Hi folks - we would like to have an optional external antenna on our product. This will be effectively the same antenna that is inside the product, but it will often be removed by us or the customer for installation or aesthetic reasons. We’re wondering if it is OK to just naively add and remove this diversity antenna with confidence that the Notecards will automagically pick whichever antenna has the best signal (obviously the internal antenna if that’s the only one that exists!). Will this work?
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Hey @daterdots,
The MAIN antenna is the only antenna used for transmitting. It cannot be removed.
The DIV antenna, if provided, can improve signal reception as Notecard will use the two antennas together and pick the better signal while receiving data. It is an optional antenna that can be removed.
So in short—you can remove the DIV antenna, but not the MAIN antenna.
Thanks,
TJ
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Yes, totally - that’s what I am talking about doing here. Just having a removable DIV antenna. I am wondering if I can count on the Notecard automatically switching over to the DIV antenna if the MAIN antenna has bad reception.
To be a little more explicit: this is a product that, in some deployments, goes under water. If it’s a dry deployment, I won’t attach the external antenna, and I’d want the internal MAIN antenna to be the one and only cellular antenna. Then for wet installations, I’d attach the external antenna, then dunk the whole product (other than the external antenna) under water. This will certainly result in the MAIN internal antenna (and GPS, but I don’t care about that) having terrible reception. My hope is that in these wet deployments, the Notecard will just automatically switch over to the external DIV antenna.
Seem like a solid plan to you?
As long as you always have a MAIN antenna attached you should be fine. Notecard does monitor the signal from both antennas and chooses the one with the better reception automatically.
Just note that the DIV antenna is only used while receiving data, so it won’t help you transmit data in the conditions you’re worried about.
TJ