but if you have no fear of modding your unit..." – I don't know if I
fall into that category :-/ (Especially since it's brand new)```
BRRAAAWWWWK BRWK BRWK BRWK
On Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 6:45 AM Allasso via groups.io <kevinhowjones=
gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:
Allasso 2020/11/17 07:44
"with 1000 pt it gets a bit scratchy but that is totally gone with 5 pt avg"
Would that not produce similar results to using 200 pt with no averaging?
Or am I just naive?
On Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 5:57 PM Siegfried Jackstien <
siegfried.jackstien@freenet.de> wrote:
Siegfried Jackstien 2020/11/17 18:19
Am 17.11.2020 um 13:45 schrieb Allasso:
> Thanks Sigi, yes that helps a lot. In the last attachment, the filename
> says, "with_caps", are you referring to the 470 on 3v3 rail and 1470 on the
> 5v rail?
yes ... but i am not finished in fiddling with moddings :-)
(try an additional rc filter)
> "but if you have no fear of modding your unit..." – I don't know if I fall
> into that category :-/ (Especially since it's brand new)
mine was a few weeks old ... and is still not finished :-)
>
> I bought my SAA2N from Aursinc off Amazon for $130, this one:
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G4GXTKK
AUTCH ... i paid half of that (60 euro) for the saa2n (plus a few bucks p+p)
for that price you should get a v2plus4
today the brand new v2plus4 arrived ... first tests show that it beats
the modded or unmodded saa2n hands down
more on that later (will do tests ... screenshots etc)
dg9bfc sigi
so in fact i have to correct myself ... which one to get?? v2plus4 :-)
Siegfried Jackstien 2020/11/17 18:24
no
it is then 5000 points when i use 5 pt avg and 1000 pts
each fifth point it steps one frequency step further means each point is
measured 5 times
200pt and no avg show coarser steps (yes that also then looks clean like
above but you have not the granularity)
greetz sigi dg9bfc
ps wait till i get it noise free with 10 k points hi hi
Am 17.11.2020 um 14:44 schrieb Allasso:
Allasso 2020/11/17 14:57
"it is then 5000 points...each fifth point it steps one frequency step
further means each point is measured 5 times"
I think it is misleading to state it that way. Each point is only measured
once, however, it is correct to state that each point is used in
calculating the average 5 times, ie, for 5 different frequency steps
(including its own) as the 5 step window slides from one step to the next.
The reason I was comparing it to 200 steps/no averaging is that it seems to
me that when you're averaging over 5 steps you are also "smoothing things
out" over a pretty wide range, so the unique values at these "higher
resolution" steps have become less distinctive (as they are blended in with
4 other measurements), resulting in less effectual resolution. Thus I was
thinking that the end result might be similar to 200 steps/no averaging
(1000 / 5), **with interpolation between each step**. I do see however
that the advantage to higher resolution + averaging is that it would tend
to compensate better for noise, as the effect of random anomalous values
will be diminished when averaging with other hopefully more indicative
values, whereas with 200 steps/no averaging any random anomalous value due
to noise **is** the data.
On Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 11:24 AM Siegfried Jackstien <
siegfried.jackstien@freenet.de> wrote:
Allasso 2020/11/18 06:30
"AUTCH ... i paid half of that (60 euro) for the saa2n (plus a few bucks
p+p)"
I like to buy gear from Amazon even though it may cost more because:
I get it in 3 - 4 days instead a month or more
I never run into any unpleasant "surprises" when ordering stuff from Amazon
I know I can return it for ANY reason, no questions asked within 30 days,
for free. Just a few clicks on a web page, print and stick on the label,
put in the box and I'm done. When I'm buying gear I'm not that familiar
with especially, it is nice to know that if this isn't exactly what I'm
looking for, I can just return it.
I have felt that I have a better chance of getting a genuine device,
whereas if ordering something for 1/2 price or less on Banggood or Ali
Express or even ebay, I feel it's guaranteed to be a clone. If I order
from Arduino on Amazon for example, I know I'm getting genuine Arduino.
(Although it sounds like this theory may not apply in regard to my SAA2N.)
I like to support the original maker of a device by ordering genuine at
least for the first one.
If I were to order another one of these, say to have one to experiment with
modding, then I would probably go the cheaper route (and wait... and
wait...)
If I were to order another one of these,
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