NanoVNA as a Signal Generator

The NanoVNA is a fantastic tool for radio amateurs and those interested in RF electronics, I’ve found it invaluable for testing antennas, filters, coax etc… but I’ve now discovered another use for it. When I was trying to test my product detector I was thinking about how best to inject a signal and was considering adding a second output to my oscillator but a friend from our radio club Dave G8KBB suggested I use the NanoVNA as a signal generator, it’s sort of obvious given how a VNA works, but I hadn’t even considered it. I did a little google and it really is as simple as reducing the sweep down to the required frequency to get a square wave signal (and I believe that this only works up to 300MHz due to how the NanoVNA uses harmonics for the higher bands). Clearly this is only suitable for simple applications, but very helpful nonetheless.

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