NanoRFE Original NanoVNA V2 Plus4 – 4GHz Portable Vector Network Analyzer

NanoRFE Original NanoVNA V2 Plus4 – 4GHz Portable Vector Network Analyzer

NanoVNA V2 (S-A-A-2) is a 4.4 GHz vector network analyzer (VNA) capable of measuring antennas, filters, duplexers, and amplifiers. To bypass the hardware limitations of the legacy V1, original NanoVNA developers teamed up with RF engineers to form NanoRFE to build the V2 as a completely new, from-scratch architecture.

V2 Plus4 is the latest design which fixes the drift and linearity issues with older versions. It uses the new VNA-R architecture featuring temperature drift cancellation and reduced crosstalk, showing no visible drift in all indoor conditions.

Compared to legacy V1 NanoVNAs and market clones, V2 Plus4 / Plus4 Pro do not use harmonics for measurements, improving performance significantly, achieving 90% less trace noise, and is the only low cost VNA to give you highly repeatable and reliable measurements comparable to professional instruments. The wide frequency range covers common cellular, Wi-Fi, and IoT bands, as well as HF, VHF, and UHF amateur radio bands.

NanoRFE devices are supported directly by the unified original development team, guaranteeing authentic hardware and dependable performance.

Key Features (Common to both variants)

• No noticeable drift, allowing calibrations to be kept for > 3 months (compared to < 30 minutes for other low cost VNAs)
• Lowest measurement noise due to using RF rated parts and factory tuning
• Improved shielding and all-aluminum enclosure increases dynamic range
• S parameters export, custom calibration kit parameters & advanced calibration methods (NanoVNA-QT software)
• TDR / Time Domain measurements allow testing cable length and discontinuities
• Improved USB protocol allows full speed streaming of measured data to the PC
• Sold and maintained by original inventors, ensuring authentic hardware, strict quality control, and continued software updates
• Supports standard 18650 flat-top unprotected 3.6V lithium-ion battery (3200 mAh) or USB power only
• On-board battery protection and charging circuitry

Product Variants

• Standard – NanoVNA V2 Plus4
• Pro – NanoVNA V2 Plus4 Pro (with adjustable IF filter for higher SNR and crystal measurements)

Specifications:

English Specifications

• Frequency range: 50 kHz – 4.4 GHz (V2 Plus4 and V2 Plus4 Pro)
• Frequency resolution: 0.01 MHz (all versions)
• System dynamic range (calibrated):
  • V2 Plus4: 90 dB (AVG=20, 1 GHz), 80 dB (AVG=5, 3 GHz)
  • V2 Plus4 Pro: 96 dB (BW=1.6 kHz, AVG=20, 1 GHz), 90 dB (BW=1.6 kHz, AVG=5, 1 GHz), 80 dB (BW=4.7 kHz, AVG=5, 3 GHz)
• S11 noise floor (calibrated): -50 dB (f < 1.5 GHz), -40 dB (f < 3 GHz)
• Sweep points: 1 – 1024 points (with NanoVNA-QT software). More points (up to 65535) possible depending on PC performance
• Sweep time:
  • V2 Plus4: 0.25 s (default sweep settings)
  • V2 Plus4 Pro: 0.16 s (default sweep settings, BW=10 kHz)
• Power supply: USB, 4.6 V – 5.5 V
• Supply current: 500 mA typ (no charging)
• Battery charging current: 1.2 A typ
• Battery capacity: 3200 mAh (V2 Plus4 and V2 Plus4 Pro)
• Operation ambient temperature: 0 °C – 45 °C (by design)
• Ambient temperature during battery charging: 10 °C – 45 °C

Note: NanoVNA V2 Plus4 Pro allows measuring crystals by an adjustable bandwidth setting. All other hardware versions cannot measure crystals because of the rapid switching of the test signal.

Achievable Performance (V2 Plus4 Pro, calibrated, IFBW=0.8kHz, AVG=20)

Comparison of Measurements Original NanoVNA V2 vs Clones

Clones are based on earlier designs intended for either 1 GHz or 3 GHz, and some have attempted to extend the frequency range using harmonics without understanding the design. Additionally, some manufacturers have replaced generic parts, which significantly worsened the trace noise.

The performance of the clones NanoVNA V2.2 starts to drop before 2 GHz and would not meet standard quality control requirements for the oldest version 3 GHz V2.2:

Note: The above graphs are uncalibrated, intended to display the amount of noise in the raw data from the hardware. 

Some clones of the NanoVNA use harmonics to exaggerate the frequency range, providing inaccurate measurements since a strong base signal in the receiver creates interference at harmonic frequencies, providing consistent but incorrect measurements. These clones usually come in plastic cases to save costs. 

If a higher frequency VNA is needed, refer to the VNA6000. 

All clones are based on the older V2.2 design, which, if well replicated, can achieve only 60dB dynamic range at 3GHz. Any clones claiming higher performance are likely overstating specifications and probably perform worse. 

Comparison of NanoVNA V2 vs Professional VNA

Comparison with FieldFox:

Comparison with HP-8753E:

 To give you an idea of what kind of measurement noise is achievable, we provide several sample measurements we conducted from a cascaded SAW filter and a power amplifier using the NanoVNA V2 Plus4 (clicking on the images will display them in full size):

How to Use NanoVNA V2 

Basics of VNA

VNA (Vector Network Analyzer) measures frequency-dependent reflected and transmitted power of RF networks.

The NanoVNA measures the following:

• Reflection Coefficient: S11
• Transmission Coefficient: S21

Using the measured data, NanoVNA can calculate the following parameters:

• Return Loss
• Insertion Loss
• Complex Impedance
• Resistance
• Reactance
• SWR

Required Components

To use NanoVNA for single port measurements (e.g., antenna analysis), you will need the following:

• Main unit NanoVNA
• SMA coaxial cable, male to male
• SOLT Calibration Kit: Short, Open, and Load

Performing Measurements

The basic controls and menu structure of V2 are very similar to the original NanoVNA.

• Configure the measurement frequency range:

Select STIMULUS > START and STIMULUS > STOP.

• Calibration:

1. Enter the CAL menu and connect the male SMA cable to NanoVNA port 1.
2. Attach the OPEN standard to the cable and select the "OPEN" menu item. Wait for the menu to highlight.
3. Attach the SHORT standard to the cable and select the "SHORT" menu item. Wait for the menu to highlight.
4. Attach the LOAD standard to the cable and select the "LOAD" menu item. Wait for the menu to highlight.
5. Select "APPLY". Calibration is now active, and you can begin measuring.
6. Note: on NanoVNA V2 Plus4 and newer hardware, isolation calibration is automatically performed during the OPEN and LOAD steps, and there is no separate isolation calibration step.

A more detailed description of calibration methods and measurement options available in NanoVNA V2 can be found in the user manuals below.

Documentation

User Manuals:

Menu Maps:

Download Firmware

For firmware releases, visit the hardware versions page, which lists the latest stable firmware versions for each NanoVNA hardware variant.

Experimental firmware versions are also available for download.

Individual firmware sources are at https://github.com/nanovna-v2/NanoVNA2-firmware 

Software

Check out the software downloads. 

Contents of the Package: