NINA-B4 series - System integration manual
UBX-19052230 - R06
Handling and soldering
Page 38 of 45
C1-Public
5
Handling and soldering
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No natural rubbers, hygroscopic materials or materials containing asbestos are employed.
5.1
Packaging, shipping, storage, and moisture preconditioning
For information pertaining to reels, tapes or trays, moisture sensitivity levels (MSL), shipment and
storage, as well as drying for preconditioning, refer to the respective NINA-B4 series data sheet [2] [3]
and u-blox package information guide [1].
5.2
Handling
NINA-B4 series modules are Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) sensitive devices and require special
precautions during handling. Care must be exercised when handling patch antennas, due to the risk
of electrostatic charges. In addition to standard ESD safety practices, the following measures should
be considered whenever handling the receiver:
•
Unless there is a galvanic coupling between
the local GND (workbench ground for
example) and the PCB GND, the first point
of contact when handling the PCB must be
between the local GND and PCB GND.
•
Before mounting an antenna patch,
connect the ground of the device
•
When handling the RF pin, do not come into
contact with any charged capacitors and be
careful when contacting materials that can
develop charges, for example, the patch
antenna (~10 pF), coaxial cable (~50-80
pF/m), soldering iron, and so on.
•
To prevent electrostatic discharge through
the RF input, do not touch any exposed
antenna area. If there is any risk that such
an exposed antenna area is touched in a
non-ESD protected work area, implement
proper ESD protection measures in the
design.
•
When soldering RF connectors and patch
antennas to the receiver’s RF pin, make
sure to use an ESD safe soldering iron (tip).
5.3
Soldering
5.3.1
Reflow soldering process
NINA-B4 series modules are surface mounted and supplied on a FR4-type PCB with
gold-plated connection pads. The modules are manufactured in a lead-free process with lead-free
soldering paste. The bow and twist of the PCB is maximum 0.75% according to IPC-A-610E. The
thickness of solder resist between the host PCB top side and the bottom side of the NINA-B4 series
module must be considered for the soldering process.