NRF24L01+ PA LNA Power Consumption

NRF24L01+ with PA LNA Power Consumption

There is conflicting information about the power consumption of the NRF24L01+ PA LNA breakout boards. Perhaps some boards leave some circuitry powered on all the time even when the NRF24L01+ is sleeping while others do not. This little experiment was to determine current consumption for some of the radio's different states, especially during NRF and microprocessor sleep states, for the purpose of creating power budgets.

Setup was an Arduino Nano clone. 3.3VDC from an AMS1117 vreg to an NFR24L01+ PA LNA from Ebay (link). Meter was a UNI-T UT61E. TMRh20's RF24 library was used. 

Mode ... Current Consumption @ 3.3VDC

radio power up = 0.030 mA
radio power down = 0.00054 mA (0.54 µA)

stop listening = 0.031 mA
start listening = 20.7 mA
write (pa_max, 250kbps) = 140 mA


power on, no init, USB plugged into PC = 0.47 mA
power on, no init, atmega sleep, USB plugged into PC = .130 mA
power on, no init, USB plugged into charger = 0.43 mA
power on, no init, atmega sleep, USB plugged into charger = .06 mA