Quatech 802.11B/G manual Antenna Selection, Host Board Mounted Antenna

8.0Antenna

The unit supports antenna connection through a single Hirose U.FL connector, located on the top surface of the radio next to the RF shielding.

Any antenna used with the system must be designed for operation within the 2.4GHz ISM band and specifically must support the 2.412GHz to 2.482GHz for 802.11b/g operation. They are required to have a VSWR of 2:1 maximum referenced to a 50 system impedance.

8.1Antenna Selection

The Airborne radio supports a number of antenna options, all of which require connection to the U.FL connectors on the radio. Ultimately the antenna option selected will be determined by a number of factors, these include consideration of the application, mechanical construction and desired performance. Since the number of possible combinations is endless we will review some of the more common solutions in this section. If your application is not covered during this discussion please contact Technical Support for more specific answers.

The available antenna connections include:

Host board mounted antenna

Host Chassis mounted antenna

Embedded antenna

In addition to the above options, location and performance need to be considered, the following sections discuss these items.

8.2Host Board Mounted Antenna

Host board mounted requires that an antenna connection is physically mounted to the host system board. It also requires that the host board include a U.FL connector (two (2) if diversity is being used) to allow a U.FL to U.FL coaxial lead to connect from the radio to the host board. It will then require 50 matched PCB traces to be routed from the U.FL connector to the antenna mount.

There are several sources for the U.FL to U.FL coaxial cable these include Hirose, Sunridge and IPEX. Please contact Quatech for further part numbers and supply assistance.

This approach can simplify assembly but does require that the host system configuration can accommodate an antenna location that is determined by the host PCB. There are also limitations on the ability to seal the enclosure when using this approach.

This approach also restricts the selection of available antenna. When using this approach, antennas that screw or press fit to the PCB mount connector must be used. There are many options for the antenna connector type, however if you wish to utilize the FCC/IOC modular approval the connector choice must comply