Broken u-fl plug on Tx Antenna

[RickH]

I'm usually pretty careful with things like this, but alas, while scraping the silicone off the Tx antenna board, I snapped the ufl plug off the board. I don't have any soldering eq., and even if I did, I doubt I could micro-solder this back on. I took it to a jewelry repair shop, but they didn't want to touch it. I've got an e-mail out to DJI to see if I can just purchase that 20-pin antenna adapter(is that what you call it?) Probably looking at a new Tx. Has this happened to anyone else, and what did you do?Thanks,
Rick

 

[xgeek]

I did something similar with the RX on my Phantom 2 and I soldered the cable directly to the pads like this. If you can't solder it's worth asking a friend who can rather than buying a new controller.

 

[willriii]

I did this also whilst attempting to get the silicone off. There is one hope. I pried the "button" part off by accident. The center pin was intact. If your center pin is not intact don't even try this way. I went and bought silicone. RTV seems to be virtually if not exactly the same, although I used marine grade West Marine silicone sealant. I bought a magnifying glass w/ a light, ~60 USD at office depot..... this u.fl connection is very, very small and I am very, very 46 years old. The button part, if you the look up the detailed specs on a u.fl connection does have a ground tab........ but if you look at the DJI board very closely that ground tab doesn't connect to anything. So: and this took some very delicate work..... I torqued the cable so that the u.fl remained neutral over the pin on the circuit board, and after careful confirmation that it was where it needed to be, and the torque on the cable keeping it in place, I siliconed it in place with enough along the wire exiting the connection to keep it stable. After this I still had control out to 1400 feet. If you were planning on going for a distance record better just buy a new controller and start over.
Hope this helps you and others.
P.S. I would recommend if you are going to do the antennae mod that got myself and the original poster in trouble: to google u.fl connection or similar so you can see what a u.fl connection looks like underneath all that silicone. Even better look at the ones in the wifi extender (which are not siliconed) so you know what you are dealing with.

 

[xgeek]

The button part, if you the look up the detailed specs on a u.fl connection does have a ground tab........ but if you look at the DJI board very closely that ground tab doesn't connect to anything.

A u.fl connector most certainly has a ground and the TX/RX does have a ground tab that is connected to the u.fl.

 

[RickH]

Well, after a few agonizing days, there was success! I borrowed an iron from a buddy and soldered the uf-l plug directly to the board, minus the piece that broke off. My soldering skillz must be pretty good, cuz I just went up 1000' and 500' out and no signal loss. Hooray!

 

[Don Promillo]

I had exactly the same problem. While removing the glue I removed the u.fl socket as well.
After a short "oh shi..", followed by a "Pff, I thought about buying a Taranis soon anyway", I just soldered the cable onto the board directly.

It works nicely. The range is a solid "something further than I can see it"

And this morning I accidentally powered the transmitter on without the antenna for a few seconds. It did not explode and still seems to work.
I guess It does not want to get replaced.

 

[mtpisgah]

Well, after a few agonizing days, there was success! I borrowed an iron from a buddy and soldered the uf-l plug directly to the board, minus the piece that broke off. My soldering skillz must be pretty good, cuz I just went up 1000' and 500' out and no signal loss. Hooray!

that is looking better than the original, stronger !. i wonder if there's a tester ? like swr ? or something to check if it is good or bad other than flying it ...now your back in commission !