How to connect a cellular antenna?

Noah,

I don't think this is going to work the way you expect.  As I understand your question, you want to control your rover via bluetooth (which operates at 2.4 GHz) via a cellular antenna, which operates at 900 MHz?  You'll need either a bluetooth antenna (standard 2.4 GHz wifi antenna should suffice) to connect to your bluetooth module, or you'll need a cellular module to hook the cel-0075 up to, such as http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A8DDYB6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2B8RER3KNREL5&coliid=IA0DRG4ESCEJL

There may be ways to connect that antenna to the bluetooth module, but given the antenna is "tuned" for a different frequency, it likely won't help much.

Dear: John

Thank you for your last post. That was especially helpful because I didn't know I was using the wrong antenna. I am sorry but I have to ask you can you point out any brands that don't come with a board because I am making a custom PCB from scratch as you should know. Good Luck!!!

From: Noah

Never-mind sorry to make you look but I found an antenna right here but I still need some questions to be answered.

Ariel length is a function of the frequency, most small devices try to go with about a 1/4 of the wavelength

you can calculate what this is like this

First the speed of electricity (Radio Wave) in free air = 300000000 Meters per Second

Wavelength is the speed of travel in free air divided by the frequency

ie.

2.4Ghz/300,000M/S = 120mm so a quarter wavelength will be 30mm. this would be a good length. you could also go with 1/8 = 15mm but less effective

900Mhz/300000       = 333mm, so almost 3 times longer and not an even divider of the 2.4Ghz length, even a                     1/8 = 41.6mm

How far are you intending to control this from ?, a simple Bluetooth will give you 30-100ft, a cheap sub1Ghz radio will work to 300 feet or more

Dear: Peter

You should know first of all I am using parts GTPA013 and CSR 4.0 which you can find here and here. and I would like it to have a decent range not much or not to little. I am really not sure how far I want it to go but as long as it has 4 bars little to almost all the time I am good.

From: Noah

Dear: Element 14

You should know I found this cellular antenna off the internet. What connector will fit it I am not getting that. What does "Changing Gender" mean I am not getting that either.

From: Noah

Noah,

You'll need a pigtail to connect the antenna to the board.  Something like this:  http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-ANT24PT-RP-SMA-Pigtail-Cable/dp/B003U6825G/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1407111497&sr=8-5&keywords=pigtail

The large end will connect to the antenna, and the small end will connect to the external antenna connection on the module you're using the antenna with.  Since you mentioned the CSR 4.0 (which has this chipset:  http://www.csr.com/products/54/csr8000-platform ), I don't know if you'll be able to connect the pigtail directly, you may have to solder it in (Sorry, unable to help there).

Edit - as for "changing gender", the connectors will either be male or female, and if you run into a situation where you need to connect two similar connectors, you'll need a "gender change" adapter so you can connect them together.

Noah

What controller are you planning to use on this project, You should know that a lot of the Arduino's will not be able to talk to a USB Bluetooth dongle (adapter) like the one you linked in, you will probably have to use a Bluetooth Shield. A raspberry PI can but increases the complexity of what your doing. GPS should not be a problem providing you get the right adapter for it

Are you planning on letting this out of your sight, if so and it is to be truly autonomous I would suggest a much more powerful Micro-controller as an UNO level one will probably not be able to hold enough program to run everything

Something to think about

Peter

You could use that original antenna, but you will get limited range because the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) is almost 6 at 2.4 GHz. At high frequencies, matching a system (same impedance everywhere) is extremely important because reflections can be an issue. If you want to pick a good antenna for 2.4 Ghz, select one that has a VSWR of 2 or less at that frequency.

This really comes down to the range you want.

Noah;

The antennas you are linking to use an SMA connector. If you are designing the PCB for this antenna, you have to make sure the system is impedance matched to the antenna. It won't be a huge deal if you can keep the traces short enough.

Mike