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Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

OSL - Open, Short and Load, the normal calibration of the system for a DUT
(Device Under Test)

On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 2:48?PM CLIFTON HEAD via groups.io <aecret=
[email protected]> wrote:

What does OSL stand for and where or how to find it on the VNA H4 or F V2
________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of
W0LEV via groups.io <davearea51a@...>
Sent: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 2:49 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL
Correction?

Once you complete your chosen cal., go back and check that the OSL actually
shows as an OSL should. If so, that will assure your cal has taken hold.

Dave - W?LEV

<

Virus-free.www.avg.com
<

<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 8:05?PM Clyde Lambert via groups.io <clyde.lambert=
[email protected]> wrote:

Please excuse my 80yr old brain, I know to include the rest of the info.
but didn't type it.
I have a NanoVNA H4 with FW version 1.2.40.
My question is;
Is 1.2.40 the latest FW or is there a newer version?
The reason for my question is the "Calibration correction" does not show
on the menu selections on my version of FW.
Thank you in advance.
Clyde KC7BJE





--

*Dave - W?LEV*


--
Dave - W?LEV










--
Tate

After all, all devices have their dangers. The discovery of speech
introduced communication ¨C and lies.
- Isaac Asimov


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

Clifton, the 1.2.40 firmware version is very recent, so you don't need to update. The correction item should be there in the calibration menu, but you don't need to worry about it unless for some reason you want to disable calibration. It defaults to the enabled state. Look at the very left-hand side of the screen, and if you see a capital 'C' there, at the top of a column of other letters, your calibration is enabled.


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

O = Open termination
S = Short circuit termination
L = Non-reactive 50-ohm load termination

All applied to the source port.

You may also see "T" in an OSLT designation.

T = Through with the supplied coaxial cable between the source and sink
ports.

Dave - W?LEV

<>
Virus-free.www.avg.com
<>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 9:48?PM CLIFTON HEAD via groups.io <aecret=
[email protected]> wrote:

What does OSL stand for and where or how to find it on the VNA H4 or F V2
________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of
W0LEV via groups.io <davearea51a@...>
Sent: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 2:49 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL
Correction?

Once you complete your chosen cal., go back and check that the OSL actually
shows as an OSL should. If so, that will assure your cal has taken hold.

Dave - W?LEV

<

Virus-free.www.avg.com
<

<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 8:05?PM Clyde Lambert via groups.io <clyde.lambert=
[email protected]> wrote:

Please excuse my 80yr old brain, I know to include the rest of the info.
but didn't type it.
I have a NanoVNA H4 with FW version 1.2.40.
My question is;
Is 1.2.40 the latest FW or is there a newer version?
The reason for my question is the "Calibration correction" does not show
on the menu selections on my version of FW.
Thank you in advance.
Clyde KC7BJE





--

*Dave - W?LEV*


--
Dave - W?LEV










--

*Dave - W?LEV*


--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

What does OSL stand for and where or how to find it on the VNA H4 or F V2
________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of W0LEV via groups.io <davearea51a@...>
Sent: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 2:49 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

Once you complete your chosen cal., go back and check that the OSL actually
shows as an OSL should. If so, that will assure your cal has taken hold.

Dave - W?LEV

<>
Virus-free.www.avg.com
<>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 8:05?PM Clyde Lambert via groups.io <clyde.lambert=
[email protected]> wrote:

Please excuse my 80yr old brain, I know to include the rest of the info.
but didn't type it.
I have a NanoVNA H4 with FW version 1.2.40.
My question is;
Is 1.2.40 the latest FW or is there a newer version?
The reason for my question is the "Calibration correction" does not show
on the menu selections on my version of FW.
Thank you in advance.
Clyde KC7BJE





--

*Dave - W?LEV*


--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

Once you complete your chosen cal., go back and check that the OSL actually
shows as an OSL should. If so, that will assure your cal has taken hold.

Dave - W?LEV

<>
Virus-free.www.avg.com
<>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 8:05?PM Clyde Lambert via groups.io <clyde.lambert=
[email protected]> wrote:

Please excuse my 80yr old brain, I know to include the rest of the info.
but didn't type it.
I have a NanoVNA H4 with FW version 1.2.40.
My question is;
Is 1.2.40 the latest FW or is there a newer version?
The reason for my question is the "Calibration correction" does not show
on the menu selections on my version of FW.
Thank you in advance.
Clyde KC7BJE





--

*Dave - W?LEV*


--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

Please excuse my 80yr old brain, I know to include the rest of the info. but didn't type it.
I have a NanoVNA H4 with FW version 1.2.40.
My question is;
Is 1.2.40 the latest FW or is there a newer version?
The reason for my question is the "Calibration correction" does not show on the menu selections on my version of FW.
Thank you in advance.
Clyde KC7BJE


Re: how good is a rain gutter antenna

 

You may want to also post this question on the ham-antennas forum.

DaveD
KC0WJN


On Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 14:48 Imre Biacsics via groups.io <geld.probleempje=
[email protected]> wrote:

Ok, stealty antennas. How about my cat-net-tenna?
Got a 6 meter wide balcony (spanned with a cat net) on the 6th floor of a
appartment building.
The surface of te facade is all metal. Using a 64:1 unun grounded to te
metal surface

Spending months, weaving patterns. (Zig-zag, coiling, from front to back,
al kind of hybrids). My Vna shows this:



(Back and forward)

Since i was aming 10, 20 and 40 mtr, not bad!

The only thing: the huge metal groundplane seems to act as a reflector
facing south.

PD2I, Imre




Op wo 5 mrt 2025 16:05 schreef Larry Macionski via groups.io <am_fm_radio=
[email protected]>:

Twice as good as bed spring antennas thrown on the roof.. EVEN better if
your house is on wheels and you can turn it with a pickup truck..

Follow me for more REAL Ham Radio Solutions, Insight and Advice...

Larry W8LM
ARRL Life member- Licensed 59 years










Re: how good is a rain gutter antenna

 

Ok, stealty antennas. How about my cat-net-tenna?
Got a 6 meter wide balcony (spanned with a cat net) on the 6th floor of a
appartment building.
The surface of te facade is all metal. Using a 64:1 unun grounded to te
metal surface

Spending months, weaving patterns. (Zig-zag, coiling, from front to back,
al kind of hybrids). My Vna shows this:



(Back and forward)

Since i was aming 10, 20 and 40 mtr, not bad!

The only thing: the huge metal groundplane seems to act as a reflector
facing south.

PD2I, Imre




Op wo 5 mrt 2025 16:05 schreef Larry Macionski via groups.io <am_fm_radio=
[email protected]>:

Twice as good as bed spring antennas thrown on the roof.. EVEN better if
your house is on wheels and you can turn it with a pickup truck..

Follow me for more REAL Ham Radio Solutions, Insight and Advice...

Larry W8LM
ARRL Life member- Licensed 59 years






Re: how good is a rain gutter antenna

 

Ha! Loved Dave's (W0LEV) fire alarm story! :)

I did the exact same thing a couple years ago in my 3rd floor apartment back in Texas. I was using my SlinkTenna dipole (Google it) and had a blast for the 4 years we were there. It was stretched out under the metal balcony roof (12 feet long) and I was able to keep my power to 30 watts and work 80 - 6 meters! BUT, 30 meters was out of bounds, and when I tried one day to crank up the power on my ICOM 7300 to 20 watts, it tripped the fire alarms for the entire building. Fire engines arrived and it took 30 minutes before all the commotion died down. Very embarrassing, and I never loaded up on 30 Meters again!!!

However, a compromised antenna that gets you onto ANY ham band is a good one, if that's all you've got. Don't let anyone tell you differently. So many of us hams have to deal with all types of restrictions, so my hats off to any ham that is creative and tries to use any type of antenna system to radiate RF and get on the bands--provided it's safe, doesn't pose a threat to others and doesn't irradiate you unnecessarily with RF.....

So, if a rain gutter antenna is all you have, then use it, pay careful attention to the limitations, keep the RF power low and enjoy it!

Stan - WB5UDI


Re: how good is a rain gutter antenna

 

Twice as good as bed spring antennas thrown on the roof.. EVEN better if your house is on wheels and you can turn it with a pickup truck..

Follow me for more REAL Ham Radio Solutions, Insight and Advice...

Larry W8LM
ARRL Life member- Licensed 59 years


Re: how good is a rain gutter antenna

 

In college, while living in the "half underground" lower level of a new brick 12-plex, I used the downspout(s) as a random vertical antenna. My counterpoise was the AC wiring in the building and an aluminum knitting needle pushed into the soil at the bottom of he spout. With my trusty HW-8 and Argonaut 509 (amd crappy MFJ manual tuner), this was a DX machine. I was too inexperienced to realize that it really shouldn't have worked...
Years later, in a new-ish townhouse, my downspout antenna was a total dummy load, no matter what. I replaced it with an attic-mounted 40-meter horizontal loop fed with a remote autocoupler (antenna about 26 feet AGL)...and THAT was an even better DX machine. My townhouse was at highest point in the county, and I could receive TV signals perfectly from 50-70 miles away with the TV Yagi laying on the asphalt driveway...

With spout antennas, each is unique.
And yes, ditch the UNUN, as you almost certainly don't need it.
Best of luck,
Kirk, NT0Z

My book, "Stealth Amateur Radio," is now available from www.stealthamateur.com and on the Amazon Kindle (soon)

On Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 10:57:33 PM CST, John via groups.io <ve3kkqve3kkq@...> wrote:

Mine sucks

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 9:24?PM Stan Dye via groups.io <standye=
[email protected]> wrote:

On Tue, Mar? 4, 2025 at 08:26 AM, W0LEV wrote:


you must have a lot of loss in the system.
Likely due to that crazy 9:1 transformer.
In this case, Dave, it's highly likely the gutter system will have much
more loss than the transformer.? A gutter can be a reasonable antenna if
all of the joints have good RF connections-but that most often requires
work.






NanoVNA F V2 not working correctly

 

I have 2 VNAs . H4 and New F v2. Using the H4 to measure coax length I get a reading that's spot on. But when I use the F V2 the reading is like 60% or more / greater than it should be. H4 at marker reading at top right on the screen 16.01 meters for a 52 ft RG-8X coax. But the F v2 shows for the same coax 1034. m, I know the V2 is different in the menu layout than the H4 and I dont have a menu for the V2. There is something wrong that I'm doing or the F2 VNA is bad.

Cliff W4CBH


Re: how good is a rain gutter antenna

 

Mine sucks

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 9:24?PM Stan Dye via groups.io <standye=
[email protected]> wrote:

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 08:26 AM, W0LEV wrote:


you must have a lot of loss in the system.
Likely due to that crazy 9:1 transformer.
In this case, Dave, it's highly likely the gutter system will have much
more loss than the transformer. A gutter can be a reasonable antenna if
all of the joints have good RF connections-but that most often requires
work.






Re: how good is a rain gutter antenna

 

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 08:26 AM, W0LEV wrote:


you must have a lot of loss in the system.
Likely due to that crazy 9:1 transformer.
In this case, Dave, it's highly likely the gutter system will have much more loss than the transformer. A gutter can be a reasonable antenna if all of the joints have good RF connections-but that most often requires work.


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 01:34 PM, Clyde Lambert wrote:


Can someone please tell me the latest FW version and where to download it?
Thank you in advance
Which device - there are quite a few?


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

Can someone please tell me the latest FW version and where to download it?
Thank you in advance
Clyde KC7BJE


Re: how good is a rain gutter antenna

 

I also live in an apartment complex. One of my antennas is a rain gutter,
about 50 ft horizontal and it includes the downspouts. Inside my apartment
is a 10-meter-long counterpoise along the wall.

I feed it: radio --> an LC matching network --> a 1:1 balun. This gives
me a good match on 7.120 MHz. I only transmit about 5 watts.

I used the nanoVNA to find the L-C match. It told me a 2.2uH series
inductor, with a 142pF shunt, for my gutter antenna.

If i want to use the gutter on, for example, 20 meter WSPR, i use a 9:1
unun with no matching network. That worked really well also at 5W although
5W is overkill for WSPR.

I have better antennas than the gutter, like an attic brass slinky dipole,
and a rooftop dipole that is pretty much invisible, and a couple mag loops
inside the apartment (QRP < 20W), but i do like my gutter.

73 de WN1Z Orrin


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

I always do this. Never had any problem, but at least I checked to make
sure.

Zack W9SZ

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 10:50?AM W0LEV via groups.io <davearea51a=
[email protected]> wrote:

After completing a cal, it's always a good practice to go back and verify
that your OSL actually displays as an OSL.

Dave - W?LEV

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 12:02?AM Gareth Evans via groups.io <headstone255=
[email protected]> wrote:

Stan, thank-you for your input. As it happens, from the timing of your
post I
was actually at the same time watching the W2AEW youtube video on
calibration where he
demonstrated the Correction switch in passing, so I have an answer.

I shall go back to my friend and inform him of the need to update his
firmware
in respect of the missing Correction option.

73 DE G4SDW Gareth

On Mon, Mar 3, 2025 at 11:43 PM, Stan Dye wrote:
Oh, and the 'correction' option in the menu is in -newer- nanovna
firmware, so
if your friends doesn't have it, he doesn't have the latest firmware.
So yes, this was a valid question to ask, since the correction option
is
quite
recent, and is not in the older documents or videos.




--

*Dave - W?LEV*


--
Dave - W?LEV





<>
Virus-free.www.avg.com
<>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

Inadvertently I had done just that, because in using the VNA for the
first time for real, tuning the ATU for 40m on the G5RV antenna,
I was getting unbelievably perfect results because the MFJ969 ATU
was switched to its internal dummy load!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone who has assisted me, 74 years young and
licensed for 55 years but there are still a lot of new fangled things
around to trip one up :-)

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 04:50 PM, W0LEV wrote:
After completing a cal, it's always a good practice to go back and verify
that your OSL actually displays as an OSL.
On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 12:02?AM Gareth Evans via groups.io <headstone255=
[email protected]> wrote:
Stan, thank-you for your input. As it happens, from the timing of your
post I
was actually at the same time watching the W2AEW youtube video on
calibration where he
demonstrated the Correction switch in passing, so I have an answer.

I shall go back to my friend and inform him of the need to update his
firmware
in respect of the missing Correction option.

73 DE G4SDW Gareth

On Mon, Mar 3, 2025 at 11:43 PM, Stan Dye wrote:
Oh, and the 'correction' option in the menu is in -newer- nanovna
firmware, so
if your friends doesn't have it, he doesn't have the latest firmware.
So yes, this was a valid question to ask, since the correction option is
quite
recent, and is not in the older documents or videos.




--

*Dave - W?LEV*


--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: Apologies if flogging a dead horse! CAL Correction?

 

After completing a cal, it's always a good practice to go back and verify
that your OSL actually displays as an OSL.

Dave - W?LEV

On Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 12:02?AM Gareth Evans via groups.io <headstone255=
[email protected]> wrote:

Stan, thank-you for your input. As it happens, from the timing of your
post I
was actually at the same time watching the W2AEW youtube video on
calibration where he
demonstrated the Correction switch in passing, so I have an answer.

I shall go back to my friend and inform him of the need to update his
firmware
in respect of the missing Correction option.

73 DE G4SDW Gareth

On Mon, Mar 3, 2025 at 11:43 PM, Stan Dye wrote:
Oh, and the 'correction' option in the menu is in -newer- nanovna
firmware, so
if your friends doesn't have it, he doesn't have the latest firmware.
So yes, this was a valid question to ask, since the correction option is
quite
recent, and is not in the older documents or videos.




--

*Dave - W?LEV*


--
Dave - W?LEV