¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 Groups.io
Date

Re: Static Energy and Is This the Correct Group? #newbie #beginners1 #general_vna

 

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 06:34 PM, Ken Sejkora wrote:


is it necessary to do so if you have a balun or unun between the antenna and
coax?
Not if the transformer has continuity between inner and outer conductors, but it only takes a second, cultivates a good habit and will do no harm. 73, Don N2VGU


Re: FONT? and 2 other ?s - NanoVNA-H 4

 

Fonts size, not possible change (or need more work for UI and text position and sizes)

Remember state (select and save config) allow save several state (like freq range, bandwidth, points count, options) while device power off (but battery present).

SD card better format in FAT32, for LiteVNA and Card reader mode better set bigger sector size (32-64k) this allow more faster read file structure from card and see card data. H4 and Lite also support ExFAT filesystem.


Re: Double Discone VSWR

 

On Thu, Aug 3, 2023 at 11:33 PM, John Nightingale wrote:


Cheap used cable from the ham flea market is not the choice for those
interested in the frequencies in use with discone antennas as Manfred will
confirm. Also, painful though it is, what was installed as brand new,
expensive and high quality, cable is none of that twenty years later.
Interestingly I cannot confirm that coax cable necessarily degrades over time! Of course, if cable gets waterlogged, it will degrade. But properly used, which means avoiding water ingress, it can last for a very long time. I sometimes measure the loss of the various transmission lines in my station, and even a long piece of RG8, that is over 40 years old, still meets its specs!

It's right that I wouldn't buy a used flea-market-special cable without thoroughly checking it. But I would also not disregard it as being certainly bad. If the price is good, and I need it, I would test it, and buy it if it's still fine. It's easy enough to take the NanoVNA to the hamfest!


Three dB of power being lost in a run of cable across the yard and all
the way up the tower will produce a most misleading impression in the
mind of the unsophisticated investigator.
Yes, that error happens to many hams. I remember one who asked me to check why he couldn't hit the local UHF repeater. His radio and antenna were both new, he said, and the SWR was fine. I went to his place. He lived in a second floor of a 22 story building, had run an RG58 feedline through a ventilation shaft all the way to the roof, and installed his antenna there - and there was a solder short in his coax connector at the upper end of the cable. The SWR, as measured at his second floor shack, was absolutely great...

To be fair, I have to mention that he was a new ham. But many hams have real trouble understanding that the more lossy the coax cable is, the better will the SWR be, and that's still not a good idea to use bad cable to improve the SWR!


Re: Static Energy and Is This the Correct Group? #newbie #beginners1 #general_vna

 

Hi Don,

I agree ¨C always a good practice to short center conductor and shield together before connecting to an instrument. Even better is to short them together and connect the shorted junction to an earth ground. I try to do that whenever possible. As you point out, coax has an inherent capacitance, and considerable breakdown voltage, so a long run of coax can store up a considerable charge, especially when terminated to a well insulated wire antenna.

However, just for the sake of argument and to exercise the neural muscles, is it necessary to do so if you have a balun or unun between the antenna and coax? I would think both would shunt any static charge to ground unless you had a true galvanic isolation configuration, with no electrical coupling between the primary and secondary of the coupling transformer. Not likely in a transmitting antenna, but who know.

Again, I¡¯m not disputing your comment. I¡¯m just trying to promote understanding, including mine, of antenna configurations. Regardless, it is still an invaluable practice to short center-to-shield before measuring, just to prevent any unforeseen failures on a known configuration.

Ken -- WB?OCV

From: Donald S Brant Jr
Sent: Friday, August 4, 2023 05:51 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Static Energy and Is This the Correct Group? #newbie #beginners1 #general_vna

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 02:13 PM, Peter N0PGM wrote:


I need to know to short out any static electricity that may be in the antenna
before I connect it to the NanoVNA
This is good practice before connecting any cable to any instrument. I usually short the inner and outer conductors against the outer conductor of the connector to which it will be attached; I wouldn't use my hand, especially with an antenna feedline which may be quite long and hold a considerable charge which could pack a wallop.
73, Don N2VGU


Re: TinyPFA

 

On 8/4/23 2:42 PM, W0LEV wrote:
Thanks, David, for answering my question. So the reference must be quite
close to the measured frequency. Won't work with my 10 MHz GPS reference.
Of course, I have several signal generators, but none as good as the GPS
referenced 10 MHz.

You might wait for Erik to weigh in. I don't know that it wouldn't work with appropriately harmonically related frequencies. I suppose it sets the receive LO, and the back end only has a few kHz BW. But if you had a 10 MHz and a 20 MHz, it might work, since you'd be beating the 2nd harmonic of the LO for the 20, and the first harmonic for the 10.


But this is also why you see a lot of folks rigging up various and sundry programmable dividers to get it down to 1 pps, which you can compare with TAPR TICC or similar - For ADEV, anyway.

And tons of emails over the years on the time-nuts list about how to make this or that measurement, where you don't want the measurement system to degrade the measurement (after all, that divider isn't noise free!) - you know, when you're comparing your cryogenic sapphire resonator against your active hydrogen maser in the garage.



Dave - W?LEV
On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 8:45?PM David McQuate <mcquate@...> wrote:

I believe that the maximum frequency difference between the PFA's two
inputs in 200 Hz (not kHz or MHz), so the two signals you are comparing
must be very close in frequency.

Dave - WA8YWQ

On 2023-08-04 13:25, W0LEV wrote:

So if I have a GPS reference of a couple of parts in 10^13, that will be
my
accuracy, and only at 10 MHz output from my GPS "clock"? With the 10
MHz
reference from GPS, will it measure ADEV on other non-10 MHz frequencies
(I'm thinking of DTV unmodulated carriers and HF signals off the
ionosphere)?

In the past for DTV carriers, I've dumped my 10 MHz GPS referenced output
into a comb generator and picked the tine which is closest to the DTV
carrier. That is selected on the a spectrum analyzer which is then
zeroed
to the tine. Then I measure the frequency of the DTV carrier. The
measurement is "sort'a" referenced to the 10 MHz GPS derived output
through
the comb generator. Not perfect, but it gets me down to 0.001 Hz.

Dave - W?LEV

Dave - W?LEV

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 7:36?PM Erik Kaashoek <erik@...> wrote:

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 10:56 AM, W0LEV wrote:

To what is this new PFA referenced? I have a piece of HP equipment that
offers Allen Variance measurements, but the reference is internal, not
GPS.
The tinyPFA can measure the phase difference of two 10MHz signals with
1e-13 accuracy in one second
Its accuracy and resolution is better than any of the big timer/counters
but less then the phasestation devices.
It's sole purpose it to measure frequency stability or ADEV of one source
against another source
--
NanoVNA Wiki: /g/nanovna-users/wiki/home
NanoVNA Files: /g/nanovna-users/files
Erik, PD0EK
--

*Dave - W?LEV*

--
Dave - W?LEV







Re: Static Energy and Is This the Correct Group? #newbie #beginners1 #general_vna

 

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 02:13 PM, Peter N0PGM wrote:


I need to know to short out any static electricity that may be in the antenna
before I connect it to the NanoVNA
This is good practice before connecting any cable to any instrument. I usually short the inner and outer conductors against the outer conductor of the connector to which it will be attached; I wouldn't use my hand, especially with an antenna feedline which may be quite long and hold a considerable charge which could pack a wallop.
73, Don N2VGU


Re: TinyPFA

 

Thanks, David, for answering my question. So the reference must be quite
close to the measured frequency. Won't work with my 10 MHz GPS reference.
Of course, I have several signal generators, but none as good as the GPS
referenced 10 MHz.

Dave - W?LEV

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 8:45?PM David McQuate <mcquate@...> wrote:

I believe that the maximum frequency difference between the PFA's two
inputs in 200 Hz (not kHz or MHz), so the two signals you are comparing
must be very close in frequency.

Dave - WA8YWQ

On 2023-08-04 13:25, W0LEV wrote:

So if I have a GPS reference of a couple of parts in 10^13, that will be
my
accuracy, and only at 10 MHz output from my GPS "clock"? With the 10
MHz
reference from GPS, will it measure ADEV on other non-10 MHz frequencies
(I'm thinking of DTV unmodulated carriers and HF signals off the
ionosphere)?

In the past for DTV carriers, I've dumped my 10 MHz GPS referenced output
into a comb generator and picked the tine which is closest to the DTV
carrier. That is selected on the a spectrum analyzer which is then
zeroed
to the tine. Then I measure the frequency of the DTV carrier. The
measurement is "sort'a" referenced to the 10 MHz GPS derived output
through
the comb generator. Not perfect, but it gets me down to 0.001 Hz.

Dave - W?LEV

Dave - W?LEV

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 7:36?PM Erik Kaashoek <erik@...> wrote:

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 10:56 AM, W0LEV wrote:

To what is this new PFA referenced? I have a piece of HP equipment that
offers Allen Variance measurements, but the reference is internal, not
GPS.
The tinyPFA can measure the phase difference of two 10MHz signals with
1e-13 accuracy in one second
Its accuracy and resolution is better than any of the big timer/counters
but less then the phasestation devices.
It's sole purpose it to measure frequency stability or ADEV of one source
against another source
--
NanoVNA Wiki: /g/nanovna-users/wiki/home
NanoVNA Files: /g/nanovna-users/files
Erik, PD0EK
--

*Dave - W?LEV*

--
Dave - W?LEV






--

*Dave - W?LEV*
--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: TinyPFA

 

I believe that the maximum frequency difference between the PFA's two
inputs in 200 Hz (not kHz or MHz), so the two signals you are comparing
must be very close in frequency.

Dave - WA8YWQ

On 2023-08-04 13:25, W0LEV wrote:

So if I have a GPS reference of a couple of parts in 10^13, that will be my
accuracy, and only at 10 MHz output from my GPS "clock"? With the 10 MHz
reference from GPS, will it measure ADEV on other non-10 MHz frequencies
(I'm thinking of DTV unmodulated carriers and HF signals off the
ionosphere)?

In the past for DTV carriers, I've dumped my 10 MHz GPS referenced output
into a comb generator and picked the tine which is closest to the DTV
carrier. That is selected on the a spectrum analyzer which is then zeroed
to the tine. Then I measure the frequency of the DTV carrier. The
measurement is "sort'a" referenced to the 10 MHz GPS derived output through
the comb generator. Not perfect, but it gets me down to 0.001 Hz.

Dave - W?LEV

Dave - W?LEV

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 7:36?PM Erik Kaashoek <erik@...> wrote:

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 10:56 AM, W0LEV wrote:

To what is this new PFA referenced? I have a piece of HP equipment that
offers Allen Variance measurements, but the reference is internal, not GPS.
The tinyPFA can measure the phase difference of two 10MHz signals with
1e-13 accuracy in one second
Its accuracy and resolution is better than any of the big timer/counters
but less then the phasestation devices.
It's sole purpose it to measure frequency stability or ADEV of one source
against another source
--
NanoVNA Wiki: /g/nanovna-users/wiki/home
NanoVNA Files: /g/nanovna-users/files
Erik, PD0EK
--

*Dave - W?LEV*
--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: TinyPFA

 

So if I have a GPS reference of a couple of parts in 10^13, that will be my
accuracy, and only at 10 MHz output from my GPS "clock"? With the 10 MHz
reference from GPS, will it measure ADEV on other non-10 MHz frequencies
(I'm thinking of DTV unmodulated carriers and HF signals off the
ionosphere)?

In the past for DTV carriers, I've dumped my 10 MHz GPS referenced output
into a comb generator and picked the tine which is closest to the DTV
carrier. That is selected on the a spectrum analyzer which is then zeroed
to the tine. Then I measure the frequency of the DTV carrier. The
measurement is "sort'a" referenced to the 10 MHz GPS derived output through
the comb generator. Not perfect, but it gets me down to 0.001 Hz.

Dave - W?LEV

Dave - W?LEV

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 7:36?PM Erik Kaashoek <erik@...> wrote:

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 10:56 AM, W0LEV wrote:


To what is this new PFA referenced? I have a piece of HP equipment that
offers Allen Variance measurements, but the reference is internal, not
GPS.
The tinyPFA can measure the phase difference of two 10MHz signals with
1e-13 accuracy in one second
Its accuracy and resolution is better than any of the big timer/counters
but less then the phasestation devices.
It's sole purpose it to measure frequency stability or ADEV of one source
against another source
--
NanoVNA Wiki: /g/nanovna-users/wiki/home
NanoVNA Files: /g/nanovna-users/files
Erik, PD0EK





--

*Dave - W?LEV*
--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: Static Energy and Is This the Correct Group? #newbie #beginners1 #general_vna

 

The coax cable capacitance stores up a charge and if you short the ends of the coax together you discharge it. When shorted you can also touch the terminals to ground of you want to be really cautious.

Roger


Re: TinyPFA

 

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 10:56 AM, W0LEV wrote:


To what is this new PFA referenced? I have a piece of HP equipment that
offers Allen Variance measurements, but the reference is internal, not GPS.
The tinyPFA can measure the phase difference of two 10MHz signals with 1e-13 accuracy in one second
Its accuracy and resolution is better than any of the big timer/counters but less then the phasestation devices.
It's sole purpose it to measure frequency stability or ADEV of one source against another source
--
NanoVNA Wiki: /g/nanovna-users/wiki/home
NanoVNA Files: /g/nanovna-users/files
Erik, PD0EK


Static Energy and Is This the Correct Group? #newbie #beginners1 #general_vna

 

Hello,

I own the "Upgraded AURSINC NanoVNA-H4 V4.3 Vector Network Analyzer 10KHz-1.5GHz HF VHF UHF 4''" (purchase link is here ). I am posting this link here to see if this si the correct group for my specific NanoVNA. I have been in Ham radio for many years but I am totally new to NanoVNA. I did just download the "Absolute Beginers Guide" and I will begin to read through that shortly.

I have a 10 meter DX Commander antenna (vertical multi-band antenna with about 6 vertical wires and a 32 wire ground plane) and I need to know to short out any static electricity that may be in the antenna before I connect it to the NanoVNA. I read in another post that simply touching the the end of trhe coax with a "moist" hand will do the trick.

Thank you in advance,

Peter,
N0PGM


Re: TinyPFA

 

On 8/4/23 10:56 AM, W0LEV wrote:
Thanks, Jim! I was embarrassed to ask, but....
Having worked on the GPS (rubidium) clocks in the formative days of the
birds, I am all too familiar with Allen Variance (most of which I've
forgotten).
But, doing Doppler from WWV to look at the ionosphere, I have learned that
precision time keeping and frequency references is addicting. Who needs
drugs for addiction to something - precision frequency references?!
To what is this new PFA referenced? I have a piece of HP equipment that
offers Allen Variance measurements, but the reference is internal, not GPS.
Dave - W?LEV
It has two inputs, so you (by calculation) beat one input against the other, using the internal clock.



If you want to get into this kind of measurement (which is, as you say, addictive) the TAPR TICC is a useful piece of gear:

it measures the time of zero crossing with fraction of a ns accuracy - useful for, say, 1pps ticks.

And, of course, the time-nuts mailing list.



Erik is on the time-nuts list, and there's been some discussion of the TinyPFA there.



On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 5:46?PM Jim Lux <jimlux@...> wrote:

On 8/4/23 10:35 AM, W0LEV wrote:
Please forgive me for not being familiar with all the "new" acronyms
infiltering our standard english language. Although PFA is undoubtedly
an
RF acronym, I am unfamiliar with its meaning? "Pretty Fast Analyzer"?
?

Dave - W?LEV

Phase/Frequency Analyzer - a box that measures the Allan Deviation and
Phase Noise of a source.



On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 2:49?PM Jan Boutsen <jan.boutsen@...>
wrote:

Erik,

Delivered within 24 hours!
Everything seems to be there for the experimenter without doing any
software manipulation.
I didn't realize it had its own 'PFA-markings' on the nanoVNA.
Now, 'real' experimenting can start.

Jan ON4MMW

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of
Erik
Kaashoek
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 1:59 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [nanovna-users] TinyPFA

Fully configured tinyPFA for sale at Eleshop.


--
For more info on the tinyPFA go to

Erik, PD0EK
















Re: TinyPFA

 

Thanks, Jim! I was embarrassed to ask, but....

Having worked on the GPS (rubidium) clocks in the formative days of the
birds, I am all too familiar with Allen Variance (most of which I've
forgotten).

But, doing Doppler from WWV to look at the ionosphere, I have learned that
precision time keeping and frequency references is addicting. Who needs
drugs for addiction to something - precision frequency references?!

To what is this new PFA referenced? I have a piece of HP equipment that
offers Allen Variance measurements, but the reference is internal, not GPS.

Dave - W?LEV

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 5:46?PM Jim Lux <jimlux@...> wrote:

On 8/4/23 10:35 AM, W0LEV wrote:
Please forgive me for not being familiar with all the "new" acronyms
infiltering our standard english language. Although PFA is undoubtedly
an
RF acronym, I am unfamiliar with its meaning? "Pretty Fast Analyzer"?
?

Dave - W?LEV

Phase/Frequency Analyzer - a box that measures the Allan Deviation and
Phase Noise of a source.



On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 2:49?PM Jan Boutsen <jan.boutsen@...>
wrote:

Erik,

Delivered within 24 hours!
Everything seems to be there for the experimenter without doing any
software manipulation.
I didn't realize it had its own 'PFA-markings' on the nanoVNA.
Now, 'real' experimenting can start.

Jan ON4MMW

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of
Erik
Kaashoek
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 1:59 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [nanovna-users] TinyPFA

Fully configured tinyPFA for sale at Eleshop.


--
For more info on the tinyPFA go to

Erik, PD0EK















--

*Dave - W?LEV*
--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: TinyPFA

 

On 8/4/23 10:35 AM, W0LEV wrote:
Please forgive me for not being familiar with all the "new" acronyms
infiltering our standard english language. Although PFA is undoubtedly an
RF acronym, I am unfamiliar with its meaning? "Pretty Fast Analyzer"? ?
Dave - W?LEV

Phase/Frequency Analyzer - a box that measures the Allan Deviation and Phase Noise of a source.



On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 2:49?PM Jan Boutsen <jan.boutsen@...> wrote:

Erik,

Delivered within 24 hours!
Everything seems to be there for the experimenter without doing any
software manipulation.
I didn't realize it had its own 'PFA-markings' on the nanoVNA.
Now, 'real' experimenting can start.

Jan ON4MMW

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Erik
Kaashoek
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 1:59 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [nanovna-users] TinyPFA

Fully configured tinyPFA for sale at Eleshop.


--
For more info on the tinyPFA go to

Erik, PD0EK











Re: TinyPFA

 

Please forgive me for not being familiar with all the "new" acronyms
infiltering our standard english language. Although PFA is undoubtedly an
RF acronym, I am unfamiliar with its meaning? "Pretty Fast Analyzer"? ?

Dave - W?LEV

On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 2:49?PM Jan Boutsen <jan.boutsen@...> wrote:

Erik,

Delivered within 24 hours!
Everything seems to be there for the experimenter without doing any
software manipulation.
I didn't realize it had its own 'PFA-markings' on the nanoVNA.
Now, 'real' experimenting can start.

Jan ON4MMW

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Erik
Kaashoek
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 1:59 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [nanovna-users] TinyPFA

Fully configured tinyPFA for sale at Eleshop.


--
For more info on the tinyPFA go to

Erik, PD0EK










--

*Dave - W?LEV*
--
Dave - W?LEV


Re: TinyPFA

 

Erik,

Delivered within 24 hours!
Everything seems to be there for the experimenter without doing any software manipulation.
I didn't realize it had its own 'PFA-markings' on the nanoVNA.
Now, 'real' experimenting can start.

Jan ON4MMW

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Erik Kaashoek
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 1:59 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [nanovna-users] TinyPFA

Fully configured tinyPFA for sale at Eleshop.


--
For more info on the tinyPFA go to
Erik, PD0EK


Re: Double Discone VSWR

 

Some years ago we needed to use HF (3 - 30 MHz) T-type Moonraker Antenna with ATU. Good antenna. I have no any connection with Moonraker as well. Best regards, Stefan DImitrov








>-------- §°§â§Ú§Ô§Ú§ß§Ñ§Ý§ß§à §á§Ú§ã§Þ§à --------

>§°§ä: "Bob Ecclestone VK2ZRE" becclest@...

>§°§ä§ß§à§ã§ß§à: Re: [nanovna-users] Double Discone VSWR

>§¥§à: [email protected]

>§ª§Ù§á§â§Ñ§ä§Ö§ß§à §ß§Ñ: 03.08.2023 07:19


I am surprised some folk on this group have rubbished Moonraker Antennas.

I know Moonraker HF antennas are used on some Australian Navy ships, so

I don't think they are really "Dollar Shop junk."

I don't have any connection with either Moonraker or the the Australian

Navy.

So perhaps those with complaints may need to examine their installation

practices.

Or contact Moonraker or their dealer for support.

Just my 2c worth.



Cheers...Bob VK2ZRE





On 3/08/2023 2:33 am, Clyde Spencer wrote:

one has to consider the environment, not discussed prior in this thread. If
there were any metal or other electrically conductive material near the
antenna when tested that could be a possible cause for the difference in
measurement data and that which is published.
*Clyde K. Spencer*
On Wed, Aug 2, 2023 at 11:09?AM Jim via groups.io <teotwaki=
[email protected] > wrote:
This antenna is related to what antenna design literature calls a
¡°²ú¾±³¦´Ç²Ô¾±³¦²¹±ô¡°
- - Biconical antennas have dipole characteristics. The double cone
elements structure contributes to their wider bandwidth. The antenna
becomes more broadband as the cone angle increases. - -
Search on that name for design and results discussions
Jim


Re: Different SWR readouts between NanoVNA-H and NanoVNA Saver

 

Very helpful, both of you. Appreciate it.

On Thu, Aug 3, 2023 at 8:05?PM Mark KQ4EKK <kq4ekk+groups@...> wrote:

Hello Michael,

Jim is correct. I will say it in a simpler fashion just so it is clearer,
if needed.....

If you are using your nanovna to do antenna fine tuning so that you can
hook it up to radio and use it - then do your calibration on nano and then
measure at the coax right where it plugs into the radio. This will give
you the swr over the coax all the way to the antenna. Do your adjusting on
the antenna until you get an acceptable vswr level that you want to hook up
to the radio. Then unplug the nano, plug the coax into the radio (or
tuner) and away you go.

If you are building an antenna or balun or unun then just measure at the
connector of that device and build to what you are looking for.

So, both of you were correct in your statements.

Hope this helped.

73
Mark






Re: releases

 

Yes ; here is the latest Widows x64 link

73
Rick KA2PBO

Sent from Mail for Windows

From: Istv¨¢n
Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2023 9:47 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] releases

The Windows Version 0.6.2 already available on Github