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Chapter 5: Antennas Attachment

  1. Cutting and Drilling the Antenna a. Using a Milwaukee 6ft keychain measuring tape, completely pull out the tape measure from the keychain. b. Cut the measuring tape into 180mm lengths using a pair of scissors. These will need to be shortened down to a size correlated to the radio frequency. For example, the antenna lengths need to be 165mm to broadcast in the 437.4MHz range. Only 2 lengths are necessary for the satellite; however, it’s best to use all of it in case there is a mistake. If you are interested in broadcasting in other frequencies, use a dipole antenna calculator to find out the proper element length for your desired frequency.

    Figure 5.1: Lengths of measuring tape cut for use as antenna.

Note

After attaching the antenna, you may need to shorten the antenna in order to tune it, but this can be done later.

c. Using a Dremel or sandpaper, sand off roughly ½-inch of the paint off the end of the measuring tape. Do the same to the opposite side of the measuring tape.

Figure 5.2: Antenna length with sanded end and mount hole after drilling.

d. After sanding off the paint so the aluminum is bare, use a M3 sized drill bit. Drill a hole through the exposed aluminum roughly 1-3mm away from the end of the length of measuring tape.

  1. Soldering Antenna to Board a. First, feed the drilled side of the measuring tape through the outermost rectangular hole of the Top Cap. Make sure to feed it through the outward-facing side of the Top Cap so when the Top Cap is flipped over, the drilled hole of the antenna lines up with the open hole on the inward-facing side of the Top Cap.

    Figure 5.3: Initial insert of antenna in Top Cap before soldering.

b. Hold the antenna in place to solder it to the board. You can have someone hold it in place so it rests flush against the Top Cap or use a c-clamp to hold it as you are soldering.

c. Repeat step 6 with the other length of measuring tape for the 2nd antenna of the satellite. d. OPTIONAL: Secure the two antennas to the top-cap by feeding a white 2.5mm nylon screw through the outward-facing side of the top-cap and secure it with a matching white 2.5mm nylon nut.