Why the ‘shield’ is used like that I really don’t know. Open up a wifi device with a similar kapton pcb antenna on coax & your find it connected like that.
I’ve made some wifi diy yagi, biquad, waveguide antennas & the ‘shield’ is always used in a manner that seems counterintuitive.
You are confusing resistance and impedance. Resistance is for DC signals. Impedance is for AC/RF signals. Something that might have a DC resistance of 0 ohms and look like a dead short could have an AC impedance of say, 50 ohms. The higher the frequencies involved, the larger impedance effects come into play. In the microwave area, things get really tricky and critical. Something that would be unmeasureable at lower frequencies can totally block, short, screw up, etc a microwave signal.
So this is one of those "step 1: learn how to design microwave circuits, step 2: attach Asgard antenna" situations, huh? That damn 'how to draw an owl' picture again...
(Step 1: Solder antenna. (Step 2: have a drink. :bigsmile:
Will it be tuned 100% for the ext antenna, no, but it will work ok.
As said above, generally shielding isn’t used for wire antennas. At certain wavelengths of a given frequency a ground plane (not electrical ground) is used, for other wavelengths no ground plane is needed. I’d suggest looking at some DIY ham antenna websites . . some even have calculators for length if you know the frequency.
http://www.hamuniverse.com/antennas.html
EDIT: Note that shielding is used in cable of the proper impedance for transmitting the signal from transceiver to an external antenna (wire or otherwise).
for other wavelengths no ground plane is needed That is incorrect, there always needs to be some sort of ground plane needed except for ground independent antennas, half wave antennas for example.
Your missing something a wire antenna also depends on a good earth to work effectively, some keen antenna people will even use an earth mat buried in their yard.
No longer an issue, I tested it after each step during the process of fitting it into a one-off Maglite pill and it was fine, then after final assembly (drop in pill, tighten grub screw) it decided it no longer wanted to enter programming mode, so it had a little accident and is no longer of this world. I have better things to do. This crap is still in the pre-alpha stage and I have no idea how/why they are even still selling them.
Your example is exactly the fractional wavelength (for a given frequency) exception to which I was considering when I stated some relative wavelengths to a given radio frequency may not be ground plane dependent. For the OP, I’d be inclined to try for an even or half wavelength antenna (if you try again). Since they are probably small for the transceiver’s frequency, some precision and tuning is probably worthwhile (and quite possibly better for transceiver longevity).
A tower should always be well grounded to the earth for lightening protection, but towers are generally not designed to be a part of the antenna. Their earth ground still isn’t a part of the RF system. The example really doesn’t apply to a typical flashlight, unless perhaps it is being mounted in a fixed, outdoor location.
A counterpoise is essentially helping an antenna at a fractional wavelength for a given frequency to move toward a length with lower need for a ground plane (perhaps the most common being a 1/4 wave HT antenna needing but not having a good ground plane moving toward a 1/2 wave) by adding additional ground plane at the mount instead of adding length to a radiating element. Since the goal is likely to get the wire antenna out of the light, simply making the antenna a more useful length lessens or eliminates the need and complication of a counterpoise starting from another point.
Please take the EE-speak somewhere else if it doesn't also include relevant information about where to solder the two conductors of the existing, provided external antenna. I'm not going to redesign anything here, just put together the parts that came in the bag and let it ride. OK?
OK.
FYI those locations are not correct, the upper pad marked 'shield' is connected to something else on the driver, I think it's the output the bluetooth module uses to flash the LED to indicate programming mode. On version 2 I am going to leave the shield unconnected at the driver end, it may not be 'correct' and may reduce the range but it still at least works like that at an acceptable distance.