NANO NanoVNA V2 User manual

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NanoVNA V2 / S-A-A-2 User Manual
UG1101 2020/09

3/23/2021 User Manual | NanoVNA V2
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Credits
Relationship to the NanoVNA
Specifications
VNA basics
Menu map
User interface
Main screen
Menu screen
Keypad screen
Device settings
Performing measurements
Setting the measurement frequency
range
Calibration
Trace display
Markers
Time domain operation
Recall calibration and settings
NanoVNA-QT Software
User interface
Connecting to the device
Setting sweep range and
parameters
Calibration
Firmware Update
Appendix I – Hardware architecture
Appendix II – USB data interface
Protocol description
Host to device command list
Register descriptions
Register descriptions (DFU mode)

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1 - Introduction
This user manual describes basic usage and operation of the NanoVNA V2 (S-A-A-2).
Note: OwOComm does not manufacture or market end user products including the NanoVNA V2. The S-A-A-2 is
a hardware design with supporting firmware and software designed on contract by OwOComm and released to the
public. The specifications and functionality described in this document apply only if the design is faithfully
replicated by a manufacturing vendor.
For support please contact your supplier, vendor, or distributor.
Email address for engineering inquiries and project proposals:
[email protected] (do not contact this address for customer support).
Credits
Portions of this user manual are derived from cho45’s “NanoVNA manual”.
https://github.com/cho45/NanoVNA-manual
This user manual is supplied under the terms of the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license.
Relationship to the NanoVNA
The NanoVNA V2 hardware is not based on the NanoVNA. For details see Appendix I – Hardware
architecture.
The NanoVNA V2 firmware is based on ttrftech’s NanoVNA firmware. The UI code is kept mostly intact (other
than porting to C++11) while the low level infrastructure and signal processing code are rewritten.
The USB interface is similar to the NanoVNA in that it passes commands over a virtual serial port. However, much
of the sweep and data transfer logic is reworked in order to support faster sweep rates and avoid data corruption.
See Appendix II – USB data interface.

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Specifications
Parameter Board version Specification Conditions
Frequency range
V2_2, V2 Plus 50kHz - 3GHz -
V2 Plus4 50kHz – 4.4GHz -
Frequency resolution All 10kHz -
System dynamic range
(calibrated)
V2_2, V2 Plus
70dB f < 1.5GHz
60dB f < 3GHz
V2 Plus4
90dB f < 1GHz
20x averaging
80dB f < 3GHz
5x averaging
70dB f < 3GHz
No averaging
S11 noise floor
(calibrated) All
-50dB f < 1.5GHz
-40dB f < 3GHz
Sweep rate
V2_2
100 points/s f >= 140MHz
80 points/s f < 140MHz
V2 Plus
200 points/s f >= 140MHz
100 points/s f < 140MHz
V2 Plus4
400 points/s f >= 140MHz
200 points/s f < 140MHz
Sweep points (on device) All 10 – 201 points, adjustable -
Sweep points (USB) All 1 – 1024 points, adjustable -
Power supply All USB, 4.6V – 5.5V -
Supply current All 400mA typ, 500mA max No charging
Battery current, charging All 1.2A typ -
Battery capacity
V2_2
V2 Plus
User defined -
V2 Plus4 3200mAh -
Operation ambient
temperature All 0℃ - 45℃ * * by design, not tested in producton
Ambient temperature
during battery charging All 10℃ - 45℃-

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VNA basics
A Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) measures the reflection and transmission behavior of a device under test
(DUT) across a configured frequency range.
The NanoVNA V2 is a two port T/R (transmission/reflection) VNA which can measure the S parameters S11 and
S21 of a two port network, or the reflection coefficient (S11) of a one port network.
Before any measurements are performed, the VNA must be calibrated. See section 3.1.Calibration for details.

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Menu map

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2 - User interface
Main screen
1. START frequency 2. STOP frequency
The START frequency and STOP frequency are shown at the bottom of the display.
3. Marker
The marker position for each trace is displayed as a small numbered triangle. The selected marker can be moved to
any of the measured points in the following ways:
Drag a marker on the touch panel – best to use a stylus for this.
Press and hold the JOG LEFT or JOG RIGHT buttons.
4. Calibration status
Displays the saved slot number of the calibration being used and the error correction applied.
C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 : Each indicates that the corresponding calibration data is loaded.
D : Indicates that port 1 3-term error model is applied.
5. Reference position
Indicates the reference position of the corresponding trace. You can change the position with:
DISPLAY →SCALE →REFERENCE POSITION.
6. Marker status
The active marker that is selected and one marker that was previously active are displayed top right.
7. Trace status
The status of each trace format and the value corresponding to the active marker are displayed.
For example, if the display is showing: CH0 LOGMAG 10dB/ 0.02dB , read it as follows:
Channel CH0 (reflection)
Format LOGMAG
Scale is 10dB
Current value is 0.02dB
For active traces, the channel name is highlighted.
8. Battery status

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This is not shown on the NanoVNA V2. Battery percentage is indicated by the 4 red LEDs along the left side on
the bottom of the device.

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Menu screen
11. Menu List
The menu can be opened by the following operations:
When a location other than a marker on the touch screen is tapped.
When the ENTER button is pressed.

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Keypad screen
12. Numeric keys
Tap a number to enter one character.
13. Back key
Delete one character. If no character is entered, the entry is canceled and the previous state is restored.
14. Unit key
Multiplies the current input by the appropriate unit and terminates input immediately. In case of × 1, the entered
value is set as it is.
15. Input field
The name of the item to be entered and the entered number are displayed.

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Device settings
The CONFIG menu contains general settings for the device:
Saving device settings
Select CONFIG →SAVE to save general instrument settings. General device settings are data that includes the
following information:
Touch screen calibration information
Grid color
Trace color
The CONFIG →SAVE command does not apply to calibration settings.
Display version info
Select CONFIG →VERSION to display device version information.
Firmware update mode
CONFIG →DFU and ENTER DFU mode. Select RESET AND ENTER DFU to reset the device and enter DFU
(Device Firmware Update) mode. In this mode, firmware can be updated via USB.
DFU mode can also be entered by holding down the “left” push button while the device is powered off and on.
See section 5.5.Firmware Update for how to update the device firmware using the NanoVNA-QT PC software.

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Touch panel calibration and testing
The LCD touch panel can be calibrated using CONFIG → TOUCH CAL if there is a large difference between the
actual on-screen tap position and the recognized tap position.
NOTE: Be sure to save the settings with CONFIG → SAVE.
You can then test the LCD touch panel stylus tracking accuracy by selecting CONFIG → TOUCH TEST.
A line is drawn while dragging the stylus along the touch panel. When released from the touch panel, it returns to
its original state. Repeat & save the touch screen calibration if tracking is incorrect.

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3 - Performing measurements
The basic measurement sequence is:
1. Set the frequency range to be measured.
Use STIMILUS → START/STOP or STIMILUS → SPAN/CENTER
2. Perform calibration (and save!)
3. Connect the Device Under Test (DUT) and measure.

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Setting the measurement frequency range
There are three types of measurement range settings.
Setting the start frequency and stop frequency
Setting the center frequency and span
Zero span
Setting the start frequency and stop frequency
Select and set STIMULUS → START and STIMULUS → STOP, respectively.
Setting the center frequency and span
Select and set STIMULUS → CENTER and STIMULUS → SPAN, respectively.
Zero span
Zero span is a mode in which one frequency is sent continuously without frequency sweep.
Select and set STIMULUS → CW FREQ.
Temporarily stop measurement
When menu item PAUSE SWEEP is active, measurement is temporarily stopped.

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Calibration
Calibration must be performed whenever the frequency range to be measured is changed. When calibration is
activated, the left side of the screen should show “Cx” and “D”.
Changing the frequency sweep range always clears the active calibration, if any.
The calibration procedure is as follows:
1. Reset current calibration state. Select menu item CAL →RESET and then →CALIBRATE.
2. Attach a SMA coaxial cable to port 1.
3. (Optional) Attach a SMA coaxial cable to port 2.
4. Connect OPEN standard to port 1 cable and click →OPEN. Wait for menu item highlight.
5. Connect SHORT standard to port 1 cable and click →SHORT. Wait for menu item highlight.
6. Connect LOAD standard to port 1 cable and click →LOAD. Wait for menu item highlight.
7. (Optional) Connect the THRU standard between the port 1 and port 2 cable ends, and click →THRU.
8. Click →DONE.
9. Specify the dataset number (0 to 4) and save. e.g. →SAVE 0.
Measuring a calibration standard
Measuring the THRU standard
Note that there is no need to wait for the plots to fully update after connecting a calibration standard. Clicking any
of the OPEN, SHORT, LOAD, THRU calibration menu items will perform a full sweep with 2x averaging. Once
the sweep is complete the corresponding menu item will become highlighted, and you may proceed to the next
calibration standard.
Trace display
Up to four traces can be displayed, one of which is the active trace.
You can turn on/off traces as needed. The menu items DISPLAY →TRACE →TRACE n allow you to activate as
well as turn on/off traces.

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When a trace is active, its channel name at the top of the screen is highlighted. In the image above, TRACE 0 is the
active trace.
Clicking DISPLAY →TRACE →TRACE n on the current active trace will turn it off. Clicking any other
trace activates it.
Trace format
Although each trace can have its own displayed format, you can only change the format of the active
trace.
To assign a format, set the trace to active (see above) then select: DISPLAY →FORMAT
The description and unit of measurement of each format is as follows:
LOGMAG : Logarithm of absolute value of measured value (dB per div)
PHASE : Phase in the range of -180 ° to + 180 ° (90 degree default)
DELAY : Delay (pico or nano seconds)
SMITH : Smith Chart (Impedance scale is normalized during calibration)
SWR : Standing Wave Ratio (can be scaled to show 1, 0.1 or 0.01 per div)
POLAR : Polar coordinate format (Impedance scale is normalized during calibration)
LINEAR : Absolute value of the measured value
REAL : Real part of measured S parameter
IMAG : Imaginary part of measured S parameter
RESISTANCE : Resistance component of the measured impedance (ohms per div)
REACTANCE : Reactance component of the measured impedance (ohms per div)
Trace channel
The NanoVNA V2 has two channels, CH0 and CH1, corresponding to ports 1 and 2.
CH0 is the S parameter S11, while CH1 is the S parameter S21.
Each trace can be set to display data from either channel.
To change the channel used by the currently active trace, select
DISPLAY →CHANNEL →CH0 REFLECT or DISPLAY →CHANNEL →CH1 THROUGH.

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Markers
Up to 4 markers can be displayed.
Markers are selected by the menu items MARKER →SELECT MARKER →MARKER n .
Clicking on a disabled marker menu item enables it and makes it active. Clicking on an enabled but non-active
marker activates it. Clicking on the currently active marker disables it.
Setting frequencies from marker(s)
You can set the frequency range from the MARKER →OPERATIONS menu as follows:
OPERATIONS →START - Sets the start frequency to the active marker’s frequency.
OPERATIONS →STOP - Sets the stop frequency to the active marker’s frequency.
OPERATIONS →CENTER - Sets the frequency of the active marker to be the center frequency.
OPERATIONS →SPAN - Sets the absolute frequency span to the last two active markers. You need to have
any two markers (M1-M4) enabled for the Span button to work. If only one marker is displayed, nothing
happens.

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Time domain operation
The NanoVNA V2 can simulate time domain reflectometry by transforming frequency domain data.
Select DISPLAY →TRANSOFRM →TRANSFORM ON to convert measured data to the time domain.
If TRANSFORM ON is enabled (Inverted white text on black background), the measurement data is immediately
converted to the time domain and displayed. The relationship between the time domain and the frequency domain
is as follows.
Increasing the maximum frequency increases the time resolution
The shorter the measurement frequency interval (ie, the lower the maximum frequency), the longer the
maximum time length
For this reason, the maximum time length and time resolution are in a trade-off relationship. In other words, the
time length is the distance.
If you want to increase the maximum measurement distance, you need to lower the frequency spacing
(frequency span / sweep points).
If you want to measure the distance accurately, you need to increase the frequency span.
HINT – Use a lower frequency to measure a longer length and a higher frequency to measure a shorter length and
adjust accordingly for accurate results.
Time domain bandpass
In bandpass mode, you can simulate the DUT response to an impulse signal.
NOTE: The trace format can be set to LINEAR, LOGMAG or SWR.
The following is an example of the impulse response of a bandpass filter.
Time domain low pass impulse
In low-pass mode, you can simulate TDR. In low-pass mode, the start frequency must be set to 50 kHz, and the
stop frequency must be set according to the distance to be measured.
The trace format can be set to REAL.
Examples of Impulse response in open state and impulse response in short state are shown below.
Open Short

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Time domain low pass step
The trace format can be set to REAL.
Example measurements of Step response are shown below.
Open Short
Capacitive short Inductive short
Capacitive discontinuity (C in parallel) Inductive discontinuity (L in series)