<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div>To all,</div><div><br></div><div>I am playing with the Moteino and recently tested the range at a local park. I was a bit disappointed and discussed this at the last meeting. As with all things embedded, there seems to be a number of things that can be done to improve performance both hardware and software. For this note, I wanted to ask for any advice on the hardware front. Once I have that set, I plan to tweak the software settings (primarily data rate but some others as well) to see how much range I can get - ideally 1.5 miles outdoors through wooded terrain.</div><div><br></div><div>The Environment:</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- <a href="http://lowpowerlab.com/moteino/">Moteino</a> base and sensor nodes </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- I went with the <a href="http://lowpowerlab.com/blog/2013/06/20/rfm69-library/">lowest frequency transmitter</a> - 433MHz - and the highest power</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- The Moteino site states that there is not much improvement from <a href="http://lowpowerlab.com/moteino/#antennas">monopole antennas</a> </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- In the forums however, there is a posting promising greater range from <a href="https://lowpowerlab.com/forum/index.php/topic,112.msg288.html">dipole antennas</a></div><div><br></div><div>I understand that a directional antenna would be better but my application would not easily support this as the sensors nodes may need to be moved frequently.</div><div><br></div><div>My limited understanding of a dipole antenna theory is that there are two elements - one with signal and one with ground with each sized to match the specific frequency. I plan to add an SMA connector to the board so I can install a commercial antenna and I found two options that both claim to be sized to the 433MHz frequency:</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- The <a href="http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?3156-433MHz-Half-wave-dipole-for-LRS">first</a> looks like what I expected a dipole antenna to look like and could be easily made</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- The <a href="http://www.taoglas.com/images/product_images/original_images/TI.15.3113%20433MHz%20Connector%20Mount%20Antenna%20290909.pdf">second</a> would be much better for packaging and use on a sensor that may be moved often - but it does not look like a dipole antenna to me.</div><div><br></div><div>Any advice on which might be the better choice or whether I should look at other options?</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks,</div><div><br></div><div>Chip</div><div><br></div></body></html>