1. Home
  2. Wireless Networking
  3. PCMCIA card--Able to attach antenna?

PCMCIA card--Able to attach antenna?

Hello all,

I have a Motorola WN825G PCMCIA card for my laptop, and I'm wondering how to attach an antenna to it. A picture of the card can be found here:

formatting link
If a higher resolution image is required, I can email it to those who would like it.

Thanks,

mrbiggles

------------------------------------------------------------------------ View this thread:

formatting link

Reply to
mrbiggles
Loading thread data ...

I'm not actually sure if you will be able to read this message - you posted via a web forum, but it has been posted to a newsgroup. You can read/post to this newsgroup (alt.internet.wireless) directly via Google Groups -

formatting link
There's no need for you take/post any photos - there are some close-up photos online in the FCC database:
formatting link
don't look particularly good for making close-up pics of where to solder, but someone may be able to tell you where the soldering should be.

Reply to
Kris

mrbiggles hath wroth:

Well, it's probably possible, but I can't offer any specific suggestions from a 160x120 pixel photo of only one side.

Please DO NOT email me a photo. My mailbox is full and I like it that way. Now I can spend the weekend doing something other than email.

You're probably going to have to do some trace cutting and butchery. If you don't feel comfortable with a tiny soldering iron and Xacto knife, give up now. The easiest way is to attach a length of thin RG-316 coax cable to the card, with an SMA connector on the other end. This is often called a pigtail. You'll also need an SMA to N adapter for the typical antenna. The difficult parts will be where to make the connection, and how to get around the diversity switch.

Here's one example of how it's done.

I think it sucks, but will function. Note that there's very very very little exposed center conductor of the coax where it attaches to the board. Also, the BNC connector is marginal idea. Use SMA or TNC.

This might also be of interest:

Look for the word "pigtail" for more examples. Most are fairly sloppy so don't use them as an example of good soldering.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Kris hath wroth:

That was handy. Thanks. See:

On the right side of the phot, the red line on the right is the trace between the RF section and the diversity switch. Cut and remove this trace. Make sure C48 is still in the circuit. The nearby black rectangle is some kind of RF connector pad. You can try to find a matching connector (SMB, SMC, or uFL) or just solder a coax pigtail to the center pin and ground pins. Keep the exposed center conductor very very very short and ground the shield very close to the end of the coax cable.

Good luck.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.