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Bending the antenna breaks the connection

Hi Devzone,

We are using the nRF52 DK in a prototype which is under stress, and we noticed that any bending of the board breaks the BLE connection.

To easily replicate the problem, one can put something within the 2 holes in the centre of the board (like screws) and just put some stress between them, the connection breaks for a few seconds. Vibrations can also replicate the symptoms. 

I wanted to know if this is a known problem since I couldn't find any other complaint about it. Could it be batch specific?

Is there a recommended product to use an external antenna on the nRF52DK? 

For now, we are trying to minimise the mechanical stress to make sure it holds, but any other idea is welcome. 

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  • Hey,

    We are not bending the board on purpose, and the force is applied on hard piece of plastic on which a PCB is screwed, and the DK is plugged to the PCB. So it's not direct, but still enough to break the connection. We've tried 3 different sets of PCB/DK/plastic, and it's the same behavior.

    I can give more detail in a private chat if necessary ^^

    The LFRC is using the default value, +/- 250 ppm. 

    No BLE sniffer. If it helps, we tried data transfer through USB cable and it works well and never breaks. 

    Over BLE, there were a few data length issues, but they've been solved. And it's still breaking over stress.

    Any external antenna option?

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