The easiest and simplest devices to use are the ones with internal antennas. They have a small chip on the circuit board that efficiently picks up the signal from your wireless DMX transmitter, with no tangling dangling antenna and signal wire. If the radio signal can effectively reach the chip antenna, we recommend you use the internal antenna version of the micro dimmer.

Sometimes you need to put a micro dimmer in a location that is not easily reached by a wireless signal. You shouldn’t try to use an internal antenna if it’s inside a metal (or otherwise conductive) enclosure. In some cases, an internal antenna can end up blocked by a performer’s body, or by other nearby electronics, particularly batteries which are dense. In those cases, we recommend the external antenna version.

A couple of real world examples come up frequently:

1. A dimmer inside a flashlight. If the flashlight is a metal tube, the RF signal may not get through to an internal antenna. It’s important to plan carefully for where an external antenna would be positioned and how.

2. A sword that lights up. The dimmer is often positioned in the handle, which is often made of a non-metallic material. An internal antenna will work well for shop testing, but might have limited range when a performer is tightly holding the handle, surrounding the dimmer and antenna with their hand. An external antenna is sometimes preferred but is not always needed.

When we provide an external antenna dimmer, we include this small adhesive antenna with it:

There are many other options on the market as well. Our favorite supplier for these things is Digikey — here’s a link to a search list.
*** NOTE: We have NOT tested every item in this list. Some items may NOT be suitable. Be sure to read the specifications and test carefully. It must be a 2.4GHz antenna with a u.fl connector. ***
Please let us know if the link is broken, we have no control over the Digikey server.