Wemos D1 mini Pro how to move Zero Ohm Link to attach external antenna

Wemos D1 mini Pro - how to move the zero ohm link so that you can use it with an external antenna. raspi.tv/2017/how-to-use-exter... In this video I show how I used a hot air rework station to move the 0603 zero Ohm link. It looks easy in the video, but this was my second try. In the first try, which I didn't catch on film, I blew the tiny component away and couldn't find it again. In this attempt I was much more careful and got it right.

[@samrodrigues8838]

You post some of the most helpful electronics videos on KZbin, promise me you're never gonna stop producing amazing content.

[@AlexEames]

Haha - thanks. Not planning to stop any time soon :)

[@joosthendriks1634]

Alex, thank you very much for the clear information. I just needed this information to connect an external antenna to the Wemos. I knew I had to interrupt something but didn't know exactly what to interrupt on the pcb. Joost

[@dCon0ne]

Thanks, I have been running an Outdoor WEATHER sensors, that I was struggling with a poor signal. After seeing this video, I now have a much better signal.....

[@StaxxxInMyJeans]

Thanks for your video, I did desolder and resolder 0 ohm link as you show and it's working awesome! :-)

[@romanvogler4037]

Thanks a lot man! You saved my "life" with that video... that little thing with almost 1mm :-/!!! i dropped it onto the grey garage floor - but luckily found it again --> and I soldered well --> before -74 and now -60 - works well!!!

[@MadLabZ]

I managed to de-solder and re-solder mine, wow that smd resistor is TINY!!!! I had to use precision tweezers, also filed my soldering tip to a fine point before attempting. Thanks for the upload.

[@ARichli]

how did it go with the external antenna in your experience?

[@MadLabZ]

@@ARichli in all honesty I kind of feel like the external antenna causes more issues it could just be a mental thing I won't know for sure until I get a nice oscilloscope 🧐

[@JohnnieHougaardNielsen]

Instead of resoldering that tiny link, I'm much tempted to just bridge the gap with a glob of solder, like when connecting adjacent holes on a perfboard. Should work, but zero style points :-)

[@elitecrop]

Can you share the entire setup, like where you get the sketch from and upload it etc? I want to make something similar with a moisture sensor to measure soil moisture for my plants so that the system alerts me when I need to water them and put it around my garden.

[@Dean-Sala]

This worked work great for me. To give a reference point, the signal dropped from high 70's dB to mid 40'dB(using antenna) They should have added a jumper! Thanks for the vid.

[@leglessinoz]

Yeah I never know why they don't just put a low profile jumper pins there. Cost and height I guess. Even a low profile SMD slide switch would be good.

[@MaxGoddur]

You video covers a question in need of an answer; how to use an external antenna? Do see any improvement over the onboard PCB antenna? I have some boards that are just out of range of the wifi signal and would like to know if the range is increased and by how much with the external antenna. Thank you for the great video.

[@youghta]

Excellent video. Thanks for taking the time to make it. FYI, a little flux will make this a whole lot easier.

[@ARichli]

You taught me how to do something I didn't even noticed I had to do. I can't thank you enough.

[@RasAlGhvl]

Thank you, Alex Fantastic Video!

[@plazmax]

hello can you give link for external antenna which one did you buy

[@sgtfoose8842]

I tried this today but something popped when I heated the link. Did anyone manage to get WI-PWN installed on the Wemos D1 Pro Mini?

[@ykruH]

Thank you, for this gr8 video ! Would it make any sense do connect both the ceramic and the external antenna by just adding a blob of solder to the external connector ?

[@MrBobWareham]

Loved the video yes that was a small component but I think I will get one with the antenna Do you have a link to the code please it looks very handy as I have a D1 and not sure if it is connecting to my WiFi as it stays on connecting!

[@andreamitchell4758]

where can i buy it with the resistor already moved? i see tons of links on aliexpress and ebay that sell it as a "kit" with the external antenna included but they all appear to have the resistor soldered for the ceramic antenna , makes no sense at all all these Chinese sellers and nobody sells the kit with the resistor soldered for the external antenna even though they are selling it bundled with the antenna

[@RonenLin]

Do you know what type of ipex connector this board uses?

[@MuRaT_C]

An you not use both in parallel?

[@2012isRonPaul]

hi what should be the upload rate for the D1 mini pro in the IDE software(115200?) and what should be the baud rate inside the code[Serial.begin(9600); ?] if a sensor has a baud rate of 9600? like can there be 2 different rates at the same time and all works without frying anything?

[@AlexEames]

The first baud rate is the rate of flashing the software to the Wemos. 115200 works for me, but it will depend on your computer setup. If the sensor is 9600, that is what you should use in your software. This has nothing to do with the IDE settings and nothing will fry.

[@jcspoza]

Great video!! I feel more confident in doing by myself . Thanks Please could you provide refence for external antena? I just received a Wemos D1 mini Pro, so I appreciate all kind of help

[@AlexEames]

Hi Jose. There's a link in one of the comments below to the Amazon vendor I bought them from. :)

[@ping170]

Nice job and steady hand :) Do you actually need to resolder the 0 ohm in place ? It seems these are some kind of workaround to allow use of pick and place machines, so a mere solder bridge should be alright.

[@AlexEames]

Solder bridge would be fine

[@terragady]

Is the ceramic antenna already an improvement over the standard PCB antenna on D1 mini (not pro?)

[@AlexEames]

I don't know

[@MrPlutoUSA]

Well done! Neurosurgery next? I'm not sure I could make my fingers do this one...

[@anton101101]

Hi Alex, Do you know where I could get a replacement zero ohm resistor for this board? Thanks

[@AlexEames]

I'd just use a blob of solder or a small piece of wire :)

[@anton101101]

...of course XD I have done that now, used a blob of solder thanks for the eye opener as I missed that in your video.

[@leglessinoz]

The only reason that there are zero ohm resistors is that pick and place machines don't handle wire links easily.

[@zankeikizannanji9545]

Can I basically solder + to 3V3 pin and - to GND and run Wemos on 3.7V rechargeable battery? As far as I know, Wemos runs on 3.3V output.

[@zankeikizannanji9545]

I hope something like this works i.imgur.com/vE3TJgd.png

[@zankeikizannanji9545]

Never mind, gonna answer my own dumb question. You'll need something called WeMos D1 Mini Power Shield, since you can't power up WeMos through 3V3/5V and GND pins. You'll have to add a shield, which has VIN and GND pins to power it up.

[@kristofgilicze]

Hey there, it's probably a bit too late, but i always power both d1 and d1 pro from 5v and GND pin. Power shield only a necessity for higher voltages,but for a standard 3.7 LiPo the onboard regualtor will do the trick :)

[@RichardEricCollins]

You may would like to look at getting a stick o vice. they're ideal for this. :-) Great work BTW.

[@AlexEames]

I actually have a couple of PCB holders already (and another type on order). But I find I don't like to have my hands "floating" in the air for delicate work. So I put a piece of ceramic tile on a wooden box that's at just the right height. Then I can rest my wrist(s) on the box, which gives me a much finer degree of motor control than I would have with "floaty hands". But I am an easy sell for tools that make a job easier. Always on the lookout for stuff like that.

[@SmithyScotland]

What kind of external aerial does it need?

[@AlexEames]

I used this one www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01FZ47URG/

[@meme-hj5rs]

Nice video but I was wondering... What an USA dime has to do next to a metric ruler?

[@XRinger]

The metric ruler was to be "International" and the dime was to allow Americans to see that a dime was about 17.9 mm wide. ;)

[@kawsper]

Wow what a pain.

[@michaelhritz8032]

Why didn't the designers just put in a short two pin jumper? Or is there some good reason they didn't?

[@XRinger]

Why didn't they just make the external antenna the default? They could make more money by selling a coax connector, cable & antenna with mounting hardware.. I was going to buy one of those boards w/ the antenna rig, but now I'm not so sure.. My SMD soldering skill started evaporating when I retired back in 2009.. ;-)

[@maniacatthecontrols]

I used to work in a factory doing this. Hope you find this helpful: I'd have done this job with 2 soldering irons but not the ones with a sharp pointed tip - they look like the right thing for the job but don't transfer enough heat. Also a USB smt microscope (sold on eBay) would be helpful and some liquid flux. Even with good eyes, a magnifier makes it much easier. Having two soldering irons mean you can heat both ends of the component at the same time to remove it then to refit, put a blob of solder on the pad and slide the component into it, let it set, then solder the other end. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Adjustable-Stand-8-LED-1000X-USB-Digital-Microscope-For-Vista-Win7-Mac-System-/151807250426?hash=item23586acffa:g:kX8AAOSwo4pYdg0J

[@maniacatthecontrols]

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DLAND-Portable-50x-500x-Magnification-8-led-USB-Digital-Microscope-Endoscope-for-/182355802967?hash=item2a7540bb57:g:dmQAAOSwiDFYLDAh

[@maniacatthecontrols]

You might think the one on the left is the right one but the one on the right is better for the job makezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/soldering-iron-tips.png

[@maniacatthecontrols]

I did a course here and it's quite easy once you have the tools and the training rework.co.uk/gallery/photo/

[@AlexEames]

Thanks. Good tips. If I was doing a lot of it, I'd invest in hot tweezers. To be honest though, once I'd figured out what I was doing (and that if the airflow was sufficient to do its job it would also blow away the component) it wasn't that bad. Filming prevented use of a magnifier, but don't forget I was using a 15.6" monitor for the filming, so was able to look at that too. (That's how I checked the joints)

[@maniacatthecontrols]

I have used the heated tweezers but it's hard to get a neat joint every time because you have to lift off both ends at the same time so you usually have to tidy it up with an iron so you might as well use an iron (or 2) to begin with. As for the hot air method, you can get heat proof tape to stick on the surrounding components so they don't get blown away . It looks like wide Cellotape but it has a gold tint.

[@morantaylor]

I personally would have just removed the link resistor and bridged the pads with some solder.

[@AlexEames]

Moran Taylor I tried that the first time after I lost the link. it turned out that the solder mask did its job too well and I couldn't make the bridge 😂

[@morantaylor]

lol fair enough

[@joshuarosen6242]

It's a shame they didn't just put a jumper instead of having to faff around moving tiny components that require specialised tools. Probably most people interested in this sort of stuff already have a soldering iron and a heat gun but even so, a jumper would have been easier. Having said which, I'm no RF engineer so perhaps there is some weird aerially reason why they had to use a 0 Ohm resistor.

[@MaxSMoke777]

What a ripoff! They give you a port but you have to resolder stuff in order to use it?? I thought it was just a simple case of plugging in the connector for the antenna. I'm very disappointed to learn that both antenna can't be used at the same time.

[@AlexEames]

LOL. It uses the wrong kind of electricity as well. They really should have thought about that. ;p

[@kawsper]

The wrong kind of electricity?

[@kristofgilicze]

I agree that his reaction a bit drastic. :D These modules are almost "Free", so considering that we dont really have too much to argue about, although IMHO, they could have made it a bit less of a hassle by using a jumper pin or a dip switch.

[@jaysprenkle1026]

The master of molten metal: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nn7MY56Jm7Wpo7sfeature=shared

[@jamesrodemeyer7544]

Try it at 73 years, poor eyes