No Ceramic Antenna on Z-Wave Daughterboard

[Mutt]

I just received a Z-Wave daughterboard from Orchestrated Home.  I understand that the external antenna is not recommended or even offered for sale.  Photos and discussion on this forum refer to a surface mounted ceramic antenna built onto the printed circuit board (VISHAY ANTENNA A2).  However, the unit I just received does not have that on the PCB, just a strip of PCB conductor running along where the antenna should be.  Is this a new or outdated configuration?  Should I send it back and insist on a unit with the ceramic antenna?  Attached is a photo of the unit I received.

 

Just to be clear, I've added a pic of the unit as depicted on the sales website WITH the ceramic antenna.

[stusviews]

Appears like mine that I've been using successfully for awhile. It even has the connection for the no longer available from ISY external antenna, so you can piece one together--if you need it.

[Brian H]

From your two photos.

It looks like the Z-Wave Daughter Board was redesigned. Part of the change was etching the antenna on the PC Board to replace the older design ceramic one.

[Mutt]

Brian - I agree that there was obviously a redesign, but which came first?  There is lots of discussion on this forum about performance of the ceramic internal antenna, but NONE that I can find regarding performance of PCB strip version.  I was hoping someone from UD could chime in and explain the history and how the performance of this PCB antenna compares to the ceramic one.  I just sent a support request email to UD with those questions.

[Brian H]

Let us know what you find out. If they don't post a reply here.

[Mutt]

Hey Brian - Michel replied with a short message saying the the PCB version is the most recent configuration and that it performs better than the ceramic antenna.  With all the endless discussion I've seen regarding external vs internal antenna performance, I was hoping to get more insight regarding this major change to the internal antenna design. Oh well.  I was holding off on installation, but will press on.  Thanks for your interest and wish me luck!