NanoFarfield is a new antenna measurement system that enables reliable far-field radiation-pattern and gain measurements for students, educators, researchers, engineers, and makers. It combines a precision motorized rotation platform, amplifier + RF limiter module, and measurement software that synchronizes VNA captures with angular metadata to produce high-quality polar and Cartesian radiation patterns.

Built by an experienced team (creators of the Anten’it educational antenna & microwave kit families and the VNAMS antenna measurement system), NanoFarfield is engineered to provide reproducible, verifiable measurements at a fraction of the cost of traditional commercial far-field ranges. NanoFarfield is a catalyst for a new era of accessible, decentralized RF engineering, no lab required.

Measure Where Reflections Are Low, Not Where Labs Are

NanoFarfield fits into a backpack, runs from a standard USB Type-C PD power bank, and is ready to use in minutes. Instead of fighting reflections in offices, classrooms, or crowded labs, users can simply go to environments with naturally low reflections—outdoors, on rooftops, terraces, or remote, open spaces. This makes it great for anyone looking to test new antenna designs, whether you’re a seasoned professional or a newbie at a startup designing your first wireless product.

This breaks with tradition, making RF engineering a job that can be done anywhere, cutting reliance on specific lab locations. By shipping NanoFarfield to engineers in the field, they can validate new antenna designs in a wide range of environments with their mobile testbeds. Moreover, this expands accessibility to students who may be on campuses with inadequate resources and let students continue study when leaving campus for the day. New engineers can do more with NanoFarfield than low-cost VNAs, unlocking far-field antenna measurements to help them understand complex RF concepts.

The design has been proven in two real-world, demanding scenarios. It has been demoed for academics and professionals at the IEEE Antennas & Propagation Society Workshop in Egypt, whose feedback was incorporated into the project.

Demo at the IEEE Antennas & Propogation Society Workshop

NanoFarfield has also been tested using the demanding CST Studio software suite, proving its usefulness in a battery of simulated tests, to within ±1.5 dB when equipped with the Anten’it Horn antenna. Full datasets (simulated and measured .XLSX and .TXT files) will be published as part of the campaign’s documentation so backers can reproduce and verify all comparisons.

Features & Specifications

• Far-field rotation and automated acquisition workflow when used with its included software
• Compatible with a number of low-cost NanoVNAs and LiteVNAs
• Integrated RF limiter-amplifier module (typically 26 dB between 50-6000 MHz) for robust S-parameter capture
• Plot (polar and Cartesian), exported in PDF format
• Data Export, in XLSX format
• Frequency range: 50–6000 MHz
• Angular resolution: Typically 1° (configurable)
• Rotation range: 0–360°
• RF interface: SMA connectors
• Power: USB for controller, motor and amplifier
• Size: 14 X 17 X 7.5 cm (5.5 × 6.7 × 3.0 in)
• Weight: 2.7 kg (6 lbs)

Open Source

NanoFarfield uses a mix of open and closed source solutions. It is open hardware, and we will make STEP files, the BoM, and other manufacturing documents available under a CERN-OHL-S license. Hardware files will be made public during the campaign. We’ve already made a number of workshop photos and measurement datasets available for people to check before they back the project.

Its software is closed-source and will be provided as an executable for backers to run on Windows. Its core signal processing algorithm is proprietary, and it will be made available to the users after the campaign closes.

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