Adding External Antenna to Squeezebox Touch

[UV101]

No, the antenna is a tuned length as explained in one of my previous posts. It's not particularly effective in the Touch (be comparison to some other wireless devices) it's very close to all the noisy digital electronics and they will be interfering with each other. I'm now thinking it may be a good idea to modify the unit to use and external antenna for those who want to push the hifi side of things but still want the convenience of wifi. I'll have a look at the board layout later today and see what's involved in moving the signal path to the pads as opposed to the internal antenna.

The ufl to sma leads can be found for $3.99 on evil bay and the smt socket is only a few pence. I really don't see any reason not to do it properly. I'll be fitting one to mine just to see what the effects are!! ;-)

[eduardoo]

No, the antenna is a tuned length as explained in one of my previous posts. It's not particularly effective in the Touch (be comparison to some other wireless devices) it's very close to all the noisy digital electronics and they will be interfering with each other. I'm now thinking it may be a good idea to modify the unit to use and external antenna for those who want to push the hifi side of things but still want the convenience of wifi. I'll have a look at the board layout later today and see what's involved in moving the signal path to the pads as opposed to the internal antenna.

The ufl to sma leads can be found for $3.99 on evil bay and the smt socket is only a few pence. I really don't see any reason not to do it properly. I'll be fitting one to mine just to see what the effects are!! ;-)

Can't wait to learn more from your findings. Thanks.

[Mnyb]

Why not do it really simple, get an AP and conect the Touch to that ap with 2-3 meters of cat5 , no moddification needed

or just install cat5, if wifi receptions are problematic it's likely to be marginal anyway with or without better antennas, why push the limits ?

[UV101]

Why not do it really simple, get an AP and conect the Touch to that ap with 2-3 meters of cat5 , no moddification needed

or just install cat5, if wifi receptions are problematic it's likely to be marginal anyway with or without better antennas, why push the limits ?

OK.......

Have you ever had better tyres fitted to your car? Put better oil in you engine? Based on the above, why didn't you just buy a new car and tow the old car around with you???

The thread is about trying to see if the stock item can be improved. The pads for the ext antenna socket are on the PCB. I can only guess that the external antenna was not utilised due to cost or aesthetics. With the antenna away from the rest of the internal electronics, its just possible that the performance gap between wired and wireless will close enough that the convenience of wireless becomes feasible for HiFi use.

"Why push the limits?" cos were not just sheep!

[chill]

...its just possible that the performance gap between wired and wireless will close enough that the convenience of wireless becomes feasible for HiFi use.

Is that performance gap really there? Wifi already seems perfectly feasible for hifi use.

[UV101]

I'm only using wired and I've not tested with wireless. It seems to be generally accepted that the performance is better via a wired connection. I don't think it's actually to do with network performance itself, more from an interference point of view which if the antenna is external, cannot be a bad thing.

[chill]

I'm only using wired and I've not tested with wireless. It seems to be generally accepted that the performance is better via a wired connection. I don't think it's actually to do with network performance itself, more from an interference point of view which if the antenna is external, cannot be a bad thing.

I've tested wired vs wireless many times, and I don't hold with the 'generally accepted' view. In fact, I'm not even sure it is generally accepted. It is frequently mentioned by what seems like a vocal minority, but that's not the same thing.

That said, I HAVE had experience of poor routing of a wifi antenna cable inducing noise in a pre-amp (not related to the SBT). Based on that experience, I'd be slightly worried that adding a flying pigtail inside the Touch might even increase the chance of interference.

[Mnyb]

..... hence my idea have a wifi AP a couple of meters away fro the hifi and you could turn of the wifi inside the Touch completely and save some cpu cycles ? but thats not DYI so it's no fun

[UV101]

With respect to the pigtail, its a coax where the braid acts as a shield to the centre conductor itself. With an antenna, its only the exposed part of the centre conductor that is tuned to the specific frequency needed. The theory I'm working to is that an open antenna inside the touch will interfere with the workings to a much larger extent than a similar length shielded coax inside the case. It will allow the antenna to be placed away from the touch itself.

I'm not inventing anything new here, its all fairly standard stuff.

With respect to cpu cycles, you could be right but this thread is not about cpu cycles or AP's or building you house around the squeezebox, its about reinstating a design feature to see if there is any point in it being there with the hope that there is something positive for some. If its of no interest to you thats fine, i'll carry on in any case. :-)

[chill]

With respect to the pigtail, its a coax where the braid acts as a shield to the centre conductor itself.

Yes, so was the one that generated audible interference inside my pre-amp.

If its of no interest to you thats fine, i'll carry on in any case. :-)

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for a bit of DIY. I'm only questioning the perception that this will improve the wifi sound performance. If wifi interference was present you'd hear it in the noise floor.

Adding the option for an external antenna in cases where the SBT placement makes wifi reception marginal seems like a good idea (if not the only solution, as Mnyb points out), but I'd be very careful about keeping the pigtail short and properly routed.