Antenna Mechanical Experiments
We tried assembling the antenna design as shown in this image.
- Tape measure gets brittle under soldering iron heat.
- Snapped after soldering onto the PCB
- Hard to create full contact between the surface mount and the antenna bit.
- May need to create surface mount on PCB (Z- Board) larger to get easier access to the pad
- May need to consider using a reflow oven to get even attachment. However, this may lead to further heat exposure issues with the antenna and cause it to break
- Use larger surface mount pad
- Consider different orientation of the antenna so that there won't be a bend that could create structural integrity issues.
Used solder paste instead of actual solder. Cleaned up surface amounts from old solder and placed solder paste, put antennas on top
Got a much cleaner and even coat of solder. Easier to fasten the antenna on and placed the antennas themselves under less actual heat exposure
Although the antenna was placed under less actual heat exposure, it may be easier to just use larger surface mounts under the antenna so that there is minimal contact between the soldering iron and the antenna.
Testing the stability of the solderpaste by moving the antenna in different directions, mainly to test if it could handle the stress of being bent when attached to the burn wire.
When bending it the solder-paste came off, detaching the antenna from the Z- board.
Test using the solder paste again, but have the hole punch and punch a hole through the antenna to create a tighter hold
Make the pads wider so it is easier to install the antenna with solder-paste and may also make it easier to use regular solder.
Used the hole punch to place holes in the antenna, applied solderpaste to the surface of each pad, screwed the antenna on, melted the solder paste.
This test was a little messy because the holes were not in the correct place. Also, since I did not scratch the paint off the surface of the antenna, the heat wasn't properly conducted through so I could not tell if the solder paste properly melted.
Make holes more centered and clean the paint off the top of the antenna to give a more conductive surface for the soldering iron.
