Quad patch antenna / RFX 2400

GNU Radio
1

Hi All,

I am having difficulty figuring out how to connect the quadpatch
(http://www.ettus.com/images/PATCH2400.jpg) to RFX 2400. I have two
questions and it would be of great help to me if you could answer
them.

  1. How to use the quadpatch – I have a copper coax tube that came
    along with the antenna. I could connect the coax to TX/RX port on the
    RFX 2400, but what after that? … the quadpatch pad does not seem to
    have any interface … do I need to solder or something? (I could
    not understand much from patch2400.pdf on ettus.com)

  2. Is there any other way to use RFX2400 (w/o the quadpatch)?

Thanks a ton!

–Shravan

2

Shravan Rayanchu wrote:

  1. How to use the quadpatch – I have a copper coax tube that came
    along with the antenna. I could connect the coax to TX/RX port on the
    RFX 2400, but what after that? … the quadpatch pad does not seem to
    have any interface … do I need to solder or something? (I could
    not understand much from patch2400.pdf on ettus.com)
    That PDF has instructions about how to solder the antenna onto the
    coax… that’s what you need to do to make this work. The part of the
    diagram labelled “coax prep” shows how you need to strip the coating off
    of the coax, and then you solder the coax shield onto the patch (“Side
    View”), and then solder the exposed cable tip into the holes. The
    pictures are actually very informative; if you don’t understand then
    hopefully you can find someone with soldering experience to do it for
    you.
  2. Is there any other way to use RFX2400 (w/o the quadpatch)?
    You could also order a screw-on rubberduck antenna. It’s non-directional
    and has lower gain, but is inherently simpler. I ordered this:

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/24ghz_802.11_rubber_duck_antenna_7dbi_sm.php

Make sure it has the SMA-Male connector; it should just screw into the
board.

(I haven’t received these antennas and tested them yet, but they should
work.)

-Dan