DBS vs ARGtek

[dirkclod]

G

Had a look inside the Rc Today. It was particularly hard to separate the two halves and a peek inside revealed why.

The wire to the mini usb? outlet was glued directly on the main antenna connection, well stuck together. The connection for the antenna is loose but I'm not sure if it has become that way due to my prizing them apart.

In any event, the presence of a rogue wire stuck directly on the antenna terminal can't be good.

Glad you prompted me to have a squiz, will repair and fly Tomorrow. Cheers.

Good luck and do say if it helps

 

[azpilot61]

Tonight I went out to 900 feet in our neighborhood across the highway into an open dirt lot between houses. Had perfect video and link for control. That works for me perfectly.

 

[mcphipps]

Awesome buddy.
I guess if you are not looking to break distance records this ARGtek mod is what you are looking for. I am happy as well.. I am so happy. I think I will go buy me a keg of beer.....lol

 

[azpilot61]

Yep, I doubt I'd go any further than 1000' so this works good for me. It will be a good comparison to the DBS mod on my Blade Chroma as I'll be taking that out for a run in a few days.

 

[martybabe]

G

Good luck and do say if it helps

Happy days Dirklod. 400 meters in all directions with no auto RTH and only one very quick red flash (week signal).

I had forgotten, in one of my (lets press this button and see what happens) moments, I set the distance limit to 400 meters, so, I wasn't able to test beyond that limit. So yeah, different bird, so happy with it. Thanks again.

P.S. Anyone suffering poor range in stock form or, anyone doing the antenna conversion, the metal connectors do actually fit together tightly with a firm progressive click. Mine was held together with the white gunk only, no firm clicky from the factory

 

[dirkclod]

Glad that worked out good marty !! Yes if I don't hear that click I keep on till I do .
I bet that's where a lot of these issue are , like you found .
And that moment...I have them all the time

 

[mcphipps]

Another good way to test them after you get them installed is turn them after they are seated. They should be able to "swivel" back and forth without coming off. That's how I checked mine to make sure they were seated.

Mike

 

[J-Boog]

ARGtek mounts w/o drilling, looks dope and you can always put your stock antenna back so it technically won't void your warranty.
DBS certainly better but voids warranty.

Not sure why everybody thinks this.
Warranty is void as soon as you scrape the silicone off of the u.fl connectors to install any of these antennas.
If you don't want to drill holes, that's a personal decision.
But don't let this warranty fluff make up your mind.
That's why they put the silicone on there in the first place.

 

[Harrissment]

Just tested my dbs mod out and got 1250m (4100ft) still had good signal was a bit scary for me, very happy with it and was very easy to install.

 

[mcphipps]

Not sure why everybody thinks this.
Warranty is void as soon as you scrape the silicone off of the u.fl connectors to install any of these antennas.
If you don't want to drill holes, that's a personal decision.
But don't let this warranty fluff make up your mind.
That's why they put the silicone on there in the first place.

I don't think that's why they put the silicone on there. Although it is a good indicator that it has been tampered with. Remember, the Chinese are making these things. They do everything as cheap as possible. They could have come up with several different ways to "mark" those connectors at at 1/10 the of the price.

I do agree with you though. As soon as you start tampering, you void it out.
Now that I have successfully voided mine, I think I am gonna test one of those knock off batteries and see exactly what they are made of.


Mike

 

[LuvMyTJ]

So where are the reports? Anyone have comparisons?

I get 4000' stock with mine and I have seen further stock. I contemplated just buying the FPV patch antennas (they are $8 each for the exact same ones) since the omnidirectional antenna doesn't seem to be any better than the stock one. But I think I will just buy a proven DBS panel and be done with it.

 

[rdzbarger]

I still haven't flown mine yet since installing the Argtek it's been nasty in Ohio


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[mcphipps]

I still want to test a couple of things. I have not been able to because of work. Hopefully sometime this week. If not it will be Saturday for me.

 

[rdzbarger]

Ok I took mine out today for a quick test , in an area I usually get to about 1800 feet before getting some signal fluctuations I was able to go 2800 feet and it was still strong . I do not support anyone buying the Argtek nor am I saying it will work for anyone else . This was just a first test on mine and I can say it was an improvement for me . This is not an endorsement by any means .. just posting some of my results . Also the conditions were over cast 38 degrees light winds. Alt approx . 200 ft


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[Samlilly2]

Man it's posts like this that makes me scare to touch my drone.. Mine went 11,197ft or 3,412m completely stock.

Now I am addicted to going further and would like to go with DBS or ARGtek. But I am afraid to break what isn't broke..


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[rdzbarger]

If I was getting that where I was I wouldn't have changed a thing but due to my location or whatever I'm not getting anything like that and was just looking for an improvement and it worked for me . It's not just my drone but my neighbors also and we both get the same range . He also has a standard that he purchased a couple of months before I did .


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[katzmix]

Samlily where are you flying. What kind of landscape

 

[Samlilly2]

Samlily where are you flying. What kind of landscape

Right off my back porch.. I live in a subdivision but there are a lot of woods and a farmland. I follow a road with power lines and house and I made it 2.12 miles out.

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[Mike's Bird]

ARGtek mounts w/o drilling, looks dope and you can always put your stock antenna back so it technically won't void your warranty.
DBS certainly better but voids warranty.

I would think the moment the cables are removed from the boards... bye bye warranty anyway.

Can anyone tell me (or direct me if its been addressed in another thread here) if DBS has any specs on their antennas? I'm looking for firm dB gain numbers to compare with the ARGtek unit.

I have had outstanding results with the parabolic attachment (windsurfer type with Copper as the reflector material) on the stock antenna. Max distance, once, was 7949 feet but that was with a very narrow beam width and flown until the RTH kicked in. Very scary. Normal stock antenna is decent with 3200 feet in clean (no RFI) environment. So, before I choose one over the other... has anyone posted results on using the DIY windsurfer on a ARGtek 5.8 GHz antenna?

Second question... Has anyone considered installing the ITElite/DBS antenna directly, without the SMA mounts to the body of the controller? In other words, purchasing cables that fit directly from the boards to the antenna panel and eliminate a junction point. Every junction causes signal loss so maybe that would increase range just a tad. The holes in the remote would be very small as well. I will be making the mod a permanent one so taking the panel on and off often wouldn't be a factor.

 

[Hank Terrebrood]

I maxed out at 2600 feet with that disconnected antenna fyi

Quite lucky that it didn't burn up the wifi card as output could be un-metered and blow the transmit diode. The card may have a fault protect to prevent this however.