Hi all! I’m a firmware developer with little knowledge in analog electronics… I deal with firmware for IOT projects all the time.

I had to make a breakout board with an off the shelf RF module with self contained PCB antenna. Now I’m intrigued in the hardware side. I’m inclined to design them from scratch myself. (Obviously ignoring the EMI and FCC certifications for the time being).

What concepts should I be familiar with to achieve this? Starting on I figured to brush up on circuit theory and signals. Where do I go from here? What materials would you recommend? Hopefully I don’t need to get into hardcore RF theory to design these PCBs (I know kicad already has these premade antenna blocks).

Thank you.

  • remotelove@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    6 days ago

    It might be worth it for you to get a ham radio license. If the low power modules work for what you need, that is just fine. For the distances you are talking about with cattle fields, being able to legally transmit at over 1000 watts could have perks. (I jest, but having a little more power, in the 1 to 2 watt range, might be practical.)

    At a minimum, a portable ham radio might be a good safety tool depending on the size of the ranch. It would be hella more reliable than CB as well.

    • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      6 days ago

      Yah, I’ve had my license since I was young, I come from a long line of nerds. So I use 1W units on the 433 band. And we use VHF around the farm since we can be 15 km from cell range.

      • remotelove@lemmy.caEnglish
        2·
        6 days ago

        Same here. Nerd blood runs deep in families.

        (When the power brick blew out for my Atari, my dad simply cut open a random spare and re-wound the transformer to match the correct voltage. It was the neatest thing I had ever seen at that age.)

        • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          6 days ago

          We never bought a TV because Dad would pick them up at the dump and fix them, doing some sort of magic with the CRTs.

          And my grandpa hand-built one of the first radios in the area, and people would come over to listen to radio programs. When phones came to our area, he was running lines on the barbwire fences over to neighbors to use it until the phone coop could get out to hook them up a couple years later.

          They were nerds before it was cool. We stand on the shoulders of giants.