QUESTION

Question

Hi there!

We are currently designing a Board with an antenova SR4C033-L Antenna.
I highly appreciate your datasheets and materials provided, they help a lot!

We now have the Antenna and Boards here. And after further inspection of the PCB of the Antenna, I am not sure, if feed and band select are on the right pins in the datasheet, not that its an old Version or so... For reference, I have Datasheet "Product Specification SR4C033-PS-1.2".
If I check with the datasheet, it looks like the "complex shaped traces that look like an antenna" are connected to Band-Select and the "short trace that looks like it is way to close to ground" is connected to the feed pin. Should it not be the other way round?

I am not really into antennas and just know the basics, so please excuse if that question may sound silly, but it just looks super odd to me and I want to be sure before assembling some boards :-)

Again, this should in no way be seen as a doubt on your abilities and I appreciate any input :-)

Thanks,
Jakob

Answer 1

Hi Jakob,

No problem at all, happy to help. The data sheet is correct, and you have the latest issue. Pin 1 is Band Select, which is a single component to ground. Pin 2 is the antenna feed, which includes the antenna matching components. All other pins are not connected, they are for mechanical strength.

The ground plane of the PCB radiates as part of the antenna, so it is normal to have a more complex trace connected to ground, than connected to the feed.

Many Thanks

Steve

Comments

Hi Steve,

thanks so much for the quick and very detailed response! Highly appreciated!

Perfect, then our Design works as I hoped. Just did some first tests and it looks alright :-)

Looks like there are more things in antenna design that I am not fully aware of yet as this truly sounds like some black magic :D

Again, thanks and best regards,
Jakob

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Hi Jakob,

No problem, that's what we're here for. We are always keen to engage with our customers as early as possible in their design process. We also offer a free design review service and can help you integrate our products to get the best possible performance, please contact techsupport@antenova.com to get in touch with your regional representative who can guide you through the process.

Many Thanks

Steve