I dont think there is any provision in the module to add an external antenna, also I don't want to ruin them. Moreover, i cant attach big antenna to them as i want to keep them compact for my application. Though i can use small antennas(Does it help?? shown in image) :For the transmission side, power output X gain of aerial = ERP, effective radiated power. Then you have the path loss (distance), Then you have the receiving aerial X the minimum input power for the receiver to produce the wanted output, which must be in excess of the noise floor (hiss). So to increase the range you have 4 possibilities, increase the power, use a better transmitting aerial, use a better receiving aerial, use a more sensitive receiver.
To answer your question, find out the type number of the transmitting device, look up its specification. Then possibly increase the voltage on that device alone, this could increase the output power. Using better(bigger!) aerials will work but might not fit in the available space.
Frank
Shown retractable antennas are way too long. Most simple is to try to replace existing antenna with at upright standing monopole, length around 35 mm, which is a big antennas in this case. Current PCB antenna, if everything is well tuned, should give minimum 100 meter LOS coverage.
If not, improved impedance matching can improve performance as these modules are a bit tricky to set for best matching.
As CC2500 have balanced RF output can a dipole rather easy be implemented. Especially RX performance can gain of this, as it suppress ground related noise.
CC2590 (LNA and +10 dB PA) is a common complement if coverage is too short.
Shown retractable antennas are way too long. Most simple is to try to replace existing antenna with at upright standing monopole, length around 35 mm, which is a big antennas in this case. Current PCB antenna, if everything is well tuned, should give minimum 100 meter LOS coverage.
If not, improved impedance matching can improve performance as these modules are a bit tricky to set for best matching.
As CC2500 have balanced RF output can a dipole rather easy be implemented. Especially RX performance can gain of this, as it suppress ground related noise.
CC2590 (LNA and +10 dB PA) is a common complement if coverage is too short.
Between the RF output at CC2500 (two pins, balanced) and the antenna (1 pin unbalanced + ground) is a network consisting of a few capacitors and inductors that converts from balanced to unbalanced and adjust the rather complex impedance from CC2500 to something more like 50 Ohm at the point were antenna is connected.
You can use any antenna that fit your needs such as size, radiation pattern, gain, impedance.
It happens for me to be at the same position this period. You need an RF Front End Module for this, I don't know if you can do this in another way. I have also looked into CC2590, but still don't know yet which FEM is convenient for me. I am about to test SiGe's SE2436L in a few days, when I get the samples. I couldn't help you for the "home made idea", but from my experience until now, no series improvement could be made unless you use a FEM. I think I will also stay tuned on this threadtushki7 said:Looking Forward for some more thoughts, And i need some home made idea for purpose.
I have also looked into CC2590, but still don't know yet which FEM is convenient for me. I am about to test SiGe's SE2436L in a few days, when I get the samples.
Alexandros
The indoors range did not improved dramatically as I thought it would. I used evaluation boards for both microcontroller-tranceiver and FEM as well. The FEM board was CC2590EMK and the tranceiver was ATAVR128RFA1-EK1 kit. I couldn't figure out if I did something wrong. I used the control pins of CC2590 as datasheet suggested to get the high gain mode. The output power of cc2590 depends on its input power. The output power of ATmega128RFA1 is +3dBm. I was supposed to get around +20dBm. This is a very much improved power plus sensitivity fine tuning from the embedded LNA. The difference with and without the FEM indoors inside a heavy industrial enviroment was small. Far smaller than the all-in-one MCU-tranceiver-FEM module I was using until then, the ZigBit module which had better range. The antenna I used with those evaluation boards was a 2.4GHz rubber antenna, above 0dBi gain.tushki7 said:Please Do post your test results.
Thank you biff44 for your responce, but as I already said in the previous post "I couldn't figure out if I did something wrong". I did not say anything about poor performance in general, if manufacrurer says +20dBm I believe him. I was asked to give my results and I did and actually gave emphasis on the hard test enviroment as well.biff44 said:You talk a lot about poor CC2500EM performance
What is your current coverage and how much do you need to improve it?
For your existing system based on CC2500 and existing F antenna, if good designed, should a coverage of at least 100 meter LOS be possible, even if bandwidth is set to max. Reducing bandwidth and coverage should be even better. I think TI have done some practical comparison att Analog, Embedded Processing, Semiconductor Company, Texas Instruments.
If coverage is reduced due to bad tuned design, should that be corrected. Adding more amplifiers on a unstable system can easy result in even shorter coverage.
The indoors range did not improved dramatically as I thought it would. I used evaluation boards for both microcontroller-tranceiver and FEM as well. The FEM board was CC2590EMK and the tranceiver was ATAVR128RFA1-EK1 kit. I couldn't figure out if I did something wrong. I used the control pins of CC2590 as datasheet suggested to get the high gain mode. The output power of cc2590 depends on its input power. The output power of ATmega128RFA1 is +3dBm. I was supposed to get around +20dBm. This is a very much improved power plus sensitivity fine tuning from the embedded LNA. The difference with and without the FEM indoors inside a heavy industrial enviroment was small. Far smaller than the all-in-one MCU-tranceiver-FEM module I was using until then, the ZigBit module which had better range. The antenna I used with those evaluation boards was a 2.4GHz rubber antenna, above 0dBi gain.
You talk a lot about poor CC2500EM performance, but you do not tell us the parameters you are programming it with. What modulation (you want FSK or GFSK)? What frequency deviaiton (bigger is better for range)? What IF receiver bandwidth do you have set? What data rate and packet size? Have you checked to see if the transmit and receiver boards are on the same frequency, or are they many KHz off from each other?
3.50$ **broken link removed**
1.50 $ from TI if you buy 1000pc. They can be killed due to ESD. Never touch its pins if you and PCB ground not is connected.
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