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[on:]

I purchased an arduino gsm shield and was able to get it working but only outside on perfectly clear days. I bought an sma antenna and soldered it onto the shield and now it does not work. I must have applied too much heat. I am good at soldering except when it comes to large things that are basically heat sinks. I do not know how to solder on the sma jack because it takes a long time to heat up enough so that the solder melts. Is there a tutorial on this? Also, how are we supposed to store and handle these devices. Special esd bags and wristbands? Please help me protect my investments.

Thanks.

[Reply #1 on:]

If I remember I needed to remove the coils for a real antenna to work with the module.
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You might need to remove the patch antenna (Hard to remove as it has five solder points, I used a heating gun and force) and also the two coils that goes from the antenna wire to GND. Do keep the small capacitor that connects the antenna wire to the antenna wire (look at the board and hopefully you will understand what I mean).

My experience is that the Quectel module is very forgiving. You basicly just needs the PCB trace and it works. (might not be within specs but... it does seem to work when I play in the lab)