SMA Antenna upgrade

[abpostelnicu 7]

Hello,

 

Since I'm having some problem with the range I want to know if any of you did an antenna upgrade for your devices. I've found something like this googling: 

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But i don't know what gains it has, so if anyone did this mod please post here.

 

Thank you!

[petergebruers 1,268]

H! I used "search" and found out, I already briefly touched the topic "antenna" in one of your previous posts!

 

 

There are a few other antenna topics

 

 

A small warning before you spend your money: An antenna does not "amplify" the signal, like your home cinema amplifies sound. I say this to clear up a possible confusion. When RF people talk about antenna gain, they mean "how the antenna directs its signal". Like holding your hand against your ear. A simple antenna transmits and receives in all directions. It has no gain. A more complex antenna, like an array, like those mobile phone "boxes" on masts, transmit in a very horizontal plane. Transmitting energy in a vertical direction is wasted (when we talk about mobile phones). A satellite dish has a very high gain, it bundles everything in a very narrow beam. A dish won't be useful for home automation. For your HC, a small amount of horizontal bundling might be beneficial. As a general rule: a longer antenna will give you this kind of directionality. That is way they say it has "gain" - expressed in dBi. 

 

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This qoute from that article repeats what I said in a more technical way:

 

"Neglecting electrical inefficiency, the antenna gain is equal to the directive gain, which is 1.5 (1.76 dBi) for a short dipole, increasing to 1.64 (2.15 dBi) for a half-wave dipole. For a 5/4 wave dipole the gain further increases to about 5.2 dBi, making this length desirable for that reason even though the antenna is then off-resonance. Longer dipoles than that have radiation patterns that are multi-lobed, with poorer gain (unless they are much longer) even along the strongest lobe. Other enhancements to the dipole (such as including a corner reflector or an array of dipoles) can be considered when more substantial directivity is desired. Such antenna designs, although based on the half-wave dipole, generally acquire their own names."

 

So now you get some idea of the expected gain numbers. Some people report they get much better response with "some special antenna". A different antenna can indeed increase the range a bit (I would say, mathematically, by about 30-50%), and it can make a difference in your particular setup. But it does not suddenly increases the range by some magic number (2 or 3 or whatever you expect). Some users have reported no benefit at all...

 

What you depict is a folded dipole, this is weird because the natural impedance does not match the cable so it has a balun and this wastes energy. The folded dipole has a wider bandwidth, which might be beneficial if you are a radio amateur, trying to communicate in the UHF band. For Z-Wave, a wide bandwidth is not needed, so I do not think this type of antenna is good choice.

[jack.daniels 103]

Hi, as far as i understand it:

Imagine the antenna is a lamp. Short dipole (as we have on HC already) in this case makes light in all direction (except up/down) with ~ same power.

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The longer antenna will give other "shape" of the light beam. It will be more powerfull in horisontal direction and less powerfull in up/down diraction.

 

This way, to increase the range we can use longer dipole antenna, but this way it will work good only in horisontal direction

[petergebruers 1,268]

@jack.daniels exactly, up to a certain length and only in open space. In a house, the field gets deformed.

 

And then there is attenuation by objects, like:

 

 

If you have a sufficient number of mains operated modules, the mesh network might be able to route around "difficult areas"...

 

So it is really hard to predict if a different antenna will solve your issues. Let me put it this way: it is not the first thing I would do. I'd start by using the "range detection" built into recent Fibaro modules. You may not be aware you have this tool... This explanation is in the documentation of the module (for instance, the wall plug). This function also exists in the key fob, smoke sensor and motion sensor and even the new FGT-001 TRV. You can use it to probe the network:

 

To test the range:

1) Insert Plug into a mains socket,

2) Press and hold the B button for 10-15 seconds until the LED ring glows violet,

3) Release the B button,

4) Press the B button briefly.

5) LED ring signals Z-Wave network range - see below for signaling modes description.

6) To exit range testing mode press the B button briefly. Plugs relay will not change its status.

Z-Wave network range signaling modes:

LED ring pulsing green - Wall Plug tries to establish direct connection with the main controller. If direct connection cannot be established, Plug will try routing connection with the main controller which will be signaled by LED ring pulsing yellow.

LED ring glowing green - Wall Plug managed to establish a direct connection with the main controller.

LED ring pulsing yellow - Wall Plug is trying to establish routed connection with the main cotroller, via other Z-Wave devices acting as signal repeaters.

LED ring glowing yellow - Wall Plug managed to establish routed connection with the main controller. After 2 seconds the Plug will try again to establish a direct connection with the main controller, which will be signaled by LED ring pulsing green.

LED ring pulsing violet - Wall Plug is located outside the Z-Wave network's range or the network is busy. Ultimately, failure to connect with the main controller will be signalled by LED ring pulsing red. After 2 seconds the Plug will again try to establish a direct connection with the main controller which will be signaled by LED ring blinking green.

Edited January 1, 2018 by petergebruers

[abpostelnicu 7]

Thank you for your replies. Maybe if I tell you a bit more about my issue you will have a more clear view with which I'm confronting. I'm having my hcl mounted onto a concrete wall on it's upper side. The problem is that after the concrete wal situated at around 4 meters a have other z-wave devices and intermittently it fails to communicate with them.

[petergebruers 1,268]

Thanks. Reinforced concrete causes more attenuation than a brick wall, so possibly you do not have any device that can route around it. I am speculating a bit. It also depends on "apparent thickness", did you have a look at that drawing in my other post? How many mains operated devices do you have? Are they Z-Wave plus? What does a range test tell you? Have you tried any other place (for your hc). Can you try to keep at least 50 cm from the wall? Can you make a drawing of all mains powered modules, on a piece of paper? If you do not want to publish it, send me a PM.

 

Edit: something like this:

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Edited January 1, 2018 by petergebruers

[abpostelnicu 7]

On 1/1/2018 at 5:19 PM, petergebruers said:

Thanks. Reinforced concrete causes more attenuation than a brick wall, so possibly you do not have any device that can route around it. I am speculating a bit. It also depends on "apparent thickness", did you have a look at that drawing in my other post? How many mains operated devices do you have? Are they Z-Wave plus? What does a range test tell you? Have you tried any other place (for your hc). Can you try to keep at least 50 cm from the wall? Can you make a drawing of all mains powered modules, on a piece of paper? If you do not want to publish it, send me a PM.

 

Edit: something like this:

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Thank you for this! Unfortunately there are no other relay that can relay the signal from my HC to the other partition of the house. I've put an AEON relay right after the concrete slab and now it works. Everything is routed through that relay. I will do a schematic of the house and post it here. 

Until then i've found this antenna: 

Taoglas TI.18.3113, I've also found a complete spec sheet here: 

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Does anyone have any thoughts on it?