Powering trough a side power connection is sable when the antenna with the LNA is close enough that you can still run an extra power wire to it.
This is because it makes no too much sense to have the LNA installed next to the receiver/pi and a long cable to the antenna. LNA should be as close as possible to the antenna for best results.
The tee power injector is not that big of a pain, and if the cable is long, it is almost the only efficient solution.
Note that adding an extra single wire for separate power is sufficient (that’s the positive lead, the negative gets connected to the coax cable shield), but it can look messy when the cable length is more than 10 meters.
That being said, there are coax cables with messenger.
That messenger is isolated and can carry the required 5V. Sure it is usually copper-clad steel and connection will probably have to be made by compression, but at this level of currents (less than 100mA) that won’t be a problem.
Electrically they are pretty much the same but mechanically its more cat proof.
With the bare pcb if the cat decides to play with it you can end up with the sma connectors being ripped off the board. With the one in the housing the sma connectors are mounted on the metal enclosure.
Depends on your cat
Hi
I hear you got widr amp with solder lugs powered
i didnt go that route as i dont run filters /fa only triple filter amp so im kind stuck with that for now
i spose only way to test is to get 1 hehe
pops on santa’s list
That’s the same bias tee board I bought earlier today. Decided on that one since the board looks like it’ll fit into an Altoids tin or similar sized plastic box.
Many thanks to everyone who provided their insight. I’ll report back on the gains from the LNA implementation.
