On the job I've just been working on, there was a system using Ubiquity Unified U6 mesh type units to provide internet access around the arena for various purposes and one of the units had been detached from its mounting. These things are actually water resilient if you mount them correctly, if you mount them up the way and with the cable screen at the bottom. but if you just take them off a mounting stand and leave them dangling down, the rain fills them up and it wrecks them. This one is wrecked.

This is sad not to worry. It gives us a chance to look at the very interesting construction of this unit which is blending the camera with its whiteness right now because it is very, very wide. but this uh thing came apart initially I tried getting the stuff out the bottom so I took a screw at the bottom here and pulled this out the base and a ribbon cable that was attached here completely detached, not just detached, it pulled the whole connector off. so that's not the correct way to do it Vincent got nibbling into the case.

but then I thought, what if there's a hidden screw at the end we removed the end. here. there was a screw. As soon as you remove that screw, it all pops out.

So if you ever need to open one of these for any reason, uh, this end cap can be removed. It's well glued on, but once you've removed it, there's a screw there that will let the whole lot slide out. It's worth mentioning Bits that we've removed well actually yeah, we'll talk about things in sequence here. This had a thermally conductive putty around it and then a layer of copper foil that meeting tightly with the case when it was in just to actually make it super um, thermally conductive.

Onto this and you think, well, this looks like metal and wouldn't that screen the RF signal? This is such a clever case. See where I've screamed it here that I've found into the side. It's metal from here down and it's plastic from here up so it can radiate the RF signals. There's a lot of Technology involved in this.

Let's try holding that and angle. You can actually see metal there, plastic there. and yet from the outside with that outer coating, it looks as though it's just one continuous piece of material that felt metallic. Even sounds metallic.

Once we're inside, we have the usual shenanigans that those RF people get up to. These are antennas. These little metal shapes. They're all bizarre shapes and we've got little um, quacks of cables coming over and then the ground is soldered onto the back metal plate and then the actual signal is on here.

But so, this little shaped metal plate and it's just weird. I I won't pretend to understand RF technology. it's a rocket science. But frequencies of say, 2.45 gigahertz.

These little bits of metal are apparently antennas and perfectly acceptable for stuff like that. Um, once we're in here, we can theoretic, remove these antennas by taking these screws out. and if I take these plates off at some point this whole sandwich is going to come apart. Oh there it is coming apart.

Oh and those cables go to all the RF connectors on one side. I didn't really spot that before I wasn't really looking for it now I am I Think they might be glued in place, which would make sense to make sure they don't come off unexpectedly. This is also a good time to take off the top circuit board which has a ring of LEDs eight. LEDs and it's a little Edge connector in here.

not sure how many pins it has. there is one screw in here. Is this going to just slide off that connector now? I Don't know if it does. Fancy trees here which just oh, it has three four wires going onto it.

um and a little connector here. Let's unplug the connector that is very corroded as well. It looks like four wires going on I'm gonna guess. Oh there is active soccer tray in the back of this is that just resistors? Maybe it just has a few channels just so it can do fancy tricks.

There's side emitting LEDs but look at it and it's quite a good visual effect. The whole top cap just of a rim lights very brightly around the edge. Let's take this other antenna off and then I might pop the uh little actual coaxial cables. So here's the other antenna held in place my little pegs.

Yeah, let's get the seat covers and just equip those little connectors. Just prize them off. I Think they are glued on? I'm not sure there's one off. This thing is not going back together again.

I Mean water damage is water damage. It's not not worth trying to fix something like this. The last thing you want to do is try and fix it. And because it's got damage, it's transmitting on way different frequencies.

That wouldn't be a good thing at all. So that's those connectors off those little coaxial connectors. There's another little connector here for this cable now. I See what looks like is that a screw? I Think that is a screw.

That is a screw. Let's whip that out as well then. obviously. I'm not going to reverse engineer this completely because all the secret sauce will be in software in this.

I'm expecting lots of sealed metal cases I may put the lids off metal cases if it's not too complex if they're not massive. So let's pop this off now. I'm noting that this is very heavy. It's a big, huge chunky piece of aluminum.

Oh, it's glued on the look of it. Oh no, that's gonna make it hard to get off. I Shall prize gently at the back. This is also probably cardinalson.

Yeah, it's a big chunk designed to spread the heat down. I Think This is probably designed to absorb some bursts of heat when it's transmitting and then basically couple them to the outside because normally a good heat sink has fins, but this one doesn't. It's just basically covering out. It's got this section going down into that.

This is part of the screened case and it's got this thermal putty again, which is covering whatever is under there. which is it's crumb crumbly putty. It's not coming off easily. Let me see if I can find something to hook under that and slide underneath I'm not seeing much so far.

Is this just generally for all the soccer channel inside the case as well? Nothing really majorly under there is there. How about this bit here that is just almost like it's designed to have another chip in there? Not sure right? Let's take a look at the other side which should also come off now. Maybe maybe it won't come off? Uh, let's just prize this gently. Oh I think that is more heatsink thermal transfer stuff.

Hmm. now we're getting into the spice. This stuff. Oh, that's very gooey.

I Don't know if that's helped by water and grass. Maybe this would help protect against water and grass. but it's very sticky. Oh, it's all well engineered, Isn't it very well engineered? This is what I would expect from ubiquity devices.

They are professional network devices. After all, this sticky gooey putty is most displeasing though for its complete lack of desire to come off because it's sticking and green and putting just a little bit too well if you ask me. but that's good. That is what it's really supposed to do.

so it's kind of heat sinking. possibly. this component here, plus the support components in the back and whatever. this.

Well, there's a couple of chips down here. What about under this? This is hard. What is that? Uh, what mated with that? This pad mated with that, so that is a solid thing. I'm not sure what that is.

Shall we prize it? No, that feels very ceramic. It doesn't feel like it's going to come off easily. It might be a very specialist component. Where are the coaxial connectors? They're all up.

Or these. these one two three four correlate to one two three, four of the uh, coaxial connectors there. I'm not sure where this is under here. What is this under here? Let's rip that off as well.

Um, more things. if I had a magnifying glass which I do have a magnifying glass somewhere near here where I put my magnifying glass one moment please I have my magnifying glass. The text is extremely small. This chip here says: Ve Six and One Five 2045 Kae China T H G B M N G five This one down here is very faintly printed.

Is it printed at all? Let me just rub it. Qualcomm Qcn9024 These little trips are way too tiny. can't read the text and those even with the magnifying glass, it's very very minute. I Think this is a memory chip not sure.

looks like a Serial Memory Chip 2506-432f Uh, this chip is a whole tag ht32f5224 one uh down here this says Kingston which immediately suggests it's memory. Can't really read the text underneath it because it's extra super small. As you can see, it's just basically micro text under there, but let's just assume it's memory in that me then be the main process. Not really sure why.

is it packed up with that? or is that part of it? Not sure, but that's more or less it. It's quite well made. That would have been cable comes off the bottom here. How does that? It's the one that the back flips up to actually unlock it and unlock it.

So if you ever have to take one of these apart for some reason, don't take the screw at the bottom This first. Make sure that you take the end cap off. Uh, undo the screw Slide The whole lot out and then you'll be able to detach ribbon cables in a more controlled manner. Look how corroded that is that is wrecked in there with the water and grass just sitting there with the power of Ethernet just basically destroying it all the time.

What is this chip that is a G2410, 1s C G x M Tech I'm not sure that is a communication, maybe just a little isolation. Transformers for the uh, Ethernet type stuff. Sorry for the glare up here. There is a light directly above the bench here, which is just how I'm Illuminating this area and improvised recording error, but that's it.

Quite neat. Really chunky and robust. Really heavy because of these big chunky and screening metal heatsinks. And as I said, it doesn't have fins as such to dissipate the heat, it dissipates it via this chunky storage mass and then into the outer case.

I'm not sure how hot it will get in use and but there we go. Um, an ubiquity mesh node. It's actually really interesting to look at inside. really solidly constructed.