N2pk vna archives m0yom radio amateur, software engineer. The projects vna client directory contains the source code of the control program vna. The insertion loss and phase of these pads are both accounted for in the vna calibration and, hence, are not part of the dut. This design is able to implement an lptport, that looks like a normal port for the software, but physically is. The n2pk approach to vna design commercial instruments work with a superhet based architecture n2pk uses a direct conversion approach depends on direct digital synthesis of test signals and accurate phase detection. Vnaview is a fullfeatured vna application including calibration management, linear and log scanning, analysis and graphing of many computed parameters, smith chart, rlc network fitting, and exporting data to tabdelimited text files. Our software development environment has been created to make it easy to spit out boilerplate programs with companion installationremoval.
N2pk vna paul kiciak, n2pkhas produced a most excellent vector network analyser. Softrockrocky vna info v1c overview reflection vna measurements can be done with some appropriate software control and display and small hardware changes to a softrock rxtx rig. This instrument uses the vna rf board by paul n2pk. Overall operation the block diagram of figure 1 shows how a combination of hardware and software produces a conventional vna. N2pk vna one of the most desirable instruments in the rf engineers arsenal is a vector network analyzer. About m0yom m0yom amateur radio operator, software. This is the n0agi group dedicated to sharing, tracking and communicating progress on various projects i am working on. Clicking save data opens a dialog box to allow you to save the measurement results as a. On the pictures below you can see my test rig which consists of the usb board and n2pk vna with. Although the exposed interface is written in terms of the hardware registers, the messy details of. A design is presented by n2pk in his documentation which has both quality and protection. There are also instructions how to load the drivers. The measurement of the phase change through the device is the hard part, and the fact that we get both the magnitude amplitude change and phase change allows us to plot this on a polar plot, and each point can be thought of. Im also looking for collaborators either on this project, or on related projects, either to help with development or even just to discuss design approaches.
In the fall of 2003, i became aware of a vna vector network analyzer, designed by paul, n2pk. Show your vna page 1 eevblog electronics community forum. I present here the different steps of my n2pk vna construction, illustrated by. It encapsulates all of the details concerning the clocking of the chips through the parallel port printer interface. Their good point is that they are much less expensive than the valpeyfisher part. Pasternack vna network analyzer calibration kits and solt circuits are in stock over 99%. N2pk vna not your dads grid dip meter the story of my implementation of the n2pk vna. General control of the vna, including reflection, transmission, and other common measurements. On the left is a menu bar that provides access to my current interests. Thankfully dave g8kbb has developed a usb converter board and software. Vna4win windows software for the n2pk vna by gm4pmk and gm3sek after at least one sweep has been completed, the save data button will appear when the sweep is stopped.
For more information, check out the yahoo group page you can get a feel for myvna from the manual. The n2pk vna archive also has information how to subscribe to n2pk vna mailing list, so that you could learn from and exchange information with others about hardware builds, troubleshooting techniques, part replacements, software use, etc. The swr meters software is licensed and these downloads are 10 minute demo copies. You can calivrate the device using openshortload for accurate results, you can set up the frequency range, define the bandwidth and choose the plotter mode. These parts do reduce the dynamic range of the vna somewhat. Paul together with wayne torrey also own the design for the digital filter used for the harmonic mode filtering. Here you will find information on my radio projects. Acom 600 acom 2000 acom director downloads amateur radio antennas band pass filters bluetooth cms contesting dxpedition electronics fair isle gps homebrew iota m0yom ms0oxe n2pk vna personal projects raspberry pi software development station build stub filters ts990s web development windows 10. For windows os x and linuxusers downloading the jarfile from here is suffcient, if you do not need the additional files. Having made the vna communicate over the usb bus my thoughts turned to powering it from the bus.
The minivna pro, the big brother of the wellknown minivna, is an extraordinary and unique handheld vector network analyzer that makes available a multitude of features and capabilities which are perfect for checking antennas and rf circuits for hams and commercial users. The software application my vna by dave roberts g8kbb. Its around 10% the price of my minivnatiny and is just as good upto 30mhz. That is all you need to build a really powerful n2pk vna based on ivans v5. Software download our updated software for our vna, tdr, or swr meters. The application jar for the gui and headless application can be downloaded from here as usual. It, or something like it, is needed on windows nt, windows 2000, and windows xp. It gives you the ability to directly measure all of the key parameters of twoport networks, such as gain and return loss. May 06, 2018 but, in the ham world, the best vna ever with the most impressive precision and dynamic is definitely the n2pk which could be used with many softwares, including the one made by dg8saq.
The instructions are not detailed part by part steps like building a heathkit, but they follow a very logical order, and enable you to start. Hand, developing accuracy specifications for automatic network analyzer. Project updates will be posted as testing progresses. Ivan ve3ivm and all people involved in the development of this project software as well as hardware. Paul kiciak, n2pk has produced a most excellent vector network analyser. Compare n5245b pnax microwave network analyzer, 900 hz10 mhz to 50 ghz. Acom 2000 control software m0yom radio amateur, software. The common device under test dut was a hp 8491a 20 db attenuator with n connectors sn 400049. To get an idea, what changed in this version, have a look at the readme here. I then ordered the valpeyfisher oscillator to eugene skopal ae2f have a look at the n2pk group on the web and most of the passive and active components to digikey.
Vna calibration kits and short open load thru solt circuit components ship the same day from irvine, ca. But, in the ham world, the best vna ever with the most impressive precision and dynamic is definitely the n2pk which could be used with many softwares, including the one made by dg8saq. The n2pk web site was shut down in april 2020 and all information was transferred to this site in a form of browsable archive on behalf and with permission of the owner, paul kiciak, n2pk. Compare n5247b pnax microwave network analyzer, 900 hz10 mhz to 67 ghz.
First, above all, to paul kiciak, n2pk, for producing a most excellent vna design and for help, encouragement, algorithms and advice. Under development open hardware microwave vector network analyzer. Hardware testing and software development of a new revision is currently inprogress, reproduction of the project is not yet recommended. However this digital attenuator works well over a much wider higher frequency range up to 1ghz and can be used with many other types of test equipment such as other diy vnas. For example, im currently working on open source software for the n2pk vna i have a working prototype already, and there are still a few outstanding design questions. How to measure signal strength of any rf module for. In order to achieve and preserve accuracy, a high quality supply should be used. New features the measuring speed is improved by a factor 4 enhanced graphs with selectable line width, marker font size and marker tran.
This is a poor wrapper for all of the vna accuracy, and flexibility, but it was easy to do. The digital step attenuator offered in this article was designed to meet the needs of the owners of the homebrewed test equipment and owners of the n2pk vna in particular. Click the desired software s title to download all the nnnn pc vision software is fully operational and free to download. Dos package by paul kiciak, n2pk myvna with usb support by dave roberts, g8kbb vnwa by tomas baier, dg8saq. An api application programming interface for the n2pk vna vnaccess vanaksess was developed to be an api application programming interface for the n2pk vna.
Designing a crystal ladder bandpass filter hackaday. A simple narrowband transverter extends n2pk vna frequency range to 450mhz the vector network analyzer developed by paul kiciak, n2pk, covers frequency range of 0. A few days later, i received an envelope with three beautiful pcbs the vna and two coupler boards. This is described on a page that i have, and one on the n2pk web site. A less common use would be to make a bandpass filter bpf for an rf signal. While this is a good architecture for making a vna, it has a drawback of needing many expensive components. Hamvna presented on this page is an alternative to that program. Here you can download all relevant files for vna j application. W8wwv n2pk vna software contributions seed solutions. The correlation to the hp vna of the n2pk vna without pads is less than 0. The vector network analyzer vna can provide a lot of knowledge about a device. Tomas baier, dg8saq, has a software called vnwa that he wrote for vna of his own design, but that software also supports n2pk vna hardware. To go with it, i have produced a usb interfaceand a gui for windows myvna, but the n2pk is a group effort. After the kits stopped the number of software updates and new functions increased.
The software is opensource8, as is the development system9 and the processorcodec library software 10. I recently picked up an unbuilt n2pk vna kit and am wondering if it is worth. This design is apparently the result of several generations of designs over several years. Paul kiciak, n2pk has produced a most excellent vector network analyser to go with it, i have produced a usb interface and a gui for windows myvna, but the n2pk is a group effort. Software the projects vna server directory contains the source code of the tcp server vna. The object is to provide complex impedance measurements and the ability to adjust antenna tuners at very low power levels 1 uw is typical. In particular, with the addtion of a simple reflection bridge, it becomes a vector network analyzer, a powerful tool for analyzing the antenna systems and radio circuits. Mar 02, 2006 a vector network analyzer vna measures the magnitude and phase of an electrical network, like a filter or amplifier. A first usbinterface to control the n2pk vna has been designed by dave roberts g8kbb. This package will also enable the n2pk software to work on these platforms. Mar, 2016 most hobbyists use crystals as an external clock signal for a microcontroller. Unlike this page, my n2pk vna project is complete now, it took me three years.
Vector network analyzer vna calibration kit and short open load thru circuit products ship same day worldwide. The pc software is a bit clunky but fully featured. The one im building was conceived by paul kiciak, n2pk. Also, there are more than 4000 people in our yahoo group. Software a large part of the instruments functionality is dependent on the software which is freely downloadable. The n2pk approach to vna design commercial instruments work with a superhet based architecture n2pk uses a direct conversion approach.
The v5 pcb is the result of logical development of the project and trends in the. Frequency translation done by the transverter is transparent to the vna software. The vector network analyzer developed by paul kiciak, n2pk, covers. The aim is to do this while still providing software support of back level hardware wherever possible. Ill add more over time but at the moment the intent is to create a new home for the following. The board comes with hermes vna software that implements the basic functions of data collection and display.
Cheap homemade 30 mhz 6 ghz vector network analyzer. Adding a six db pad on each side of the dut improves this correlation to better than 0. I received a great deal of information from greg w8wwv regarding some of the complex math involved dealing with the analyzer computations and calibration. Here you can find all tricks and responses for your applications the new minivna pro2 is in production and sobstitute the well know minivna pro.
Parallel ports are becoming less common in portable computers which are often used to host the n2pk vna software, and usb type interfaces now dominate. This web page documents an addition to an n2pk vna for standalone use. Unfortunately the use of this interface is limited to vna4win. He kindly provided the sources for his gnat and exeter windows programs which i used to develop the vnadsp software.
The n2pk vna archive also has information how to subscribe to n2pk vna mailing list, so that you could learn from and exchange information with others about. And tom spend so much time in supporting the builder problems that the software development went a bit slow. The n2pk web site was shut down in april 2020 and all information was transferred to this site in a form of browsable archive on. Pc boards are available, including windows software developed by ian g3sek. Ig minivna is a free program designed to work with the mini vna pro bt antenna analyzer device. First batch will be avaiable in second mid of june. The process starts with a sine wave generator implemented as direct numerical calculation in dsp software. Al data sheet freeware free download al data sheet. To go with it, i have produced a usb interface and a gui for windows myvna, but the n2pk is a group effort. These subject matter for these projects include ham radio, robotics, electronics, software development, devops, and more. Usb control of the n2pkvna based on usb2lpt by henrik. The fast adc and 2nd vna detector are part of a larger plan to implement an expanded n2pk vna which would have two receivers detectors and a fullfeatured sparameter test set.
Hf vector network analyzer performance element14 wireless. This is the version that may be loaded directly into the eeprom of the controller and contains code to store hardware parameters in the eeprom. Dave gave stepby step instructions how to use his usb configuration utility to program the eeprom for operation as an n2pk vna usb interface. A quick check with a multimeter showed that the vna only took about 200ma from its 5 v supply. All n2pk vna software that supports usb will work with the v5. A library of calls which provide an api applications programming interface for communicating with the vna. To make them fully operational requires a user name and password. The v5 pcb is the result of logical development of the project and trends in the computer industry. Following a hint from michael oe1mis, i found usb2lpt from henrik haftmann. The device is open source hardware, opensource software and there is transparency on the specification. At the time of this writing, i plan to track this below project for now. Paul kiciak, n2pk says on his website about his vector network analyzer. Reach for unrivaled excellence with keysight pnas compare series.
The new vna pcb with usb support meets these demanding requirements. The vector network analyzer vna can provide a lot of knowledge about a device under test dut, including its magnitude, phase and group delay response. The best advice i can give concerning the building of the main board is to follow the g3sek vna build notes document which is part of a build info zip file available on the n2pk web site. For more information, check out the yahoo group page. W8wwv n2pk vna march 2004 group build kit information. Dosbased programs from paul n2pk can not work with the v5 board because they use parallel port type of interface which is not supported by the v5 board. This document is intended for people who have built an n2pk vna and are having. These programs do not replace the original n2pk software, available from n2pk s web site. Together with your pclaptop, you can add to your laboratory the further advantages of. I usually run my own application software on my trusty macbook. This correlation activity was provided by roger blackwell, g4pmk, using his n2pk vna and an hp now agilent 4195 vna. He kindly provided the sources for his gnat and exeter windows programs which i used to develop the vna dsp software. Currently there is no problems with the transverter software.
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