Copper Mountain Technologies VNA

We now have Raspberry Pi-compatible software (early release on CMT website) for the R60 VNA.

Requirements The Pi should be running a Debian Trixie OS, RPi has a port of it. We are waiting on the beta headless version, which would allow us to use the Ubuntu Server instead of a Desktop.

You must have the instrument software downloaded from the Google Drive.

Installation

1. Clone the CMT-VNA repo.
2. Create a virtual environment, and install the CMT-VNA repository in that environment.
3. Run the bash script that sets the USB rules (it lives in this repo):

chmod +x ./scripts/install_vna_rules.sh
sudo ./scripts/install_vna_rules.sh

To check that no other libraries are needed, you can run:

ldd ./instrument_software/bin/cmtvna | grep "Not Found"

This will display all dependencies that are missing.

4. Make the binary file executable:

chmod +x path/to/cmtvna 

5. The service file needed to run the GUI in the background is included in this repo at ./scripts/cmtvna.service. and make sure that the path in the WorkingDirectory and ExecStart lines of the service file lead to the correct binary file within the repo (it's hardcoded) and copy the service file to /etc/systemd/system. Then you can run:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable cmtvna.service
sudo systemctl start cmtvna.service

To check the status of the service, you can run: systemctl status cmtvna.service

x86 Setup (Deprecated)

Install the software from https://coppermountaintech.com/download-free-vna-software/, using the R VNA software compatible with 1-port VNAs. On Linux: unzip the files, make the AppImage executable, and run it. See the provided documentation or the FAQ in case of issues with the installation.

[!NOTE] For newer versions of Ubuntu (20+), there's a known issue where the package is incompatible with the fonts of the OS. The fix (from the FAQ) is:

Download the v12 font package (fontconfig-config_2.12.6-0ubuntu2_all.deb) from https://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/f/fontconfig/ Then install it by running:

sudo dpkg --install ~/Downloads/fontconfig-config_2.12.6-0ubuntu2_all.deb
cp -L -r /etc/fonts/conf.d /tmp/etc-fonts-conf.d
sudo apt install --fix-broken
sudo cp -L -r /tmp/etc-fonts-conf.d/* /etc/fonts/conf.d/

Go to /etc/fonts/fonts.conf and delete the lines at the top of the file that start with tags "<its:>" or "<description>".

Add this line to your .bashrc:

export TERM=xterm

After installation, the software can be opened by running the executable, e.g., ./CMT_RVNA_22.4.3_x86_64.AppImage. Then enable the TCP protocol in System > Mis Settings > Network setup > Interface state: ON. Take note of the port; it's typically 5025. To do this from the command line---and optionally not opening the GUI---use ./CMT_RVNA_22.4.3_x86_64.AppImage EnableSocket:5025 InvisibleMode.

Some Notes If you are seeing all zeros when using the cmt_vna package, it's possible that the software is connecting to the default SN0916 rather than detecting the R60 device. This could be an issue with your udev rules.

Resources

Monsalve et al., 2016 on calibration: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016ITMTT..64.2631M/abstract

Calibration kit documentation: https://coppermountaintech.com/calibration-kits/s911t-calibration-kit/
CMT Software on Single Board Computers: https://coppermountaintech.com/usb-vnas-with-single-board-computers/
CMT Automation Guide: https://coppermountaintech.com/automation-guide-for-cmt-vnas/
CMT Programming Examples and Guide: https://coppermountaintech.com/automation/
CMT Documentation: https://coppermountaintech.com/help-r/index.html
CMT Repositories: https://github.com/orgs/Copper-Mountain-Technologies/repositories