@berkseo
results can vary from environments (on desktop or in real environment, presence of others 2.4g protocols, less range with others nrf24/nrf5 tuned differently etc). easier to check with a VNA (a true one). but if it's only for your personal use and range is enough for you, great.

if you take a look in nordic's forum you will get explanations how parts should be routed close to the antenna pin (like the pic I showed you from datasheet). even if onchip balun.. (it won't prevent harmonics)
I meant width of the rf feedline trace. you don't care about the length (what calc did you do for length?). well, actually, you must care, when long enough, you definitely need the right route width, for the impedance matching to 50ohms.
From the matching network(inductor+capacitor which should be as close as possible to the ic on your board..) to the antenna or to pi network, for a 1.6mm 2layers pcb and 10mils isolation, calc for route width should be approx 60mils..

about bom, imho, I prefer to order crystals, 3.9nh inductor and small cog.np0 0402 capacitor from known sources, so I'm sure they are not out of specs. especially the crystals for reliable freq&communication

@berkseo
another nice board
but I see same "little" routing mistake as your other motion board.
if it's your 1st rf boards, I would recommend to keep nordic layout the same (they provides gerbers too), maybe read some docs on rf design, to get best range, against detuning and interference with some others devices on different 2.4ghz protocols (even if ceramic antenna and meandered antenna are more prone to detuning once enclosed etc).
It could be interesting if you also provides pi network footprints close to antenna, in case your customers have tools and would like to tune their board and be closer to CE/FCC.. pi network parts are usually important for ceramic antennas as you can't tune them by tweaking their length, so it relies on additional matching network. whereas pcb antenna can be tuned by tweaking its length and/or using additional parts.

@berkseo
cool. if it helps, I'm glad

On your homemade proto pcb, you didn't have gnd plane I guess, so you can't really compare with your board from fabhouse. board layout change antenna tuning for example.

I meant, on your board, rf routing is not great. not sure if your feedline is 50ohms (route seems thin vs 2layer board and coplanar waveguide).
for rf, devil is in details, just saying, if you plan to sell your boards, even nrf5 hasn't the best range so a pity to not get best perf

Below a pic from datasheet, about the layout and , rf pin/inductor/capacitor placement.

there is a keepout area. how capa gnd is connected. so the values for the inductor and capa. with different layout and no tuning->harmonics etc.

@cvdenzen
will think about it afaik there isn't any simpler linux or java alternative yet. I'm windows user and MYSController is very handy.
that said you can take a look here for controllers supporting FOTA https://www.mysensors.org/controller , maybe MyController.org ..

@berkseo
nice board
Just a note, in case it could improve your board performance
In datasheet, if you take a look in section 53-4&5, you'll find some infos about the rf path, also on nordic's forums.

• it's not really recommended to change layout on rf output, especially close to the mcu the keepout area and inductor+capa, and how it's connected to gnd, else you may get some harmonics.
• coplanar waveguide for impedance matching feedline

then you can add footprints close to antenna, for tuning, in case. cut antenna length etc.
of course better to do this tuning in final setup (enclosed).

might improve rf

hope this helps. keep the good work.

@toyman said in nRF5 action!:

Guys, remind me pls: is CR2450 enough for the nrf52 Ebyte module acting as a Mysensors node?
Is it capable to handle tx current spikes?
Energizer datasheet states 9ma as max curent pulse. Is it sufficient?

yes but you need some power buffer for the spikes. So put 100uF low leakage ceramic capa close to batt holder, and you could also add one more close to your nrf5 module.

Can the same procedure be used with MySensors? OTA needs Softdevice and Softdevice is not compatible with MySensors

You already have your answer I think

@heinzv
yes you're right about lora, and that they're using some juice too (they can even be compatible with a rfm69 when you take a look at the datasheet. TI's too though).
I know about nrf52840 power modes, I just replied about PPI feature (depending what you implement, it can't be completely free).
About Ti mcus, they are new and available at their store only. about sharing my work.. when I'll get time. for the moment I'm very busy (with my job too). In the meantime, you still can play with their devboard and try their courses, or energia.

@NeverDie yes. SC is also accessible from app, it can be independant. If goal would be for sort of lowpower listenmode, there are code examples too, not the goal of SC, sure (no link with rf). I don't think I tried it, but will take a look once I've other stuff ok.
I guess, even if PPI doesn't wake up mcu, the task function with a timer still uses somes power.

Maybe you should keep on nrf if you feel more familiar with these. Truth is I have played too with it, but I stopped on my side, a while ago..and started to take a look at TI (so I could say I'm as familiar or maybe "more" with TI now,..). And perhaps, I already said it, but I'm not interested to pay 12$ for bt840f (limited accessible IOs), or less money but with 840 ceramic antenna. When for the same price I can assemble myself a dualband mcu and pick antennas I need. Like people says, pick what fits best your needs (and the application)

@NeverDie they have sort of equivalent for processing IOs, sensors, i2c etc without waking up the mcu. it's called Sensor Controller (accessible by code or they also provide a small ide for it).
about LORA I've never been really interested in it, I prefer to have my own "micro" network than being a part of a larger network. I would also prefer narrowband.
Sure if you use LORA nodes, maybe narrowband is maybe not the best bet for you. in some cases, widespectrum LORA can have range issues, not heard, when narrowband is used (they made a video+appnote about coexistence)
My need is subghz for long range reliable delivery + BLE for shorter range stuff.., using one broadband antenna or two differents of any kind, to be able to use a module or a bare ic (sometimes a module doesn't fit well in design regarding placement of the module or the antenna orientation&keepout area, so with two modules it's "worse"), and I've been very disappointed to see Nordic changed its mcu footprint (needs premium pcb, and more soldering care). That's why TI picked my curiosity (it ticked all my checkboxes, all in one).
But you're right if you feel more confortable with nrf, it's nice mcus too. Both needs some work anyway (one mcu needs BLE/MySensors, the other needs to get its dualmode compatible with MySensors messages&serial api)

@neverdie said in Everything nRF52840:

Argh. Why, oh why, didn't TI make a launchpad with a PA on both the sub-1ghz and the 2.4ghz?

because it's a very new mcu, and they have some work in progress regarding PA paths. (from what I read). So I think they wanted to quickly provide a few usable&different launchpad designs for customers.

Like I said above (but it's in nrf52840 thread arghh), I designed my own shielded modules that I'll tune regarding an ideal gnd plane. I'll test a few antennas (still have a few favorites, but there are some nice chip antennas I would like to test too). And I'll also tune it regarding a sensor daughter board I made, and again check once it's enclosed too. Once that's done I'll provide some comparison, infos, with tuning results (smith charts, vswr etc), tips and help if I can for assembly or to get my modules (PM, or tindie etc, I have a reflow oven to help me, and at my job we're talking about pick&place in shortterm future, not for iot, but handy for extra projects) but 1st step 1st
Still for the moment, as some others new mcus (with erratas), it's not arduino.. but TI mcus are close as it's possible to use, with some limitations, Energia/Arduino project (and sketches are import-able to TI ide).
Our plan (another team member might be interested, he played with cc135x too) is to use MySensors lib (or a part). The main reason : MySensors API is compatible with lot of controllers.