Antenna Guide

Q. What kind of antenna do i need to use on LightTracker?

A. You can use any type. For airborne projects (such as balloons, rockets, rc planes, drones, etc.) we suggest quarter wave monopole antenna because this makes your payload lighter. So just cut a light approximately 8.4 cm. length wire and solder it to the middle pad of antenna footprint.

Also exact quarter wave monopole antenna wire lengths for some regions are as follows:

For EU868 -> 8.63 cm.

For US915 -> 8.19 cm.

For US923 -> 8.12 cm.

But for a pico balloon floating around the world, you need a average antenna length like 8.4 cm. Airborne antennas always perform well as long as their VSWR values are not so bad. A few millimeter difference in antenna length does not change an airborne radio modules RF performance.

Q. But I want to use rubber duck antenna or an external antenna. Is it possible?

A. Yes. But you need to solder a PCB type SMA connector (male or female) as follows:

Q. I am not god at soldering, is there any other way around without soldering?

Yes. You can use IPEX connector embedded to radio module.