Adding an Amp to the Standard's 2.4 wifi

[WilliamM]

Have a question about adding a amp to the wifi 2.4 side of my DBS mod. On the RC side 5.8, it would be without question that the side of the amp marked "radio" (input end) is connected to the RC as that's the signal we want to increase. But on the wifi 2.4 side isn't the opposite true, that the signal we want to increase is the signal the antenna is picking up. So do we reverse the amp? By putting the input end (marked radio) to the DBS antenna. I've yet to read this in any treads, but it has me thinking. This dawned on me when reading a thread on booters of the P3S and someone posted the question that on the wifi signal wouldn't the drone be the part that needed an amp (not the RC), as it's a data downlink to the controller. The person that replied answered, just think of it as a hearing aid for you controller, that's way it works being on the controller end. That's what got me thinking about which way the amp would need to be installed to act as a booster for the wifi signal coming FROM the drone to the RC. Any tech people out there?

 

[WilliamM]

Are there no tech savvy pilots out there that have an input on the orientation of a amp for the P3S wifi 2.4 side of a DBS.

 

[Mark The Droner]

No you don't reverse the amp. The FPV video is not really one way even though it seems to be. There is a roundabout communication between the controller and bird.

You want a two way amp and the Sunhans is two way. You'll see this if you study the specs.

You want to install it the way they say to install it.

In addition to amplifying the outgoing signal, the Sunhans 2.4 amp on the controller will amplify the incoming signal similar to how a hearing aid amplifies a sound wave.

Another option is to put a small lightweight amp on the bird, but that's a little more complicated. This has been discussed quite a few times in different threads.

Hope this helps.

 

[WilliamM]

No you don't reverse the amp. The FPV video is not really one way even though it seems to be. There is a roundabout communication between the controller and bird.

You want a two way amp and the Sunhans is two way. You'll see this if you study the specs.

You want to install it the way they say to install it.

In addition to amplifying the outgoing signal, the Sunhans 2.4 amp on the controller will amplify the incoming signal similar to how a hearing aid amplifies a sound wave.

Another option is to put a small lightweight amp on the bird, but that's a little more complicated. This has been discussed quite a few times in different threads.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for such a thought out answer. I knew someone would know exactly what I was getting at. This is going to be my next mod after installing the DBS antenna two weeks ago. Been out to 1700m so far with it, since that's just over a mile I'm not going any farther till I get a Trackimo on it. I have notice when out that far as soon as I do a 180° to head back I start to lose signal some. So maybe I'll just fly backwards till it get a bit closer to home.

 

[WilliamM]

OK, I added a 2 watt amp to the 5.8 Mhz side and got out to 2500 meters, but to be up front I've been out to 2200 once before the amp. Now my concern is the wifi 2.4 Mhz side I'm having issues with. Just tried a 2.5 watt amp on that side and lost one bar in the signal reading very soon (500m) but did get out to 1900 meters before the "weak image" message would keep coming up and the bar signal reading was really low, like one bar. How can added a amp to one side of the wifi port give me less distance? In the very same spot I did that 2500 meters with only a 2 watt amp the the 5.8 Mhz and just the un-boosted DBS on the wifi side.

 

[Mark The Droner]

It's difficult to understand what you're asking.

First of all, the frequencies are ghz, not mhz.

Secondly, achieving good distance is not plug and play. There is a lot involved besides adding amps.

The 5.8 is what controls your AC.

The 2.4 is what gives you FPV and telemetry.

These two are independent of each other. Adding an amp to one does not affect the other and vice versa.

Your best control range was 2200 meters before the amp. Then you added an amp and after (apparently) one run, you're disappointed. You should compare apples to apples. Give it a bunch of attempts, and then see what your best range is with the amps. Your range will vary with the same equipment for lots of reasons.

Your 5.8 range will almost always beat your 2.4 range because the 5.8 is simple, but the 2.4 is a much more complicated signal. There's video and telemetry, and info is being passed back and forth and back again for a check sum before it's accepted and displayed on your mobile device.

Read some of the distance threads in this forum for details on how to improve your distance.

Hope this helps.

 

[WilliamM]

Let me put it more simply. With no amps, just the DBS I've was getting between 1900 to 2200 meters.
With just a 5.8 GHz 2 watt amp got to 2500 meters on the very first test.
Now with both amps, adding the 2.4 GHz 2.5 watts I only got to 1900 meters because the video/telemetry started breaking up, and the wifi signal bar was noticeable lower (less bars) most of the flight. And wanted to know if anyone else has had something similar happened to them.

 

[Mark The Droner]

I've read people complain about this kind of problem. The solution was to put as much distance between the two antennas (5.8 & 2.4) as you conveniently can.

 

[max9s]

Hi,
from what I understood 2.4 and 5.8 GHz are very different. 2.4 is used by the Remote Control to build a WiFi network to which the Aircraft and your Phone connect in order to exchange data (telemetry) and to download the video signal from the AC. There is full bi-directional communication between RC, AC and Phone; if you want to increase the 2.4 GHz range you should:
1) install boosters on both AC and RC (and you should buy 4 full bi-directional boosters since you have 2 antennas on both RC and AC)
OR
2) install 2 bi-directional boosters on RC and improve the gain of the two antennas on RC (since the AC signal intensity is the same you need a better antenna to catch its signal when it's further away..).
OR
3) if you are in a CE area and don't want to spend money on boosters, use a range mod to push the TxPower on RC and AC to the maximum. CE is set by DJI to 17 dBm (= 50 mW) and pushing it to 27 dBm (= 500 mW) should give about a factor 3 increase in range

The 5.8 GHz seems to be completely different; since feedback data is sent via the 2.4 GHz the control data stream is one way from the RC to the AC (not 100%, but almost sure). Maybe a simpler 5.8 GHz transmitter booster on the RC could be enough (20$ instead of the $100 needed for a two ways sunhans). I think someone tested it but have no clue on the outcome of the tests...

Last but not least: the two 2.4 GHz patch(?) antennas on the AC are set to be almost omnidirectional....almost...it seems worst coverage is when the AC is at 0 degrees (facing you) and 180 degrees (that one used to make range tests ! ;-)

BTW, 2 km seems a fairly good distance without amps ! I would be happy with that !

 

[WilliamM]

Maybe your right, I should just leave well enough alone and be happy at getting in the 2km range w/o amps. But it was cool getting 2500 meters that day with just the 5.8 GHz amp. I'll have to do more testing on the 2.4 GHz side to see what's happening. And I agree about the front of the AC being poor signal wise. Many times when being out some distance just fine and then turn her around to start heading back and bam, the signal (one or the other) drops heading back home.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Search "This is gonna be fun" for more detailed info

 

[dirtybum]

I agree w/ mark. Dont reverse the amp just boost all three antennas on your controller. I've taken the p3s over 45000 several times with (3) amps controller side, stock wi-fi pucks and external 5.8 antennas birdside. The control (5.8) signal is the weak link on the standard


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[WilliamM]

I agree w/ mark. Dont reverse the amp just boost all three antennas on your controller. I've taken the p3s over 45000 several times with (3) amps controller side, stock wi-fi pucks and external 5.8 antennas birdside. The control (5.8) signal is the weak link on the standard


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I was just reading your thread "This is gonna be fun" and saw you do have two 2.4 GHz on your P3S. So that's the way to fix the wifi issue I'm seeing (less not more wifi signal) do you think? Have your ever tested one vs two amps? Also, what watt level are your amps? Thanks.

 

[dirtybum]

You could use just one amp, the way I understand the Wi-Fi system works on p3S, p2V,& p2V+, they have two Wi-Fi antennas and it's a diversity system that uses whichever antenna is picking up the strongest signal and both antennas are two-way, not one for sending and one for receiving. So you can boost just one of them and that will be the antenna that will be receiving the strongest signal the whole time, or you can push them both and have greater chances of a solid signal. It doesn't matter if you use 2 , 2.5, or 4 watt booster, none of them have a significant difference over the others for this application. But I currently use 2.5 W


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