Texas Instruments has a very attractive range of single-chip 2.4 GHz RF transceivers with very high bitrates (up to 1 Mbps) and lots of built-in features. (See [product portfolio.) They need a minimum of external components and offer a direct MCU interface. Consuming less than 25 mA for both Tx and Rx at full power, these are compact, low-current, medium-range units that are perfect for the types of projects that folks at SparkFun enjoy.
The only problem is that all the chips come in a QFN package. While many here have started playing with SMT soldering using the bridge-and-wick method using your wonderful tutorials, soldering a leadless package like QFN is still out of the reach for most of us. The CC2400 chip is an ideal candidate for a breakout board. An interface board (which would already include all the necessary external passives [[application schematics on pp. 18-19]) would be even cooler. Having everything on one board, which closely follows TI’s recommended PCB layout guidelines (see [reference designs) would dramatically increase peak performance, up to near-theoretical limits, besides being a lot easier to use. We wouldn’t need (or even want) any extras, such as an on-board MCU; just give us a compact (and hopefully not too expensive!) board with connections for power, antenna, and MCU signals, and it will be perfect. Thanks!](http://www.chipcon.com/index.cfm?kat_id=2&subkat_id=12&dok_id=105)](http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/cc2400.pdf)](Analog | Embedded processing | Semiconductor company | TI.com)