Attaching Aerial to Case

[cosmarchy]

Hi,

I have a small PCB which can be used to remotely switch electrical items via RF which I'd like to mount in the base of my desk lamp. The board has a small aerial (5mm dia x 5mm length coil of wire) and I'm wondering whether mounting it in the base of a metal desk lamp will actually work? Will the metalwork of the lamp act as a shield and prevent the radio signals from getting through?

I did wonder whether attaching the aerial to the frame (essentially using the metalwork as the aerial) would work, but then I remembered that it would also have to be earthed...

Has anyone any experience of doing anything like this?

Thanks

 

[FvM]

The answer depends on the operation frequency.

 

[cosmarchy]

The answer depends on the operation frequency.

The RF frequency of the modules is 433.92MHz.

Do you think it possible with this frequency?

Thanks

 

[volker@muehlhaus]

Will the metalwork of the lamp act as a shield and prevent the radio signals from getting through?

This will attenuate the signal a lot.

I did wonder whether attaching the aerial to the frame (essentially using the metalwork as the aerial) would work, but then I remembered that it would also have to be earthed...

Difficult to say. At 432MHz such a connection usually wil make it worse. You have two options (isolated antenna inside box or connected to box) that are both bad.