N
Nico Coesel
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
Every now and then you find something new on your path...
I'm working on a wireless device which is going to use a PCB trace as
an antenna. The bitrate is quite high (approx 250kbit) and we decided
to use the 433MHz band because it has little restrictions. The main
problem is the antenna. I managed to put a 115mm (4530 mil) long
trace (1/4 labda monopole) onto the 50mmx80mm (2" x 3.15") board to
form an L shaped antenna. Its fed from a 50 Ohm transmission line
which runs over a reasonable big ground plane (top and bottom stitched
). So far I was able to gather some info from applications notes and
so on.
Ofcourse there is more on the board than just the antenna although I
made sure the antenna runs far away from the dense populated areas.
Now the real problem is going to get the antenna tuned. As far as I
can see that takes two steps: getting the antenna to resonate at the
desired frequency and matching the impedance. The gear I have
available is a spectrum analyzer, an oscilloscope, a directional
coupler and an HF generator.
I know a vector network analyzer would be the right tool especially
for determining the mismatch, but I'm wondering if I could do without.
If not, I've found this kit.
http://www.sdr-kits.net/
Looks nice and affordable any comments?
I'm working on a wireless device which is going to use a PCB trace as
an antenna. The bitrate is quite high (approx 250kbit) and we decided
to use the 433MHz band because it has little restrictions. The main
problem is the antenna. I managed to put a 115mm (4530 mil) long
trace (1/4 labda monopole) onto the 50mmx80mm (2" x 3.15") board to
form an L shaped antenna. Its fed from a 50 Ohm transmission line
which runs over a reasonable big ground plane (top and bottom stitched
). So far I was able to gather some info from applications notes and
so on.
Ofcourse there is more on the board than just the antenna although I
made sure the antenna runs far away from the dense populated areas.
Now the real problem is going to get the antenna tuned. As far as I
can see that takes two steps: getting the antenna to resonate at the
desired frequency and matching the impedance. The gear I have
available is a spectrum analyzer, an oscilloscope, a directional
coupler and an HF generator.
I know a vector network analyzer would be the right tool especially
for determining the mismatch, but I'm wondering if I could do without.
If not, I've found this kit.
http://www.sdr-kits.net/
Looks nice and affordable any comments?