What antenna types are supported by Notecard?

gwolff · November 30, 2020, 8:47pm

version 20210401.1

Cellular

Select antennas that support the full range of bands supported by the Notecard modem.

Notecard SKU	Description	Modem Datasheet Link
NOTE-NBGL-*	Narrow-band global coverage: LTE Cat-M, NB-IoT, GSM	Quectel BG95-M3
NOTE-NBNA-*	Narrowband North America coverage: LTE Cat-M	Quectel BG95-M1
NOTE-WBEX-*	Wideband Europe, Middle East, Asia coverage: LTE Cat-1, WCDMA, GSM	Quectel EG91-EX
NOTE-WBNA-*	Wideband North America coverage: LTE Cat-1, WCDMA	Quectel EG91-NAX
* designates all SKU of that type

Antennas we have used successfully across our product line

LTE CAT-1 / CAT-M / Nb-IoT / GSM

Vendor/Part Number	Description
Pulse W3796	surface mount component
Maximus FXUB66	flexible printed circuit single-channel
Molex 2091420180	flexible printed circuit single-channel
Taoglas MFX3.07.0150C	flexible printed circuit single-channel
Pulse W6112B0100	flexible printed circuit dual-channel
Taoglas MA256.A.LBI.001	dual channel + active GPS

Diversity Antenna for Wideband Notecards

NOTE-WBEX and NOTE-WBNA have two U.FL cellular antenna connectors. You must connect an antenna to the MAIN connector. The purpose of the DIV connector is to use LTE Cat1 antenna diversity to improve reception in applications where the antennas see reflected copies of the received signal, such as in a basement. A connection to the DIV connector is optional and is only necessary when a single MAIN antenna does not perform adequately.

GPS

We recommend the use of an active GPS antenna for adequate performance. You should select an active antenna with 50 Ohm impedance which accepts voltages in the 3.3V-4.0V range, for compatibility with current (3.9V) and future Notecards. Notecard supports the use of a passive GPS antenna, but performance will be significantly degraded.

GPS Antennas we have used successfully:

Type	Vendor/Part Number
Active	Taoglas MA256.A.LBI.001 (dual channel + active GPS)
Passive	Pulse W3010 (surface mount component)

Using External GPS Antennas with Notecarriers

Which Notecarriers support which type of GPS antenna

	Active Antenna	Passive Antenna
Notecarrier-A	NO ¹	YES
Notecarrier-B	YES ²	YES ³
Notecarrier-Pi	YES ⁴	YES ⁵

Notecarrier-A*

(1) The GPS antenna mounted on the Notecarrier-A* is active, but does not power its amplifier via bias voltage on the GPS coaxial u.FL connector. An external active antenna connected to Notecard will not be powered by Notecard because there is no voltage bias on the GPS coaxial connector when it is mounted to a Notecarrier-A*

Notecarrier-B

(2) Set the ACTIVE GPS switch to the ON position to enable the voltage bias for an active antenna

DO NOT use a passive antenna when the ACTIVE GPS switch is set to ON. The passive antenna will permanently damage the Notecard by presenting a DC short circuit to the GPS antenna connector which has a 3.9V DC bias.

(3) You MUST set the ACTIVE GPS switch to the OFF position. Failing to do so will permanently damage the Notecard when a passive antenna is connected.

Notecarrier B V1.x (green PCB)

To enable passive antenna support for Notecarrier-B V1.x requires hardware modification. Remove R317 (page 3 of the schematic here: note-hardware/Notecarrier-B schematic v1.6.pdf at master · blues/note-hardware · GitHub)

Notecarrier-Pi

(4) Set the ACTIVE GPS switch to the ON position to enable the voltage bias for an active antenna

DO NOT use a passive antenna when the ACTIVE GPS switch is set to ON. The passive antenna will permanently damage the Notecard by presenting a DC short circuit to the GPS antenna connector which has a 3.9V DC bias.

(5) You MUST set the ACTIVE GPS switch to the OFF position. Failing to do so will permanently damage the Notecard when a passive antenna is connected.

Francois · December 11, 2020, 9:50pm

Antennas represent a substantial cost compared to the Notecard.

So choosing one of those four flexible antennas is based on price vs. gain?
Maximus FXUB66 --> $11.83 for 5.5dBi
Molex 2091420180 --> $1.57 for 2.7dBi
Taoglas MFX3.07.0150C --> $9.63 for 5dBi
Pulse W6112B0100 --> $7.13 for 4dBi
Could you please provide more examples of scenarios where we should expect a reflected signal (besides basements)?
In a LTE Cat1 scenario requiring DIV, it is a better strategy to use two lower cost antennas (second on DIV) or one top-of-the-line?
If using two antenna, do they need to be identical?

gauteh · April 9, 2022, 10:44am

Are these antennas usable with the Notecarrier B without modification?

Or these for GPS: https://no.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/206560-0200?qs=wQWKWGyrjFlhvQnOZs6lUQ%3D%3D

I think it is 50 Ohm.

bsatrom · April 9, 2022, 12:06pm

Hey @gauteh the Molex 213353 is a great antenna, and should work for you. I just used it on a two-week road trip across the US and had no problems.

gauteh · April 9, 2022, 12:21pm

Ok, great. So I don’t need to remove the 0 ohm resistor when connecting it to the notecard ufl connector? I got confused by this post and the notecarrier B section on Antenna requirements.

gwolff · April 12, 2022, 2:24pm

No, you do not need to remove the 0 ohm resistor for cellular antennas.

Hardware modification of Notecarrier B applies only to the GPS antenna. You do not need to modify the hardware if

You are only using a cellular antenna
You are using an active GPS antenna

gauteh · April 12, 2022, 2:46pm

Ok. But I don’t think the two links I provided are to active antennas?

gwolff · April 13, 2022, 8:17pm

Sorry about that. I missed the links above. They do indeed appear to be passive antennae

The #206560-0200 is certainly passive:

For the other antenna, I see it is a trace antenna, and it doesn’t specify any input voltage range, so I expect it too is passive.

So in this case, yes the 0 ohm resistor should be removed. Not removing it and plugging in a passive GPS antenna on the Notecard can fry the Notecard and render it unusable.

gauteh · April 20, 2022, 10:10am

Thanks!

@bsatrom Did you remove the resistor when you used the Molex 213353?

bsatrom · April 21, 2022, 4:53pm

Hi @gauteh sorry for the delay, I wanted to run another test to verify before replying. But no, I did not remove the resistor for the Molex 213353 when using it with the Notecarrier B and have not had any issues with it.

gauteh · April 21, 2022, 6:17pm

Ok, thanks good to know. I’ll remove it on future assemblies.

markwkiehl · December 10, 2022, 1:02pm

Note that the cable on the left (image shown) closest to the “molex” label is for the LTE cellular connection, and the one on the right near the PN is for the GPS.

abari · January 24, 2023, 2:21pm

re Notecarrier-B
(2) DO NOT connect a passive antenna to a Notecard mounted in Notecarrier-B factory configuration

Has this changed? I noticed the dip switch on my carrier B for GPS active is set to off from the factory, does that mean I can connect a passive antenna? I don’t see anything in the docs about changing it from active <-> passive other than the dip switch.

GPS isn’t really necessary for my project, but I figure I might as well collect the data since its available.

gwolff · January 24, 2023, 2:50pm

That’s a good point. When we released the new version of the Notecarrier B we added the switch.

I’ll update the info at the top of the thread.