Hi SparkFun!
I’m not an antennae officianado, so I have a question about how to connect an external antenna to the BC127 radio module.
Here’s the setup: I just ordered your Proto Pedal kit and the aluminum die-cast enclosure.
I’m going to build my proto pedal with a Tympan inside to do mad effects. www.tympan.org
(I’m the guy who designs the Tympan board, btw). The new Tympan Rev D is in production now, and it uses the BC127.
Thinking that I can use the bluetooth to modify/change effects. Also, I can use it to send audio over the bluetooth, which is kinda sick.
However, once I get the pedal made, it will be sitting inside of a faraday cage.
Tympan uses the BC127, not the BC127-EXT.
Can I just pop off the chip anrtenna and solder on some leads to my own antenna? Can you recommend an antenna that wold work for this purpose?
Hi, and thanks for writing on the new forums!
I don’t know if it would work, but removing the chip antenna and soldering a cable like [this to the antenna pin and ground on the board might work. You’d need an antenna similar to [one of these connected to the other end of the cable.
It’s possible this won’t work at all though. The manufacturer goes through a lot of trouble making sure everything on the RF side is impedance matched for the antenna they have chosen. Messing with their design could make things not work correctly or possibly even break things.](2.4GHz Duck Antenna RP-SMA - WRL-00145 - SparkFun Electronics)](Interface Cable RP-SMA to U.FL - 100mm - WRL-00662 - SparkFun Electronics)
I’m not afraid of breaking things.
If no one has a better answer I’ll go ahead and hit it with this hammer and let you know how things shake out.