GPS antenna in a smartphone.

Hi folks,

Please excuse me if this post is in the wrong section.

This is a generic question, but pertains to my specific problem.

The gps is my Android smartphone suddenly stopped working. I tried all the 'solutions' recommended on popular phone sites (hardware, and software, although I'm fairly certain its a hardware issue). No joy.

One of the promising solutions was to bend the golden tabs on the pcb, which align with the antenna embedded in the plastic mid-frame (not the back cover), to make a better contact. I tried this too, and it did not help.

However, while doing this, I noticed both the tabs which are supposed to press against the plastic embedded antenna, seem to be shorted to ground. I do not have any instrument to actually check the impedence, but a multimeter does show a direct, almost-zero-ohm short.

My question is, could this be normal, by design? If not, it would explain the extra heating as well as the non-functioning of the GPS, and in which case I'd need to find the location of the short between the antenna track and the chassis..

I'm hoping the rf gurus on this forum can shed some light on my observation.

Regards,

Anand

EDIT: of the 2 tabs on the motherboard pcb, one is shorted to ground, the other shows an impedence of about 3 to 4 ohms.

ard said:

However, while doing this, I noticed both the tabs which are supposed to press against the plastic embedded antenna, seem to be shorted to ground. I do not have any instrument to actually check the impedence, but a multimeter does show a direct, almost-zero-ohm short.

My question is, could this be normal, by design?

Click to expand...

Yes, this is normal. The popular "inverted F" antenna type has a direct ohmic connection to ground.
https://muehlhaus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/planarF_2G4_1.png