ESP-32 1-Channel gateway u.fl antennae

Wireless & IoT LoRa (Long Range)
1

My research group has ordered two sets of u.fl antennae to attach to a set of LoRa single channel gateways that we have ordered. Upon testing the range of the antennae along with a simple copper wire antenna, we found that the range of the copper wire far exceeds the range of the antennae that we ordered. Abnormally so.

Copper Wire Range ~ 1 mile

Anaren whip antennae (3dBi gain) ~ 50 feet

(https://www.digikey.com/en/products/det … MHPDqxq0gA)

Linx Tech 916MHZ WHIP/TILT CONN ~ 50 feet

(https://www.digikey.com/en/products/det … sMIALoBfIA)

It doesn’t make sense that these antennae would get such sort range, when a simple copper wire gets us a range as far as a mile. If anyone has experience with this type of issue or suggestions, please reach out.

2

The gain for the antennas you purchased are approximately 3dBi and -.4dBi, which is rather small. I can’t speak to your Copper wire because I’m not sure how it’s cut or it’s length or it’s overall conductivity but the gain is seemingly higher. You’d have to do in-depth EMF testing to figure out how the copper is specifically operating. Sometimes simple just gets the job done well

3

Thanks for your response. Upon further inspection, it appears that there was a connection missing on the solder pads that allowed the use of the u.fl port. Using a string of solder to connect the u.fl, that got it working.