@jdcrunchman I see that you leared to split your text in secitions: about SDR: That is only needed if you have doubts on whether RF is happening at specific times and frequencies. Normally, you can expect that, so RF testing is not mandatory. besides that, I have good experience with the model SDRplay RSP2pro. The deviecs is only as good as the software, and the supplied software works well with Windows. There hiccups with Linux. A SDR will not tell you about precise timing of RF bursts. For that, an oscilloscope give better results. If just the presence of a RF signal is to eb detected, usinf a small signal Schottky diode (e.g. 1N5711) as Antenna allows using a low bandwith oscilloscope. about the Antenna: Depends on your application. For a node, it may have to be small, for a gateway, the antenna gain may have to be the most important factor. Given the huge link budget of LoRa devices, a few dB antenna gain more or less may be not that important. So proper RF design, placement and orientation of your set-up may have a larger impact. I tested a few small antennas from different sources, and they all behaved similar. The PyCom Lora antenna works fine, and being a wavelength/2 design, the RF properties of the LoPy enclosure are not so critical. Supply by Solar Panel: You would need an external charger between Solar Panel and battery: Solar Panel -> Charger -> Battery -> Lopy

@HenroRitchie Thank You

@combaindeft Did you find any solution? We have ended up with the EXACT same problem. Poor antenna. I mean, good relative to the size – but our application is not size constrained. I actually consider abandonning the pytrack alltogether and get a seperate gps module, accellerometer etc.

@robin Have you tried forcing the use of the internal antenna, either via the appropriate WiFi setting, or directly by controlling P12?

@tttadam No, not compatible. The pigtails have either a male or female (tech speak) SMA plug. The one with the rod is the male one. There are adapters available, but better get another pigtail. P.S.: That happened to me too. I ended up in having all sorts of pigtails and adapters in my drawer.

@thibault The antenna selection does not matter at all, because the W01 has just one antenna port which will used in any case.

@josesebas1990 from what I understand you should be able to use both and alternate between them by software, but probably not use them at the same time (e.g. listen or receive on both antennas at the same time).

I confirm that wlan.antenna(WLAN.EXT_ANT) works with Pycom firmware > 1.18.1.r1.

@iotgeek Some time ago Pycom team said that is FCC rated as 2.2 dB. Also that is unclear that this same level is consistent in all antennas.

@jmpratt I don't think so, because the pin is hardwired to the antenna switch internally. This has been a problem for us, too. I would advise against using P12 for anything anyway, because it also selects the boot mode. Therefore it will force the device into safe boot if P12 is for some reason high while it is booting.

@dan thx for testing but shouldn't it be 2 - 5 cm instead of mm? At least that is my experience with other rfid/nfc boards. Several mm is nothing when using an enclosure...I can't imagine that this is the ultimate goal of the supplied antenna

The best I could find is an antenna that seems to match, at this website: 1/2 wave swivel antenna

I think I have an older version, ill update.. new firmware fixed the issue!! Thank you for the quick response!

@jcaron I have two antennas which perform more robust. One, which looks similar, but is 22 cm long (18 cm up from the hinge). That one shows a nice current profile, peak in the middel of the "active" section and going down to almost zero towards bot sides. The other is a home-brew ground plane antenna, along a recipe from the ttn forum, which also work pretty well. Both are not very sensitive to touching the xxPy and moving. Compared to these the PyCom antenna performs between 6dB and 16 dB, depending on placement and touching. I have my xxPY built into a aluminium box with the antenna connector at the shorter side. The PyCom antenna shows some current at the connector, which explains the sensitivity to touching. Picture: GP antenna on FiPy in a box, built from a SMA connector an 1.5 mm wire. Tip wire it 82mm, the radial are 86 mm. [image: 1526903725057-gp-antenna-on-fipy.jpg]

Hi @prawnhead You just need an antenna for the frequency you need

@jmarcelino even in outdoors (completely flat field) the reads are erractic. Could you confirm me that the class of the tranceiver in FiPy is 0U??

@nicobijl Interesting use case, though you'll be faced with reflections and multipath which may give you false results, depending on the exact layout (and most importantly, distances). Also, you should check the gain of your antenna in various directions, it's not because it's "concentrated" in some directions that it doesn't receive anything in others. Note also that if you do anything that transmits (active scanning, which I believe is the default now?), using a directional antenna means more gain, which may bring you above the allowed TX power threshold (depends on your region). Conversely, at short distances the high gain main saturate the receiver. Finally, one would need to check the exact radiation pattern, but I'm not sure 4 such antennas would be enough to cover 360°, they have a relatively narrow aperture. Let us know what you find out!