If I remove (desolder) the WTC blue brick antenna from the end of aa ABS NW-200-USB adapter I am left with two copper pads. One looks to be just support to anchor the chip and the other end is at the end of a series of capacitors and an inductor. I assume I solder the driven element to the end of the series of Capacitors and inductor. I would think I need to connect the ground side of the antenna (other half of the dipole in the Yagi) to something. I bought three of these from Newegg in case I smoke the first one.
Any other guidance on connecting an external antenna to this would be greatly appreciated. Is a Yagi the best choice?
Yaaaaaaaawn.... Thinking before coffee is difficult.
Yes. There are only two connections to the anteanna. One is ground.
Are you sure it's labelled WTC? That's a Centurion part but not exactly the correct antenna: |
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WIC would be more accurate? |
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Correct. For that particular antenna, it's just a very compact 1/4 wave radiator. The anchor pad can be ignored.
That's the matching network to compensate for any mismatches between the radio and the antenna.
Correct. First, make sure there's no DC sitting on the antenna connection. There probably isn't be check anyway. If using a coax pigtail (recommended), be sure to keep the exposed part of the center conductor as absolutely short as possible.
What yagi? Find the closest ground connection and use LOTS of grounding to the braid.
Learn by Destroying. You must sacrifice one to learn how to do the others correctly. Without sacrifice, the radio gods do not deliver.
Use very small coax and keep the exposed leads VERY short.
I have opinions on the releative merits of yagi, dish, and patch antennas. Each one depends on what you are trying to accomplish and what you have to work with. There are few places where I would use a yagi.
I sorta agree. The center of the "bulls eye" is an RF test point used in the automagic production fixture. It's probably a decent place to grab the signal. There's plenty of ground around it for the coax shield. It appears to be coupled to the matching network with a small capacitor (C11), which may be too small to couple all the RF as long as the matching network is still present. Methinks you may need to lift C49 or preferably, cut the trace to C49.
I'm a big fan of semi-ridid 0.141 coax cable with SMA connectors for such things. If semi-rigid is unavailable, a piece of RG-174/u, RG-188/u, or RG-316 coax will work.
Incidentally, if you wanna try something really ugly, don't bother with the coax and just build a dipole. This would go near where the blue antenna thing (removed) went. One 1/4 wave element is connected to the RF lead, perpendicular to the board.. The other to the ground forming a dipole. Each are 3.1 cm long. It should give a few dB of gain.
Another way is to use the trace included on the backside of the board next to next to c44/c57 that looks like a bullseye,turning c49 90 degrees would direct the output to the center through the gold plated via. an SMP type "catchers mitt" looks like it would fit,possibly others but you get the idea.. it would be harder but less lossy than just soldering coax to traces
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