Antenna on PCI card, broken?

Perhaps if you gave us the brand and model.......

Reply to
Patrick Cleburne
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Bit of a strange problem!

Whilst moving my PC to another room the antenna from my wireless PCI adopter (linksys) dropped off. I've tried putting it back on, but I can't find an obvious way to reconnect - it's not a screw design, and it doesn't slot into place. Basically it's still working, but it's just hanging precariously on the end of the wire (from the PCI card) coming through the case.

How exactly do antennas normally connect to these type of cards?

Sorry for the stupid question, but I can't tell if it's somehow broken, or if I'm being particularly dense and missing the obvious.

Thanks

Reply to
ln

Right angle reverse SMA connector. The antenna just screws into the connector. There's usually a knurled nut at the base.

However, there's a potential problem with the right angle connector. It's really easy to extend the antenna perpendicular to the board and use the antenna as a lever to brute force rotate the connector up and down. Normally, the RT angle SMA connector is quite stiff and will not rotate in place. However, I've seen connectors loosen after brutalizing the antenna. When that happens, the center pin between the right angle sections of the connector breaks internally. This results in the ultimate intermittent RF connection. The problem is obvious when tested with an ohms-guesser.

I have two boards that have this problem where I'll be replacing the connector shortly. When I removed one connector, the center pin just fell out after unsoldering. I think I killed both of these by not being very careful when I moved the computer in the back of my truck. The projecting antenna probably hit something and broke the connector inside. Next time, I'll remember to unplug the antenna before transporting.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Should find that it is an SMA connector that just screws onto the connector on the backplate.

Reply to
David Taylor

Sorry about that, I had assumed they all shared a similar design. It's a Linksys Wireless-G PCI Adapter WMP54G.

Reply to
ln

I've had a look at it again, and it definitely doesn't screw onto the connector on the back-plate.. It seems to be broken or probably missing a part.

Thanks for reply David. Much appreciated.

Reply to
ln

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