DigiPro NRF Project Questions - Pinout and Antennas

[foxicity]

Hi guys, first post and came to ask about some of the intricacies of the mesh wifi shield for the digispark pro. I got the boards assembled fine and after learning the NRF shield is supposed to be attached backwards, everything is working and the test code is flashing the onboard LEDs. Great. I love it digistump. Had a few questions regarding the setup.

First, which pins does the NRF shield use on the digispark pro? I can see in the code that it's fixed to the 9 and 12 pins but I'm thinking there are others not mentioned in the code. I need to know this so I can attach other electronics to the digispark.

Second, I know this is a long shot but I had to ask: can the NRF shield be reversed so it's properly arranged above the digispark pro? I bought the shield when it had pictures showing it in that orientation, and I was kind of counting on that as part of my design, since my form factor is a little constrained. I can live without it but I want as small a package as I can get.

Third and last, about the antenna. I see the onboard antenna and it does appear to be adequate, but is there no way to attach a third-party antenna to it? I have an old WRT54G that I could take some antennas from that might really boost the gain. Should it be done, and how?

Thanks for your input. I searched for documentation or discussion on these subjects but it appears this is all intended for someone with a little more experience than myself.

[digistump]

They use pins 8,9,10,11,12

They cannot be flipped around - the orientation we ended up with was very frequently requested, which is why we went with it - it allows the nrf to be mounted without the socket to make it slip but still have good reception.

You can buy other nrf modules with amplifiers, big antenna, etc - just make sure the pinout is the same. Check ebay - lots of cool options - some can get near 1km+

[foxicity]

Thanks for the info! Helpful and complete. I was looking for a low-effort way to increase the signal range on these things but barring that, I think I can deal with the base range. I'm hoping for ~50ft in open outdoors?

Confirming I got roughly 50 ft outdoors before facing the antennas away from each other resulted in a lost connection. Got about 70 ft with the antennas facing toward each other. This is with the base on-PCB antenna.

[foxicity]

Does the NRF shield make use of the VIN, GND or VCC pins?

[digistump]

GND yes

VCC indirectly - VCC is used to power the on shield 3.3v regulator which powers the nRF

I've seen 50-300ft outdoors with line of sight depending on surrounding and transmit speed with the included modules (lower speed more range).