Anatomy of Note 5 antenna and connectors? - Galaxy Note5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

My Verizon Note 5 is water damaged, but everything works fine except for the antenna. It's basically a tablet. On etrade supply, they have a vague diagram of the Note 5 which labels the bottom portion of the phone as the main antenna, which makes sense considering I read somewhere that from the S6 on, the antenna is now integrated into the charging flex. This is essentially all speculation, though. To fix the antenna, in theory I'd just have to replace that flex. However, when I was messing around with it the other week when I had it disassembled, I yanked one of the damn antenna connectors off of the main logic board. Wifi still works though. So basically I guess I'm asking for confirmation of my current knowledge of the antenna and other knowledge that people might have. Also, if I were to replace the flex, which is difficult, would that be pointless anyway since I already ruined one of the connectors?

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[HARDWARE] Dinc Seamless Wireless Charger stock battery (NO USB STICKING OUT)

>>>>>><<<<<< PDF With All Steps And Images Added For Your Viewing/Downloading Pleasure >>>>>><<<<<<
***If this does not belong here I appologize, and feel free to move this if necessary. I just figured the development community is most likely to take this "upgrade" on***
After seeing that someone used Palm's wireless charger on their non-palm phone; I decided to put one on my Droid Incredible.
***This was done to a completely stock Dinc. I did not use any special back, and the stock back gets to stay on (unlike in the other video that I saw)
Wireless Charging the Droid Incredible
**Disclaimer: This will void your warranty, and if you solder something wrong will probably break your phone. With that said I can in no way be held accountable for anything that occurs while performing this “upgrade” to your phone.
>>>>If anyone knows where I can buy that little void sticker that you will see in a picture below, please let me know! If we can get that sticker then our warranty is not voided by doing this.
Supplies:
1.Palm touchstone charger http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/handheld/categories/palm/4/accessories/FB300AA%23AC3
2.Palm touchstone phone back http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/product/product_detail/FB306AA%23AC3?
3.Micro USB cable
4.Soldering Iron (the finer the tip on this the better)
5.Torx T6 screw driver
6.Safe pry tool (or a small flat head screwdriver)
7.Very tiny insulated wires (I just pulled mine out of a USB cable that I cut up)
8.Electrical Tape
9.[Optional] Multimeter to test that you actually made a good connection
How To (Images are of a higher quality (12mp) so I had to stick them in zip files to get them on here):
1.The palm touchstone phone back has a sticker inside of it that encases the wireless charging receiver, so you need to peel this off. Once it is peeled off it will look like this (without the wires soldered onto it):
(Images can be seen in: Palm Receiver.7z)
2.Remove the battery cover and the battery then unscrew the back from your phone (please view a tare down video for details, there are plenty of them on you tube that I used for a reference.)
1.All you need is a torx t6 screwdriver and a safe pry tool, I used a small flat head screwdriver and it worked just fine. Unscrew the 4 screws around the sides and then carefully pry off every place that the battery cover clips on, as they also hold on the red back.
(Images can be seen in: Dinc Inside.7z)
3.Solder on some wires to the USB connector as shown in the below image without soldering onto the pins next to them. This is difficult and takes some time and patience, since these connectors are very small and close (note the polarity in the image, notated in red).
A.Also it is necessary to place a piece of electrical tape over the components right next to the connector (Green box in the image) as they will short out the power and make it impossible to charge your phone if you do not (I found that out the hard way and went back and fixed it).
B.One final note here is that I had to melt down the red phone backing inside to allow the cables to get past the case. See the green rectangle in the image above for where I had to do that. I just used my soldering iron and melted it down, it makes a pretty nice indention for the wires to fit through.
(Images can be seen in: Dinc USB.7z)
4.Now push out the rubber plug in the red phone backing next to the USB cover (this is encircled in Green in the image from step 2).
A.Run the cables that you just solder on through that so that they are sticking through to the battery compartment on your phone.
B.You can also stick on the palm receiver to the inside of your phone cover (note the direction and placement, as this is necessary to close your cover).
3.Note that I placed electrical tape over the wires. This was necessary to keep them from breaking off of the USB connector since the solder points are so small.
(Images can be seen in: Almost Done.7z)
5.Solder on the wires to the palm charger receiver and you are done. Now you just need to carefully place the wires towards the middle of the phone so that you can close the back of your phone entirely (this is another reason why the wires need to be small).
A.Note the polarity of the connection.
B.Also I put a piece of electrical tape over the connections on the palm charger receiver to protect them (not shown in the image).
(Images can be seen in: Wireless Charger.7z)
Here is a video of the end product and how it works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOMVJ-vmWpg
Also I just verified that my compass is working without any problems.
This could be truly amazing. I can't wait to see more.
ThugEsquire said:
This could be truly amazing. I can't wait to see more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its been done with the Evo, but don't know anyone who did it with the Inc.
http://www.goodandevo.net/2010/06/h...rk-with-palm-touchstone-wireless-charger.html
Sounds really nice. Not gonna try it with mine because I'm too scared
Though shouldn't this be in accessories or general?
What are you doing to align the coils? My biggest concern that's kept me from this is the magnets also would mess up the compass sensors readings which I for one actually value.
Wow, you managed to bring me out of my months of silence in posting...
I feel honored that I can get you out of your months of silence
The coil alignment is handled by the magnets inside of the palm touchstone charger itself (the base unit that plugs into the wall). The metal objects that you can see in the "Palm Receiver.7z" file are actually not magnets, but small circular pieces of metal that get pulled towards the charger base when you get them close to each other. So when you have the phone off of the charger, there are no magnets to mess with anything
Also you will notice that there is a piece of metal behind the coil, and that seems to block the inductive signal all together (because I tried to put it on backwards to no avail). Therefore your phone is mostly protected from the inductive transmission.
The only thing that I noticed, is that the touchscreen on the phone is a little weird when it is on the charger, but I see the same side effects when plugging the phone into a "non-htc" charger (before performing this "upgrade"). **I also saw this on my Moto Droid when connecting it to a 1 amp charger, and I have seen this with multiple other touchscreen devices so I think it just has something to do with the frequency of the charger.
Also in case of any concerns: MY PHONE HAS IN NO WAY BEEN DAMAGED BY THIS "UPGRADE"
pianoplayer said:
Sounds really nice. Not gonna try it with mine because I'm too scared
Though shouldn't this be in accessories or general?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yah, it probably should be, and may get moved (which is perfectly fine by me). I put it in here because I am a developer and much more likely to do this, so I figured the development community would be more interested.
ThugEsquire said:
This could be truly amazing. I can't wait to see more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mentioned that you can't wait to see more....?
What more would you like to see? I am happy to add to the posts, but just not sure what further details you would like to see.
nevetsvsx said:
Also in case of any concerns: MY PHONE HAS IN NO WAY BEEN DAMAGED BY THIS "UPGRADE"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I trust your method, I just don't trust my shaky hands
BTW there is a multi quote button so you dont have to do a separate post for each reply
I have a rubber case on my Dinc... would I need to remove it for charging?
___________________________________
Yup.... The ones yoe momma told ya about.... Bad Seed Customs!!
I think you will be ok if it is one of those thin (about 1mm thick) rubber cases. Anything thicker than that and you would probably have to install the wireless receiver on the case itself and remove your battery cover all together.
I tested a thin rubber case that I have (no more than 1mm thick I think) that fits a Droid Eris and it charges as long as its flush to the back of my phone.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Wow, this is amazing, very well done. I think this is the first hard mod I've heard of for an Android. I guess gold cards were a sorta gray area.
I've had my Incredible modded to work with a Touchstone since around June of last year. It works great, but I must caution anyone thinking of doing this to be VERY careful. Experience with soldering and a steady hand is a must. One could fairly easily mess up their phone attempting to do this.
Could you do this with a powermat if you wanted to? I have a few laying around I could use.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Paul600k5 said:
Could you do this with a powermat if you wanted to? I have a few laying around I could use.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, if you wanna take apart one of those generic receivers and try to fit it inside your phone!
nevetsvsx said:
You mentioned that you can't wait to see more....?
What more would you like to see? I am happy to add to the posts, but just not sure what further details you would like to see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I originally meant was pictures. But now that you've added them and I've seen the glory, this mod is really quite impressive and I'm thrilled you shared it with us. But now that I think about it, could this also do USB wirelessly? That would be pretty amazing.
ThugEsquire said:
What I originally meant was pictures. But now that you've added them and I've seen the glory, this mod is really quite impressive and I'm thrilled you shared it with us. But now that I think about it, could this also do USB wirelessly? That would be pretty amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the transmission of data wirelessly is achieved through modulated EM waves. This is simple inductance: a changing electric field creates a magnetic field, a changing magnetic field generates an electric field, so a current carrying loop placed near another loop of wire will induce current in the other loop. The receiver in the phone is engineered to "create" the "proper" amount current to charge your battery when combined with the base. In theory yes, but not with this equipment.
How does the phone treat a USB cable being plugged in - will it charge ok, and have your data transfer rates been adversely effected? I wouldn't think so, since you're only touching the power...
Mr. Spontaneous said:
How does the phone treat a USB cable being plugged in - will it charge ok, and have your data transfer rates been adversely effected? I wouldn't think so, since you're only touching the power...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used the USB charger and data transfer cables without any problems at all. Also I have copied some files off of my phone to my PC since the "upgrade" and did not notice any extended times or anything that would remotely make me think something was wrong.
I did not run a speed test before and after to see if anything slowed down, but as you said we are only touching the power pins, so I highly doubt anything has changed.

[Q] The Droid 3's coax cable

What kind of function does the Droid 3's internal coax cable have? Does it work as a wi-fi-antenna, GPS-antenna or both?
I'm going to replace a few parts in my phone, but it looks like I can't do it without breaking the coax cable...just wondering if I can manage a few days without it till I get a new one..
Not sure which cable you are referring, but you should be able to take the whole thing apart without breaking any cables. If it is the one that attaches to the backplate of the phone, you have to lift up on the connector on the phone.
Pictures and more details of what you are trying to do may be helpfull to answering your question
It's the one attached to the backplate. And the backplate is one of parts I'm going to change, but the new backplate replacement does note come with a coax cable. The cable on the old backplate is impossible to remove without breaking it as it's glued to the backplate. Disconnecting the connector is not a problem.
I understand now, I looked at a spare backplate I have and the cable is soldered to the phone in several spots, that would indeed be very hard to remove, but possible with a good iron. I hate how a lot of the replacement parts out there come without important pieces, this is usually a good headache.
If you have the part in hand, it is a simple swap, try it out and see what antennas don't work by trying to connect to gps, wifi etc. If you don't have the part in hand, I would look elsewhere to obtain one.

wireless charging mod (s4 ACTIVE)

Heres the backround on what i did to get wireless charging going...
1) get palm coil and touchstone. i bought this on ebay for 10$ (just search touchstone charging kit)
2) carefully remove the coil from the back cover of the palm phone. plastic cover first then the rest.
3) what worked easiest for me was to keep all the coil stuff stuck to the removable plastic piece holding everything together, then you can simply stick it in the back of our active covers. (make sure when moving the magnets all the positive sides are facing towards the dock)
4) Connecting it. I tried doing this a couple different ways and i eventually ended up pulling tiny copper wire out of computer speaker cable and used it like a twist tie on the phone terminals (then small amount of electrical tape to separate them...which worked out fine)*I attempted to do the same on the coil side of the connection but that was a bust so i ended up soldering it.. not my first choice but since its on the palm coil not my active I did it.*
5) you should be all good to go at this point
here are some pics too and of course if you some of mess your phone up...its not my fault
Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvO01b1CKBk
feel free to pm if ya got a question me... I am leaving the country tomorrow night for a week, but ill try to get back to ya
happy modding
in the picture with highlighting yellow goes to left phone terminal(positive) and brown goes to right teminal (negative)
bdgarel said:
Heres the backround on what i did to get wireless charging going...
1) get palm coil and touchstone. i bought this on ebay for 10$ (just search touchstone charging kit)
2) carefully remove the coil from the back cover of the palm phone. plastic cover first then the rest.
3) what worked easiest for me was to keep all the coil stuff stuck to the removable plastic piece holding everything together, then you can simply stick it in the back of our active covers. (make sure when moving the magnets all the positive sides are facing towards the dock)
4) Connecting it. I tried doing this a couple different ways and i eventually ended up pulling tiny copper wire out of computer speaker cable and used it like a twist tie on the phone terminals (then small amount of electrical tape to separate them...which worked out fine)*I attempted to do the same on the coil side of the connection but that was a bust so i ended up soldering it.. not my first choice but since its on the palm coil not my active I did it.*
5) you should be all good to go at this point
here are some pics too and of course if you some of mess your phone up...its not my fault
Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvO01b1CKBk
feel free to pm if ya got a question me... I am leaving the country tomorrow night for a week, but ill try to get back to ya
happy modding
in the picture with highlighting yellow goes to left phone terminal and brown goes to right
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This video seems very helpful with the process, just wish i knew which side was pos and which is neg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHw1QIPwkZU
EDIT: i see the pics thank that helps!
joshuadjohnson22 said:
This video seems very helpful with the process, just wish i knew which side was pos and which is neg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHw1QIPwkZU
EDIT: i see the pics thank that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use a multimeter...if you dont know how, you probably shouldn't attempt this hack and should wait for an aftermarket back plate to come out
Out of curiosity, how strong are these magnets? Am I going to have to make sure that my phone gets nowhere near my credit cards (and other magnetic cards, media, etc.)?
jt3 said:
Out of curiosity, how strong are these magnets? Am I going to have to make sure that my phone gets nowhere near my credit cards (and other magnetic cards, media, etc.)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are fairly strong but I have yet to have any issues with my cards...however I usually keep my phone in a separate pocket
Have you tested the phones waterproof capabilities since you did this mod? I love the idea, want to do it, but im on the fence, as it seems it would make it very easy to make the waterproofing gasket fail with a small wire.... on the other hand, you dont have to take the back off, or open the charging port, so if it doesn't void the waterproofing, it could be even better
Obviously, if any wire or any part of the wireless receiver protrudes over the seal, the water resistance will be compromised, but that's not the only issue.
In the back panel replacement sticker on the back of the S4A, it tells you to press under the camera LED. Pressing there engages the rubber seal. The issue is that any of these non-oem wireless receivers is going to slightly lift the central portion of the back away from the phone. Thus, even if no part of the seal-line is breached, I still wouldn't trust that the seal could engage fully.
Don't get me wrong... I'm going to do something similar, since I'd rather have wireless charging. Still... until an OEM wireless charging backplate comes from Samsung, I'd assume it's an either/or situation. Wireless charging OR water resistance.
jt3 said:
Obviously, if any wire or any part of the wireless receiver protrudes over the seal, the water resistance will be compromised, but that's not the only issue.
In the back panel replacement sticker on the back of the S4A, it tells you to press under the camera LED. Pressing there engages the rubber seal. The issue is that any of these non-oem wireless receivers is going to slightly lift the central portion of the back away from the phone. Thus, even if no part of the seal-line is breached, I still wouldn't trust that the seal could engage fully.
Don't get me wrong... I'm going to do something similar, since I'd rather have wireless charging. Still... until an OEM wireless charging backplate comes from Samsung, I'd assume it's an either/or situation. Wireless charging OR water resistance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will fix the wire issue by using copper tape. I'm excited to try it...
I am doing this mod tonight and I thought I would share some information.
See below for the information I have gathered:
Yellow lines = Copper tape- as you can tell it gets very cramped around the end because of the gasket. I may need to use a different path or wires like the OP. The important stuff to gather from this is which is positive and which is negative on both the phone and the palm pre touchstone.
Nice idea, curious to see how this works out.
Update
My copper tape has not arrived but I installed everything else. It does appear that the coil makes the rear housing push out which leads me to believe it will not do well to repel water away from the seal during extended use but I would prefer wireless charging
If you plan on using a case I would recommend ordering stronger magnets from supermagnets.com part number Disc - D1046. These should work well with any case and it will fit more snug because they are a lot stronger. I will update with photos once the copper tape is installed and everything is working.
Am I missing something? Why doesn't the Samsung wireless charging kit work or the wireless receiver tags you can get for the S4 so you can use a Qi charger?
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
holysnikey said:
Am I missing something? Why doesn't the Samsung wireless charging kit work or the wireless receiver tags you can get for the S4 so you can use a Qi charger?
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery door is different. In theory it will work but you would have to figure out a way to gut the back plate and that would be a lot harder than palm's touchstone mod. Or just wait for the active's wireless back plate to be released. This is a lot cheaper IMO $10 vs $30-150
Ya I just realized this. But still do you think the wireless charger receiver tag could work? If you search on Amazon or Ebay "Galaxy S4 wireless charging receiver tag" there's the component which is stuck inside the back cover Samsung is selling. Except it can be bought for $10-20 and most likely can fit in the Active. I don't know because I have the original S4 but just trying to throw out some ideas. In theory if the tag works you can get it for $15 then use any Qi charger and you're good. While not quite as cheap it's only a few bucks more and much easier and looks way better probably. That is if it works of course.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
holysnikey said:
Ya I just realized this. But still do you think the wireless charger receiver tag could work? If you search on Amazon or Ebay "Galaxy S4 wireless charging receiver tag" there's the component which is stuck inside the back cover Samsung is selling. Except it can be bought for $10-20 and most likely can fit in the Active. I don't know because I have the original S4 but just trying to throw out some ideas. In theory if the tag works you can get it for $15 then use any Qi charger and you're good. While not quite as cheap it's only a few bucks more and much easier and looks way better probably. That is if it works of course.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that would probably work... if i understand it correctly...
That's the image of what I'm talking about. The official back plate you buy from Samsung is just the battery door with that tag glued on the inside of the door.
holysnikey said:
That's the image of what I'm talking about. The official back plate you buy from Samsung is just the battery door with that tag glued on the inside of the door.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It probably will work but it will cost a lot more than this mod we are talking about. It will be a lot easier to install though
holysnikey said:
That's the image of what I'm talking about. The official back plate you buy from Samsung is just the battery door with that tag glued on the inside of the door.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went ahead and order this 2, so we will see
joshuadjohnson22 said:
I went ahead and order this 2, so we will see
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Amazon. 14.99
jdminpdx said:
Same here. Amazon. 14.99
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I paid a little more because I wanted to get it this week. The cheaper ones come from China and may take a while. I now need a replacement back for my active, somehow with the palm mod one of my clips doesnt work any longer so under my volume rocker it is propped up. Excited to have wireless charging. Hopefully this week
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Help needed, Alternate WiFi antenna solder points.

Hi been having trouble with WiFi being very spotty, and thought it was because of the little Pig Tail antenna used, however after opening up the unit to solder in a proper antenna I found out that the reason it was so spotty is because the solder pad where the original antenna was soldered to was only hanging on because of some glue that had been applied.
I only realised this once the glue and solder had been removed.. exposing the now missing solder pad..
Looks like whoever did the QC spotted the loose solder joint so just put a blob of glue on there lol.
Does anyone know of an alternate location where i can solder in the new antenna? having just has laser surgery on my eyes I really dont want to spend a few hours tracing lines etc.
Its a Car Joying unit, Quad core 3188, 7" Tablet type with capacitive keys.
Maybe you should have posted this question in the Hardware forum section:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/mtcb-hardware-development
themissionimpossible said:
Maybe you should have posted this question in the Hardware forum section:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/mtcb-hardware-development
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point :/
I have decided to get one of these ethernet adptors :-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...ue&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A1WCLLO809O2M2
And am going to hook it up to a small wireless bridge, will give me the range I want and is relatively cheap.
chuupa said:
Good point :/
I have decided to get one of these ethernet adptors :-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...ue&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A1WCLLO809O2M2
And am going to hook it up to a small wireless bridge, will give me the range I want and is relatively cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@chuupa
Did this work out for you?

Why many covers don't cover the magnetic pins ?

hey everyone ,
i have a very curious question , why many and many aren't cover the magnetic pins and let it exposed , it's rare to find a cover that covers this area as well
so why is that ? is it because it will weaken the magnetic or something or just a random no reason for that ?
thanks in advance
I've wondered the same thing. Since the Mods require physical connection to the pins, and a case will add thickness to the back, preventing them from touching, it makes no sense to me for the pins to be exposed. Especially when they run the risk of being damaged.
But then, why do so many iPhone cases have a cutout for the Apple? Probably just to show off.
klamation said:
I've wondered the same thing. Since the Mods require physical connection to the pins, and a case will add thickness to the back, preventing them from touching, it makes no sense to me for the pins to be exposed. Especially when they run the risk of being damaged.
But then, why do so many iPhone cases have a cutout for the Apple? Probably just to show off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it was to Show off with pins this will be weird ???
I would assume they did it solely because they didn't want to cover any connection and not because they understood that it would be better if they covered it to protect the mods. Probably got a specification and just did something similar to what they do with other devices and leave connectors uncovered.
I think this is probably the correct answer. Pretty much all cases available at launch were like this. I'm sure Lenovo just sent out a CAD file to manufacturers but didn't want to give away how Mods actually work, so case designers just generated a cut-out in their CAD file like they usually do without putting any additional thought to it (or thought about it hard, but had to have a product ready for distribution and couldn't afford to hold it back for an explanation).
I've heard somewhere that it was for the pins to release their heat after using a mod for a long period.
Maybe some manufacturer or even Lenovo would make a passthrough adapter for Moto mods,hence the pins are left uncovered.
Then again not likely as thickness and clearance would still be a problem as most cases and covers aren't uniform.Would still be cool though
My two cents here.
Seems like if they cover them and some foreign material got behind the case and the pins, it could short out the pins and potentially cause all kinds of issues. Worst being melting the case or starting a fire. That's my guess

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