Antenna mod 5.8ghz receiver board

[ToThePoint]

I did do and got loosen the U.FL connector on the phantoms receiver board.
So splice the cable that is attached to it if you are not sure on how to do things because the glue that is used on the connector is in fact like concrete.
It doesn't move by any means ( including heat to 450C ).
The only way i could manage to get the connector loose was to patiently and gently scrape it away.
This is a job only for well seasoned hobbyist who knows very good what the hell they are doing.
Because it involves a lot of delicate work and before you know it it ends in total failure !!!

Ok lets get into business.
I don't cover the basics, just going to give some pointers to what you have to take care of.
Also i have a 50w adjustable soldering station and magnifying goggles 10x.
Without, don't even think of doing this.
I had only 2 arms disconnected from the main board so it could be turned sideways.

If you seen these guy's ( 3 lead connectors with silicone ) Mark them !!!
Because they can be put on the board visa versa. And before you know it the are mixed.
You can cut of the silicon on the side of the connector with a sharp pointy hobby knife. Afterwards you can do a little drop of super glue on the hobby knifes tip and you can reuse the silicon that way by gluing the silicone back to the connector with the super glue.
The advantage of this practice is that you never have to spill any glue somewhere you don't like it to be. Never try to use the tube of super glue to add it. Its going to end in disaster.

Of moving on.

The double adhesive tape used under the wifi transceiver board.
Note that i had to lift up the plastic board with a screwdriver and cut into the adhesive tape.
Its a very hard sticky one.
Also look @ the 2 pins that goes into the main board with no screws @ all.

The place were the wifi transceiver used to be and it has to be removed due to the 2 screws that are underneath it. Ow in total 5 screws to detach.

Now the 5.8g receiver is free to work on.
Mind the black rock solid glue.
Thats what i had to scrape away.

I used a sharp pointy hobby knife to scrape away the black glue.
I placed the blade of the knife aside the connecter and scraped off the glue with a going to the right hand side scraping motion.
It toke me 20 min, you can do it in 5sec but this job has to be done with a lot of care, with magnifying goggles and checking after every scrape that you didn't go to far.
After i dug a pit into the glue aside the connector and had checked that if i could turn the connector it would come of with no damage @ all i gave it a try. And it did.

Picture of the pit next to the connector.

Connector detached.

Again this is a job for someone who knows what they are doing and can handle a soldering iron.
When replacing every bits and pieces watch out for the coax they use to power the motors on the main board. Its a huge soldering job that easily can melt the inner core and thus make a short circuit with the outer lead. Make sure that is ok !

So i guess thats it.
Now i can modify the receivers antennas when the parts arrive here.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Thanks for the photos and description of your work. I don't know why in the Hell they decided to use such strong adhesive to secure the antenna connector.

 

[ToThePoint]

Thanks for the photos and description of your work. I don't know why in the Hell they decided to use such strong adhesive to secure the antenna connector.

Me neither.
I used hot glue that you can use in a hot glue gun to fix the new U.FL connector in place.

 

[ATC Drone Flyer]

The only way i could manage to get the connector loose was to patiently and gently scrape it away.
This is a job only for well seasoned hobbyist who knows very good what the hell they are doing.
Because it involves a lot of delicate work and before you know it it ends in total failure !!!

For others that find this guidance and are curious if "ToThePoint" is exaggerating. . . he's NOT! I performed the same operation on a P2V receiver board and found the same glue he is referring to. When he says the glue is like "concrete" he is NOT kidding. To make matters worse, on MY receiver board, whoever applied the glue at the factory got some of it inside one of the U.FL connectors. So even though I scraped all the glue from around the connectors, one of them STILL would not come off!

The moral of MY story is this is not a task for the faint of heart. I wound up ripping one of the two surface mount U.FL connectors off the receiver board in spite of my best efforts. Fortunately for me, I have an acquaintance who owns an electronics repair shop with a micro-miniature repair station, and he was able to cannibalize a SMD U.FL connector from an old mini-PCI WiFi module and reflow it back onto the the P2V's receiver board. Near as I can tell, the repair was a success!

P.S.: For anyone looking for an alternative to "Hot Glue" I use an adhesive called "GOOP". It is available at all major hardware stores, dries virtually crystal clear in about an hour, and has a nice rubbery texture. If you need to remove it, it can be easily scraped off with a sharp hobby knife.

 

[saltire]

Thanks for the photos and description of your work. I don't know why in the Hell they decided to use such strong adhesive to secure the antenna connector.

Its a bit like using lock wire on an aircraft the last thing they want is for your antenna's to vibrate loose and come off the board and for you to loose signal .