UWB Module Anchor-RFM-PA-LNA-ANT Circuit Diagram and PCB - Price: $450 USD
The module adds LNA and PA, and the communication distance is greatly increased. The module uses a PCB antenna and uses pin headers to connect to the anchor chassis. Can be adapted to indoor version anchors A1102P and A1106P.
We have tested that when using the 850K rate, the communication distance is more than 800 meters, and it should be further. Due to limited conditions, we did not test longer distances.
This module is sold with an indoor version of the anchor. Its specifications are basically the same as the UM2000 module. The difference is that one is a PCB antenna and the other uses an SMA external antenna.
Click here to download UM2000 specification manual V1.1.pdf for reference.
Some students may wonder why the module circuit is more expensive than the anchor backplane circuit?
Because of the difficulty! Hardware engineers know that in most cases, digital circuits are simpler than analog circuits.
Although we have modified the chassis of the single network port anchor dozens of times, the changes are all in details. It cannot be said to be worthless, but it is not strictly necessary.
In the early days, in order to reduce the difficulty of research and development, we always used the original UWB module. As the product matured and we hoped to reduce production costs, we decided to develop our own UWB module. The difficulty in developing UWB modules mainly lies in wiring. The wiring of the RF circuit is not just about impedance matching. This has always been a technical job, which requires not only theoretical support but also empirical support. We tried it many times before we got a satisfactory result. You can think about it, how long does it take a qualified engineer who is proficient in RF wiring to figure this thing out? How much salary are you going to pay him? For this price, it's just free of charge.
In the past, after we successfully developed a module without LNA/PA, we started to develop a module with LNA/PA. After all, the coverage area is wide, we can save a lot of anchors, and the total cost of the project can be reduced a lot. But it has always failed. I also bought several finished modules with LNA/PA from TAOBAO for testing. I found that the effect was not very good and the coverage did not increase as much as expected. We also tried using a separate LNA/PA to connect between the antenna and the module, but the effect was not effective either. After many failures and overcoming many pitfalls, I finally achieved a satisfactory result.
If your product has taken shape and is even on sale, then you must be very concerned about coverage. Adding LNA/PA is the only way to solve the problem of coverage .