Molex 2.4GHz / 5GHz Antenna Kit

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About

With the surge in wireless Internet of Things (IoT) products being introduced to the marketplace, especially in the Connected Home, the importance of antennas-- standalone and surface mount-- has been raised to a new level. In this roadtest, we will provide a kit of portable antennas typically used with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Zigbee systems for the official testers to experiment with. What follows is a description of the antennas that will be provided in each kit:

 

{gallery} Part Number: 146153-0100

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2.4GHz / 5GHz Wi-Fi Stand Alone Balance Antenna with MHF Connector

  • Protocol: BLE, BT, Thread, Wi-Fi, Wireless Hart, Zigbee
  • Type: Wi-Fi Antenna
  • Cable Length: 100.00mm
  • Length: 34.90mm
  • Mounting Style: Adhesive
  • Net Weight: 0.574/g
  • Packaging Type: PET Film
  • Polarization: Linear
  • Radiation Pattern: Omnidirectional
  • Thickness: 0.10mm
  • Width: 9.00mm

Manufacturer page: https://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?part=active/1461530100_ANTENNAS.xml

 

{gallery} Part Number: 206513-0001

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2.4GHz SMT Ceramic Antenna

  • Protocol: BLE, BT, Thread, Wi-Fi, Wireless Hart, Zigbee
  • Type: Wi-Fi Antenna
  • Length: 3.00mm
  • Mounting Style: Surface Mount
  • Net Weight: 0.104/g
  • Packaging Type: Embossed Tape on Reel
  • Polarization: Linear
  • Radiation Pattern: Omnidirectional
  • Thickness: 4.00mm
  • Width: 3.00mm

Manufacturer's page: https://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?part=active/2065130001_ANTENNAS.xml&channel=Products&Lang=en-US

 

{gallery} Part Number: 47948-0001

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2.4GHz SMT On-ground MID Chip Antenna

  • Protocol: BLE, BT, Thread, Wi-Fi, Wireless Hart, Zigbee
  • Type: Wi-Fi Antenna
  • Length:3.00mm
  • Mounting Style: Surface Mount
  • Net Weight: 0.042/g
  • Packaging Type: Embossed Tape on Reel
  • Polarization: Linear
  • Radiation Pattern: Omnidirectional
  • Thickness: 4.00mm
  • Width: 3.00mm

Manufacturer's page: https://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?part=active/0479480001_ANTENNAS.xml&channel=Products

Important Dates

Enrollment Begin: Aug 1 1018

Enrollment Ends: Sept 10 2018

RoadTesters Selected: Sept 26 2018

Product Shipped: Sept 28 2018

RoadTesting Begins: Oct 5 2018

Reminder/Update Email: Nov 5 2018*

Submit Reviews By: Dec 5 2018*

*The element14 RoadTest Staff will send this reminder/update email.

**If a RoadTester is unable to meet the deadline, please notify the RoadTest Program Lead, , as soon as possible before the deadline.

RoadTesters

T&Cs

Molex 2.4GHz / 5GHz Antenna Kit

Terms and Conditions

These are the terms and conditions which govern the Molex 2.4GHz / 5GHz Antenna Kit RoadTest contest. This Contest requires participants to submit an application indicating their previous experience with this type of equipment/component, information on what they would do to test the equipment/component, and the applicant’s desire to post a thorough review of their experience with images, photos, or other supplemental materials. Participants will be required to meet the Conditions for Participation.  The winners of this RoadTest will receive the item(s) listed below. RoadTest Reviews are due no later than 60 days after the receipt of the item(s). No other prizes are offered.

The Principal terms of the Competition:

The following words and phrases are used in these terms and conditions and have the meanings given to them below.

Molex 2.4GHz / 5GHz Antenna Kit

(RoadTest or Contest)

Key dates:

Applications Close: midnight (GMT) on Sept 10, 2018

Announcement of Winner (estimated): Sept 1,7 2018

Prize:Molex 2.4GHz / 5GHz Antenna Kit

Additional Prizes: none

Competition Site: https://www.element14.com/community/groups/roadtest?ICID=menubar_resources_roadtest

Site or element14 Community: www.element14.com/community

Judges: members of the element14 community team chosen at the Organiser’s discretion.

Judging Criteria, All of the following which will have equal weighting:

· Demonstrated competence with the technologies including links or descriptions of past projects

· Qualifications as indicated by current job role and/or schooling/vocational training;

· A thorough description of how the prize would be tested;

· Likelihood that the Applicant will blog about the prize and provide a review on element14.com;

· Originality;

· Innovation.

Organiser: Premier Farnell plc (registered in England and Wales under company number 876412) whose registered office is at Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds, UK

Conditions for Qualification: in addition to meeting the requirements of these terms, all persons applying to take part in the Contest (each one an Applicant) must:

· Provide a RoadTest application describing what he/she would do if awarded the Prize including similar previous projects, product experience and qualifications

Terms: these terms and conditions which govern the Competition and to which the Organiser reserves the right to make changes from time to time and the latest version of these Terms from time to time will be posted to the Site.

  1. Eligibility
  2. Applications:
  3. Selecting Winners:
  4. Liability:
  5. General:

1.1 Save as set out in these Terms, the Contest is open to any natural or legal person, firm or company or group of natural persons or unincorporated body.

1.2 All Applicants must be aged at least 18 at the time of their application.

1.3 Applicants must not enter the RoadTest if doing so or taking part may:

1.3.1 cause the Organiser and/or themselves to be in breach of any agreement (including but not limited to any contract of employment) to which they are a party or in breach of any law, regulation or rule having the force of law to which the Organiser or the Applicant may be subject or any policy of the Organiser or the Sponsor;

1.3.2 Require the Organiser to obtain any licence, authorisation or permission to deal with the Applicant; or

1.3.3 Be in breach of any policy or practice of their employer. Some employers prohibit or restrict their employees from taking part in competitions such as these or receiving prizes under them and the Organiser respects those policies and practices.

The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify any Application made in breach of these Terms and to reject any Application which it reasonably believes may be or become in breach. The Organiser reserves the right to require evidence in such form as the Organiser may reasonably require of any Applicant’s compliance with any of these Terms and to disqualify any Applicant or Participant who cannot provide such evidence reasonably promptly.

1.4 Multiple applications are not permitted.

1.5 Applications may not be submitted by an agent whether acting on behalf of an undisclosed principal or otherwise.

1.6 The Contest is NOT open to:

1.6.1 Any person or entity who is a resident or national of any country which is subject to sanctions, embargoes or national trade restrictions of the United States of America, the European Union or the United Kingdom;

1.6.2 Any employee, director, member, shareholder (as appropriate) or any of their direct families (parents, siblings, spouse, partner, children) (“Direct Families”) of the Organiser and Sponsors; or

2.1 Each Applicant must fully complete and submit a RoadTest Application by the Application Close.

2.2 By submitting a Registration Form, each Applicant:

2.2.1 Authorises the Organiser to use his or her personal data (as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998) for the purposes of running and promoting the RoadTest;

2.2.2 Authorises the Organizer to copy, reproduce and publish their application should they be accepted as a Participant;

2.2.3 Will be deemed to have read, accepted and agree to be bound by these Terms. Applicants are advised to print and keep safe these Terms;

2.2.4 Authorises the Organiser to copy, reproduce and use the Application and/or Review for the purposes of the RoadTest and as otherwise contemplated by these Terms. The Organiser will not be responsible for any inaccuracy, error or omission contained in any reproduction or use of the Project Blogs.

2.2.5 Licenses the Organiser to use the intellectual property in the Project (IP) for the purposes of this Contest. As between the Applicant and the Organiser the IP remains owned by the Applicant.

2.2.6 Grants the Organiser the right to use his or her likeness, photographs, logos, trademarks, audio or video recordings without restriction for the purposes of Contest or the promotion of it or the Site;

2.2.7 Agrees to participate positively in all publicity surrounding the Contest;

2.2.8 Agrees to be responsible for all expenses and costs incurred by him or her in preparing for, entering and participating in the Contest (save for any expenses expressly agreed by the Organiser to be borne by it in these Terms);

2.2.9 Confirms that he or she owns all IP used in his or her application or Project or Blogs and indemnifies the Organiser from any claim by a third party that use of any material provided by an Applicant to the Organiser infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party;

2.2.10 Agrees not to act in any way or fail to act in any way or be associated with any cause or group which would have a negative impact on the reputation of the Organiser and/or the RoadTest.

2.3 All applications submitted to this RoadTest must meet the following criteria:

2.3.1 Applicants must be the author, creator and owner of the proposed review idea. Applicants must not submit someone else’s idea;

2.3.2 The proposed application must be reasonably achievable by the within the time constraints of the Contest;

2.3.3 Applications must not include or propose any of the following, the inclusion of which shall render any proposed application ineligible:

(a) Applications which relate to socially taboo topics, such as illicit drug use or sexual gratification;

(b) Applications that are or could reasonably be considered to be illegal, immoral, discriminatory or offensive as determined by the Organiser;

(c) Applications in relation to them which if accepted would infringe or breach any of the policies or terms of access or use of the Site.

2.4 No Application may contain any of the hazardous substances identified by Article 4 of Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament on the Restrictions on the Use of Substances in Electronic and Electrical Equipment ("the Directive") or the use of such hazardous substances in the in any such Project must not exceed the maximum concentration values set out in the Directive.

3.1 Winners will be selected by the Organiser on the basis of the quality of his or her application and its adherence to these Terms.

3.2 The total number of Winners selected will be at least the minimum number set out above but the actual number is at the sole discretion of the Organizer and/or the Sponsor, if applicable.

3.3 The Organiser will use all reasonable efforts to announce the Winners via an update to the RoadTest page by the date listed above.

3.4 Winners agree to take part in all publicity which the Organiser or the Sponsor wishes to use to promote the RoadTest, the Products featured or other Contests with which the Organiser may be connected from time to time.

3.5 Details of the Winners may also be published in the media.

3.6 Winners are responsible for all applicable taxes, duties or other charges payable in relation to any prize.

3.7

4.1 The Organiser hereby excludes all and any Liability arising out of the Contest or the acceptance, use, quality, condition, suitability or performance of any Prize, even where that Liability may arise from the Organiser’s negligence.

4.2 Nothing in these Terms will affect any Liability of the Organiser for death or personal injury arising from its negligence, for breach of Part II of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (in the event that any entrant is entitled to claim rights under the Consumer Protection Act 1987) or for any matter in relation to which it would be illegal for the Organiser to exclude or to attempt to exclude its Liability.

4.3 Subject to 4.2, neither the Organiser, any parent company nor any subsidiary of the Organiser or such parent company or any of their directors, officers and employees (together referred to in these terms and the ‘Associates’) makes any guarantee, warranty or representation of any kind, express or implied, with respect to this Competition or the Prizes potentially available under it. Neither the Organiser nor any of its Associates shall be responsible for any Liability that may arise out of or in connection with person’s participation in this Competition, the claiming, redemption or value of any prizes under it, the use or enjoyment of such prizes or any events or circumstances arising out of or in connection with any of them. Any implied warranties of condition, merchantability or suitability or fitness for purpose of any of them are hereby expressly excluded. Wherever used in these Terms, ‘Liability’ shall mean any and all costs, expenses, claims, damages, actions, proceedings, demands, losses and other liabilities (including legal fees and costs on a full indemnity basis) arising directly or indirectly out of or in connection with the matter concerned.

5.1 The RoadTest is organised and sponsored by the Organiser. The Organiser reserves the right to delegate all or any of its powers, rights and obligations arising in relation to the RoadTest to any Associate and certain such rights and powers are assumed by the Organiser on behalf of itself and each Associate. Reference to “Organiser” shall be deemed to include reference to each Associate.

5.2 The RoadTest may be terminated at any time if there are, in the sole opinion of the Organiser, an insufficient number of entries, or if the Applications are not of an appropriate standard for a competition of this nature. The Organiser has the right to cancel or suspend the RoadTest at any time due to circumstances outside its reasonable control.

5.3 The Organiser shall have the sole discretion to disqualify (without correspondence or right of appeal) any Applicant it considers to be adversely affecting the process or the operation of the RoadTest or to be in breach of these Terms or to be acting in a disruptive manner or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other Applicant or Participant.

5.4 The Organiser has the right to amend or add to these Terms from time to time. Revised Terms and Conditions will be posted on the Contest Site and it is a condition of entry to the RoadTest that Applicants agree to comply with these Terms and, if appropriate, such Terms as amended from time to time.

5.5 Headings are for convenience only and do not affect the interpretation or construction of these Terms and Conditions.

5.6 These Terms and the operation of the Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law and any claim or matter arising under these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Antenna Design Discussions

https://www.element14.com/community/message/236506/l/brainstorming-on-antenna-design#236506

 

https://www.element14.com/community/message/240266/l/re-seeking-ideas-for-roadtesting-antennas#240266

RoadTest Reviews
Comments
Anonymous
  • I'm looking forward to putting my roadtest aplication plan into action - thank you

     

    Rod

  • Thanks - looking forward to testing them.

     

    - Gough

  • I think this road-test is a great idea. Indeed as said above; I have also not much idea about RF and antennas. I don't own/have access to spectrum analyzer. I look forward to the reviews and all the best to the road-testers.

     

    Cheers

  • MHF is a very small connector usually soldered to PCBs directly - I wasn't able to find any MHF Socket adapters, only MHF Plug to RP-SMA for pigtail usage (i.e. WLAN card to RP-SMA socket for an external antenna). I suspect desoldering the supplied tail from another antenna to put onto the first is going to make the easiest and most fair/consistent outcome, although slightly inconvenient.

     

    - Gough

  • thanks , very helpfull.

    I see all antenna's are 2.4/5GHz. I know MOLEX also manufactures LoRa antenna's (868/915 MHz).

    Since I'm currently experimenting with LoRa, can MOLEX maybe provide some of those for review too?

  • I don't know whether it exists, but a MHF socket to SMA plug adapter should also be convenient.

  • Thanks - the pictures make it clear now.

     

    Being SMA connectors, they're definitely commonly available but just a warning to all who may want to try this with regular Wi-Fi equipment, most of them use RP-SMA which have the same exterior but swap the polarity of the pins. As a result, you'll need an RP-SMA adapter such as this one to make connection between the latter two boards and a Wi-Fi adapter. It will also probably be good to have an SMA to N adapter for a spectrum analyser (e.g. this one). I've chosen the products carefully so the genders should be correct for the intended application.

     

    As for the first antenna with the MHF connector, as the actual antenna seems to be a printed PCB type (and not a flexible one as I thought it was initially), then it will probably be possible to desolder the existing cable and desolder a cable from the other test boards to do a swap to test this antenna. This might not be most convenient (i.e. down-time between tests) and risks damaging the coax (e.g. overheating the dielectric) but should make things fair between the antennas as we now control for coax and connector adapters. We do introduce a new variable, the quality of the soldering, but it now makes testing of the first antenna a possibility.

     

    So, would it be within the budget to sponsor the two adapters I've listed above?

     

    - Gough

  • They're very clear. They have soldered the antenna matching parts (i.e. any additional capacitor or inductor) on the board too, so that the SMA connector end is ready to attach to any device with 50 ohm impedance. For confirming the match, the identical procedure that was used here: Antenna Measurement with the R&S FPC1500 Vector Network Analyzer  , can also be used with these antennas (I used the FPC1500, but other equipment can be used too - the FPC1500 makes it a quick thing to test). It would be interesting to hook it up to a CC3200 dev-board, or even a BLE dev-board which can provide a basic signal strength measurement, others may have different ideas to explore these antennas.

  • I hope the pics are clear enough.

     

    I asked the supplier to mount them on a board.

     

    Someone commented the other day that he wanted to solder them on a board himself. If someone wants to do that, I'll try to get some. I think they come on cut tape.

  • Hi Randall,

     

    Thanks for this, this is great to see. It is really helpful that there is such a board with the antennas, for helping with the testing.

    The connector is a SMA socket according to those photos, for which cables and adaptors are easily available.

  • to All,

     

    I've posted pictures of all the antennas for this roadtest. I've included a link the the manufacturer's page as well.

     

    Randall

  • I read a number of comments this weekend regarding the connections of the antennas on the breakout board. I am taking detailed pictures today and will post on this page.

     

    Randall

  • Thanks Gerrit. Good idea about the FPC1500 reviewers.

     

    Randall

  • Hi , as reviewer of the 3GHz Spectrum Analyzer - R&SRegistered FPC1000 - Review I can give it a try. Unfortunately the FPC1000 is not equipped with a tracking generator, which is very handy for testing antenna's. Maybe you can also ask the FPC1500 Spectrum Analyzer reviewers to apply, since the FPC1500 does have one.

    As I'm currently struggling to finish my TI Robotic Systems Learning Kit (TI-RSLK) review in time, I will try to send my application by next week.

     

    Gerrit.

  • A picture would be very helpful for identifying the connectors. The documents linked to seem to show a test PCB that basically has pads for matching components, to which they solder a pigtail cable to. It doesn't give us much hints as to the connector and the way it can be adapted.

     

    To give you an appreciation of the magnitude of RF-connector-hell I'm trying to work through:

    - The spectrum analyzer uses N-connectors. Chunky, reliable, durable - fair enough.

    - The first antenna uses MHF connectors. Small, miniature, commonly used amongst small NGFF wireless cards inside newer laptops - unfortunately, I don't have one I can take apart for testing (!!)

    - The laptops I do have that can be taken apart use the next-bigger U.FL connector, which was the previously dominant miniature connector amongst internal Wi-Fi equipment.

    - The external USB cards that are most versatile use RP-SMA, a special variant of SMA developed for Wi-Fi applications initially to thwart ad-hoc mixing and matching of antennas but one we are now stuck with.

     

    To tackle the one known antenna connector - MHF - has proven to be rather difficult. As the antenna is terminated in an MHF Plug, there are no MHF socket to N-connector "intra-series" adapters. The only way I can think of is to build an adapter PCB with a solder-mounted MHF jack (such as this one) and put on something easier to deal with, for example an RP-SMA jack (such as this one) and then use an RP-SMA to RP-SMA coax lead which will allow for connection to a USB Wi-Fi card and to an RP-SMA to N intra-series adapter (such as this one) so it could be attached to a spectrum analyser.

     

    The problem with this is that each additional connector, piece of coax and adapter puts us further away from the "truth" and without design expertise or highly consistent manufacturing of PCBs, the performance differences could just be down to the MHF to RP-SMA adaption method. At microwave frequencies, things are relatively unforgiving. I don't think there's a common adapter to go from MHF socket to RP-SMA plug - the only results usually are for the opposite MHF plug to RP-SMA socket which are pigtails (such as this one) used to connect wireless cards to RP-SMA antennas.

     

    If I assume the best, that is, the remaining antennas have RP-SMA plugs or jacks - we could test these more easily as we would only need a standard RP-SMA to RP-SMA coaxial lead and an RP-SMA to N intra-series adapter. By keeping the leads and adapters consistent between tests, they should have the same attenuation. However, even finding an RP-SMA to RP-SMA lead on element14 is difficult - it would be needed in case the break-outs have RP-SMA jacks to connect to the RP-SMA jacks on a USB wireless card.

     

    The other option is to lop whatever is there off and solder in an RP-SMA plug or jack of our own. Unfortunately, there's a good chance this would be done in a rather sub-optimal way, rather nullifying any consistent result as the product is no longer the "same" as it was when supplied.

     

    - Gough

  • Hi Randall,

     

    I sent a PM to you with some links to Molex website.

    My idea was that the antennas for the transmitters and receivers are of the same type.
    I thought it's like with the cables and plugs that they get the same results when the interfaces are the same, A to B and back to the headroom.

    A communication between two antennas is like a communication through a "cable".

    The measurement setup requires access points, gauges, plugs, cables, possibly the chamber or shielding plates.
    A detailed description of the breakout PCBs, which you will deliver too, would help which components are still mounted on this boards.

    A schematic, if one exists in the manual, may be very helpful.


    As far as the measurement setup is concerned, that means the active measuring transmitter / receiver I still have to read and see how far I can participate in the road test here.
    Eg. I can not test 5GHz. The applications I work are more in home appliances. We design and install WIFI at 2.4GHz or below.

    Primarily, we buy rather finished modules and assemble them into a device.

    Here I may ask my business partners if they can provide a measuring device.

    Or, can Rhode & Schwarz help us with a 5..6 GHz analyzer?
    So, here I'm still looking for the right active devices.
    At the last road test I tested the FPC1500 from Rhode & Schwarz and I wrote the review here.
    So I can already test some parameters of the antennas to about 3GHz.
    When I sign up with my application, I describe what I can test and what I can not test; ok.

     

    !! It seems this is a simple test, but as we commented here in the forum, a lot is needed. !!

    --

    Here are the links of information, application notes, for the other users who like to make a road test.

    Here in the links at Molex I have read in the meantime which requirements are necessary for the quality test.

    To test antennas really requires a separate room, chamber and suitable structures.

    This is described in the three application reports from Molex.

     

    https://www.molex.com/pdm_docs/as/AS-146153-100-001.pdf

    https://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?part=active/1461530100_ANTENNAS.xml

     

    https://www.molex.com/pdm_docs/as/2065130001-AS.pdf

    https://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?part=active/2065130001_ANTENNAS.xml

     

    https://www.molex.com/pdm_docs/as/AS-47948-001-001.pdf

    https://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?part=active/0479480001_ANTENNAS.xml

     

    Best Regards

    Gerald

    ---

  •   wrote:

     

    Hehe that RP-SMA stuff is so irritating. Just to throw out a couple of thoughts to add to yours, for testing with easily accessible equipment - some dev-boards could be useful, since they often have a normal connector (or requires a component to be desoldered and moved to route to the connector). Some also have diagnostic modes for transmitting raw or repeated information.

    I've been checking the TI dev boards I have that cover 2.4GHz (CC1350, CC2640R2, CC2650) to see if I could do this road test justice. SmartRF Studio allows manual control over transmission. Unfortunately they all have JSC connectors for an external antenna which seem to be a more obscure choice.

  • James,

     

    On Monday, I look at the parts again and get you an answer to your question.

     

    Randall

  • Gerald,

     

    What would you recommend as a sender and receiver?

     

    Randall

  • Let me look at the antennas again. I'll try to take a pic and post it.

     

    Thanks.

     

    Randall