TAPR / Ten-Tec VNA Software Updates
Date: September
25, 2015
You can check whether your current version is
the most recent by looking at the build number in the About
menu and comparing it to this list. If you would like to download the software,
right-click the appropriate link, and select “Save Target As …” to save to your computer.
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64
bit OS - Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 [ Experimental code ] Please see special installation instructions below. |
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Package |
Date |
Status |
Version |
.NET
runtime |
Installer |
Instruction
Manual |
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Vector
Network Analyzer |
March 9, 2016 |
ALPHA |
3.3 |
2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 |
!! PLEASE
!! read the special instructions (below) |
Note: you may need to disable auto
USB power down (see below). |
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64 bit USB
driver package Win 7, 8, 8.1 (10) |
March 10, 2016 |
- |
- |
- |
Note: install the appropriate driver
for your 64-bit OS (see below). |
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32
bit OS - Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1 |
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Package |
Date |
Status |
Version |
.NET
runtime |
Installer |
Instruction
Manual |
|
Vector
Network Analyzer |
September 30, 2011 |
Release |
3.3 |
2.0 |
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|
September 27, 2008 |
BETA |
2.1.6 |
2.0 |
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February 4, 2007 |
Release |
2.0 |
2.0 |
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August 13, 2006 |
Release |
1.6 |
1.1 |
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Signal
Generator |
August 8, 2008 |
Release |
2.0 |
2.0 |
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|
January 4, 2006 |
Release |
1.1 |
1.1 |
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Frequently
Asked Questions |
September 30, 2008 |
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Windows
98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 |
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Package |
Date |
Status |
Version |
.NET
runtime |
Installer |
Instruction
Manual |
|
Vector
Network Analyzer |
September 27, 2008 |
BETA |
2.1.6 |
2.0 |
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February 4, 2007 |
Release |
2.0 |
2.0 |
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August 13, 2006 |
Release |
1.6 |
1.1 |
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|
Signal
Generator |
August 8, 2008 |
Release |
2.0 |
2.0 |
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|
|
January 4, 2006 |
Release |
1.1 |
1.1 |
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|
Frequently
Asked Questions |
September 30, 2008 |
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Windows
Vista, Windows 7 [32 bit OS only] |
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|
Package |
Date |
Status |
Version |
.NET
runtime |
Installer |
Instruction
Manual |
|
Vector Network
Analyzer |
September
30, 2011 |
Release |
3.3 |
2.0 |
Instead RIGHT-CLICK setup.exe
and select “Run as Administrator…” Driver
files are also installed in the ./TAPR/VNA/Drivers directory. |
|
Release Notes
Vector
Network Analyzer Release 3.3.5888.24668 Executable name: VNAR3-Cy
64 BIT ONLY. NOT
FOR 32 BIT Operating Systems.
This is an EXPERIMENTAL ALPHA release for 64-bit operating systems. It requires
a different USB device driver (a 64 bit driver) than that used for the 32 bit
operating systems. The code also has been modified to work with the new 64-bit
device drivers. Installation is a little messy. The application itself is a
32-bit application that can run on a 64-bit system. No choice here, MS has
disabled generating a 64-bit merge module for the installer.
Some folks have had problems with this. I cannot duplicate any problems on a Win 10
SP1 core-i7 system. The code was
modified Feb 14, 2016 to increase the time delay allowed for downloading the
target image to the VNA hardware. It’s the only guess I’ve got as to what
problem(s) might exist.
The driver package was separated out from the
application because it doesn’t need to be downloaded or reinstalled with each
update. That, and VS2013 appears to get confused about 64 bit driver type vs.
32 bit application type.
1. You will need to have the .NET frameworks
1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 installed.
2. Download the driver package and unzip it
to any convenient place. You only need to install the driver package once,
updates to the VNAR software don’t require re-installing the USB 64 bit
drivers.
Some (not all) systems power down
the USB hub when idle. The VNA does not support this and it can cause a blue
screen of death.
Use Device Manager, and for every USB Hub select Properties, and
un-select “Allow the Computer to turn off this Device to Save Power” under the
Power Management tab. Some computers
will not have a Power Management tab, and thus can’t power down the USB hub.
3. You will need to perform an Unsigned
Device Driver Installation, this is different for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and
10. Usually it involves some reboots
into a special mode that temporarily turns off driver signature enforcement. Do
a Google search for how to do it on your operating system.
Disable driver signature enforcement.
Plug in your VNA, it should launch the
Windows USB installer wizard. Tell it to find the driver on your computer.
In the driver folder are three sub folders:
Win 7, Win 8, Win 8.1.
Navigate to the folder that matches your
operating system type. Note: Win 8.1 also works for Windows 10.
Click the INF file as directed by the windows
USB installer wizard.
4. Reboot your computer. This gets you out of
special mode.
5. Download the zip package, and unzip it.
Run the setup program. It will place the executable program and CyUSB.dll
wrapper into your application folder and install the 32-bit C++ V11 run time
libraries (Yes, 32 bit run time).The installer should check that you have the
proper NET frameworks installed.
6. You can copy an older instrument
calibration file: detector.ica from
your existing system which will let you avoid going through the whole
instrument recalibration procedure.
Vector
Network Analyzer Release 2.0.2591.24355 Executable name: VNAR3
Latest stable release for Win 98 / ME / 2000
/ NT
Vector
Network Analyzer Release 3.3.5082.23831 Executable name: VNAR3
Version 3 and later do not support
Windows 98, ME, 2000, or NT. Support for those operating systems was dropped by
Microsoft from the Visual Studio 2008 toolset.
Installation under Windows XP is
automatically handled by the installer (same as before).
Windows Vista and Windows 7 do not allow the
direct installation of XP-compatible device drivers. Workarounds exist to
indirectly install the device drivers. For full instructions on the options,
read the Microsoft article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927524
Another copy of the device drivers is
installed in ./TAPR/VNA/Drivers (or wherever you chose to install). For
VNAR 3.3 Build 5082.23831does not change the
operation of the VNAR software except for one case where a previous detector
calibration has failed, and is then reattempted. Previously, the next attempt
to reconverge the detector calibration would start
from where the previous run completed, thus failing if the previous attempt
failed. This revises the code so that if detector calibration is run, and had
been previously run and had failed, to first initialize the calibration
coefficients to their default values before starting the convergence process.
3.3 Fixes a few minor bugs from 3.2 (forgot
to put proper warnings on TDR screen, update Polar and TDR screen to use
modified pens for stored traces). Version 3.3 also allows opening and viewing
previously-saved measured results EVEN
IF THE VNA IS NOT CONNECTED. A warning message that the VNA is not
connected will appear on the screen. A
late update to 3.3 fixes the format of one debug file, it does not impact the
operation of the software of unit at all compared to the July 3.3 release. It
always generates the text debug file even if the calibration succeeded.
3.2 Adds new features.
* Expand Ref Level selectable range to {-50
dB to +50 dB}. This is useful to display wide ranges of Measured-Stored, and to
provide greater display range when an attenuator is used to prevent overdrive
of an amplifier-under-test.
* Add ability to turn on and off display of
measured results in the Storage menu.
* Add new display ‘Measured minus Stored’ in
the Storage menu with ability to turn it on and off. This displays delta of S11
and/or S21 magnitude between the Measured and Stored values.
* Change display of Stored and
Measured-Stored traces:
* Stored traces are now 1-pixel wide
rather than 2-pixels to make it easier to
distinguish
Stored from Measured.
* Measured-Stored trace is displayed
3-pixels wide.
* Measured traces remain the same
(2-pixels wide).
3.1.1 Fixes
an error that prevents Instrument Calibration from running successfully.
Adds a
new Fixture calibration mode: “Log”.
The default mode is still “Linear”. This refers the frequency spacing
between fixture calibration points. “Linear” spaces the points about 117 KHz apart
across the entire instrument range of 200 KHz – 120 MHz. “Log” mode spaces them
about 0.1% apart. Existing fixture cal files are forwards-compatible, the
software knows that they were taken in linear mode. The new Log mode gives a
much closer cal spacing at lower frequencies, and wider cal spacing at higher
frequencies. Linear mode has coarse Q handling at low frequencies and very fine
Q handling at high frequencies. The Log mode provides the ability to compensate
for fixture resonances of about the same Q across the entire frequency range.
The Log mode is useful for example to compensate for a high-pass filter used to
reject strong AM-broadcast-band interference during measurements. 3.1.1 is
functionally the same as 3.1.0 ALPHA except that it changes the formatting of a
debug file.
3.0.0 Is functionally equivalent to version
2.1.6. except for the directories where it stores the
instrument calibration file and where the user application configuration is
stored, and the command-line argument processor no longer prepends the
installation directory. These changes are needed for compatibility with Windows
Vista and Windows 7. It has been
compiled with VS2008. Reports of successful
Vector
Network Analyzer Beta 2.1.3192.40899
Executable
name: VNAR3
2.1.6 (build
3192.40899) adds detection of an apparent unshielded S21 receive measurement.
Because the VNA uses a broadband detector, if the device under test is not well
shielded an external interference source can contaminate S21 measurements at
all frequencies rather than just near the frequency of the interfering source.
A caution note is placed on the screen when showing S21 measurements if the
receive detector appears to be detecting excess noise ingress.
2.1.5 (build
3181.21991) adds a menu item to change the background color. This may be useful
if you want to capture screenshots directly from the CRT for use as a graphic
in some other document or application and the color your system [Inactive::Captiontext] has chosen doesn’t show up well.
Additionally, a power-saving mode has
been added to the target code. This powers down the I-
and Q- DAC multipliers in the VNA hardware when it is not sweeping, and re-enables
them for each sweep. This results in a significant power reduction of the DDS
chip when idle. If the instrument is continually sweeping it won’t make as much
difference. The VNA still puts out full-strength signal after it’s done with a
sweep at the last swept frequency (handy as a quick signal generator).
2.1.4 (build
3150.38355) adds another Export CSV Rectangular menu item to allow two options:
Export CSV Rectangular (North American
format), and
Export CSV Rectangular (European
format).
The North American/UK, and European
versions of Excel use different CSV file separator characters. The two menu
items allows generating files compatible with either version.
2.1.3 (build
3141.37297) improves exception handling, provides anti-aliasing of traces on
the display, and slightly improved graphics updating (fewer screen redraws).
This assembly includes a ‘strong name’ as a security enhancement. The program
assembly is digitally signed using a private key. The public key used to check
the signature validity is included within the assembly. The Microsoft loader
will automatically validate the signature, if it’s OK the application will
launch normally, if the signature check fails, the application will abort
immediately with an ‘this application has encountered
an error’ box. This check helps protect against bit-level changes or
alterations of the executable file.
2.1.3 (build
3069.24376) very slightly improves the detector calibration convergence. Not
worth updating unless you have problems with 2.1.2 or earlier converging.
2.1.2 (build
3053.25751) adds 0.5 dB/division display setting, and reorganizes the vertical
menu into several sub menus to save screen height. It creates a new file
version (1.0.5) for the saved measurement file, but can read (1.0.4) as well.
2.1.1 Added R+jX
display modes.
2.1.x is a BETA Version of software. It requires
that a new Detector Calibration be run. Detector Calibration is compatible with
the different 2.1 beta versions, so you will only need to run it again if you
get an error message. The possibility exists that the detector calibration may
not converge for every unit, but I’ve not received any errors lately. If your
1meter cal cable is less than ~ 0.9 meters long, it might not converge.
Vector
Network Analyzer Release 1.6.2416.21766 Executable name: VNAR3
Older release.
Signal
Generator Software Release 2.0 Executable name: SGENR2
August 8 update provides a ‘strong
name’ of the assembly as a security enhancement. No functional changes from the
January 31 update.
January 31 update changes the
Installer to fix incorrect prerequisite (executable is unchanged). Ported to
NET 2.0. Fixes a bug where the phase
meter had a 180 degree error (sign flip). Also adds the ability to compensate
for the VNA internal crystal oscillator error. The oscillator still drifts with
temperature, but this cal reduces the fixed error a lot. The existing SGEN data
file is not compatible, and the application will warn to reset the external /
internal and oscillator compensation options. The new version is called SGENR2,
the old one was called SGENR1.
Signal
Generator Software Release 1.1 Executable name: SGENR1
Older Release. Lower frequency limit
decreased down to 2,000 Hz. There is a high-pass pole at 50 KHz, so the output
level starts decreasing (by 3 dB) at 50 KHz. The output waveform becomes very distorted below 25 KHz.