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MultiNav Pro+ BLE - any tips for PCB layout to keep RF front-end clean?

Stephanie WilliamsJuly 14, 2026
Working on a custom carrier board for the MultiNav Pro+ BLE module and starting to stress a bit about the RF layout. I've done a few 2.4GHz designs before but nothing with this kind of front-end power behind it, and I'm guessing the rules are a bit stricter here if you want to actually hit anywhere near that 50km spec. My main concern is ground plane continuity around the RF section - I've seen people do all kinds of crazy stuff like stitching vias every 2mm around the antenna keep-out and others who barely bother and claim it's fine.
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Replies

AdamJuly 14, 2026
@Stephanie Williams the via stitching debate is real and honestly both camps have a point depending on what they're actually trying to achieve — but for a front-end with external amplifiers like what's on the MultiNav Pro+, you don't want to be in the "barely bother" camp.
 
The short version: stitching vias matter most at the boundary between your RF section and everything else, not uniformly across the whole board. Dense stitching every 2-3mm around the antenna keep-out and along the edges of your RF ground pour is where it actually earns its keep — that's where you're killing ground loops and preventing your digital return currents from wandering through your RF ground reference. Inside a solid poured ground plane away from those boundaries, you can relax a bit.
 
The thing that trips people up with higher-power front-ends more than via density is actually the ground plane void situation under the RF trace routing. Any slot or void that your RF signal path runs across — even from a nearby connector cutout or a via field that got placed without thinking — can create an impedance discontinuity that'll mess with your return loss more than a few missing stitching vias will. Keep the ground plane absolutely unbroken under any 50-ohm trace runs to the antenna connector.
 
The other thing worth checking: make sure your decoupling for the PA supply is as close as physically possible to the power pins, with the shortest possible trace back to the ground plane. PA supply noise is one of those things that kills real-world range in ways that are hard to debug later.
Bryce JohnstonJuly 14, 2026
Ground plane continuity is probably your biggest lever here - I'd keep your stitching vias tight around the RF section (every 2-3mm is solid) and make absolutely sure you're not accidentally breaking up the ground pour under the module with signal traces sneaking through. Also double-check the MultiNav Pro+ BLE datasheet for the recommended keep-out dimensions because that antenna feed area is pretty sensitive and violating it even slightly will hurt your link budget way more than most people expect.
Revital MarokoJuly 14, 2026
Seconding everything Bryce said, and just want to add - make sure your RF trace from the module to any external matching network or connector is as short as humanly possible and routed over a solid unbroken ground plane, even a few extra mm of poorly referenced trace at 2.4GHz will cost you more than you'd think. Also watch out for any switching regulators near the RF section, I had a DCDC converter wreck my noise floor on a similar design before I shielded it properly.
Joanna GrayJuly 14, 2026
One thing that burned me on a similar layout - watch your via-in-pad situation if you're using any of the castellated pads on the module edge, I've seen people accidentally pull solder into vias during reflow and end up with a cold joint right in the RF path. Also if you haven't already, grab the reference layout from the RFOXiA eval board gerbers and just treat it as gospel for the immediate module area, honestly not worth reinventing that part.

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