My First Gateway

[masterkenobi]

[korttoma]

I see one potential problem with your GW. You are powering the NRF24L01+ PA LNA radio directly from the arduino 3.3V pin.
Be aware that the 3.3V pin on the arduino can not feed enough current for this kind of radio module if you use it at full power.
If you use the default RF24_PA_LEVEL_GW = RF24_PA_LOW it might work.

[sundberg84]

And to continiue on @korttoma thoughts here is some good links about power and PA/LNA radio.

https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/653/nrf24l01-pa
https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1142/nrf24l01-pa-lna
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1877/solved-2-x-nrf24l01-pa-lna-with-rf24_pa_max
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/3353/nrf24l01-with-antenna-not-working/2
http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/3447/nrf24l01-pa-lna

http://blog.blackoise.de/2016/02/fixing-your-cheap-nrf24l01-palna-module/

[masterkenobi]

@korttoma said:

I see one potential problem with your GW. You are powering the NRF24L01+ PA LNA radio directly from the arduino 3.3V pin.
Be aware that the 3.3V pin on the arduino can not feed enough current for this kind of radio module if you use it at full power.
If you use the default RF24_PA_LEVEL_GW = RF24_PA_LOW it might work.

thanks for your advice. i didn't know it is a problem because it still works. I just follow the instruction in https://www.mysensors.org/build/connect_radio . The video https://youtu.be/TBvGrB094Co also shows that the radio is connected directly to 3.3V pin. If you don't power the radio directly from the 3.3V pin, may I know how do you power it? I am sorry, I am totally new to this.

[korttoma]

@masterkenobi I also have a GW just like yours and most of the time it does work but if you really want to benefit from the amplification on the more expensive radio by using PA level other then LOW you need to give it more power from another source. Basically you need to tap in to the 5V and use your own more powerful voltage regulator for the 3.3V to the radio.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you increase the PA level the cheep PA radios sometimes disturb themselves and need to be shielded from their own antenna. Some people have done this by putting some plastic isolation around the board and then some tinfoil connected to the antenna round (a.k.a. "the ugly fix") read more about it here -> http://blog.blackoise.de/2016/02/fixing-your-cheap-nrf24l01-palna-module/

@sundberg84 allready gave you this link and more so keep reading there is allot of information out there

[masterkenobi]

@korttoma, thanks for the advice. Now I understand better. I guess I will need to come up with version 2 for my gateway.

I did go through the articles shared by @sundberg84 but it is too much reading for me. I find it hard for me to understand them base on my level of knowledge. Your summary helps me a lot.