Small fixes

This commit is contained in:
apt105 2021-05-09 15:03:35 +01:00
parent b6d15e27a4
commit b7352f76c2
4 changed files with 8 additions and 4 deletions

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---
id: antenna
title: Antennas
sidebar_label: Antennas
sidebar_label: Overview
slug: /hardware/antenna
---

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slug: /hardware/non-aerial
---
Unless you're using your devices in a vacuum with clear line of sight between aerials:
Unless you're using your devices in a vacuum with clear line of sight between aerials the following will have an affect:
- Weather (temperature, humidity & air pressure),
- Transmission power, spreading and other associated channel factors,
- Number of nodes within reach in the mesh (affects retries consequent duty cycle hit),
@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Unless you're using your devices in a vacuum with clear line of sight between ae
- Reflection off surfaces (and channeled through material tunnels, including warm / cold air tunnels commonly present in the atmosphere),
- Diffraction around obstacles (over forests and around corners).
### Environmental
### Environmental factors
For a bit of light reading on environmental research:
- [RF attentuation in vegetation](https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/p/R-REC-P.833-9-201609-I!!PDF-E.pdf) (yes really); if you wander through the woods wondering how your RF is bouncing off leaves dependent on their variety, and wind speed … well you do, now.

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* [Solwise Link Budget Calculator](https://www.solwise.co.uk/link-budget.htm)
* Predict the received signal strength
* [Amateur Radio Toolkit](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.daveyhollenberg.amateurradiotoolkit)
* Android app with lots of antenna information
### Antenna designs

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@ -30,4 +30,6 @@ Here are a [couple](https://medium.com/home-wireless/testing-lora-antennas-at-91
## Antenna matching & vector network analysers
One of the first things to ensure is that the antenna you have is tuned to the frequency that you are using. A lot of cheap antennas come labeled with an incorrect working frequency, and this will immediately reduce the emittted signal stregth. A Vector Network Analyser (VNA) can be used to ensure that the antenna is appropriately matched to the tranmission circuit, ensuring that it is operating at the correct impeadance and has a low level of power reflected back from the antenna to the transmitter at the desired transmission frequency. Andeas Speiss (the 'guy with the Swiss accent') gives a great explanation of [how to use Vector Network Analysers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpKoLvqOWyc) to correctly tune your antennas, as well as a more [in depth tutorial of how to use VNAs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pjcEKQY_Tk). It is important to remember however, that VNAs can only tell you if the antenna is well matched, not how well it is transmitting. A 50 ohm resistor across the transmitter output would show as ideally matched, but it would be useless at transmitting a signal. There are a number of VNAs now available for less than $100, making this no longer out of reach for most hobbiests unlike expensive spectrum analysers.
One of the first things to ensure is that the antenna you have is tuned to the frequency that you are using. A lot of cheap antennas come labeled with an incorrect working frequency, and this will immediately reduce the emittted signal stregth. A Vector Network Analyser (VNA) can be used to ensure that the antenna is appropriately matched to the tranmission circuit, ensuring that it is operating at the correct impeadance and has a low level of power reflected back from the antenna to the transmitter at the desired transmission frequency.
Andeas Speiss also gives a great explanation of [how to use Vector Network Analysers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpKoLvqOWyc) to correctly tune your antennas, as well as a more [in depth tutorial of how to use VNAs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pjcEKQY_Tk). It is important to remember however, that VNAs can only tell you if the antenna is well matched, not how well it is transmitting. A 50 ohm resistor across the transmitter output would show as ideally matched, but it would be useless at transmitting a signal. There are a number of VNAs now available for less than $100, making this no longer out of reach for most hobbiests unlike expensive spectrum analysers.