antennalorapcb-antenna
I am designing a prototype PCB for a Lora node.
It will have an SMA connector (J2) and a PCB antenna.
Switching RF connectors are not available in my area, so as an amateur enthusiast what is a good way to separate the antennas?
I have placed a solder jumper (JP1) before the PCB antenna as seen in the image below. Would it suffice or should I place another one before the sma connector too? Are there other, better alternatives?
It appears that the two parallel strips of solder are for mounting the shield to a connector and there is a small component in series with the signal passing to the left into the small red brick. My answer is conjecture and comes without warranty of functionality as it requires removing at least one component from your device.
Red: what looks like the current antenna.
Dark blue: approximate position of connector.
Light blue: SMD component that would be in the way of the connector's center pin.
Additionally, note that your device has solder pads for metal shields over its RF components on each side, but those shields were not placed during manufacturing.
The shielding isn't terribly important for the antenna itself (it wouldn't work if it were shielded), but if you don't connect it, the RF characteristics will be slightly off.
Best Answer
They usually put a 3-pad solder jump.
The central pad is connected to the LORA integratated circuit.
The left pad is connected to your SMA connector.
The right pad is connected to the printed antenna.
Look at this example:
Please note that your antenna is not a patch antenna.
It's just a PCB printed antenna where the PCB works as a mechanical support.