NanoRFE VNA6000 User manual

User manual
VNA6000-A and VNA6000-B
VNA6000 User Manual 2022/08 1

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1 - Introduction
Safety information ..................................................................................................................... 3
Basic concepts ........................................................................................................................... 3
First steps .................................................................................................................................. 4
2 - User interface
Main screen ................................................................................................................................ 5
Menu screen ............................................................................................................................... 7
Keypad screen ............................................................................................................................ 8
evice settings .......................................................................................................................... 9
3 - Performing measurements
Setting the measurement frequency range ..............................................................................12
Calibration ................................................................................................................................ 13
Trace display ............................................................................................................................ 15
Markers .................................................................................................................................... 17
Time domain operation ............................................................................................................18
Recall calibration and settings ................................................................................................. 22
4 - VNA View Software
User interface .......................................................................................................................... 24
Connecting to the device ......................................................................................................... 25
Setting sweep range and parameters ......................................................................................26
Calibration ................................................................................................................................ 27
Firmware Update ..................................................................................................................... 29
VNA6000 User Manual 2022/08 2

1 - Introduction
1 - Introduction
Safety information
The NanoRFE VNA6000 is designed for measuring and characterizing electronic devices in industrial and
laboratory environments only. Always observe the following limits when using the VNA6000 to avoid
possible damage to equipment.
Maximum input levels
C input voltage Both RF ports 5V
RF input power Both RF ports 10dBm (10mW)
C supply voltage USB port 5.5V
Basic concepts
The VNA6000 allows you to perform a wide variety of measurements.
The parameters you can measure include:
•Impedance (of an antenna, capacitor, inductor, or any one or two port device)
•Return loss
•Frequency response and phase response (of a filter, amplifier, duplexer, or any two port device)
•elay, velocity, or length (of a cable or other two port device)
•Characteristic impedance and material properties (using custom test jigs)
•And more...
S parameters describe the amount and phase of a reflection or transmission from the device under test
( UT) in response to a single frequency excitation signal at a port. The two most commonly used
components of an S parameter are S11 (reflection coecient) and S21 (transmission coecient).
Impedance can be calculated from the reflection coecient.
requency response/phase response is simply the transmission coecient’s magnitude and phase
respectively.
Calibration refers to the procedure of measuring a few known loads (for example open, short, load, and
thru) to establish a measurement plane of reference. Before any measurements are performed, the
VNA6000 must be calibrated. See section 3.1.Calibration for details.
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1 - Introduction
irst steps
W at’s in t e box
The following items should be in the box:
•VNA6000 main unit
•USB cable
•Touch screen stylus
•2 SMA connector savers
•(Optional) 5 SMA calibration standards – Short, Open, and 2 Load standards
•(Optional) 2 SS405 or SS402 SMA male to male cables
SMA connector savers
Before using the VNA6000 for the first time, it is recommended to attach the two SMA connector savers to
the two ports of the VNA and keep it attached. This will eliminate wear on the VNA main unit connectors
and extend the service life of the VNA6000.
Battery
The VNA6000 includes battery management and protection circuitry. It can both charge and run from an
internal lithium-ion battery.
If your VNA6000 did not come with the battery preinstalled due to shipping restrictions, you can insert a
standard 18650 size flat-top unprotected lithium-ion cell. Running directly from USB power without a
battery installed is also supported.
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2 - User interface
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:
•rag a marker on the touch panel – best to use a stylus for this.
•Press and hold the or buttons.◀ ▶
4. Calibration status
isplays 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.
•E : Indicates that enhanced response calibration is enabled.
•S O L T : Each indicates that the corresponding (Short, Open, Load, and Thru) standards have been
measured.
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2 - User interface
5. Reference position
Indicates the reference position of the corresponding trace. You can change the position with:
DISPLAY →SCALE →RE ERENCE 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
This is not shown on the VNA6000. Battery percentage is indicated by the 4 red LE s along the left side on
the bottom of the device.
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2 - User interface
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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2 - User interface
Keypad screen
12. Numeric keys
Tap a number to enter one character.
13. Back key
elete 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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2 - User interface
Device settings
The CON IG menu contains general settings for the device:
Saving device settings
Select CON IG →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 CON IG →SAVE command does not apply to calibration settings.
Display version info
Select CON IG →VERSION to display device version information.
Firmware update mode
CON IG →D U and ENTER D U mode. Select RESET AND ENTER D U to reset the device and enter FU
( evice Firmware Update) mode. In this mode, firmware can be updated via USB.
FU mode can also be entered by holding down the “left” push button while the device is powered o and
on.
See section 5.5.Firmware Update for how to update the device firmware using the VNA View PC software.
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2 - User interface
Touc panel calibration and testing
The LC touch panel can be calibrated using CON IG → TOUCH CAL if there is a large dierence between
the actual on-screen tap position and the recognized tap position.
NOTE: Be sure to save the settings with CON IG → SAVE.
You can then test the LC touch panel stylus tracking accuracy by selecting CON IG → 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
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 evice Under Test ( UT) and measure.
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3 - Performing measurements
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 t e start frequency and stop frequency
Select and set STIMULUS → START and STIMULUS → STOP, respectively.
Setting t e 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 REQ.
Temporarily stop measurement
When menu item PAUSE SWEEP is active, measurement is temporarily stopped.
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3 - Performing measurements
Calibration
When calibration is activated, the left side of the screen should show “Cx”.
Changing the frequency sweep range will cause the current calibration to be interpolated for the new
frequency range, which may degrade accuracy. It is recommended to re-calibrate after changing frequency
sweep parameters.
Two common calibration scenerios are described here.
SOL/SOLT calibration at instrument port
This will establish the measurement reference plane at the instrument port. Any cable you connect
afterwards are not included in the calibration and will add a phase shift to the measurement.
The calibration procedure is as follows:
1. Reset current calibration state. Select menu item CAL→RESET and then →CALIBRATE.
2. Attach a LOA standard to port 2.
3. Connect OPEN standard to port 1 and click →OPEN. Wait for menu item highlight.
4. Connect SHORT standard to port 1 and click →SHORT. Wait for menu item highlight.
5. Connect the second LOA standard to port 1 and click →LOAD. Wait for menu item highlight.
6. (Optional) Connect a coaxial cable between port 1 and 2, and click →THRU. isconnect the port 1 end
of the cable.
7. Click →DONE.
8. (Optional) Specify which calibration slot (0 to 6) to save to. e.g. →SAVE 0.
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3 - Performing measurements
SOL/SOLT calibration with cable
This will establish the measurement reference plane at the end of the coaxial cable and will eliminate any
eects of the cable, provided the cable’s characteristics are stable.
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. Attach a LOA standard to port 2.
4. Connect OPEN standard to port 1 cable end and click →OPEN. Wait for menu item highlight.
5. Connect SHORT standard to port 1 cable end and click →SHORT. Wait for menu item highlight.
6. Connect the second LOA standard to port 1 cable end and click →LOAD. Wait for menu item
highlight.
7. (Optional) Connect the second coaxial cable to port 2.
8. (Optional) Connect the THRU standard between the port 1 and port 2 cable ends, and click →THRU.
9. Click →DONE.
10. (Optional) Specify which calibration slot (0 to 6) to save to. e.g. →SAVE 0.
Note that there is no need to wait for the plots to fully update before clicking the menu item associated with
a calibration standard. Clicking any of the OPEN, SHORT, LOA , THRU calibration menu items will perform
a full sweep with higher averaging than the currently configured averaging factor. Once the sweep is
complete, the corresponding menu item will become highlighted, and you may proceed to the next
calibration standard.
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3 - Performing measurements
Trace display
Up to four traces can be displayed, one of which is the active trace.
You can turn on/o traces as needed. The menu items DISPLAY →TRACE →TRACE n allow you to activate as
well as turn on/o traces.
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 o. Clicking any other trace
activates it.
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3 - Performing measurements
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 → ORMAT
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 : elay (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 c annel
The VNA6000 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 RE LECT or DISPLAY →CHANNEL →CH1 THROUGH.
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3 - Performing measurements
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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3 - Performing measurements
Time domain operation
The VNA6000 can simulate time domain reflectometry by transforming frequency domain data.
Select DISPLAY →TRANSO RM →TRANS ORM ON to convert measured data to the time domain.
If TRANS ORM 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-o 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 UT 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.
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3 - Performing measurements
Time domain low pass impulse
In low-pass mode, you can simulate T R. 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
Time domain low pass step
The trace format can be set to REAL.
Example measurements of Step response are shown below.
Open Short
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3 - Performing measurements
Capacitive short Inductive short
Capacitive discontinuity (C in parallel) Inductive discontinuity (L in series)
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