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1. minute (mntmn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 04:52:35 JST minute

   • theawesomerandomness

   ok so @theawesomerandomness and me finally discovered the root cause for wifi reception issues in Pocket Reform. it's mega embarassing m))) it's interesting that there's reception at all... through a full copper plate...

   • minute (mntmn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 05:13:30 JST minute

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness

     @theawesomerandomness correction: it's of course not a "full copper plate", but a full copper layer/foil on FR-4

   • Martina Neumayer (martinaneumayer@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 05:25:20 JST Martina Neumayer

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness

     @mntmn @theawesomerandomness This is quite possible, indeed. The cause may be copper, or rather the carbon content and other impurities/ingredients in it. Some commonly used in the production process of copper (and elements later built from it) can together constitute a kind of signal insulator. This is a fairly well-known problem in amateur radio. This all together can literally act like an Faraday cage.

   • Büügman (buugman@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 05:43:11 JST Büügman

     in reply to

     Time to 3d print a backplate with a hole to hotrod a heat sink

   • ElectronicAcorn (electronicacorn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 06:12:50 JST ElectronicAcorn

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness

     @mntmn @theawesomerandomness Time for you to sell some funky (aluminium?) panel replacements? I had one ordered from PCB Way, but they failed the screw holes twice, so on the look out for a better replacement.

   • minute (mntmn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 06:27:13 JST minute

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness
     • ElectronicAcorn

     @ElectronicAcorn @theawesomerandomness lets see, full aluminum will also attenuate the signal... possibly a hybrid material solution, or multiple options, like the original idea done proper, and aluminum as an option for better heatsinking

   • Timon 🛠 (timonsku@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 06:30:55 JST Timon 🛠

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness

     @mntmn @theawesomerandomness is that copper plane grounded?

   • minute (mntmn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 06:45:57 JST minute

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness
     • Timon 🛠

     @timonsku @theawesomerandomness as soon as you screw it in it should be yeah

   • Timon 🛠 (timonsku@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 06:59:52 JST Timon 🛠

     in reply to

     @mntmn wild ok, floating metal can act as a "repeater", grounded you would think it would mostly dissipate. That WiFi really snaked through some cracks :D

   • minute (mntmn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 07:17:54 JST minute

     in reply to

     • Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
     • Timon 🛠

     @gsuberland @timonsku yeah there are the side port covers that don't have copper, and the display bezel as well

   • Graham Sutherland / Polynomial (gsuberland@chaos.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 07:17:56 JST Graham Sutherland / Polynomial

     in reply to

     • Timon 🛠

     @timonsku @mntmn I guess it must've been escaping through a slot-shaped gap somewhere? not an RF specialist by a long shot but at 2.4G you're looking at about 30mm quarter wave so I can't think of another way the geometry lines up. either that or it was common-mode coupling through somewhere and radiating out.

   • minute (mntmn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 07:19:03 JST minute

     in reply to

     • Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
     • Timon 🛠

     @gsuberland @timonsku in my earlier experiments today putting on the back panel reduces SNR instantly by ~10dB in wavemon (well, this also depends on the distance to the router etc, and directions of antennas)

   • pff (pff@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 08:01:36 JST pff

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness

     @mntmn @theawesomerandomness do you know if it is just the bottom layer or internal layers too? If it’s just the bottom it may be possible to sand or etch a patch. (?)

   • mountain (mntn@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 08:58:42 JST mountain

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness
     • ElectronicAcorn

     @mntmn @ElectronicAcorn @theawesomerandomness I looked at doing aluminum with a through-hole, with a 3d printed “plug” for the hole that the antenna could stick on the back of. I think it would have worked, but I want to use the full surface for my custom plate.

   • minute (mntmn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 08:58:42 JST minute

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness
     • ElectronicAcorn
     • mountain

     @mntn @ElectronicAcorn @theawesomerandomness yep, i also had sth like that in mind today, but location, dimension and material for the insert are yet unclear

   • minute (mntmn@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 18:39:15 JST minute

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness
     • avsej

     @avsej @theawesomerandomness yes, all Pocket Reforms are affected. we're working on solutions now.

   • avsej (avsej@linuxrocks.online)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 18:39:16 JST avsej

     in reply to

     • theawesomerandomness

     @mntmn @theawesomerandomness so does it mean that all pocket reform devices should suffer from this issue? Will there be an option of a plastic case for it?