Software and Hardware

Documentation and Manual

pocketVNA 1.x, 2.x, 3.x; update for GUI software version 1.81

Copyright 2017 to 2022 by pocketVNA - Obere Dorfstrasse 4 D-83101 Rohrdorf Germany

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General Information 3

Introduction: 3
Software Installation 4
Connect hardware 4
Quick Start guide 4
Now you are ready for your first measurement: 8

Main window 8
Menu 9
App Settings 10
External coupler 10

Signal generator 14

Calibration 15
Starting range step 16
Calibration Kit setup 18
pVNA SMA male or female calibration kit 18
pVNA U.FL calibration and test board 21
Taking measurements step 22
Finish Step 24

Live Measurements 25
Time/Distance domain Windowing 28
Port Extension 29

Smith Chart 33

XYY Plot 35

Markers 38
Edit Markers and Save dialog 39
Frequency ranges 39

Importing/Exporting data 40

Hardware specification 41

Example measurements 43
75 Ohms measurement 43
Attenuator, noise floor and dynamic range measurements: 47
2.4 GHz WLAN antenna 50

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General Information
PocketVNA is a research tool for laboratory usage only. Keep away from humid or hazardous
places. Always read the manual and safety instructions prior before using the pocketVNA.

This is a temperature sensitive measurement device! Exposure to temperature or direct sunlight

might affect measurement results!

This manual is applicable to pocketVNA 1.x, 2.x and 3.x hardware versions.

Introduction:
With the pocketVNA you can measure a variety of electrical parameters in the range from below
1 MHz up to 4 GHz. In order to properly make use of this measurement device you should be
comfortable with the following concepts:

With the pocketVNA you can measure a variety of electrical parameters in the range from below
1 MHz up to 4 GHz. In order to properly make use of this measurement device you should be
comfortable with the following concepts:

- S Parameter

- Any other electrical parameter you are interested in measuring (return/transmission loss,
VSWR, complex impedance…)

In short: A frequency generator inside the pocketVNA creates a voltage oscillating at the given
frequency. At the frequencies we are measuring, the created signal can be considered as an
electromagnetic wave travelling along e.g. a cable connected to the pocketVNA port. When this
signal is input to the device under test (DUT), the signal is altered in phase and amplitude.

In a 1-port configuration what is measured is the wave that is reflected from the DUT back into
the pocketVNA port. The measured scattering parameter (= S parameter) S11 is the ratio
between the incident and the reflected wave. The theoretical minimum of S11 is 0, that is when
nothing of the signal is reflected. For passive devices it is maximum 1, when 100% of the incident
wave is reflected. For active devices (e.g. an amplifier) S11 can be higher than 1.

In a 2-port configuration (DUT is connected to both port 1 and port 2) we also can measure S21,
that is the ratio between the voltage output from port 1 and the input in port 2.

Note that both S21 and S11 are complex numbers. Real part of the S-parameter represents the
change in magnitude, the imaginary part represents a phase shift.

Gain or loss can be calculated by converting the S parameter into decibels:

g=20* log10(|S|); where S is either S11 or S21

From the S parameters, other measures such as the impedance Z or VSWR can be
calculated:

Z = 50 * (1-S)/(1+S);
s = (1+|S|)/(1-||S|)

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Software
Here you can find all information on how to set-up the pocketVNA for measurements and how to
use it.

Note: Even though the screenshots used in the documentation are made on Windows, MacOS or
Linux, the software usage is identical on all operating systems with very few exceptions.

Software Installation
Download the pocketVNA software from here.

Connect hardware

Connect the PocketVNA to your computer. Your computer (Windows, MacOS, Linux) will
automatically recognize the hardware. You might see some installation information on Windows
computers which you can ignore.

Copy the file into a folder of your choice and unzip it. You can copy the unzipped file to any folder
on your computer. After starting the software you will see the devices connected to your
computer with serial number and the device temperature on the lower right side of the software.
This information shows the version of the connected hardware and firmware.
Your system is set up and ready for measurement.

Figure 1. The status section shows the connected devices.

Quick Start guide

After opening the software you will see a window "live measurements", where all measurements
are performed. There are other windows that can be opened using the menu bar:

Figure 2. The menu bar

Live Measurement: This will reopen the "Live Measurement" window if you have closed it.
Smith Chart: This will open a window where you can plot your data in a Smith Chart
XYY Plot: This will open a window with a XY Plot (Having up to two Y-axes). You can open more
than one plot window.
Markers: Set and save markers in the plots
Calibration: Here you can do all calibration procedures required for the measurement.

Calibration:

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It is absolutely required that you create a valid calibration prior to your first measurement. For
this, click on "Calibration". The calibration window opens.

Figure 3. The calibration start window. Calibration range and calibration type can be selected here.

Select with "From", "To" and "Steps" the frequency span and number of measurement steps
for your calibration. These numbers should be around the values you want to use for your
measurement later. For improved accuracy, increase "Averaging" for example to 5. Please
note that the measurement will take 5 times longer now but will have a higher accuracy.

For a general "all-round" calibration , you could start with

Start: 400kHz
Stop: 4200MHz
Steps: 1001
Average:1
Quality: Normal
Simple 2-Port

For enhanced sensitivity in a limited frequency span the following setting can be used:
Start: lower frequency of the region of interest
Stop: upper frequency of the region of interest
Steps: 101
Average:10
Quality: Slow

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Now you need to perform one scan for each of the calibration standards:

- Open : Connect your "Open" calibration standard to the DUT port and press "Scan". If you are
happy with the curved recorded clock "Use as open".

Figure 4.
- Short and Load : Proceed the same way for your "Short" and your "Load" standard. Then save
your calibration by clicking on "save calibration" and afterwards click on "Use and close"

Figure 6.
When asked to connect a cable between port 1 and port 2 for through calibration, use a
coax cable to connect port 1 and port 2:

Figure 7.

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It is always a very good idea to check if your calibration procedure has been successful . You can
do this by measuring S11 with open/short/load standard connected:

Open the "live measurement" window, enter your desired scan parameters (From, To, Steps) ,
ideally the same you used for the calibration and press scan.

Do this measurement for all three standards (Open, Short, Load) and import the data into a Smith
Chart: Click on Smith Chart to open a new Smith Chart and click "Import Live" to import from "live
measurement".

Plotted in a Smith Chart the three standards should look like this:

Figure 8. Open, Load and Short standard measured after calibration

If the open, short or load graphs are not at the right positions, your calibration is failed and you
will not be able to do proper measurements. Make sure you have followed the instructions above
and contact support , if you are not able to resolve the problem.

Not, that the standards only give dots if you have selected ideal standards. If you use real
calibration kit data, you will see no dots but the real calibration kit data. See section calibration
kit settings for details.

Now you are ready for your first measurement:

Open the "live measurement" window, enter your desired scan parameters as you did in
calibration and press scan. PocketVNA now scans and presents your first measurement on the
screen.

Main window
In the main window you can open several sub windows of the types

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 Figure 9. The main window
1. Menu
2. Toolbar: you can open either “Live Measurements”, New “Smith Chart”, New “XYY
Plot”, “Markers” or “Calibration” window by hitting the corresponding button.
Toolbar is movable and can be aligned to any edge of the Main Window.
3. Status-Bar -- shows connection status and temperature on the device if supported. If
a device supports an alternative Interface or there are several devices connected,
you'll see a list of possible connections.
Pay attention that some standard shortcuts work for subwindows. Close Tab/subwindow
CTRL+W; switch between tabs/subwindows CTRL+TAB or invert CTRL+SHIFT+TAB

Menu
File menu items
● New Project -- close all windows and start new session
● Open/Import -- performs import for a currently active subwindow. “Live
Measurements” accepts calibration files; “Smith Chart” accepts touchstone
(s1p/s2p) or excel files (xlsx). And so on
● Save/Export -- save or export data for a currently active subwindow. “Live
Measurements” allows exporting data to a touchstone file. “Xyy Plot” allows export

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 each data-set into a separate touchstone file, or into separate Sheet inside Excel
(xlsx) file
● Recent Projects -- contains list of recent projects.
● Load Project -- load stored session
● Save Project -- save current session into file
● Save Project as -- saves current session into new/particular file
● Close All -- close all subwindows and opens clear “Live measurements” window
● Quit
View menu items
● Smith Chart, Live Measurements, XYY Plot -- open corresponding window
● Switch between Document and Tab modes -- by default all windows are shown as
subwindows on the Multi-document-interface. But it can be shown as arbitrary tabs:
each tab contains a single window. This item can switch between these modes
● Show(Hide) Toolbar -- show or hide the Toolbar. May increase working space a bit
● Full Screen -- switch between Windowed and Fullscreen mode. F11 key can be
used as alternative
● Markers -- open dock-window with marker stuff
● Load Frequency Markers/Bands -- opens open file dialog to load Frequency
Markers on Frequency Bands (zones, ranges)
Window menu -- list of currently open subwindows
Tools menu items
● Calibration -- show calibration window
● Enter Firmware Update Mode -- pocketVna device’s firmware can be updated by
Flip software (on Windows) or by dfu-programmer (a command line tool). To allow
Slip/dfu-programmer to rewrite firmware it is required to enter this Firmware Update
mode. In this mode the device can not scan. Please note, some devices do not
support this.
● Force Unlock Device -- It is highly unrecommended to share the same device between
several programs (API, Apps). To restrict this, some locks are used. Unfortunately, On
Linux-like systems the device may be locked after a previous instance was crashed or
terminated in an improper way. If you are sure there is no other application or API using
the instance, you can Force unlock the locked device
● Warm-UP -- there is a recommendation to warm-up a device before taking measurements
by keeping it connected to USB for a mere 15 minutes. This feature speeds this up
● App Settings: see below

App Settings
Here you can change:

Figure 10. App settings

Velocity factor: The velocity factor used in distance domain measurements

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External coupler
You can use pocketVNA with an external coupler.

See this example setup:

Figure 11. An external coupler and filter have been connected in order to expand pocketVNA
capability for measurements up to 6 GHz.

To adopt software settings select "External coupler" in Tools-App Settings

Figure 12. External coupler activated

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 Figure 13. When you use and external coupler and “external coupler” is selected, a red information
“External Coupler” will appear in the status bar.

Note:

- You will see "External Coupler" written next to the "connected to pocketvna" message.

- You now can measure S11 if coupler is connected to port 1 and S22 if coupler is connected to
port 2

- You cannot measure S12 or S21

- Do not forget to calibrate (Choose "Port 1 Reflection" if coupler is connected to port 1"; Choose
"Port 2 Reflection" if coupler is connected to port 2")

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Figure 14. Calibration window if external coupler is activated

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Signal generator
pocketVNA can be used as a simple signal generator.
In the pocketVNA software go to Tools -> Signal Generator

Figure 15. Signal Generator Setup

Select the frequency and the output port and press “Apply”. The signal will now be
permanently available at the output:

Figure 16. Typical output of signal generator: Here the signal at 2.4 GHz

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Calibration
Generally, the magnitude and phase of the electromagnetic wave is not only altered by the DUT,
but by connectors and cables and last but not least by the components inside the pocketVNA.
This is the main reason, why network analyzers need to be calibrated. There are many ways to
calibrate a VNA, only OSL (open short loop) calibration will be described here as it is the one
used with the pocketVNA. For OSL, three calibration standards are required:
- Open: Ideally this would imply infinite isolation between signal and ground. In practice,
economic open standards are only termination caps shielding the signal from the surrounding
- Short: Ideally a short standard would short signal to ground with 0 impedance over the
complete frequency range.
- Load: Ideally, load standard would connect signal to ground with the load impedance (50 ohms
in our case) over the complete frequency range. This way the S parameter would be 0 and the
return loss infinite.
When doing our calibrations we will find out that we are quite far away from the ideal case.

In calibration window, calibration measurements can be performed, saved and loaded.

Supports collecting data for several algorithms. This window is organized as wizard. On first
step you can set scan parameters. Then, software performs required steps. After all required
data are collected the Finished window is shown,
PocketVNA software has internal temperature compensation but results are best if device is
warmed up. This is true especially for frequencies >2.7 GHz. For higher frequencies leave
the device connected to the USB port for at least 20 minutes before calibrating.

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Starting range step

Figure 17. Calibration start window.

It allows to setup Scan Parameters and Calibration Algorithm data collecting for
Range-tab (label “1”) -- set entire range for calibration. Pay attention on “Averaging” (see
“2”) parameter it responds how many times whole scan should be performed and averaged;
and “Adc AVG” (label “3”)-- how many times each Frequency Point should be taken to
reduce a noise.

Calibration Modes/Algorithms -- combo-box labeled as “4”, lists supported calibration

algorithms and modes:
● 2-Port SOLT with 1-port calibration kit -- simple calibration algorithm that is
applied to each network parameter separately. Mode prepares data to calibration all
ports for both Transmission and Reflection modes
● 2-Port SOLT with 2-port calibration kit -- the same as above but optimized for 2-
port calibration kit.
● 2-Port FULL SOLT(TOSM) with 2-port calibration kit -- real true SOLT-TOSM
(Short-Open-Load-Through\Through-Open-Short-Match) algorithm for full 2 port
network (4 parameters). 2-port calibration kit is required.
● Imitate SOLT/TOSM with 1-port kit -- the same as above but for 1-port calibration
kit. It is an imitation, it is not valid for 100%

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 ● LRM16 16-Terms requires 2-port calibration kit -- collects required data for LMR-
16 (Load-Match-Reflect). It requires you to have a 2-port calibration kit.
● Imitate LRM16 1-Port C-Kit -- the same as above but for 1-port calibration kit. It is
an imitation, it is not valid for 100%
● TRL 8-Terms [2-Port calibration kit] -- Through-Reflect-Line 8-terms calibration.
Requires 2-port calibration kit. It is still Betta! Also you should know what you do! It
requires a Line calibration standard which should have particular length depending
on frequency range.
● Imitate TRL 1-Port C-Kit" -- the same as above but for 1-port calibration kit.
● Transmission -- simple calibration algorithm that is applied to each network
parameter separately (the same as 1st clause in this list). But this mode collects data
for Transmission parameters only (S21 and/or S12)
● Port 1 Reflection -- similar to 1st clause in this list. Collects data for S11 parameter
only
● Port 2 Reflection -- similar to 1st clause in this list. Collect datas for S22 parameter
only
● Port 1 Reflection and Transmission -- similar to 1st clause in this list. Collects data
for S11 and S21 network parameters
● Port 2 Reflection and Transmission -- the same as above but for S22 and S12
Pay attention: there are 2-port and 1-port calibration kits. The former means you have only
one set of calibration terminals: Short, Open and Load terminals; the latter means you have
two sets of calibration terminals. If you have two steps the data collection is performed faster
in fewer steps.
Pay attention: on Est. Time (label “5”) -- is very rough. But it can be useful to see how
each parameter affects time.
“Load” button -- you can load existing calibration file and jump onto “Finish” step of the
wizard
“Scan” button -- runs wizard step-by-step

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Calibration Kit setup

pVNA SMA male or female calibration kit

The basic calibration procedure assumes the calibration standards to be ideal. This means
the calibration algorithm uses perfect reflection for open and short standards and perfect
adsorption for the load standard.
However, ideal calibration standards are not available. Open and short do not reflect
perfectly, and load does reflect a certain portion of the signal, phase short is not exactly 180°
and also the calibration level varies a bit between the open port and the calibration
standards. These properties also vary over frequency.
While for most measurements assuming ideal standards will give satisfactory results, for
some measurements the user might want to use realistic values.

Figure 18. Comparison of measurements of the ideal calibration standards - open, short and load -
(left diagram) and the real values (right side). While ideal values show precise dots, the real values
are not perfect dots but the position changes with frequency

It is possible to load/save or change the calibration kit data in the calibration menu.

Figure 19. In the calibration window select “CalKit” in order to edit calibration kit parameters

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In the CalKit menu you can select one of the pre-defined calibration kits (Ideal, pVNA SMA
calkit male, …), you can load saved or external calkit data or create your own by entering
delay times and loss data for the different calibration standards.
Currently, * is the name od the ideal calibration kit.
“Built-in” is the name of the SMA male calibration kit which you can buy from pocketvna.com

Figure 20. In the CalKit Settings window the parameters of existing or new calibration kits can be
loaded, saved and edited

For simple reflection measurements you can change only the load impedance leaving the
other data ideal. This is required e.g. if you want to perform 75 Ohms measurements.

Figure 21. Calibration kit setup window for simple 2-port calibrations or reflection only calibrations

After having entered or loaded the correct values, click on “Use and Close” and the new
values will be used during the calibration process and in the measurements.
The calkit settings can be also changed after the calibration progress is completed or during
measurements. This is useful if you want to compare the influence of different calibration kit
settings to your measurement. When you open an existing calibration file, you can find the
button on the upper right side of the window.

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Figure 22. You can also change the calkit settings after having completed the calibration or after
measurements. WIth this feature the influence of different calibration kit settings on the
measurements can be investigated.

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pVNA U.FL calibration and test board

U.FL connectors are commonly used on PCBs where space is critical.

The pVNA calibration and test board comprises:
- SOLT SMA male calibration kit (first row from top)
- SOLT SMA female calibration kit (second row)
- U.FL TE calibration kit (third row)
- U.FL Hirose calibration kit (fourth row)

If you want to use the pVNA calibration and test board the calibration procedure will be
slightly different:

Figure 23. The pVNA calibration and test board 1.0 beta

- Select pVNA U.FL calibration kit in the calibration kit settings.

- For open connect the cable to the load standards on the board.
- For short connect the cable to the load standards on the board.
- For load connect the cable to the THROUGH(!) standards on the board. This is a
known bug of current calibration kit
- For through connect the cable to the through standards on the board.

For the rest, the procedure is identical to the SMA calibration kit.

Other calibration kits

THere are also other calibration kits such as from Agilent integrated. If you want to use your
special calibration kit but cannot find it in the software, please contact us. We might be able
to integrate it.

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Taking measurements step

Figure 24. Each measuring step has its own window.

1. Shows which parameters are taking

2. Brief information about range.
3. Small Hint
4. Call context menu for this plot
5. You can change “Averaging” and “Adc AVG” for current step, and only for it
a. Software average
b. Hardware average
6. Apply the “moving average” algorithm to smooth data. 0 means no smoothing.
Select 0 (no smoothing) unless you have a good reason to change this.
Pay attention: the meaning of smooth value was changed! Moving average
coefficient is calculated as following: value*2+1. Because neighboring
odd and even values produced the same values
7. If there is a previous Take measurements step then you can open it by using the
“back” link (on this screenshot it is disabled for this is the first step).
Hit “Cancel” to jump to the first Range Step. If everything is ok, take required network
parameters pressing “Scan”. After data is taken you can smooth it (or not) and hit “Apply &
Next” to take the next network parameters set.

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Finish Step

Figure 25. After calibration is completed: An overview of all measurements is shown.

1. Title contains the source of calibration data: either File or Wizard. In this case the file
was loaded
2. Calls context menu. Now it allows to store all network parameters into Touchstone
files
3. Brief information about scan parameters
4. Icons depicting a look of each parameter
5. “Use” button applies calibration data to Live Measurements window. Without saving
into file
6. “Cancel” button returns to first Range Step
7. “Load” button loads another existing calibration file into this step
8. “Save” stores calibration file into application’s calibration file
9. “Close” closes calibration window

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You should check if your calibration was successful for example by plotting measurements
of open, short and load standards on a Smith chart:

Figure 26. Measurement of the open, short and load standards after calibration in order to check the
quality of the calibration.

Load should be in the middle of the diagram, short at the very left and open at the very right
end of the diagram. The measurements are no perfect dots, as the calibration standards are
not perfectly reflecting (open, short) or absorbing (load) and there will be also noise present.

Live Measurements
In this window measurements are performed

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 Figure 27. live measurements window

1. Scan range setting:

“From” sets the start frequency of the scan
“To” sets the stop frequency
“Steps” is the number of measurement point taken within the set frequency range. 201
usually is a good value to start. Lower values will result in a faster scan, higher values in a
higher frequency resolution.
By default is used linear distribution, to switch it to logarithmic check Logarithmic checkbox
2. Hardware Averaging value -- to reduce noise
3. Network Parameters -- allows to choose which network parameter should be taken. Pay
attention, if you choose all 4 parameters application will apply network matrix conversion
between Z ⇔ S ⇔ Y. Otherwise another formulas will be used to convert each parameter
separately
4. Calibration -- if “Use calibration” is checked and the calibration file is loaded then
calibration is to be performed before showing curves on plot. Otherwise raw data
should be shown. Use the Load button to select and load a .cali calibration file.
5. “continous” and “Accumulate” -- By checking “Continous” scanning can be
performed in an infinite loop.
If the “accumulate” is checked then all continous scans are accumulated and average
values should be shown on the plot.
6. “Port Extension” -- port extension can be applied to scanned data if you add a
cable after having performed the calibration. See this section for detailed usage
description. Do not use if you are not sure if you need it.
7. Switch button between usual chart and smith chart
8. Current Markers
9. Curves. Red is aligned to the right Y-Axis. On the screenshot above red line is Time
Domain, S-11 Phase. Blue curve is aligned to the right Y-Axis which currently shows
Frequency domain, S21, Group delay
10. Set which data show for the Left Y-Axis, see description below

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 11. Edit Group Delay smooth Factor. This field is only visible when at least one axis
shows Group Delay. the meaning of smooth value was changed! Moving average
coefficient is calculated as following: value*2+1. Because neighboring odd and even
values produced the same values
12. Call dialog to edit the Time/Distance domain Window
13. Set which data show for the Right Y-Axis

Figure 28. Select which data will be shown in the diagram

Magnitude (dB): Magnitude oft the measured signal in dB

Phase: difference between transmitted and measured signal
R: Real part of Impedance
X: Imaginary part of Impedance
∣ Z ∣: Absolute value of impedance
G: Conductance
VSWR: Voltage Standing wave ratio
Magnitude: Magnitude of the measured signal on linear scale
Re(S): real part of the S parameter
Im (S): imaginary part of S parameter
Group delay: Delay of the signal passing trugh a DUT
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_delay_and_phase_delay)
Srefl and Strans: Identical to Magnitude (dB)
ZRX_refl Identical to ZRX

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 Figure 29. Select which S parameters should be plotted

Selection of S parameter (port 1 or 2 and transmission or reflection)

Figure 30. Frequency domain is selected as a standard, for measurements in the time/distance
domain please select time or distance.

Selection of measurement:
- Frequency domain
- Time domain
- Distance domain

Time/Distance domain Windowing

If at least one of Y-Axes uses Distance or Time domain it becomes possible to apply
windowing. Press the TD Win button to call a special dialog. It looks like this:

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 Figure 31. Windowing option for the time domain measurements

1. To enable windowing check this check-box

2. Plot shows how window looks for parameters given. When you change window
parameters the view changes. Red line shows generic view of a window. Blue line
shows final window that will be applied to curve
3. Window type. It is possible to use 3 windows type
a. Kaiser window. Common ɑ values are: 0 -- no window, 6 -- commonly used,
13 -- maximum possible
b. Hann
c. Hamming. If ɑ is equal to 1 that means no window.
4. A frequency range window apply to
5. Instead of using (4th) Frequency range you can set Center frequency...
6. ...and a size of the window

Port Extension
If you calibrate pocketVNA directly at the device but then connect your DUT with an
additional cable, you need to tell the device that you are using this cable in order to
compensate for the phase shift / delay caused by the cable.

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This example shows a measurement of the open standard measured directly at the device where
it was also used for calibration:

Figure 32. Measurement of a DUT right the port where the calibration was done.

Here what happens if you measure the open standard behind a cable:

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 Figure 33. Measurement of the DUT not at the port where the calibration was done but after an
additional cable.

The added delay can be seen by the saw tooth wave of the measured phase. This can be removed
mathematically using the port extension function which can be found on the bottom left part of
the live measurement window. In order to use it activate the check box:

Figure 34. Port Extension check box

Click on the gear wheel to open the port extension settings:

Figure 35. Port extension options: Length and velocity factor can be defined.

Here are three ways you can find the right values for length and velocity factor:

1. You know them e.g. from the data sheet.

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These are some velocity factors known from literature:
● 0.95-0.99 -- Open-wire "Ladder" Line
● 0.83 -- RG-6 Belden 1189A coaxial cable
● 0.82 -- RG-8X Belden 9258 coaxial cable (foamed polyethylene dielectric)
● 0.80 -- Belden 9085 twin-lead
● 0.66 -- Belden 8723 twin shielded twisted pair stranded (polypropylene insulator);
RG-213 CXP213 coaxial cable (solid polyethylene dielectric); Polyethylene
● 0.695 -- Solid PTFE

So 0.66 could be used when no better information is available.

2. You can try to find it by changing the length until the phase becomes flat again. In this
case velocity factor does not need to be changed and 0.66 can be used.
3. You can measure the distance between two jumps in the saw tooth: In our example the
distance between two of the jumps is around deltaf = 116.7 MHz. Using the formula:
l=Vf*c / (2* deltaf); where Vf is the velocity factor 0.66; c is the speed of light and deltaf is the
frequency difference between the jumps.
In our example measurement, we receive l=0,8450 m for the length. Also in this case
velocity factor does not need to be changed and 0.66 can be used.
When we enter this into the port extension settings we can see the phase corrected:

Figure 36. The measurement with port extension activated. The phase curve is now nearly completely
flat.

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The „open“ measurement is only to determine the cable delay/length and to demonstrate/check
that it is working. For your measurement of e.g. an antenna behind the cable you should then use
the same port extension settings as for the "open" measurement.

Smith Chart
Shows data on a Smith Chart Plot. You can open several Smith Charts. Data to be plotted can either be imported
from "live measurement window" or from a saved/existing file. It is useful to compare several live results or to
view external file (mostly TouchStone format v1 for 1-port and 2-port)

Figure 37. Some measurements plotted in a Smith Chart.

It contains the following
● “Import Live” button (label “1”) -- gets data from Live Measurements window
● “Import File” button (label “2”). Imports data from external file (*.xlsx, *.s2p...)
● “Remove All” button (label “3”) -- removes all data
● Curve’s Title (label “4”) which can be edited.
● -button -- hides corresponding curve on the Chart
● -button -- Removes curve from the Chart.
● -- Highlight curve. For example, the third curve is highlighted on the Chart (label
“7”). Whereas two others (label “8”) are not.

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Pay attention, that this chart shows only the Reflection part (S11 or S22) of a network. Also,
the 2-port touchstone file has both S11 and S22 network parameters. If you import a 2-port
network into Smith Chart window 2 separate curves will be created.
You can call a context menu for the Smith Chart which looks kind of this:

Figure 38.
● “Save Current Markers” -- Moves data points that are closest to the mouse cursor
to the "markers window". Current Markers are highlighted with black points on
a plot.
● “Edit Marker and Save” -- similar to “Save Current Markers” , but you can edit
frequency points before placing Current Markers into the “Markers” window. If a
curve on a plot does not have an exact point for a particular frequency Current
Marker will be interpolated. Extrapolation is not performed.
● Frequency Marker: ***Hz -- stores the frequency as a frequency marker. It
should be shown on the “markers window” on the right hand side of the table.
Frequency marker highlights a curve’s point belonging to the frequency for each
curve on a plot.
● “Import LIve Measurements” -- Imports data from the “Live Measurements”
window.
● “Import File” -- imports data from a file (s2p, ...)
● “Export Data as…” -- allows story data into file (xlsx, s2p, …)
● “Remove All” -- removes all data
● “Print charts into image…” -- exports current plot into a png or jpeg file
● “Reset Scale” -- cancels any zoom
● “Magnify Y axes separately” -- Select(Unselect) if you want to zoom and move
both Y axes at the same time or not.
● “Rename window” -- Changes the title of the window.

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XYY Plot
Data to be plotted can either be imported from a "live measurement window" or from a saved
file. You can open several XYY plots. It is useful to compare several results or external files.
It looks kind of like the one below:

Figure 39. The XYY plot window

It consists of the Legend (Left) and Plotting (Right) side. Legend allows to control curves.
Each element of Legend is connected to plot.
You can see:
● “Import Live” button (label “1”) -- gets data from Live Measurements window
● “Import File” button (label “2”). Imports data from external file (*.xlsx, *.s2p...)
● “Remove All” button (label “3”) -- removes all data
● “L” and “R” buttons (labels “4”, “5”). Show curve for Y-Left axis or Y-Right axis
respectively. They have colors of corresponding lines on chart. If button is unchecked
then a curve (Left or Right) are not shown on a plot. For example Button “L” above
label “4” is unchecked and plot shows only Right (blue) curve.
● The Title for a curve. It can be changed (see second legend item). If data is loaded
from a file the title is equal to a file name.
● -- Removes data with curves (labels “6”, “7”)
● -- Highlight curve (labels “6”, “7”) If checked then curve is highlighted. For
example, it is checked above label “6”, and blue curve is thicker than another two
curves.
● Plot Mode Selectors -- (labels “10”, “11”) -- change the mode for left (“10”) and
right (“11”) Y-Axes.

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 ● Plot shows Current Markers that can be stored. The vertical line crossing Current
Markers is labeled with “M”.
You can call Context Menu for a plot:

Figure 40. Right clicking on the plot area opens this context menu

● “Save Current Markers” -- Moves the measurement of the data point currently
under the mouse cursor’s vertical line to the "markers window". These data
points are crossed with a vertical line labeled with “M” on the previous screenshot.
● “Edit Marker and Save” -- similar to “Save Current Markers” , but you can edit
the frequency point before placing Current Markers into the “Markers” window. If
a curve on a plot does not have an exact point for a particular frequency, Current
Marker will be interpolated. Extrapolation is not performed.
● Frequency Marker: ***Hz -- stores the frequency as a frequency marker. It
should be shown on the “markers window” on the right hand side of the table.
Frequency marker highlights a curve’s point belonging to the frequency for each
curve on a plot.
● “Start selecting Frequency Band” -- starts selecting a piece of a plot with the
mouse's cursor.
● “Import LIve Measurements” -- Imports data from the “Live Measurements”
window. As a result the Frequency Range (Band, Zone) will be saved into the
same windows as a Frequency Marker.
● “Import File” -- imports data from a file (xlsx, s2p, ...)
● “Export Data as…” -- allows story data into file (xlsx, s2p, csv…)
● “Remove All” -- removes all data
● “Print charts into image…” -- exports current plot into a png or jpeg file
● “Fit Plot to Visible Area” -- makes all curves fit into visible plot area. Sometimes,
If you Zoomed-In/-Out a plot and import some other data it can’t be seen on a
plot. By using this Option all curves will be in the plot area.

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● “Magnify Y axes separately” -- Select(Unselect) if you want to zoom and move
both Y axes at the same time or not.
● “Rename window” -- Changes the title of the window.
● “Switch Off Auto-Scale” -- disables auto-scaling of plot. At the same time
indicates if the auto-scaling is Off. Pay attention that auto-scaling is switching off
by panning(moving) or scaling (zooming) a plot. Auto-scaling On -- means that all
curves are fitting into the visible area;

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Markers
Clicking on Markers in the menu bar opens the marker window. While moving the
mouse over any graph, you will see the position in numbers near the mouse cursor. These
values can be saved in the "Markers" window.
Figure 41.

Figure 42. Markers window

This window is dockable and can be moved to either Left, Right, Top, Bottom edge of a
window. Or can be undocked to be an “independent” window.
In the upper part Current Markers of the data point closest to the mouse cursor’s X-
coord is plotted.
The lower part shows Stored Markers. In any plot via right mouse-click a marker can be
fixed in this part of the window. For this right-click on the plot window and select "save
marker under cursor", or “Edit Marker and Save” which allows to edit frequency
before fixing.
Right-Clicking on the markers opens a menu where makers can be deleted, shown as
point to line in the plot and saved to an Excel file. The name of the marker can be
changed by double clicking on it.

Figure 43. Right clicking on the markers menu opens this menu

● “Save As…” -- allows to store Stored Markers into *.csv or *.xslx file.
● “Load From” -- loads markers into Stored Markers from *.csv or *.xslx file.
● “Remove Row” -- removes currently selected row from Stored Markers.
● “Clear” -- clears Stored Markers table.
● “Hide Marker” -- hides marker on a currently active subwindow.

36
 ● “Show Marker as ...” -- shows marker on a currently active subwindow as a:
Point, Crossing Lines, Horizontal Line or Vertical Line.

Edit Markers and Save dialog

Figure 44. The markers window

If you choose Edit Markers and Save action in the plot's context menu the special
window appears. Select any row in a table. Then you can change the frequency point, title or
even remove it by pressing the Trash-icon button. If there is no particular frequency in the
curve then the application performs interpolation. After pressing “OK” Markers are moving to
Markers window

Frequency ranges

You can select ranges of frequency that will be shown in color in the plot:

Figure 45. You can highlight one or more frequency ranges in the plots

Right click on plot are will show you the option “Start selecting Frequency band”. Using
mouse and left click you can select the first frequency range.

37
 Now open the markers window to see the values you have selected:

Figure 46. In this window you can directly edit the frequency ranges.

You can double click on each range to change the frequency ranges. You can also chengr
the color of the range or save/load values when using the right-click menu:

Figure 47. Righ-clicking on the range gives you the option to remove the range, change the color of
the range or to load/save a complete list of ranges.

Importing/Exporting data
There are the following file types available for import/export:
- touchstone (s1p, s2p) format
- .XLS, .CSV
- .vnaproj

Hardware specification
2 port Network Analyzer:

38
PocketVNA has two ports, where both port 1 and port 2 can be used as output. The reflected or
transmitted signal can be measured on port 1 and port two. This makes pocketVNA a complete 2-port
VNA which can measure S11, S21, S12 and S22 simultaneously.

Frequency range:

You can perform measurements at least from 500 kHz to 4 GHz. Measurements slightly outside this
region (such as 400 kHz or 4.2 GHz) might be possible but are not guaranteed. Please contact us if
you want to perform measurements outside the specified frequency range.

Dynamic range:

Typical range is up to -70dB @50MHz and up to -40dB @4 GHz

Dynamic range varies over frequency and depends on scan and calibration parameters such as
averaging factor or smoothing.

Impedance range:

Resulting from the dynamic range, impedance can be typically measured from 3 to 1000 ohm. For
most frequency ranges this range will be larger.

Measurement speed:

Measurement speed is much lower than any lab scale equipment.

A normal scan takes about 10 ms per data point plus USB communication. As an example a 1001
points scan S11 only takes 12 seconds. By using averaging to improve resolution, speed can
significantly increase. If you measure all parameters (S11, S12, S21, S22) at the same time,
measurement time will be nearly four times higher!

Number of steps:

From 1 to 10001; Basically, maximum number of steps is mainly limited by the available
measurement time. A 10001 step scan take about 2 minutes.

Frequency resolution:

1 Hz; For example you can scan from 1MHz to 1.001MHz in 1001 steps.

Power consumption: < 500mA; typically 400 mA

Dimensions:

Figure 48.
(length x width x height): 90mm x 64 mm x 26mm (about 3.5" x 2.5" x 1")

39
40
Example measurements
A collection of example measurements. Some measurements are available as .vnaproj files in the
software section . You can download the software and import the project files in order to explore the
measurements and the software functions.

A quick filter measurement

Step 1 calibrate:

We calibrate transmission only.

Figure 49.

75 Ohms measurement
In order to measure 75 Ohm DUT additional external hardware is required: A 50/75 Ohms matching
pad and a 75 Ohms calibration kit. While pocketVNA connectors are SMA matching pad and
calibration kit are BNC.

41
 Figure 50. Additional wires (SMA to BNC) and matching pads are required.

Figure 51. The 75 ohms calibration kit consists of open, load (75 Ohms), short and through standard.
All are BNC.

Here is one example for recommended calibration settings:

42
 Figure 52. Calibration type is “Simple 2-port” and we do 301 steps from 80 MHz to 700 MHz.

In the CalKit settings we change from 50 to 75 ohms.

Figure 53. Load standard setting: 75 ohms

Measurement results, we measure the open, load and short standard:

43
 Figure 54. Open, Short and Load

And for transmission we measure through and open:

Figure 55. through and open measurement (S21)

A 36 MHz Quartz Crystal:

44
 Figure 56. Example measurement: A quartz crystal

Measurement plotted as Impedance/Phase on a XY Plot and in a Smith Chart.

Attenuator, noise floor and dynamic range measurements:

Figure 57. A set of attenuators in S12 measurement: 0 dB, -10 dB, -15 dB, 20 dB, -30 dB, -40 dB and
-50dB from 100 MHz to 800 MHz.

45
Figure 58. Noise floor at around 350 MHz; 10 times averaging was used for calibration and
measurement.

Figure 59. Noise floor of S21 measurement at around 4GHz

46
Figure 60. Performance <1 MHz: Noise floor from 500 kHz to 1 MHz

47
2.4 GHz WLAN antenna

Figure 61. Return loss and VSWR measurement of a 2.4 GHz antenna measured from .6 GHz to 2.7
GHz.

Filter measurement (transmission) and comparison with lab

scale equipment

DUT: Minicircuits VHF-2000+ SMA high pass filter

Figure 62. DUT VHF-2000+ high-pass filter from minicircuits

Measurement equipment:
pVNA2.0; R&S ZVL and referens S parameters provided by minicircuits

Procedure:
- Calibrate pocketvna. It is recommended to calibrate and measure at the end of a
coax cable as it can be seen in the picture.

48
 Figure 63. DUT connected to coax cables.

- The simplest way is to do a transmission only calibration. Choose transmission in

calibration settings and start the calibration. Only two measurements are required for
this simple calibration: Through and open. For open measurement connect ports to
the open standard, for through measurement connect both ports with a coax cable or
the through standard.

Figure 64. Calibration settings used for the transmision calibration

49
 Figure 65. High pass filter measured with pVNA (blue), R&S ZVL (red) and S parameters data
provided by minicircuits (green)

The three curves are similar. While the more expensive equipment (100x the price !) is more
precise to the reference data, information such as 3dB cutoff, can be obtained from all
measurements with high precision.

Troubleshooting:
If you contact support it is always helpful to provide the following information:

- OS and GUI version that you use

- If possible send .proj file or measurement data or screenshots
- Use command line argument --verbose debug --stderr
For example: Create shortcut for pocketVNA.exe and edit command line argument
(TARGET field)
Like E:\Downloads\pocketVNA1.m60_x86_64\pocketVNA.exe --verbose debug --
stderr

50
 Figure 66.

Then there will be log files available in the log file folder. The folder can be accessed
through the GUI: GUI > Tools > App Settings > App Info > double click on logs

Figure 67.

51
List Of Images
■ Figure 1. The status section shows the connected

devices.
■ Figure 2. The menu bar

■ Figure 3. The calibration start window. Calibration

range and calibration type can be selected here.

■ Figure 4. Open, Load and Short standard measured

after calibration
■ Figure 5. The main window

■ Figure 6. App settings

■ Figure 7. An external coupler and filter have been

connected in order to expand pocketVNA capability for

measurements up to 6 GHz.
■ Figure 8. External coupler activated

■ Figure 9. When you use and external coupler and

“external coupler” is selected, a red information

“External Coupler” will appear in the status bar.
■ Figure 10. Calibration window if external coupler is

activated
■ Figure 11: Signal Generator Setup

■ Figure 12. Typical output of signal generator: Here the

signal at 2.4 GHz

■ Figure 13. Calibration start window.

■ Figure 14. Calibration kit setup window

■ Figure 15. Each measuring step has its own window.

■ Figure 16. After calibration is completed: An overview

of all measurements is shown.

■ Figure 17. Measurement of the open, short and load

standards after calibration in order to check the quality

of the calibration.

52
■ Figure 18. live measurements window
■ Figure 19. Select which data will be shown in the
diagram
■ Figure 20. Select which S parameters should be plotted
■ Figure 21. Frequency domain is selected as a standard,
for measurements in the time/distance domain please
select time or distance.
■ Figure 22. Windowing option for the time domain
measurements
■ Figure 23. Measurement of a DUT right the port where
the calibration was done.
■ Figure 24. Measurement of the DUT not at the port
where the calibration was done but after an additional
cable.
■ Figure 25. Port Extension check box
■ Figure 26. Port extension options: Length and velocity
factor can be defined.
■ Figure 27. The measurement with port extension
activated. The phase curve is now nearly completely
flat.
■ Figure 28. Some measurements plotted in a Smith
Chart.
■ Figure 29.
■ Figure 30. The XYY plot window
■ Figure 31. Righ clicking on the plot area opens this
context menu
■ Figure 32.
■ Figure 33. Markers window
■ Figure 34. Right clicking on the markers menu opens
this menu

53
■ Figure 35. The markers window
■ Figure 36. You can highlight one or more frequency
ranges in the plots
■ Figure 37. In this window you can directly edit the
frequency ranges.
■ Figure 38. Righ-clicking on the range gives you the
option to remove the range, change the color of the
range or to load/save a complete list of ranges.
■ Figure 39.
■ Figure 40. Additional wires (SMA to BNC) and matching
pads are required.
■ Figure 41. The 75 ohms calibration kit consists of open,
load (75 Ohms), short and through standard. All are
BNC.
■ Figure 42. Calibration type is “Simple 2-port” and we do
301 steps from 80 MHz to 700 MHz.
■ Figure 43. Load standard setting: 75 ohms
■ Figure 44. Open, Short and Load
■ Figure 45. through and open measurement (S21)
■ Figure 46. Example measurement: A quartz crystal
■ Figure 47. A set of attenuators in S12 measurement: 0
dB, -10 dB, -15 dB, 20 dB, -30 dB, -40 dB and -50dB from
100 MHz to 800 MHz.
■ Figure 48. Noise floor at around 350 MHz; 10 times
averaging was used for calibration and measurement.
■ Figure 49. Noise floor of S21 measurement at around
4GHz
■ Figure 50. Performance <1 MHz: Noise floor from 500
kHz to 1 MHz
■ Figure 51. Return loss and VSWR measurement of a 2.4

54
 GHz antenna
■ Figure 53.
■ Figure 54.

55