Database Users

Electric Shock !?

I recently bought an official o2 mains charger for my exec. It works exactly as expected, except for one thing!
It's giving me an electric shock! A very mild one, but it's there. The metal part on the top of the exec is getting electrified when charging with the mains charger.
Does anyone else with the mains charger experience this? I only noticed it when I rubbed my finger across it, it felt more "textured" than usual.

DaWolfey said:
I recently bought an official o2 mains charger for my exec. It works exactly as expected, except for one thing!
It's giving me an electric shock! A very mild one, but it's there. The metal part on the top of the exec is getting electrified when charging with the mains charger.
Does anyone else with the mains charger experience this? I only noticed it when I rubbed my finger across it, it felt more "textured" than usual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I thought that was normal?

belfast-biker said:
Yes. I thought that was normal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't seem very normal to me... certainly not what you'd expect at least.

YES. I noticed it the first time i charged it up. I showed it to other people but they couldnt feel it. Now I know I am not alone. I wouldnt have said it was normal, but i have got used to it.
Euan

My m5000 does this too.
The easiest way to feel it is to softly stroke the metal pad on the lid with the case closed. It feels kinda nice, but is definately current.

My JasJar, IIs and my old Xda II also did this. But only those. Perhaps it's not earthed well?

Qtek 9000 has this too

You'll be surprised how many devices have this, actually. However, it shouldn't be of any concern - it's OK'd by law in most countries. Compare it, if you will, to one of those cheap halogen light desklamps ( http://www.lightwindow.com/desklamp/500/halogen/129bl.jpg ). The 12V goes straight through the telescoping metal tubing itself, and if you rub your fingers along one side while holding the other, you'll get the same sensation. That's why they often have a little warning label with them about not hanging any necklaces over them, or it will shortcircuit ( easily tested.. it just sparks a little, but I wouldn't recommend doing it ). The power rating for these lamps is *much* higher than for any pocket device. So although it's not particularly proper (non-conductive tubing with some retractable wires would be better - but oh-so-much more expensive to manufacture), it's part of the design, and nothing to worry about.

i had noticed it, but i didnt know what it was

DaWolfey said:
I recently bought an official o2 mains charger for my exec. It works exactly as expected, except for one thing!
It's giving me an electric shock! A very mild one, but it's there. The metal part on the top of the exec is getting electrified when charging with the mains charger.
Does anyone else with the mains charger experience this? I only noticed it when I rubbed my finger across it, it felt more "textured" than usual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is true. There is a mild current along the top of the Jasjar.

wow... your first post... I'm honoured

No problem on my unit (Charmer). However, I've experienced this with other devices, an IBM Notebook (X series, bought 2003). It has a rubbery top (not metal), which give you a tickling feeling when you rub it with your sensitive skin (e.g. the skin under of your arm - wrist to elbow, the part where you do not get enough of sun light). I guess it is of a tolerance limit. I mean, if you try that on your VCD DVD player, I bet you will have the same problem too.

well that's certainly cleared that up.
Good to know it's not a faulty Exec.

I think its a "signature" of all HTC devices
I remember playing silly pranks on my xda2, where in i'd fake an incoming call when its plugged into the charger and hand it over to my friend (victim). The look on the face is worth a million! (i'm not sadistic as you're probably thinking right now, atleast not "as much"!)
the faceplate charge leak is really cool! I keep stroking it when i'm jobless. Its i guess a feature in many ways -
1. You dont have to hunt for the charging light indicator, just stroke the plate and you'd know if ur device is charging up
2. The phone call prank - priceless weapon!
3. An excellent window for passing time, stroking harmless current gives me a high! (oh yea, i'm kidding of course!)
All in all, i like the charge leak!
San
PS: Just got back from an extremely long and tiring business trip, hope my post has some relavence to the topic and makes sense in any remote manner

All of the devices which use a Switch mode power supply has it. It isn't a fault rather a design. This reason is that Switch Mode Powersupplies do not have a transformer which isolate the main 110/220 from the output.
You can also experience it if you have a computer with a metal casing (those white boxed computers)
There is however a method to minimize that shock effect. though it might not be possible with three pin adapters. Here we have two pinned adapters so just plugging it in the opposite direction make the shock go away.

ady said:
All of the devices which use a Switch mode power supply has it. It isn't a fault rather a design. This reason is that Switch Mode Powersupplies do not have a transformer which isolate the main 110/220 from the output.
You can also experience it if you have a computer with a metal casing (those white boxed computers)
There is however a method to minimize that shock effect. though it might not be possible with three pin adapters. Here we have two pinned adapters so just plugging it in the opposite direction make the shock go away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol.. I thought since you are writing in bold, it should be something.. good. Anyway, the only thing that I've notice that is right on your post is that, SMPower adapter does not have a transformer.
The isolation of the transformer doesn't stop the device from giving you a shock.
What do you mean by 'white boxed computers'? You mean those normal desktop, huh? I'm not sure about what's going on at your side, but we use 3 pin plugs here, and the 3rd pin is a ground line, which is the effective way of getting rid of electric shocks (e.g. it absorb the 'wild' current to ground, instead to you)
And the most funny thing is your last comment. You can make the shock away by flipping your two pin plug? What is the logic to that? There is a diode-like device in the adapter that will convert the current/voltage of your AC to DC. It doesn't matter how you connect your adapter, it will end up the same somewhere in the adapter way before it touches your device.
Anyway, surprisingly, for someone who doesn't seems to know electricity, you know what Switch Mode Power Supplies

ady said:
... so just plugging it in the opposite direction make the shock go away...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rigghhhhtt... That makes a lot of sense (not) :roll:

mdaexecfan said:
ady said:
... so just plugging it in the opposite direction make the shock go away...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rigghhhhtt... That makes a lot of sense (not) :roll:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come on, maybe he meant the other other way, you know, with the pins pointing into the room rather than into the socket?
I bet that would stop the current leak!

I have no idea about anything electrical... but don't be too hard on ady. He was the one who decrypted bootloader 1.0 for the universal which is very useful to some of us... so he's acutally very smart! At least, he is at programming/hacking.

HD2 mainboard component missing

Hi,could anyone with knowledge confirm what component is it?
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
It fall off pcb,and i could not find it

Refreshing post

b.u.m.p #2

how do u know something is missing? maybe there was nothing there to begin with.... does the phone not work when u put it back together?
edit: after searching a bit i found a couple pictures that shows the HD2's motherboard and some show a black component there and some dont. see attached pics. so maybe yours didnt have anything there to begin with. these components are soldiered onto the board, components dont just fall off...
maybe it depends if your phone is a US or EURO model?
rlee

here you can buy a new one
go on cgi.ebay.de and put this following link behind
/Mainboard-Motherboard-For-HTC-hd2-leo-T8585-/260819122167?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cba07f7f7[/url]

tamerkilinc said:
here you can buy a new one
go on cgi.ebay.de and put this following link behind
/Mainboard-Motherboard-For-HTC-hd2-leo-T8585-/260819122167?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cba07f7f7[/url]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does it has to be cgi.ebay.de?or can i use .com? bwwwwahaha,price is awesome
Well,component was stripped with screwdriver,not by me.
Btw,it is US version

Empty places on boards are not unusual. Have a look on your PC's mainboard, I bet you'll find several of them there, too.
The reasons vary. At times it is because some feature originally was planned, but didn't make it into production. Redesigning the board costs much more than simply letting out some parts.
But most of the times it is due to variations of the hardware. Some chips need external parts while other, doing the same job, don't.
When you have to produce millions of a device, you have to consider that occasionally you can't use the exact chip types in all devices and partially have to use other compatible chips. So most boards are designed to cover several variants of equipment - where chip A needs this specific external piece, while chip B, which is soldered to your board, doesn't.
If your phone works flawlessly, then the empty space is ok, no reason to change anything.
If there really has been a chip on the empty place, there are explicit marks on the soldering pads. Are their surfaces clean and shiny? Then there has never been anything soldered to it, otherwise they have a rough surface, clearly showing that something was ripped off. This can happen if the soldering process was bad. But this happens really rarely, especially in upper class smartphones.
(Had this on a PC RAM some years ago, the EEPROM simply fell off the board... and some of the good old Nokia 6210 had problems with bad soldering, but this affected only a few pins of a single chip.)
So if you can post a macro pic of the empty place, I can have a look and tell you if there has been anything on it or not.

justmeandmyphone said:
Empty places on boards are not unusual. Have a look on your PC's mainboard, I bet you'll find several of them there, too.
The reasons vary. At times it is because some feature originally was planned, but didn't make it into production. Redesigning the board costs much more than simply letting out some parts.
But most of the times it is due to variations of the hardware. Some chips need external parts while other, doing the same job, don't.
When you have to produce millions of a device, you have to consider that occasionally you can't use the exact chip types in all devices and partially have to use other compatible chips. So most boards are designed to cover several variants of equipment - where chip A needs this specific external piece, while chip B, which is soldered to your board, doesn't.
If your phone works flawlessly, then the empty space is ok, no reason to change anything.
If there really has been a chip on the empty place, there are explicit marks on the soldering pads. Are their surfaces clean and shiny? Then there has never been anything soldered to it, otherwise they have a rough surface, clearly showing that something was ripped off. This can happen if the soldering process was bad. But this happens really rarely, especially in upper class smartphones.
(Had this on a PC RAM some years ago, the EEPROM simply fell off the board... and some of the good old Nokia 6210 had problems with bad soldering, but this affected only a few pins of a single chip.)
So if you can post a macro pic of the empty place, I can have a look and tell you if there has been anything on it or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here,i added best macro i could get

Looks to me as if the pads are virgins, have never seen any solder. So if your phone doesn't have any malfunction, everything should be fine.

This component is smd female plug for led power thanks everyone for comments,maybe someone will have use of this...
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

Are the PA for HTC Touch HD2 from Avago?

External Antenna Socket - WARNING

I have been attempting to use the antenna socket located under the battery cover on my S2. Sometimes I go to a very remote location for a week where I can only get reception via a amplified Yagi pointing at the nearest transmitter (Orange only as well, no other networks for miles.) I currently use a P1i for this as being dated it has an antenna socket.
I wanted to do the same with the S2. I was very excited to spot the antenna socket under the battery cover. Much research online doesn't really give much information about it; neither did a phone call to Samsung (who were unhelpful.) Some online shops in Australia sell a constructed link for it but nobody here in the UK does, as far as I can tell. So I was looking at creating my own pigtail lead.
Having difficulty finding what precisely the socket is, (it isn't an MCCX I can guarantee, others report it isn't an MCX) I took a thin wire and pushed it into the centre to see if I could bodge a connection together.
Big mistake! The external antenna works - but now the internal connector doesn't. Whenever an external antenna is connected it disconnects the internal one. It turns out that if you use the wrong side wire, it appears to force apart two contacts within the socket (best I can tell with my loupe) and the internal antenna never works again.
I suspect the solution for Galaxy S which sometimes had a spontaneous similar issue - removing the antenna socket and shorting the contacts - would work, but it's not at all simple to do especially given the infrastructure on the other side of the PCB.
People think that this socket is only intended as a test point for use by Samsung before shipping the phone. I would strongly suggest NOT MESSING WITH IT or using it - and if you do, to buy (import if necessary) the specially made cable. Otherwise you may suffer my fate and have no internal antenna connection any more.
Beware...

Thanks for the info.
I'd wondered about that socket...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

kingqueen said:
I have been attempting to use the antenna socket located under the battery cover on my S2. Sometimes I go to a very remote location for a week where I can only get reception via a amplified Yagi pointing at the nearest transmitter (Orange only as well, no other networks for miles.) I currently use a P1i for this as being dated it has an antenna socket.
I wanted to do the same with the S2. I was very excited to spot the antenna socket under the battery cover. Much research online doesn't really give much information about it; neither did a phone call to Samsung (who were unhelpful.) Some online shops in Australia sell a constructed link for it but nobody here in the UK does, as far as I can tell. So I was looking at creating my own pigtail lead.
Having difficulty finding what precisely the socket is, (it isn't an MCCX I can guarantee, others report it isn't an MCX) I took a thin wire and pushed it into the centre to see if I could bodge a connection together.
Big mistake! The external antenna works - but now the internal connector doesn't. Whenever an external antenna is connected it disconnects the internal one. It turns out that if you use the wrong side wire, it appears to force apart two contacts within the socket (best I can tell with my loupe) and the internal antenna never works again.
I suspect the solution for Galaxy S which sometimes had a spontaneous similar issue - removing the antenna socket and shorting the contacts - would work, but it's not at all simple to do especially given the infrastructure on the other side of the PCB.
People think that this socket is only intended as a test point for use by Samsung before shipping the phone. I would strongly suggest NOT MESSING WITH IT or using it - and if you do, to buy (import if necessary) the specially made cable. Otherwise you may suffer my fate and have no internal antenna connection any more.
Beware...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe pushing the same bit of wire back in would again bridge the contacts and give you your internal aerial back? Snip it off just above the socket?

silk_nz said:
Maybe pushing the same bit of wire back in would again bridge the contacts and give you your internal aerial back? Snip it off just above the socket?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the excellent helpful suggestion, regrettably it doesn't work though. The little bit of wire itself works as an antenna but it doesn't reconnect the internal antenna. I think this is by design: pushing a pin in should disconnect the internal and connect the external, sadly in my case whilst it did do this the wrong diameter wire stopped it going the other way!
Happily good news: I've negotiated a warranty replacement, doorstep swap for a new one. Thank you O2.
Additional info for anybody thinking of trying to get a connector for this socket: having received an MCX connector in the post today, I can confirm that both MCX and MCCX connectors are definitely not compatible with the phone's external aerial socket and can't be bodged to work on it either.
Elsewhere forum contributors state a Samsung tech told them it is an "MPX" connector. The only MPX connector I can find on the Web is something entirely different, not for use with mobile phones.
What a mystery
Thanks once again

Guys, do not touch that Socket!
I did the same and my s2 is now at the servicepoint!

n-zocker said:
Guys, do not touch that Socket!
I did the same and my s2 is now at the servicepoint!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry to hear you've had the same fate as me!
Did you use the official patch lead e.g. www.cellink.com.au/productdetails.a...d=WES1781263914N&pcr=WES596880305N&byp=2&qf=1 or try to bodge one like me? I've ordered an official one but think I'm too scared to use it, having broken one s2 already!
Further info, it's an MS147 connector.

being that its under the battery cover, with no opening to the outside casing I would assume this to be a Manufacturer port only. and therefore shouldn't be used, nor played with.
I appreciate your efforts and troubles but sometimes you should leave these things alone, is there not a solution that doesn't require a connection?

kingqueen said:
sorry to hear you've had the same fate as me!
Did you use the official patch lead e.g. www.cellink.com.au/productdetails.a...d=WES1781263914N&pcr=WES596880305N&byp=2&qf=1 or try to bodge one like me? I've ordered an official one but think I'm too scared to use it, having broken one s2 already!
Further info, it's an MS147 connector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope i broke mine with that "wire method" ^^
i will touch that port never again

diablous said:
being that its under the battery cover, with no opening to the outside casing I would assume this to be a Manufacturer port only. and therefore shouldn't be used, nor played with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What, like the microSD port, and the SIM slot?

diablous said:
I appreciate your efforts and troubles but sometimes you should leave these things alone, is there not a solution that doesn't require a connection?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really! Passive antenna couplers don't work. I'll have to go back to my p1i with its antenna socket and Sony Ericsson antenna lead, obviously designed to be used. Old skool! Even then I can only get signal on one network, amplified using a vehicle pcs amplifier and using a directional Yagi...
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
^^^ cos my SGS2 is dead and not swapped out yet :-(

kingqueen said:
sorry to hear you've had the same fate as me!
Did you use the official patch lead e.g. (Link deleted) or try to bodge one like me? I've ordered an official one but think I'm too scared to use it, having broken one s2 already!
Further info, it's an MS147 connector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did use the Cellink connector and it killed my internal antenna.
I asked about this and was told they checked with Samsung and the port is ok to use. Sounds like a design problem but will wait and see what the service centre says.

kingqueen said:
Not really! Passive antenna couplers don't work. I'll have to go back to my p1i with its antenna socket and Sony Ericsson antenna lead, obviously designed to be used. Old skool! Even then I can only get signal on one network, amplified using a vehicle pcs amplifier and using a directional Yagi...
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
^^^ cos my SGS2 is dead and not swapped out yet :-(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about active, such as those solutions from companies like Wilson?
I have had excellent results with their vehicle amplifier kit here - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011GI94Q
However it sounds like you'll need significantly more "oomph" - probably one of their higher-gain building-oriented kits, with a cradle and a Yagi.
I believe their non-direct-connect amps have the gain increased to compensate for the losses of the phone coupling.

Galaxy S (i9000T), same problem here
Hi everyone. I have a SGS i9000T, had the same problem as you guys.
I was in a rural area (Brazil), and it's very common there to use external antennas (by very common I mean, it's the only way to get a signal). My mother-in-law has cheap cellphone for this and I tried to connect her antenna. I has not only worked like magic, but also all the area suddenly had wifi internet access!
But after I had disconnected the antenna and traveled to the civilization again, no signal, just like happened to some here. It happened *exactly* the same way with my HTC Touch (GSM). At first I thought it was a problem with the phone, now I see it's the same connector.
The fun thing is, yesterday I went to a Samsung service center and there was this poster with tips for your phone (like, how to backup phone contents, how to clean it, carrier block matters, etc), and there was it, with huge letters: "DO NOT CONNECT AN EXTERNAL ANTENNA TO YOUR SAMSUNG PHONE. IT MAY STOP HAVING A SIGNAL AND IT WILL VOID THE WARRANTY." Well, actually, it was in portuguese, but that's what it said. It's like, "yes, we know there is a MicroSD slot in your phone, but no one said you could use it, now your warranty is void"!
My phone was not under warranty anymore anyway, so I'll try the soldering method, I guess.
As for the connector, seems like bad design to me.

Easy solution
Smae thing happened to me. There is a piece like a fuse between antenna plugs as seen in the picture. If this piece is missing, you can't get signal. So just apply a small solder at that part and it is done. Any cell phone technician can do that, no need to send to Samsung service and pay more, if your device is not under guarantee of course.

Not really bad design, other than maybe marking it clearly as "Factory test only" - which is why that antenna connector is there.
It is extremely rare for phones to have antenna connectors these days.

Guys, I've found a shop in Australia where a patch lead for SGS2 is available with the FME connector:
http://www.telcoantennas.com.au/site/patch-lead-samsung-galaxy-s-ii
Has anyone tried it? That question goes maily to people of Australia, because the shop doesn't ship products outside Australia.
If this cable works, we'll have the best solution for now

kingqueen said:
Did you use the official patch lead e.g. www.cellink.com.au/productdetails.a...d=WES1781263914N&pcr=WES596880305N&byp=2&qf=1 or try to bodge one like me? I've ordered an official one but think I'm too scared to use it, having broken one s2 already!
Further info, it's an MS147 connector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MS147, wheres the documentation, specs etc for this ?

Lucasorgpl said:
If this cable works, we'll have the best solution for now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep works great, the port is activated by the connection of the patch lead which will override the internal antenna. Make sure you buy the lead for the galaxy S II and not galaxy S, as the pin on the connector is slightly different in length.
maybe email them see if they can post outside Australia, as it's usually only a couple dollars more expensive.

Yep... I did it.
Long before this thread i have researched about this connector and what it is more exactly... I assumed it might have been for gps as well... Anyway, last night i tried a connector, which was close, but wouldn't fit... But I guess that has broken my internal antenna...
Wondering what should I do...
Sent from my GT-P1000 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 06:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:56 PM ----------
I guess it would be nice that this thread/warning be sticky!
---------- Post added at 06:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:11 PM ----------
victor79 said:
Smae thing happened to me. There is a piece like a fuse between antenna plugs as seen in the picture. If this piece is missing, you can't get signal. So just apply a small solder at that part and it is done. Any cell phone technician can do that, no need to send to Samsung service and pay more, if your device is not under guarantee of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you elaborate more on this? a better/close-up picture if possible?

dpuk said:
maybe email them see if they can post outside Australia, as it's usually only a couple dollars more expensive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sellers don't dont know anything, i asked a few..
Flashing your galaxy, press Y to continue..

Custom GPS antenna for THL W8 Beyond

Hey
I'd like to fix my crappy GPS antenna, can anyone here help me with that - I don't know how it looks like and don't know how to take the phone apart safely besides being careful not to yank the mic
Will only copper wire work?
Has anyone ever done this?
This device is notorious for it's bad GPS reception but there's not info on how to fix it and I'd sure appreciate any help.
Thanks in advance!

Software?
Hey, did you try some software changes, before you unassembly phone? I have an iOcean X7 Elite (same MTK chipset) and Uncletools with updated EPO was helpfull for me. Fix GPS max. 20 seconds. With serial antenna. Check XDA forum or google about GPS fix MTK chipset or tell me, I can write a fast manual how to do that...

i managed to make a new GPS antenna. i took a copper adhesive and made a copy of the original one.
now i get a fix but SNR is around 35.
then i closed the back cover and got 30 SNR.
so i put another 2 slice of copper (9cm long) on the cover (one is touching the GPS antenna) and now i got 35 SNR.
but it is not enough. we need around 40-42 snr with 1-2 satellites in order to navigate in the city.
can anyone post a new GPS antenna mod that we can use with a copper adhesive?

You are probably best off finding a microstrip "patch" antenna optimized for
one of the two main GPS frequencies 1.57542 GHz (L1) and 1.2276 GHz (L2).
You could also attempt to build one, like you did, but with optimized
dimensions. These could be very small, on the size of a penny.
THIS is the basics of Microstrip (Patch) Antennas. You should definitely
try that design first! However, I don't know the impedance (the length of W
in the figure below) needed for your device, so you'll have to do some
trial-and-error...
Within THIS rather technical document, there are several simple designs that
you may try to make with your copper-tape-strips.
Finally try Google "homemade DIY gps patch antenna".
Let us know how it goes!
Here are some ideas:
Or perhaps this one?

E:V:A said:
You are probably best off finding a microstrip "patch" antenna optimized for
one of the two main GPS frequencies 1.57542 GHz (L1) and 1.2276 GHz (L2).
You could also attempt to build one, like you did, but with optimized
dimensions. These could be very small, on the size of a penny.
THIS is the basics of Microstrip (Patch) Antennas. You should definitely
try that design first! However, I don't know the impedance (the length of W
in the figure below) needed for your device, so you'll have to do some
trial-and-error...
Within THIS rather technical document, there are several simple designs that
you may try to make with your copper-tape-strips.
Finally try Google "homemade DIY gps patch antenna".
Let us know how it goes!
Here are some ideas:
Or perhaps this one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I added 10/15 points just with this
i hope to be helpful to you

i already tried the microstrip gps antenna. it gives great results but when you close the cover... poor results!

chenrp said:
i already tried the microstrip gps antenna. it gives great results but when you close the cover... poor results!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that is the case, you're probably doing something right!
The cover itself changes the properties of the antenna, usually they compensate this with a velocity factor. What happens, is that the antenna seem larger than it should be, when the cover is closed. Try to compensate by reducing your micro-strip dimensions by multiplying them with ~0.97. Microstrip and patch antennas have a very narrow band-width... (You'll have to be accurate to the mm.) Also make sure the antenna is not touching anything inside, when the cover is closed, as that would again change the properties.

GPS antennas...
E:V:A said:
If that is the case, you're probably doing something right!
The cover itself changes the properties of the antenna, usually they compensate this with a velocity factor. What happens, is that the antenna seem larger than it should be, when the cover is closed. Try to compensate by reducing your micro-strip dimensions by multiplying them with ~0.97. Microstrip and patch antennas have a very narrow band-width... (You'll have to be accurate to the mm.) Also make sure the antenna is not touching anything inside, when the cover is closed, as that would again change the properties.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have three, two are active devices, with the receiver attached beneath, and require +3 VDC supply and RS-232 for data.
One is a ceramic patch from O.E.M Garmin, as supplied in their hand held units,
The third, is a patch used by old Garmin Flight navigator unit I used in my B-55 Baron. Its dimensions are 2-3/8" on a side, soI doubt you could fit this inside without difficulty, let alone altering the dielectric constant of the board.
But if you have a sizable space between the cover and the main board, you may be able to fit a small ceramic patch antenna that should work nicely, IF the feed impedances are similar.
he enclosed pics should give you a starting point though..

i managed to get 43 SNR! inside my house near the window.(with one stripe connected directly to the antenna contacts)
but i cant fit it inside the phone and still get above 35 SNR.

befano71 said:
I added 10/15 points just with this
i hope to be helpful to you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chenrp said:
i managed to get 43 SNR! inside my house near the window.(with one stripe connected directly to the antenna contacts)
but i cant fit it inside the phone and still get above 35 SNR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pointless to tell us what you get without also telling us what you did or have!
Please post the exact measurements.

E:V:A said:
It's pointless to tell us what you get without also telling us what you did or have!
Please post the exact measurements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"but i cant fit it inside the phone and still get above 35 SNR."!
pointless to write how i did it if i cant put the antenna inside the phone!

I posted a picture.
Try doing as I did.
2mm aluminium tape 7cm long attached inside the cover like showed in the photo.
no need to dissassemble or cut or disconnect.
It seems wierd bit it worked for me and other w8s owners

connection to the antenna:
i disconnected the original antenna. taped an adhesive copper film to the antenna contact(in the board).
the film is very short, just enough to touch the back cover.
antenna:
on the back cover, i added adhesive copper antenna.
that way, we have a long antenna (should be ~9cm long) and is far enough from the phone so get better SNR.
see picture.

GPS foil antenna.
chenrp said:
connection to the antenna:
i disconnected the original antenna. taped an adhesive copper film to the antenna contact(in the board).
the film is very short, just enough to touch the back cover.
antenna:
on the back cover, i added adhesive copper antenna.
that way, we have a long antenna (should be ~9cm long) and is far enough from the phone so get better SNR.
see picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use stained glass copper foil, they make several different varieties, and most have an adhesive backing, as well as natural copper and black oxide, but the black foil does not solder well, so stay with the natural copper for best results.
Did you match the feed impedance to the receiver? You need a proper load to cause the antenna to operate properly, and at 'L' band and higher, this matters even more-so.
Skin effects vary with frequency, and the higher you go, the more effect this has on any RF path, and can kill a receiver's ability to 'hear'.
GPS signals are already weak, and since 99.99% of the nation are not on the high accuracy portion of the 'L band, we are relegated to 1575.42
If anybody would like to attempt this mod, I would be happy to supply the foil, as I use the same material for rebuilding circuits, and have several rolls. Just send appropriate postage and I will send you more than enough to apply this modification to your device.
I guess you can Email me directly, or through XDA.

AECRADIO said:
You can use stained glass copper foil, they make several different varieties, and most have an adhesive backing, as well as natural copper and black oxide, but the black foil does not solder well, so stay with the natural copper for best results.
Did you match the feed impedance to the receiver? You need a proper load to cause the antenna to operate properly, and at 'L' band and higher, this matters even more-so.
Skin effects vary with frequency, and the higher you go, the more effect this has on any RF path, and can kill a receiver's ability to 'hear'.
GPS signals are already weak, and since 99.99% of the nation are not on the high accuracy portion of the 'L band, we are relegated to 1575.42
If anybody would like to attempt this mod, I would be happy to supply the foil, as I use the same material for rebuilding circuits, and have several rolls. Just send appropriate postage and I will send you more than enough to apply this modification to your device.
I guess you can Email me directly, or through XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
theory and practice aside!
i calculated and learned about GPS L band and the results are not satisfying at all.
the only thing that really helped is the one i posted.

i put the iphone 4 antena and it work verry good
after few atempt to assembly my own antena without success i put the iphone 4 antena .
i get to 38 snr sometimes

this is what i have in a almost stormy day almost sea height with the help of the little alluminium strip.
just have to cut an adhesive aluminium tape, 2x70 mm and stick in in the back cover as shown in the picture.
put the cover back on and u'll see the sat levels growing 10-15% more than before.

maorhadad said:
after few atempt to assembly my own antena without success i put the iphone 4 antena .
i get to 38 snr sometimes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you connected the iphone's antenna to yours? is there any connection there?

chenrp said:
have you connected the iphone's antenna to yours? is there any connection there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not my brother.
Just peeled the metal band that in the back of the iPhone 4, and stuck it in the back of my bewond W8 as seen in the picture.
before i did it id do that guide :
thlmobilestore.com/news/gps-fix
It helps a little but not enough.
After I stuck the antenna of the iPhone 4 that comes a high precision level and not lose reception when I move for a second under a bridge or something like that ....

Custom GPS tAntenna
Used kitchen aluminium foil, as befano71 suggested ["2mm aluminium tape 7cm long attached inside the cover like showed in the photo"]. Built in a hurry, and might not be with perfect measures, but these are results on a foggy, cloudy evening (I was leaning through a window of a building, hence some satellites are zeroed). GPS fix in <10sec ...
Custom made aluminium foil GPS antenna for THL W8S:
Before mod:
After mod:

Priv-like Android device building

Hi everyone,
I own a Priv and can't do without a keyboard. Seeing that (as of today) no new portrait slider has been announced, and modding the motherboard itself is unrealisitic, I've decided to find a motherboard and screen off a newer phone and sort-of slap them on a spare chassis I've got lying around.
Feel free to add suggestions and comments below, I need all the expertise I can get. Hit the like button if you're interested, so i can get a head-count. If you guys and gals are interested, I'll post pics as I go along.

Keyboard & Interface:
In an ideal world, I'd be using the priv's existing (and exquisite) PKB which also has touch capabilities for scrolling and moving the cursor. Unfortunately I've not yet found the pinouts for that (and is more complex to interface). I have however found a website where a good soul published info and diagrams for a Q10's Keyboard and then connected those to an IC using a board with a Hirose connector (which he then connected to a raspberry pi project). My plan is similar. Since I don't know at which point in the motherboard I can make an input for a keyboard, the best strategy is to wire the keyboard's interface chip into the USB connections, as Android natively supports USB keyboards and mice. I can then use a microswitch (mechanical or magnetic) to disconnect the keyboard's signal when the slider closes.
If someone does know the pinouts of the Priv's connector, do let me know, it would be great to be able to use it!

Motherboard & Screen:
First thing that springs to mind, is that since the screen will be sliding a couple of inches, the phone off which I'll take the screen and motherboard needs to have a long flex-ribbon, usually found when a motherboard is on the top, and the screen connects on the bottom (such as the oneplus 5). This also means the charging port would also be nice to be a separate unit. I'm not too worried about cooling as there's a nice big metal slider frame to which all this will stick on, but failing that, i could also make a metal back with shallow fins to dissipate heat. The less features there are directly on the screen, the less things are likely to fail.

Requirements:
So the basic point of all this is to have the keyboard hooked up to the motherboard of a rootable system which can be easily modified. Phones like Xiaomi, Oneplus ... fit this bill well. First thing that springs to mind is a Snapdragon 8xx as performance is of course, vital. The camera also needs to work although the resolution is not critical. NFC, Fingerprint sensor, SD card slot, GPS with Galileo, Wireless charging and other niceities are highly desireable, but I might give some of them up to accomodate other things depending on how critical they are. Unfortunately not many flagships have 5.4" screens or less, so the metal slider will be modified to accomodate this.
I'll choose a nice, big battery and place it in the bottom, right below the keyboard as the CoG needs to be really low to make the phone comfy to type on without letting it tip over.
Finally, a plastic or metal cover can be modelled to fit all this, and will probably be cheap to make. If the screen is bigger than the frame, i'll also have to make a second cover around the border, secured to the main slider frame.

The Q10's keyboard has arrived. The connector seen in the middle with a black ribbon has 24 contacts (plus 4 contacts in the extremities which are not counted, probably used for grounding). By comparison, the Priv connectors (male on top, female on motherboard) has 20 contacts despite the priv's trackpad function.
For those of you curious about the BB Passport, I've had a quick look inside and the connector is identical to the Q10's keyboard, although it works like the Priv. Rather confusing.
I'll be mapping the pinouts once the PCB and connectors arrive, unfortunately that's gonna be a long wait as they have to come to Germany from the U.S.

I finally have enough parts to start putting the encoder together. It is an SK5126 keyboard encoder from Sprintek. At just 7 x 7mm with 0.5mm pitch, it was not easy to solder on, but definitely doable with a bit of practice and common sense. The chip itself is not expensive (15usd a pop) but being in Germany, I had to pay through the nose for shipping and shameless customs. Sprintek's sales dept. have been very helpful though. Once I wired the PCB to an old USB cable (and a couple of resistors & capacitors), it was very much plug & play. I'm pleased.
Now it's time to wait again for the next bit of PCB and female connectors for the keyboards... It's at times like these that I regret the EU not having a trade agreement with the US.

The adapter PCB and Hirose female connector for the keyboard finally arrived today, but that's where the good news ends. Unfortunately the seller did not solder them together so I had to do it myself. That's when an obvious fact hit me in the face: the connector's melting point is lower than the solder paste's melting point. The first connector simply folded in a mess of molten plastic under the hot air. I tried the reballing method on the second (and last) connector, which simply pulled the individual legs of the connector apart.
Upon putting the PCB of the Encoder and the connector next to each other, it's clear that part of the success i had with soldering the encoder chip lied in having a footprint with nice long exposed contacts which allowed the surface tension of the solder to pull everything in place. That could not work on the much shorter footprint of the connector PCV. I've ordered some more connectors, it's gonna be a long wait, though I've yet to think of a proper way to solder without melting the connector.

So I've finally had a breakthrough. Some new PCBs arrived from Hong Kong and after a few molten connectors, I've managed to perfect the technique enough to not get any shorts. From there on, it was pretty straightforward. I mapped the keyboard's pinouts (red pcb) to the correct Row/Coloumn inputs of the encoder (green pcb) using the thin wires. It looks a bit messy until i figure out in which position the PCBs will sit inside the chassis.
I'm tempted to also try mapping the Priv's original keyboard, unfortunately, that's tricky, as there's no info about it online. It has a 20-pin connector (as opposed to 24 on the Q10) which also transmits touch input via a Synaptics microchip. I'll try going through it with a multimeter, if i can at least map out the button-matrix, then finding out the synaptics output will be a tad easier.
In the meantime, another issue is on my mind. I've been looking at teardowns of various snapdragon 7xx and 8xx phones and it's clear that some components (mostly the prox sensors) on most, if not all models, are soldered directly on the motherboard, which makes it difficult if I plan on putting the screen on the sliding portion of the chassis and the motherboard on the fixed portion of the chassis. I'm going to have to rethink the whole idea. If i put a lot of components on the sliding part of the chassis, then i risk making the phone top-heavy and thick. Unfortunately I do not have the technology to change this.
There is probably going to be a compromise somewhere, and I need to decide where to draw that line before I order more expensive parts.

very (!) interesting idea(-s) !!
I am incredibly curious to see the outcome, afraid I cannot really provide any help.
it is a real shame that blackberry didnt even provide some use-at-your-own-risk stuff to boot unsigned code...
maybe you want to try shopping for parts in china directly, I almost never pay customs (value below ~€20) for stuff.
cheers!

elchmartin said:
very (!) interesting idea(-s) !!
I am incredibly curious to see the outcome, afraid I cannot really provide any help.
it is a real shame that blackberry didnt even provide some use-at-your-own-risk stuff to boot unsigned code...
maybe you want to try shopping for parts in china directly, I almost never pay customs (value below ~€20) for stuff.
cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate.
I already buy a lot of parts from China, however 1 thing I couldn't find online from there was an easy-to-use, low power encoder. I had to get it from Sprintek in California. Their products are really good and the price is also good. Unfortunately i had to pay a lot of money for customs (which of course is not Sprintek's fault). The encoder chips themselves cost me around $15 each, the programming software is free and the chip responds right away as soon as you plug it into the pc. They also have a good after-sale assistance.

Kyle M. said:
Thanks mate.
I already buy a lot of parts from China, however 1 thing I couldn't find online from there was an easy-to-use, low power encoder. I had to get it from Sprintek in California. Their products are really good and the price is also good. Unfortunately i had to pay a lot of money for customs (which of course is not Sprintek's fault). The encoder chips themselves cost me around $15 each, the programming software is free and the chip responds right away as soon as you plug it into the pc. They also have a good after-sale assistance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are living in Hamburg, Germany?
Maybe try looking for parts at pollin.de
They served rather rare items for me some times...

Project continued on https://hackaday.io/project/168387-physical-keyboard-for-any-android-phone

I can finally update with some good news. After ironing out all the issues (most of which concern the pesky Hirose connector which connects the keyboard to the PCB), I took the 2 boards off the metal frame and made myself a little box from PVC sheets which I then glued to an old Xiaomi phone cover. The reason I am testing it this way rather than just building the slider I wanted to build is to prevent having to mod the Xiaomi phone while testing (I've grown quite attached to this phone despite having bought it cheap).
I have also put a small switch on the side which directly cuts off the power to the chip (this way it saves power and seems to work pretty fine).