U.FL plugs and sockets. A very useful board. I just finished giving an into lecture to NanoVNAs using this board. Went very well. I had read all the negative comments about U.FL, and was concerned about how all that would go. I didn't want to be in the middle of the demo, and have a cable fail. I used a loupe to look at the U.FL plug and socket. I noted that the /sides/ of the /plug/ are /open/ on the coax end, and there is a part of the clasp that rounds the /end/ of the /plug/. Also, the internal part of the U.FL /plug/ that grips the socket pin is designed to rotate in line with the coax axis, /not/ side to side. So I developed the habit of attaching the U.FL by "hanging" the end of the plug on the lip of the socket, then rotating the plug down toward the board in line with the coax axis. To get it to snap into the socket, I'd apply gentle pressure right at the plug as I was rotating downward. Removing is the opposite. I'd guide it off with my fingernails as I lifted the coax end of the plug. I was concerned at first about them being "loose", until I learned that "looseness" is part of the design. I have used the same pair of SMA-U.FL extensions ~100 times, and there is no degradation of the connector, at least at this level of use. I don't get signal glitches, static, broken contacts, or changes in signal quality with the NanoVNAs.

Just as a note: when changing the span/center frequency, the VNA should be recalibrated. I found this out first the hard way, and, afterwards, from a video from w2aew.

Just got received demo board with nanoVNA 2 after waiting for 3 weeks time. The video is very helpful. Thanks.

Thanks for doing this. I bought a card and was hoping someone would do a tutorial. You did it. Cheers.

my demo kit just arrived after 2 days waiting.. ty 4 the demo.. i played right with you ;)

Looks like a SMD crystal and resonator for the filters...neat board for teaching

Thank you just what I needed to understand the Nano vna. Tomorrow I tune the 2nd Harmonics on my (tr)uSDX kit.

The 10.7 MHz BP filter was bad on mine, so I put a good Murata one on. Yes , you are correct, calibration must be done at the end of the cable. Even if you use different cables. I bought some SMA to APX adapters from Megiq.

Very informative. Thanks

2:37 - one side of an unterminated attenuator is NOT equal to the characteristic impedance, and cannot be used as a load without some error from the impedance mismatch. It might be acceptable when performing low-precision measurements, but I'd try and have two loads instead.

I think Digikey has some SMA to UFL coax cables available.

the BPF is a SAW filter (perhaps made by Murata?) they are usually never matched to 50 ohm so the circuit is not right for their measurement. Some of them are 150-300 ohm and some have 2-3Kohm I/O impedance. When you measure it in a 50 ohm system the response shows up very crappy unless a proper matching circuit is built around it

good video thanks

I use cables on each circuit and I don’t need to keep removing them around from circuit to circuit.

As noted......the board with SMA's would be a handy learning tool.

Very useful for us noobs. Thanks.

As always a great demo. I'll be getting one as a teaching aid. If Google didn't insert mid roll ads it would be a bit easier to follow your train of thought. If Google could at least let you finish the sentence before breaking for an add that would be great.

I hate those darn UFL connectors, they're really not intended for repetitive mating. If it wasn't so expensive I'd build mine into a box with the connectors going to a panel with SMAs. Having said that it is a pretty neat demo.

those are MMCX connectors widely used in all RF test gear. Prying it up with screw driver was a bad idea as it puts uneven pressure on the socket and the plug. I'd just grab them on both sides and pull them up by pushing my two finger tips to the board.

Hello sir, I have now found this video of you. i learned from you not to buy this kit and learn it from your video. Bringing out the smith map on the VNA and on a correct scale I didn't know how to do that. . DBs is also something that I need to take a closer look at / to learn Thank you again for a VERY educational video! Healthy and Friendly Greetings from NL / Rotterdam! Rob

So I have a costly R&S VNA here and need to calibrate at the end of a pigtail connector with the small socket just like this one. Do you think its a good idea to use these Demo Boards for calibrating it at 2.4 GHz ? If no, what do you recommend ? Nice video btw.

3:04 would this RF kit be good for performing calibrations for 2.4GHz? ( you said in the video the kit operates at 500Mhz..)

Really like your vids. I find them very educational. Also they help me unwind after work. - WB8YMV

05:30 I wish I had watched this part before I tried to remove that.

Hi IMSAI Guy, congratulations on your excellent videos! Do you have any idea what the metal dots on the backside of the RF demo boards are for? Is that used for a sensor or probe?

I find this all very difficult to follow for a first timer. When doing short open load, am i supposed to ge through the menu and calebrate each one or does the RF Demo Kit do that automatically. This video seems very vague to me. i think i need a personal tutor.

A BIT CONFUSED On the #1 LP-30MHz (about 7 min into video), I am confused about the high rolloff of this 3rd Order Pi Filter. It would appear to be down way more than it should - like 21db/Octave (60MHz) and 16db/Octave (50 MHz depending on where fc is actually at). I would expect to see something like -10db ish at one Octave. My nanoVNA gives almost exactly the same readings on the same board as far as I can tell. So have the Chinese made a 3rd order filter miraculously act like 5th order filter or am I missing something?? I could be missing something, I am no expert on these things - thats why I am watching videos like these LOL.

this board is limited by the stupid connectors, I can never get accurate readings unless I'm pressing them down onto the board (yes they are properly snapped on) I've seen an SMA version.. shopping for one now, who needs stuff that requires fiddling?

The Nanovna + ("F" or "H") ? which type ? thanks

Did you ever find a new connector?

Quiero. Uno soy principiante con el analizador

The video and voice are in sync till about 2 minutes in. After that, it is hard to follow.

Is "fiddly" a technical term ?....😅

Broken link

so what is the point of this?