Vna/J Driver Guide Mini VNAtiny

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vna/J 3.1.12

Driver guide for mini Radio Solutions

miniVNAtiny

Dietmar Krause

DL2SBA

Hindenburgstraße 29

D-70794 Filderstadt

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0 Monday, 21. November 2016

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Table of contents

Changes .............................................................................................................................................. 3

Connectors ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Power Supply ...................................................................................................................................... 4

Firmware update ................................................................................................................................ 5

Check currently installed firmware .................................................................................................6

Download new firmware ................................................................................................................7

Upgrade firmware of miniVNAtiny ....................................................................................................9

Driver info dialog .............................................................................................................................. 11

Peak suppression .......................................................................................................................... 13

Peak suppression OFF ............................................................................................................... 13

Peak suppression ON ................................................................................................................ 13

Auto calibration ............................................................................................................................ 14

Generator miniVNAtiny ....................................................................................................................... 15

Output control .............................................................................................................................. 15

Frequency control......................................................................................................................... 15

Frequency list ............................................................................................................................... 15

Output power vs. frequency ..................................................................................................... 16

Main calibration datasets miniVNAtiny ............................................................................................... 17

Reflection ..................................................................................................................................... 17

Transmission ................................................................................................................................ 18

Measurement basics ......................................................................................................................... 19

License ............................................................................................................................................. 21

Dutch............................................................................................................................................ 21

English .......................................................................................................................................... 21

Deutsch ........................................................................................................................................ 21

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Changes

Version

Date

Who

Changes

3.0.0

06. September 2014

DL2SBA

Extracted from user miniVNApro manual

3.1.x

23. January 2015

DL2SBA

Updated “Driver info dialog” on page 11

3.1.11

5. November 2016

DL2SBA

Updated “Driver info dialog” on page 11

Generator output chart added on page 16

3.1.12

21. November 2016

DL2SBA

Fixed image on page “Output power vs.

frequency” on page 16

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Connectors

Usage

USB

Connect a USB-mini type-B connector to this port. The other end of the cable

with a Type-A connector must be connected to a USB-Host adapter.

This is the SMA port for reflection as well as transmission measurement.

This is the 2nd SMA port for transmission measurement.

Power Supply

The miniVNAtiny is powered by the host computer via the build in USB-mini type-B connector.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Firmware update

Attention: You're executing all these steps on your own risk!

Please use also other sources to verify the correctness of the described procedure.

Always execute the following actions only on a native operating system. Means not

inside a windows emulator like Wine on Linux or similar stuff.

I've tested the firmware upgrade with vna/J successfully on Windows 7 and Win-

dows 8.1 in 64-bit versions.

Do not use the firmware upload function on other operating systems as this may

brick your analyser!

It is highly recommended to update always to the latest stable firmware release to gain most from

the program features!

To upgrade the firmware inside the miniVNAtiny please execute these steps:

 Check currently installed firmware version using vna/J

 Download new firmware from mRS website

 Upgrade firmware of miniVNAtiny using vna/J

These steps are described in detail in the following chapters.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Check currently installed firmware

You have to determine the currently installed firmware version on your miniVNAtiny .

To do this, start vna/J, select the correct serial port and open the driver info dialog (menu ANALYS-

ER/INFO). The firmware version is displayed like this:

Relevant is the firmware number, here displayed as V1.0.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Download new firmware

Check the available firmware versions on the mRS website:

http://www.miniradiosolutions.com

Use the link FW Updated in the navigation bar

on the website to navigate to the firmware section.

If a newer version, as the one currently installed on the miniVNAtiny is available, currently a file named

pcv45c_V1.0.zip is available for download.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

 Download this file to your computer to your preferred download location.

 Unzip the file so you have a file named pcv45c_V1.0.hex on your computer.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Upgrade firmware of miniVNAtiny

Execute now these steps to write the downloaded firmware file to the miniVNAtiny.

Open vna/J and ensure, that the cor-

rect analyser type and port is selected.

To verify, execute a test scan.

Select "Firmware download" from the

tools menu

Press the "Search" button to select the

previously downloaded new firmware

file.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

The firmware is loaded and some basic

information is displayed

Select the “Install” button and the

download of the firmware starts after

the soft-reset of the miniVNApro.

After firmware download was success-

ful, some information about the device

is displayed.

Close this dialog and the miniVNAtiny is

ready for use with the new firmware.

Remark: You can also use this procedure to downgrade to a previous firmware release!

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Driver info dialog

The driver info dialog for the miniVNApro is available via the menu ANALYSER/INFO or the

icon in the toolbar.

Control

Description

Range

#calibration steps

Sets the number of calibration steps used

as preset during calibration1.

200 to 25.000

Firmware info

Displays the firmware info

---

Supply voltage

Displays power-supply info

---

Device tempera-

ture

Displays the current device temperature.

---

Reference re-

sistance

Here the complex value can be specified,

which is used to calculate data in reflec-

Real -5000 … 5000

Imaginary -5000 … 5000

Please read chapter “Calibration procedure in the vna/J user guide for details regarding calibration data.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Control

Description

Range

tion mode.

Detector phase

correction

Internal parameter.

Please use the default value

Phase temp. cor-

rection

Internal parameter.

Please use the default value

Detector gain cor-

rection

Internal parameter.

Please use the default value

dB temp. correc-

tion

Internal parameter.

Please use the default value

Bootloader baud

rate

Sets the baud rate used for firmware up-

dates.

Default is 230.400Bd.

19.2000Bd – 921.600Bd

Peak suppression

Due to internal oscillator switching two

anomalies occur at 1.045GHz and

1.500GHz.

See chapter ”Peak suppression” on page

13 for details.

Please restart application after changing

this option.

On, Off

Auto-calibration

Phase correction of the detector circuits

of the analyser.

See chapter “Auto calibration” on page 14

for details.

---

Default

Restore default values for all driver pa-

rameters

---

Stores the parameters and close this dia-

log

---

Cancel

Do not change any parameters and close

this dialog

---

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Peak suppression

Due to internal oscillator switching there are two peaks in the measured data at 1.045GHz and

1.500GHz.

These peaks are more or less aesthetical glitches than real problems. As they appear exactly at these

two frequencies, they can be visually ignored by the user.

These peaks can be removed when selecting filter mode 0 and checking the checkbox “Peak suppres-

sion”.

Peak suppression OFF

Peak suppression ON

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Auto calibration

For optimal results in reflection mode, a phase calibration of the detector circuits should be done.

This calibration can be started with the in the driver info dialog.

Please attach a RG-58 coaxial cable to the TX connector and click . Now four scans are

executed. After the fourth scan, a message box is show, that now the calibration data will be calcu-

lated.

Click . The time needed for calibration depends on the CPU performance of the PC.

When calculation is done a message box is shown. Confirm with button.

If you want to retain the new calibration data, do not forget to close the driver info dialog with the

button!

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Generator miniVNAtiny

Using this dialog, the attached VNA can be used as a simple frequency generator.

The frequency range is determined by the loaded driver. Details can be viewed in the driver info dia-

log.

Output control

The output is switched on, when clicking . When the output is active, this field is invert-

ed: . To switch off the output, click on this field again.

Frequency control

Every digit of the frequency panel can be controlled with the mouse:

 A left-click increases the number by one.

 A right-click decreases the number by one.

 The digit can also be controlled using the mouse-wheel.

Frequency list

By double-clicking with the left mouse button on an entry in the presets list, you can quickly set the

frequency to the desired value. A selected list entry can also be used clicking the button.

Entries in the presets list can be deleted by selection an entry in the list and clicking on .

A currently entered frequency can be added to the list clicking on the button.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Output power vs. frequency

Thanks to Andrew Rich, VK4TEC and Geoff Robinson, VK4KJJ we have precise output power chart

over frequency. They used a ROHDE & SCHWARZ NRP2

and NRP-Z81

power sensor

https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/de/produkt/nrp2-produkt-startseite_63493-8475.html

https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/de/produkt/nrpz81-produkt-startseite_63493-9323.html

German high tech made its way around the globe ;-)

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Main calibration datasets miniVNAtiny

Reflection

These calibration curves are created using the supplied WiMo SMA Calibration kit:

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Transmission

I've used two SMA-BNC adaptors and a short 20cm RG58A/U cable to create the calibration curves:

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

Measurement basics

Open

RAW

Short

RAW

Load

RAW

Phase/Gain/Temp

Correction

Open

RAW

Short

RAW

Load

RAW

RAW calibration

block

Corrected cali-

bration block

RAW scan

data

Calibrated

scan data

During load of cal. data

After scan

Loop

RAW

Loop

RAW

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

While loading calibration data:

 Load raw I/Q data from calibration file.

Data in calibration file is unmodified data

directly read from the vna

 Calculate temperature correction factor

tcf = 1 – ((40°C – calibrationTemperature) * config.TempCorrection)

 Calculate sine correction factor

scf = sin(config.phaseCorrection * π / 180.0)

 Calculate cosine correction factor

ccf = cos(config.phaseCorrection * π / 180.0)

 correct the I/Q data

o I = I * tcf

o Q = Q * tcf

o Q = (Q * config.gainCorrection - I * scf) / ccf;

 Store corrected I/Q data in corrected calibration block

While loading scan data:

 Read raw I/Q data from vna device

 Calculate temperature correction factor

tcf = 1 – ((40°C – conversionTemperature) * config.TempCorrection)

 Calculate sine correction factor

scf = sin(config.phaseCorrection * π / 180.0)

 Calculate cosine correction factor

ccf = cos(config.phaseCorrection * π / 180.0)

 correct the I/Q data

o I = I * tcf

o Q = Q * tcf

o Q = (Q * config.gainCorrection - I * scf) / ccf;

 Calculate IF-phase correction

ipc = (calibrationTemperature – conversionTemperature) * config.ifPhaseCorrection

 Calculate RL, RP, SWR based on the previously created calibration data and the cor-

rected raw data

 Correct RP

RP = RP + ipc

 Calculate X, R, Z

 Now we have a calibrated sample

The filtering (moving average) is done directly after the I/Q data is read from the vna prior to all

calculations above.

vna/J - Driver guide for mRS miniVNAtiny - V 3.1.11

License

Dutch

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Namensnennung-NichtKommerziell-

KeineBearbeitung 3.0 Niederlande License. To view a copy of this license, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/nl/ or send a letter to Creative Com-

mons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

English

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Namensnennung-NichtKommerziell-

KeineBearbeitung 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons,

444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

Deutsch

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Namensnennung-NichtKommerziell-

KeineBearbeitung 3.0 Deutschland License. To view a copy of this license, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/de/ or send a letter to Creative Com-

mons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

Vna/J Driver Guide Mini VNAtiny

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