External antenna of rf nano

I have a project that I use several rf nanos and I'm trying to improve the signal in order to get less "cut messages". According to RF Nano's official website here, to use an external antenna I have to simply modify the direction of the soldering of the capacitor in the blue area of the picture.. Problem is that's far of being a "simple" operation for me.


image

I'm wondering if there's any other "real simpler" way to use external antennas other than desolder and solder a micro capacitor.

I don't think there is, just moving the capacitor around.

That would be easy, you use an expensive RF connector and a coax jumper. Soldering is a basic skill required in electronics. I highly recommend you get some practice boards and learn the skill it will help you a lot.

No. It has to be moved. Buy a solder pencil with a fine chisel tip and practice on scrap PCBs before moving the capacitor. It is trivial, once you get the hang of it. Once the solder is melted on both contacts, you can quickly push the cap anywhere you like in a couple of seconds.

If you are really interested in this hobby, it is essential to learn how to solder properly. Adafruit and Sparkfun have good soldering tutorials, and I'm sure that there are countless others.

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Hi everyone! I did as you guys told me and got myself some soldering lessons. Even bought a microscope as you can see. I moved the cap to the right place but it's not working. It doesn't send any message and code is the exactly the same as it was before with internal antenna. I tested with a multimeter and there's continuity between both sides of the cap and the tip of the antenna. I'm wondering if there's anything I'm missing.

It doesn't send any message

Please explain how you know this, since the fault could be in the receiver.

The photos look OK to me, but it is possible that either the capacitor, the connector or the plug were damaged, or there is an open solder joint. What are you using for antennas?

Capacitor ?

Capacitors are not often labelled.

An SMT component with '0' on it suggests a zero ohm resistor, often used in that way for selecting PCB options.

I'm using the same antenna as this:
https://aliexpress.com/item/1005006224497842.html

I know it's not the receiver's fault cause it's receiving from other nanos.

@srnet you are right, it's a resistor

I'm not any antenna guru, but to me this is antenna cable, not an antenna.

The associated picture shows it is coaxial cable with a woven shield!

Because of "peeled tip" it could work as antenna for some frequency... :wink:

The linked part is not an antenna. It is an antenna connector cable, and won't radiate a significant amount of RF energy.

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