@NeverDie Note that all the nRF52840 based products being showcased now (including the Fanstel modules) are using the engineering silicon. There is Errata on these parts. Production devices will be available Q1-18.

@NeverDie Hello, If you are referring to that Prototype Board with the Nordic logo on it then it was being controlled by GPIO and by the Bluetooth Low Energy stack (Softdevice) You can read more about it here.. https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/blogs/831/palna-support-in-s132/.
As I mentioned before. there is no good way to control the PA in a proprietary mode, only when using BLE. Regardless, I have asked if it is ok to share the schematic that relates to that PA board and I will let you all know. And about the question about antenna switching. This was never implemented in the Softdevice. Any antenna switching would need to be done in the application.
See if this chart helps.

@scalz
I would be interested in any range testing in regard to this dongle. For ground it has whatever it is that it is plugged into. (PC, SBC, USB extention cable, etc) There will be a nRF52840 based dongle out soon. See picture above. This dongle will need to be programed over the SWD lines. No Segger on board this one..!

@nca78 The Rev C (COO) parts are available now and they are the production parts. (Symmetry and Nordic's other distributors have these in stock) There will be a respin of this to a Rev D to fix the REG0 issue. FYI, the current nRF52840 package is not a WCSP. It is a aQFN™ package. The nRF52840-Dongle is also available now. Go forth and design......

Hello,
I have a few offical Nordic Dev Kits available if anyone would like them. 2 nRF24L01P kits with RF modules and main boards and a few nRF51-DKs. I am in the Pasadena, CA area near JPL. If anyone would like to meet to do a hand off let me know.

@NeverDie I would use 3 ADDRESS bytes, for the reason I gave before. The receiver could see noise as a valid packet and try to process it. and the fact you have no data packet and no CRC could cause you issues in a noisy 2.4Ghz environment. . Also be aware that if the radio is not already in receive or transmit mode the PLL takes about 130us to come up and settle. Crystal start and settle time will also depend on the CL value of the Crystal and not all manufactures use the same value. Conversely you can only transmit packets for 4ms before you need to bring down the transmitter and bring it back up again for the PLL to start and settle.

@NeverDie Check out the new nRF52810. It is a stripped down version of the nRF52840.. Not as much memory and the peripherals are lower in count. But it has a Cortex M4 (Not F) and some of the targets are sensors, wearable, beacons, etc. On air compatible with nRF24L series and nRF52 series. Some limitations on BT 5.0 however.

@NeverDie You may wish to check out the nRF51 Reference guide in addition to the datasheet. http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/pdf/nRF51_RM_v3.0.1.pdf The PPI is located in section 16.

@Nca78 How about sending a email to the company and ask if there is a distributor / Rep in your area?
Dr. Yuan Fan
Fanstel Corp.
Trusted Name Since 1990
7466 E. Monte Cristo Ave., Scottsdale AZ 85260 USA
Tel. 1480-948-4928 x101;
email: yfan@fanstel.com http://www.fanstel.com

@NeverDie check out a product called "TAG-CONNECT". It is perfect for programming. It is used on the Nordic Semiconductor Beacon Reference Design.

@d00616 not familiar with the USB interface / tag connect. The ones I have used have the connector type that plugs onto the nRF5x-DK, uLinks, jlink lite, etc. a ten pin Micro Cortex connector to six or ten pin "pogo pin" tag-connect connector. There is also a clip that allows the connector to stay attached for debugging purposes.

@nca78 There is no downside to using the nRF52810. It depends on your needs. If you can live with 192K Flash and 24K RAM and a stack that supports peripheral only (at this time) then you are good. The device can use the internal 32Khz RC osc for BTLE and there is a slight current consumption hit as the receive window will be longer. (+/- 500ppm) . No different then on the nRF52832. as stated, a 32Khz crystal will give you a tighter clock and lower current consumption.

This is a scaled down version of the nRF52832 so there are some peripherals that have been taken out or reduced. PWM for example, only one. No NFC, 1x SPI Master or Slave, (instead of 3), No I2s...... The full datasheet and product briefs are available on Nordic's website so you can A-B the features.

Calvin, You cam buy a Nordic Development kit for about $50 dollars or less. It has the J-Link OB device on it for swd programming and debugging.

@Nca78 nRFgo Studio has been put to sleep. nRFgo studio does not have support for the newer Nordic devices. nRFconnect for Desktop has taken its place. I suggest when using the nRF52-DK (or any nRF52 based DK) that this newer utility be used.

@hek One should be able to change the Auto ACK register on one of the sides to make it work correctly. (If that is the type of clone being used as various clones have various differences) But that would mean tight control of what modules are being used with what firmware on what side of the link.

RF Digital makes a real nRF24L01P based module however it is more pricey then the Chinese knock offs. But if you only need a few of them then at least you know you are getting the real McCoy.

Has header and SMA connector
RFD21711

Has PCB antenna and header
RFD21712

This has no header and no SMA connector
RFD21716
The Nordic Website has all the Gerbers for this module in case you wish to roll your own.
http://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/nordic/download_resource/9620/7/13918708

If one wanted to make a tester out of a example this would work. http://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/nordic/download_resource/10638/11/57367651
However to run this example stock a nRF24LU1P dev kit is also required.

@parachutesj Unless you have the transmitter in constant carrier mode you cannot successfully measure the current with a standard multi-meter. If you want to know if the radio is transmitting and you have a good scope then look at the VDD_PA line.

@NeverDie someone did not read the datasheet. The harmonic filter / impedance matching network on the output of Pin 30 (ANT) is connected incorrectly. There needs to be abolded text Cap from ANT out to Pin 31 ONLY. (Not connected to any other ground pour as it seems they did here. Seems to be a few "extra components between there and the Antenna matching network too.

From the nRF52832 datasheet.
bolded text53.8 PCB layout example
The PCB layout shown below is a reference layout for the QFN package with internal LDO setup.
Important: Pay attention to how the capacitor C3 is grounded. It is not directly connected to the
ground plane, but grounded via VSS pin 31. This is done to create additional filtering of harmonic
components.[link text](link url)

The nRF52-DK, nRF51-DK and nRF5284--PDK have a SWD / Debugger. They use the Segger OB Firmware in the Controller so it has the Jlink drag and drop feature. Has hooks to nRFJprog, and Keil and other IDE interfaces. They have on board nRF5x devices too if you want to use them for firmweare and hardware development. Arduino Uno format so standard shields can be used as well. On Sale at Semiconductorstore.com. $36 - $46 depending on version of board desired..

Hello,

I see two issues with this schematic. 1) The Cap C3 looks like it says 100nf. In the non-amplified use, this should be at least 4.7uF. If you are using a PA I would suggest a even larger value be used.

PO.25 and PO.26 if not used should be tied to ground. If used then they should each have a 12pF cap to ground. The internal bonding wires on the QFN package picks up some stray RF and will probably not pass any agency testing in Korea or Japan. This is probably not that important for personal use.

@Nca78 Corrrect. It seems to me that a < 50 dollar Nordic nRF52 based Dev kit (or similar) which can be updated would be much less hassle.