External 3G antenna plug

[CrazyIvan]

I sometimes visit areas with extremely bad reception and it's much easier to buy external antenna then deal with cell phone signal amplifiers to increase coverage.

I think it would be good to have the ability to plug external antenna to Pyra to use it, for example, as wi-fi hotspot.

SMA connectors aren't very bug and can fit into case somewhere and there is U.FL option if there is no space to use SMA or it would require complex wiring.

 

[thatgui]

cons:

• Space: there is no space for it either on the back nor on the front. Leaving only the sides, which gets impractical if you want to still hold the Pyra while using it. But leaving that problem a side, I can't see a place for it on the sides either. On the left you have the shoulder button, the dpad, the battery compartment, the keyboard.and the xG antenna. On the right you have the action buttons, the battery compartment, the keyboard and the touchpen.
• Regardles of the position as far as I know, usually devices with support for external antennas implement it with the male part of the connector beeing on the device and the female part on the antenna - seems very impractical for a pocketable device.
• Costs: ED seems to be determined to not make any openings (for whatever application) on the side of the case and seems not so happy about additional holes in the case in general: the reason he gave so far was an increase in costs
• U.FL are designed for internal use only (and "on pcb" mount), with a very limited amount of reconnects before the connector breaks

Maybe a solution would be to buy a WLAN-USB stick with an external antenna (plug) and use that on occasion ?

 

[EvilDragon]

Biggest con: CE/FCC testing is a lot higher, as you need to do the complex certification for the 3G/Wifi setup yourself a new when using an external antenna. With non-replaceable antennas, you can use precertified modules and safe those costs.

 

[CrazyIvan]

Biggest con: CE/FCC testing is a lot higher, as you need to do the complex certification for the 3G/Wifi setup yourself a new when using an external antenna. With non-replaceable antennas, you can use precertified modules and safe those costs.

I'm not talking about using external antenna for day to day operation.

It's not possible to test every existing external antenna so I doubt that you need to do that in order to pass certification. Or maybe I just don't understand what you mean by "complex certification for 3G/Wifi setup".

Space: there is no space for it either on the back nor on the front. Leaving only the sides, which gets impractical if you want to still hold the Pyra while using it. But leaving that problem a side, I can't see a place for it on the sides either. On the left you have the shoulder button, the dpad, the battery compartment, the keyboard.and the xG antenna. On the right you have the action buttons, the battery compartment, the keyboard and the touchpen.

How do you expect to use Pyra when it's connected to a 40-50 cm antenna? I think it's logical to expect Pyra not be used as a portable device i such circumstances so it's perfectly fine to have a connector on either side.

Maybe a solution would be to buy a WLAN-USB stick with an external antenna (plug) and use that on occasion ?

 
My data plan is bound to a sim card so it would mean moving it from one device to another. It's bad for the card and extremely inconvenient.

Maybe it'll be enough if there would be only internal plug on the board and the rest could be implemented via case modding by user.

That way Pyra may be advertised as having no options for external antenna avoiding added certification costs while allowing for relatively easy mods to add it.

 

[thatgui]

How do you expect to use Pyra when it's connected to a 40-50 cm antenna? I think it's logical to expect Pyra not be used as a portable device i such circumstances so it's perfectly fine to have a connector on either side.

Where do you want to put it ? ED has shown protoypes of board and case, show me a place where you want to put it, and keep in mind that the male connector still sticks out of the Pandora, so its best not placed were your hands will be if you want to use the Pandora without the antenna connected.
Mentioning a 40-50 cm antenna, brings up the question, what kind of antenna do you want to connect ? I hope not a bar antenna as this would also mean that you have to take care of the leverage that such an antenna creates on the port itself. So you might need to construct the case around the connector differently otherwise you will rip the port out if you are not very carefull.

 

[CrazyIvan]

Mentioning a 40-50 cm antenna, brings up the question, what kind of antenna do you want to connect ?

 
something like this

It's better to place a plug somewhere in the front but it heavily depends on whether it should be put on PCB or not. It's possible to put it on a side and make it recessed into the case so it wouldn't stick out more then 0.5 - 1 mm (possible only when connector is soldered to PCB). It would make harder to connect external antenna but it wouldn't interfere much in general use.

 

[thatgui]

It's possible to put it on a side and make it recessed into the case so it wouldn't stick out more then 0.5 - 1 mm (possible only when connector is soldered to PCB).

Show me

 

[optional106]

I think ED is talking about the extremely expensive laboratory testing  ( safety certificates ) for additional components.

These need to be added into the cost of the items, as the laboratory are charging a lot for each individual test criteria.

Using off the shelf parts, these components already have safety certificates included in the price.

You cannot import or sell the items without all paperwork in order. 

 

[EvilDragon]

The problem is:

According to FCC / CE, any wireless communication device must stay within boundaries regarding emmission.

These are pretty expensive and complex to test (approx. 15,000 - 20,000 EUR in our case).

Therefore, there are precertified modules available, which you can use as long as you follow their antenna specs (as they have been tested already).

However, an external connector is an open antenna - and has a WAY higher emission usually than when an antenna is connected.

You need to have some circuitry inside to prevent that as good as possible.

Therefore, government forces you to re-certify your final product.

 

[WizardStan]

Even if there's not actually an antenna, just a plug which someone could hypothetically plug some antenna into way down the road, you still need to certify it?

That's weird.

 

[levi]

Not really. The external connector alters the emission characteristics of the device (usually for the worse). It may be you can do it easily without increasing emissions beyond what is permitted, but you'd still need to pay for a retest since you're no longer running an off-the-shelf configuration. And believe me, emissions tests aren't cheap.

 

[EvilDragon]

Not really. The external connector alters the emission characteristics of the device (usually for the worse). It may be you can do it easily without increasing emissions beyond what is permitted, but you'd still need to pay for a retest since you're no longer running an off-the-shelf configuration. And believe me, emissions tests aren't cheap.

Perfectly explained

 

[WizardStan]

The external connector alters the emission characteristics of the device (usually for the worse).

Ah, I see, I see. Hmmm...

 

[CrazyIvan]

Not really. The external connector alters the emission characteristics of the device (usually for the worse). It may be you can do it easily without increasing emissions beyond what is permitted, but you'd still need to pay for a retest since you're no longer running an off-the-shelf configuration. And believe me, emissions tests aren't cheap.

Perfectly explained

As I remember there were certification tests for pandora. Is something like this planned for Pyra's wifi/bt or you are using everything pre-certified and wouldn't need certification tests at all?

Or maybe cellular modems need separate tests to pass certification? 

 

[EvilDragon]

Those are the standard certification tests - for WiFi or 3G, you need more expensive ones.