Please, can you share documentation and/or reference designs of pcb antennas for Rak3172?. Thank you.
PCB Antenna for LoRa. Check product description on the lower part of the page.
These antennas are for evaluation only and have limited performance. For the final product you need to look for an antenna that matches with the enclosure and positioning of the antenna inside the enclosure.
As each product has different requirements on the design of an antenna we cannot offer PCB antennas that match with every customer product.
If possible, antennas like the 2dBi or 3dBi will provide a better range and result.
Hi Bernd,
Thank you for your reply.
We want to design a sensor based on RAK3172.
The product will use a very small plastic case, so long-wired ipex or SMA antennas are not an option. That’s why we are requesting design guidelines for small PCB or coil or ceramic antennas.
Regards,
Marcelo.
Hello @MrFalco, antenna design is not a simple topic. You could have a look at CC-ANTENNA-DK-RD reference design | TI.com for a few ideas.
In any case, after you design your antenna would still need to measure the antenna and transmission line to perform matching/tuning. This would require a VNA and some expertise in the area.
If your product cannot use an external antenna, ideally a dipole, I would recommend getting in touch with a professional antenna designer. Alternatively, if your project has a limited budget and/or RF performance is not very important, you could just use a PCB trace that matches 1/4Lambda or a zig-zag pattern of similar length in the RF pin. You might get some limited range, but I’m pretty sure communication still going to work. Maybe add some matching network pads so you can tune in later if you get access to a VNA.
Just note that RF and Antenna design on a self-contained product needs to start at very early stages. I often face PCB and enclosure designs that were done without considering RF, and very little can be done to improve.
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