The stick I ordered arrived in my mailbox just before this weekend.
Now my old, naked stick is retired and replaced by this new one.
It looks really good and works excellent.
Thanks a lot @h4nc 
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I don’t know if I understand your question correct, but, yes you can flash an CC2531 stick as router.
And yes routers only need to be powered.
hi @h4nc
I seem have replied to the thread not @janna post. 
I was suggesting to @janna a use for their old retired bare stick
Thx 
BTW I have two bare sticks as routers myself
One I have done antenna conversion on successfully (although I can confirm the soldering quality is way off yours 
I have a degree in electronics… but not doing soldering much for a long time)
the other is in the queue until I have time.
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Thanks @h4nc !
I have ordered and received a unit in 4 days. Plugged into my odroid c2 running HA. All good.
Nice antenna and case for the usb stick. Good stuff
GV
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I made a new Version of the RFlink. I call it the RFlink mini. It uses a Arduino Mega Mini Clone. As before RXB6 and Fs1000a modules inside.
I’d just like to add my feedback on the preflashed ZigBee stick: 1-2 days delivery to Italy, nice case and antenna, very good range, working flawlessly with zigbee2mqtt.
I tried the conbee II USB Stick before, both with deconz and zha, and I would definitely recommend this option instead.
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I have some new premade sticks available.
Not yet finished, but this is how the IR version of the OMG devices will look like.
The esp32 version will support IR/RF/BLE/LED
Same for the Esp8266 version but without BLE.
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Very nice @h4nc
Out of interest why not go for only ESP32? The cost difference is small between 32 and 8266.
Am I missing something?
@hijinx I started working on both options, because I had some stability issues with the ESP32. I tried to work this issues out with the developer and we found out that it must be something in my network (not the newest components, but works fine). It worked fine with a different router.
So yes I will probably only keep the ESP32 Version in future. Currently two more things on the todo for that device. Some more tests with IR and the transparent case. And some more fine tuning regarding the case.
Hi @h4nc,
Congrats for your great work. I am very interrested to got mine I don’t find how to send a MP, so i sent you an email … is it ok ?
Looking forward for your reply !
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Got mine yesterday and seemed like a good quality. Everything worked fine. Thanks
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I bought a master and a router from Hans, which arrived yesterday, which allowed me to unplug my Xiaomi hubs.
Thanks to the installation instructions from following link: https://kingiacastle.com/2019/06/09/migration-off-the-xiaomi-gateway-using-zigbee2mqtt/ installation was relatively easy.
I have been struggling in the beginning with the paring of devices, but mainly due to battery issues. Even if the battery stands at 60% or 70% capacity it is not sufficient for the pairing. Putting in a 100% battery did the trick. I was then able to pair a first set of 8 devices.
Much much better than the Xiaomi hubs - I have finally the control over my Zigbee network.
Thanks Hans
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good, seen from behind the antenna. still has left pin to middle pin connection when it shouldn’t have
I already cut the line between the first track and the second, and is giving me continuity with the multimeter when it should no longer. it’s normal ?
i did like this on the image on my pen zigbee as you can see on the image and i have continuity between the left and middle pin is normal?
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Yes, it is normal to measure near 0 ohms between the two points.
I cannot see how you will connect the SMA connector. It is important NOT to connect the ground to the old antenna. The ground pin has to be connected to an RF ground which must be a ground plane connected over a large area to the rest of the ground on the PCB. If you connect the SMA to the old antenna track it will such energy from the antenna.
Here is my top side where I only connected the center pin.
When you got away the old antenna (both the long piece and the short that goes back to ground) make sure you cut neatly along the track you want to keep. No need to cut all the way into the glassfilber. Just a sharp cut through the cupper track and then you can carefully life the unwanted up and cut it away. A scalpel or small exacto knife is a must have in the tinkerers tool box.
And then the bottom side.
Note how I have put a small piece of copper tape.
I took a sharp blade (a scalpel) and carefully scraped off the green solder mask off the edge of the ground plane at the bottom. About 2-3 mm wide. Then I put a thin layer of solder on the area and a little extra flux after.
I cut a piece of copper tape (you can use the kind you buy to put in the garden to protect slugs from eating your plants) and stuck that to the board. And then heated along the edge where it overlaps the ground plane so they get soldered together all the way. To get a good RF ground it is not enough to have a few points. Solder all the way so the copper becomes as extension of the ground plane.
Finally put the SMA connector at the right spot so you get two RF ground pins soldered well to the copper foil. And on the other side you solder the center pin. Again you will need to carefully remove the solder mask over the track so you can get a good solder joint.
The solder you see on the top side of the copper foil was where I put the solder iron to heat up the tape and the solder below. It has no function but does not harm either. The important thing is to give good heat so the solder between tape and PCB copper wets to the tape at the bottom side. It takes some good heat.
I have not seen the Ready2Use version but this is how I did it with mine and I used a standard SMA connector where the four ground pins are in the corners and the center pin in the center of the square
You can also buy a version where two ground pins and the center pin are in-line and they are nice for places where ground and center pins need to be solder to the same side of the board as well as ground on the back side. You could cover the area where the old antenna is with a copper foil that connects to the top side ground plane and solder a third pin but the other side does not easily go to good ground so for this I preferred to get the ground at the bottom. If you have the inline type you can solder two ground pins to the bottom like I did and at the top put copper where the old antenna is connected the same way to ground and solder the 3rd ground pin to the tape. And then cut off the 4th ground pin. I do not think it is needed though. What is important is not to have the old antenna track as a serial coil between a ground pin and the RF ground because it is becomes a component that resonates near the 2.4 GHz and that can eat signal but inbound and outbound.
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It appears the CC2531 is also available with an external antenna from Chinese suppliers such as DIY More. However, unlike h4nc’s product, it doesn’t come with a 3D-printed case nor is it preloaded with zigbee2MQTT. In addition, I have no idea if the SMA connector is attached as well as in h4nc’s product or KennethLavrsen’s description.