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External antenna for Sennheiser G2


Diego Sanchez

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  • 7 months later...
On 29. 3. 2016 at 5:59 PM, sisal said:

I did the same about a year ago and I am very happy with it. Using proper SMA whips with G3 gives me a lot more range. Now I get the first hits where previously the connection would already have dropped completely.
The receiver switches antennae seamlessly, and I get equal level on both of them.

For the first set I used connectors from RS: http://au.rs-online.com/web/p/sma-connectors/5120036/
To mod the rest of my sets I ordered some cheaper connectors from ebay (like these). I cannot make out any difference.

Do not forget to connect ground for the second antenna.

g3m1.jpg

 

Other than the hole for the second antenna, there was absolutely no change to the case. Should I ever feel like reverting to original, its just popping the SMA out and the regular one in.

Using these connectors, you would have to remove a tiny bit of material to fit the original antenna bay:
g3m3.jpg

 

Hi Sisal,

really nice work. Thinking about the same mod now. I have few questions. How did you connect the second antenna? Did you unconnect the wire going from the antenna output on the PCB to the Jack connector? Did you connect that unused wire on the Jack to the ground or where?

 

Thanks much! :-)

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  • 9 months later...
  • 3 months later...

I think just about anything would be fine. Pretty sure I clipped a lead from a 1/4 watt resistor and used that with a little shrink. 

On 3/3/2019 at 10:34 PM, fatfatjames said:

Does the length of the cable from the sma to the board,make a different to the length of the antenna?

 

I don’t think so. The case acts as a ground plane so I’m pretty sure that means the only length that’s critical is the antenna length protruding from the SMA whip. Someone else want to weigh in on that?

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On 3/3/2019 at 8:34 PM, fatfatjames said:

Does the length of the cable from the sma to the board,make a different to the length of the antenna?

I'm no LarryF, but I think you're fine as long as you keep the lead from the SMA to the board reasonably short.

 

4 hours ago, joi b said:

what type of wire do you use for the pcb to sma link?

I used a scrap of thin 50 ohm coaxial cable. I cut the center conductor free from the outer jacket and shield; you can see it in my post in this thread, #104. As Derek H pointed out, it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just make sure the antennal lead can't short to ground.

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I've modded my transmitter and receiver. While checking the antenna on the transmitter with my multimeter, I noticed that the antenna contact on the board is grounded with the case (meaning when set to continuity, touching one probe to the antenna connection point on the circuit board and the other probe to the case, it registers a connection). For the life of me, I can't see any stray blobs of solder. Is the transmitter antenna supposed to be grounded?

IMG_5111.jpg

IMG_5113.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/12/2019 at 9:58 PM, Allen Rowand said:

 

One of the great things about this mod is you can use right angle SMA adapters to keep the antenna vertical when you mount the receiver in a camera's cold shoe.

QUANT

 

On 3/12/2019 at 9:58 PM, Allen Rowand said:

 

One of the great things about this mod is you can use right angle SMA adapters to keep the antenna vertical when you mount the receiver in a camera's cold shoe.

WHAT IS THIS connector, has it been crimped? 

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  • 1 month later...
On 12/1/2018 at 10:07 PM, Allen Rowand said:

Finally joined the club! First walk test was very encouraging, had full strength RF through a couple walls. Next stop, log periodic antenna and splitter…IMG_20181201_115958.jpg

my walk test failt 2 times, it was worse than the stock antenna, can depend from connector quality and cable to connect to the board? 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I took the plunge with the 2 antenna setup on one of my Sennheiser receivers but it doesn't seem to work.

 

To the person who posted a success with this mod - Did you remove the bracket connecting the sleeve of the audio jack from the second antenna input? Hard to tell from the pictures. I've tried this a few different ways and can't seem to get anything that appears to work differently from the single antenna mod.

 

I thought about it and it seems that in it's original form, the whip doesn't have a ground connection since it is mounted with that rubber boot. The sleeve of audio jack must complete the circuit. Meaning, the actual antenna would be the positive pole and the audio cable would be the negative. This makes me wonder if the two antenna connection points are opposite in polarity. In which case, a 2 antenna setup shouldn't work as two antennas connected side by side would have a canceling effect.

 

However, people have claimed to successfully execute this mod so I'm curious to hear more specifics on it.

 

Thanks,

-Aaron

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On 6/21/2019 at 2:58 AM, AbsoluteAaron said:

To the person who posted a success with this mod - Did you remove the bracket connecting the sleeve of the audio jack from the second antenna input? Hard to tell from the pictures. I've tried this a few different ways and can't seem to get anything that appears to work differently from the single antenna mod.

Yes you must remove the latch connecting to the minijack. The default setup uses the connected audio cable's sleve/shielding as the diversity antenna. If you leave the latch connected, and for example connect an LPDA, you destroy the antenna's anatomy by leaving the audio jack connected, you basically tap in between two antennae (one of which is slightly suboptimal by design).

 

On 6/21/2019 at 2:58 AM, AbsoluteAaron said:

I thought about it and it seems that in it's original form, the whip doesn't have a ground connection since it is mounted with that rubber boot.

The original whip does not need a ground connector, since it is not set off the device. The device itself is acting as the ground plane to the whip. The "antenna" starts where the signal-carrying wire leaves the shielding. With the original whip antenna, this is where it exits the device case. If you intend to use a remote antenna (dipole, LPDA, helix or whatever), you must carry the ground plane to the antenna, therefore connecting it to the device case.

 

On 6/21/2019 at 2:58 AM, AbsoluteAaron said:

The sleeve of audio jack must complete the circuit. Meaning, the actual antenna would be the positive pole and the audio cable would be the negative.

No, the audio cable's sleeve is the second antenna, the device case is the ground plane.

 

On 6/21/2019 at 2:58 AM, AbsoluteAaron said:

This makes me wonder if the two antenna connection points are opposite in polarity. In which case, a 2 antenna setup shouldn't work as two antennas connected side by side would have a canceling effect.

The Sennheiser G2/G3 do not use "true diversity", they do not intermix the antenna signal. That's a feature for the more expensive units. The G2/G3 just switch between the two antenna inputs when the Signal drops below a preset threshold. You cannot get any kind of antenna polarity issue on this device.

 

Btw, you should see that the latch is missing here:

image.png

 

Kindly, sisal

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