Alfa panels rock!

[Matts175]

Just received my Alfa panels in the mail after work. I'm extremely impressed. I went with 3 of the APA-M25. I ran back to back vs. my DBS / ITELITE.

Things I noticed.... I could be a little more "sloppy" with my aim. You still have to point them at the bird, but you can move a little and it doesn't affect signal much. With the DBS, move a smidge and go from 4 bars to zero in a second. Video was smoother/less laggy. Even at only 1500 feet.

Ok. This run was with the DBS. This was as far as I could push it. Notice the signal map (picture 2).

Now this is the triple Afla panels. I did the same distance as the DBS, but check out the signal strength even way out there. It's green the whole time. I know I could have easily kept going. And like I said... I didn't have to aim so much.

 

[Matts175]

I ran them orientated like this:

Here's how they hook up:

Sorry, my phone takes bad up close pictures. I think it needs glasses.

 

[G Tek Fab]

Nice Matt!

5000' was my newest max with three Alfa M25's but today I got 13,113ft with my DBS. The sensitivity seems to be the other way around for me, the Alfas are super sensitive to movement but my DBS is pretty lenient.

 

[Mr. Salty]

I like the look of the Alfas, and I like the idea of them not being as sensitive to direction. In fact, I almost bought the ARGtek kit so I could change from directional to omnidirectional antennas depending on where I was flying.

Ultimately I decided to be one of the cool kids and bought the DBS. I've been too busy to install it, but we're getting a blizzard here right now. Since I won't be able to fly this weekend I might finally have time to get the thing installed.

Hopefully it won't be as sensitive to directionality as it is for Matts175.

 

[Ohiowoodsman]

I ran them orientated like this:

View attachment 77096

Here's how they hook up:

View attachment 77097

Sorry, my phone takes bad up close pictures. I think it needs glasses.

On your next distance flight try turning the center one down so not too block the sides of the outer ones. It may increase a bit

 

[G Tek Fab]

That's how I had mine set up.

On your next distance flight try turning the center one down so not too block the sides of the outer ones. It may increase a bit

 

[Ohiowoodsman]

I like the look of the Alfas, and I like the idea of them not being as sensitive to direction. In fact, I almost bought the ARGtek kit so I could change from directional to omnidirectional antennas depending on where I was flying.

Ultimately I decided to be one of the cool kids and bought the DBS. I've been too busy to install it, but we're getting a blizzard here right now. Since I won't be able to fly this weekend I might finally have time to get the thing installed.

Hopefully it won't be as sensitive to directionality as it is for Matts175.

We had a crazy 72 degree Feb day here in Ohio but l think we're gonna get some of your snow soon

 

[dirtybum]

Just received my Alfa panels in the mail after work. I'm extremely impressed. I went with 3 of the APA-M25. I ran back to back vs. my DBS / ITELITE.

Things I noticed.... I could be a little more "sloppy" with my aim. You still have to point them at the bird, but you can move a little and it doesn't affect signal much. With the DBS, move a smidge and go from 4 bars to zero in a second. Video was smoother/less laggy. Even at only 1500 feet.

Ok. This run was with the DBS. This was as far as I could push it. Notice the signal map (picture 2).

View attachment 77092

View attachment 77093

Now this is the triple Afla panels. I did the same distance as the DBS, but check out the signal strength even way out there. It's green the whole time. I know I could have easily kept going. And like I said... I didn't have to aim so much.

View attachment 77094

View attachment 77095

As someone who's done back to back antenna test for almost every antenna on the market I'm not here to say which one of these is better, only to say you did not do a fair test. The DBS flight path is a LOT wider than your alpha flight path which means YOUR aim may have played a factor in your results. You have to find a very straight flight path where you can be sure both was given close to exact chances of success. Just my two cents[emoji41]
Ps, I've stated before that anytime you're 500' @ 1 mile your aiming is basically luck at that point. It's very hard to aim at those altitudes. That's why most of the 10 mile flights on the leaderboards we're at or below 300'

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[dan84uk]

What mr bum said. Your variables have changed. I suspect the alfas might still win though, in a fair test.

The APA-M25 horizontal beam width is 66 however the vertical is only 16. So you can be sloppy left to right, but you need to more accurate up and down.

I always use a tripod with my antennas now and a roofing square to aim. No more standing still trying to keep perfect aim.

 

[Rosey]

Where can I look these up? I checked Amazon and eBay... The closest thing coming up is the ARGtek...

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

 

[FlyingJello]

Thank you Matt,

The Alfa panels look good but for some reason I'm going to take the hit and buy the DBS for $110.

I don't have enough money to experiment as I'm just a kid working a bunch of 8 hour shifts.

The DBS mod just looks cleaner and there seems to be more knowledge about them on these forums. If I get around 2500ft range with my stock phantom 3 standard, what can I expect to get at the minimum with the DBS mod? I would really like to get 1.5 miles away.

 

[Matts175]

We had a crazy 72 degree Feb day here in Ohio but l think we're gonna get some of your snow soon

So did we (Michigan). 70 yesterday. Snowing right now. LOL

 

[Matts175]

Where can I look these up? I checked Amazon and eBay... The closest thing coming up is the ARGtek...

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

Found them in 2 seconds. What were you searching for? LOL

Amazon.com: Alfa APA-M25 dual band 2.4GHz/5GHz 10dBi high gain directional indoor panel antenna with RP-SMA connector (compare to Asus WL-ANT-157): Computers & Accessories

Alfa APA-M25 2.4/5 GHz dual band directional 10 dBi panel antenna for 802.11ac/n | eBay

 

[Matts175]

Thank you Matt,

The Alfa panels look good but for some reason I'm going to take the hit and buy the DBS for $110.

I don't have enough money to experiment as I'm just a kid working a bunch of 8 hour shifts.

The DBS mod just looks cleaner and there seems to be more knowledge about them on these forums. If I get around 2500ft range with my stock phantom 3 standard, what can I expect to get at the minimum with the DBS mod? I would really like to get 1.5 miles away.

It depends on your flying area. I hit 9200+ over water with the DBS the other day. If I fly near houses. I'm lucky to see 2200.

 

[Matts175]

On your next distance flight try turning the center one down so not too block the sides of the outer ones. It may increase a bit

Will do.

 

[Rosey]

Found them in 2 seconds. What were you searching for? LOL

Amazon.com: Alfa APA-M25 dual band 2.4GHz/5GHz 10dBi high gain directional indoor panel antenna with RP-SMA connector (compare to Asus WL-ANT-157): Computers & Accessories

Alfa APA-M25 2.4/5 GHz dual band directional 10 dBi panel antenna for 802.11ac/n | eBay

Lol, WTF....I have no **** idea. Haha. Seriously, I searched both sites...The only thing I can think of is my phone was auto correcting and I didn't realize it.

Thanks for the link.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

 

[bigirb2002]

I installed mine 2 days ago. Went 8000 plus feet with it

 

[Rosey]

Are there instructions out there on how to install these for someone who has zero experience in modifying the antenna / controller?

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

 

[microlinux]

Are there instructions out there on how to install these for someone who has zero experience in modifying the antenna / controller?

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

This thread has a link to a video - DIY Antenna Modification - RANGE TEST (14,180 FEET) with DJI Phantom 3 Standard

It's pretty straightforward.

 

[Rosey]

This thread has a link to a video - DIY Antenna Modification - RANGE TEST (14,180 FEET) with DJI Phantom 3 Standard

It's pretty straightforward.

Thanks for the help! I think I am going to have to knock this out in the next few weeks!