Where to buy

Official stores

Safe places to buy an original NanoVNA V2:

• Official store on Tindie (worldwide)
• Official store on Taobao (mainland China)

As of July 2022 there are many clones of outdated NanoVNA hardware versions sold under various names, many of which do not meet specifications and are highly noisy due to using incorrect or lower quality parts. Some users have also reported software/firmware incompatibility. See official stores above and look for NanoVNA V2 Plus4 versions only to avoid getting a bad clone. See also FAQ | How to avoid a bad clone.

Measurement comparisons

We tested a few clones of the NanoVNA V2 design, some claiming higher specifications than the original. The clones are based on earlier designs intended for either 1GHz or 3GHz, and some clones have tried to extend the frequency range using harmonics without understanding the design, while substituting lower quality parts to reduce cost. What we saw was worsened noise, nonlinearity error, and temperature drift issues.

The performance of the NanoVNA V2.2 clones start to degrade before 2GHz, and would not have passed our standard QC procedures for the earliest 3GHz V2.2 version:

Note: the above plots are uncalibrated to show the amount of noise of the raw data from the hardware.

Some NanoVNA clones use harmonics to exaggerate the frequency range, which gives wrong measurements because the strong fundamental signal at the receiver creates interference at the harmonic frequency, giving a stable but incorrect measurement. These clones usually come in a plastic enclosure to save cost.

The following stores have sold at least one bad clone.

• Banggood
• Eleshop
• R&L electronics - still selling clones despite being asked not to by the original developers

Note: Hugen/Zeenko is selling S-A-A-2/NanoVNA V2 based designs without permission after being asked by the original developers not to. Please reconsider supporting this vendor.

Comparisons with professional VNAs

Many users have compared the NanoVNA V2 Plus4 with professional instruments. When using the same calibration kits and up to the dynamic range limit, the measured data and smith chart matches well. Some differences are visible as the dynamic range is approached and noise becomes noticeable.

Here is one blog post from AE5X comparing it with a FieldFox:

https://ae5x.blogspot.com/2021/07/1-to-4-ghz-nanovna-2-plus4-vs-keysight.html

DD1US compared it with a HP-8753E:

https://www.dd1us.de/Downloads/Brief comparison of NanoVNA V2 with a professional VNA HP-8753E.pdf

To get an idea of what kind of measurement noise is achievable, here are some sample measurements of a cascaded SAW filter and a power amplifier made using a NanoVNA V2 Plus4 (click the images to view them at full size):

Note that some averaging is needed to get the NanoVNA V2 Plus4 to near 100dB dynamic range.

User groups / Forums

Discussion forum
https://groups.io/g/NanoVNAV2

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/nanovnav2/

How to use NanoVNA V2

VNA basics

A VNA (Vector Network Analyzer) measures the frequency dependent reflected and transmitted power of a high frequency network (RF Network).

The NanoVNA measures the following:

• Reflection coefficient: S11
• Transmission coefficient: S21

Using the above measured data, the NanoVNA can calculate the following items:

• Return loss
• Insertion loss
• Complex impedance
• Resistance
• Reactance
• SWR

Required components

To use the NanoVNA for one port measurements (e.g. analyzing antennas), you will need the following:

• NanoVNA main unit
• SMA coaxial cable, male to male
• SOLT calibration kit: Short, Open, and Load

Performing measurements

The basic operation and menu structure of V2 is very similar to the original NanoVNA.

• Configure the measurement frequency range:

  Select STIMULUS > START and STIMULUS > STOP.

• Calibrate:
  1. Enter the CAL menu and connect a SMA male to male cable to the NanoVNA port 1.
  2. Connect the OPEN standard to the cable and select the menu item "OPEN". Wait for the menu to highlight.
  3. Connect the SHORT standard to the cable and select the menu item "SHORT". Wait for the menu to highlight.
  4. Connect the LOAD standard to the cable and select the menu item "LOAD". Wait for the menu to highlight.
  5. Select "APPLY". The calibration is now active and you can start performing measurements.
  6. Note: on NanoVNA V2 Plus4 and later hardware, isolation calibration is automatically done during OPEN and LOAD steps, and there is no separate ISOLATION calibration step.

For a more detailed description of the calibration methods and measurement options available in the NanoVNA V2, please refer to the user manuals below.

Documentation

User manuals

Menu maps

Firmware downloads

For firmware releases go to the Hardware versions page which lists the latest stable firmware builds for each NanoVNA hardware variant.

There are also experimental firmware releases at downloads.

Firmware sources are at https://github.com/nanovna-v2/NanoVNA2-firmware

Software

See Software downloads.

Specifications

The following are the specifications of NanoVNA devices manufactured by HCXQS/NanoRFE.
Beware of clones using lower quality or salvaged parts.

Parameter	Board version	Specification	Conditions
Frequency range	V2_2, V2 Plus	50kHz - 3GHz	-
	V2 Plus4, V2 Plus4 Pro	50kHz – 4.4GHz	-
Frequency resolution	All	0.01MHz	-
System dynamic range (calibrated)	V2_2, V2 Plus	70dB	1GHz
		60dB	3GHz
	V2 Plus4	90dB	1GHz BW=6.2kHz, AVG=20
		80dB	3GHz BW=6.2kHz, AVG=5
	V2 Plus4 Pro	90dB	1GHz BW=1.6kHz, AVG=5
		80dB	3GHz BW=1.6kHz, NO AVG
S11 noise floor (calibrated)	All	-50dB	f < 1.5GHz
		-40dB	f < 3GHz
Sweep points	V2 Plus4	1 – 1024 points (with NanoVNA-QT software). More points (up to 65535) are possible depending on the performance of your PC.	-
Sweep time	V2 Plus4	0.25s	Default sweep settings
	V2 Plus4 Pro	0.16s	Default sweep settings BW=10kHz
Power supply	All	USB, 4.6V – 5.5V	-
Supply current	All	500mA typ	No charging
Battery current, charging	All	1.2A typ	-
Battery capacity	V2 Plus4, V2 Plus4 Pro	3200mAh	-
Operation ambient temperature	All	0℃ - 45℃ *	* by design, not tested in production
Ambient temperature during battery charging	All	10℃ - 45℃	-

Note: NanoVNA V2 Plus4 Pro now allows measuring crystals by an adjustable bandwidth setting. All other hardware versions can not measure crystals because of the rapid switching of the test signal.

Schematics and PCB layout

The schematics and PCB layout files of the V2.2 version are available here:

https://github.com/nanovna-v2/NanoVNA2

The NanoVNA V2 design is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA and commercial use without specific permission is forbidden. You need to obtain specific written permission every 3 months to sell hardware using this design.

V2.3 and V2.4 designs are confidential and proprietary, and reverse engineering is forbidden.