External Antenna Mod for the FC40 cam :)

[IIVII]

u've asked for it .. so here it is


Update Sep 6 , 2014


pls note .. this's only a (how to) open up ur cam and shows the possibility to add an external antenna & booster to it.
i never claimed it would give a better range , and i clearly stated that i didn't do any range tests in my replies at the time ..

the FC40 cam was sold long time ago along with some other goodies to fund another project .. so i can't do any more tests .

one last thing .. if u can't solder & desolder then these mods aren't for u .. Thanx


(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

 

[Beario]

Thanks this is very impressive. Just wondering the range you get after this mod, and also I am trying to imagine the range with the repeater and panel antenna mod

 

[J.James]

Awesome That some one else got around to doing this mod. Its been on my to do list but I have been waiting a few freaking weeks for a batch of pig tails i ordered to arrive so i can get started on it.

I'm also wondering what kind of a range boost it gave you and what range were you getting before the mod?

 

[IIVII]

Thanks this is very impressive. Just wondering the range you get after this mod, and also I am trying to imagine the range with the repeater and panel antenna mod

Awesome That some one else got around to doing this mod. Its been on my to do list but I have been waiting a few freaking weeks for a batch of pig tails i ordered to arrive so i can get started on it.

I'm also wondering what kind of a range boost it gave you and what range were you getting before the mod?

am wondering the same .. unfortunately i'll be outa town for few days so i won't be able to test the range till am back.

 

[Oliver84]

Any progress on this? I'm curious what kind of range you got with this.

 

[canvey1981]

Wow the fc40 really is getting a few mods thrown at it now. What with this and using repeater the range should be massive.

Are there cloverleafs that work on 2.4 most I see are for 5.8 ????

Awesome.

 

[J.James]

Wow the fc40 really is getting a few mods thrown at it now. What with this and using repeater the range should be massive.

most repeaters dont seem to add as much range as even just useing some thing better to receive the signal on. Tho with an on board amplifier an one at the receiving end should bump the range up quite a bit.

Are there cloverleafs that work on 2.4 most I see are for 5.8 ????

Yes there are some 2.4 clover leafs out there. Tho not as common as the 5.8's and they cost aew dollars more and also tho they are physically larger then the 5.8

Awesome.

 

[darwin-t]

What is the cable used? A link if possible, please.

 

[J.James]

What is the cable used? A link if possible, please.

If you wanted on with the ends already bare thats a"RP-SMA Female single-end Pigtail cable" or some times called "RP-SMA Female to PCB SOLDER Pigtail" http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-RG316-RP-SMA- ... 1e837cba81

But they are also just as easy to get a rp-sma female pig tail that has a mini U.FL / IPX connector on one end and cut it off to give you the bare ends for the camrea mode. and That type with the mini ipx end is also the type you would need if you ever wanted to mod the transmitter to take rp-sma screw on antennas. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-pcs-FL-IPX-to ... 566384c4ae

 

[Oliver84]

About how much range would you say adding the antenna mod gives your with any amplifiers or transmitter mod? I'm just wondering how much the antenna mod helps on the camera.

 

[dragonash]

u asked for it .. so here it is

you magnificent bastard!

 

[dragonash]

About how much range would you say adding the antenna mod gives your with any amplifiers or transmitter mod? I'm just wondering how much the antenna mod helps on the camera.

Going by my setup (TP-Link TL-MR3040 with a modded directional antenna) and stock FC40 camera, I easily get over 1000ft in an urban area.

Add a more powerful antenna on the fc40 camera and I think it would be safe to say you can get anywhere up to a 75% distance gain?

 

[Oliver84]

About how much range would you say adding the antenna mod gives your with any amplifiers or transmitter mod? I'm just wondering how much the antenna mod helps on the camera.

Going by my setup (TP-Link TL-MR3040 with a modded directional antenna) and stock FC40 camera, I easily get over 1000ft in an urban area.

Add a more powerful antenna on the fc40 camera and I think it would be safe to say you can get anywhere up to a 75% distance gain?

Nice, and to go over 1,000ft you'd have to mod the transmitter anyways, correct? The setup I'm thinking of starting out with is first getting the MR3040 and adding a directional antenna to it (1,000ft FPV and radio), then adding a directional antenna to the transmitter and an omnidirectional antenna to the camera. Hoping this will get me close to 1,500ft.

After that, I can add the 2.5w booster to the router to get my FPV going farther and see how it goes from there.

 

[J.James]

Nice, and to go over 1,000ft you'd have to mod the transmitter anyways, correct? The setup I'm thinking of starting out with is first getting the MR3040 and adding a directional antenna to it (1,000ft FPV and radio), then adding a directional antenna to the transmitter and an omnidirectional antenna to the camera. Hoping this will get me close to 1,500ft.

After that, I can add the 2.5w booster to the router to get my FPV going farther and see how it goes from there.

Flying range you should be able to get over 1000ft even in CE mode on the transmitters stock antenna and about double that in FCC mode. and a lil over 1000 feet on the wifi if you have some thing with decent wifi reception.

 

[Oliver84]

Flying range you should be able to get over 1000ft even in CE mode on the transmitters stock antenna and about double that in FCC mode. and a lil over 1000 feet on the wifi if you have some thing with decent wifi reception.

Oh, I thought the 300m range was after FCC mode. So when you switch to FCC mode you get about 500m?

What do you mean by having something with decent wifi reception? I use my LG G2 phone and it cuts out at around 350ft. Would a tablet give me better reception or are you referring to using a repeater?

 

[J.James]

Oh, I thought the 300m range was after FCC mode. So when you switch to FCC mode you get about 500m?

yes on mine in fcc mode i was getting some thing like 600m 675m tho I dont remember off hand exactly but it was over 600m with the stock set up.

What do you mean by having something with decent wifi reception? I use my LG G2 phone and it cuts out at around 350ft. Would a tablet give me better reception or are you referring to using a repeater?

a lil over 100 meters(338feet) is about right on most phones some get almost 200m tho. On my LG i was getting about maybe 150 tops if flying high and nothing blocking me. but mostly about 100m was all i could get. If i used a repeater I was getting about 300m or 1000 feet. But when I use my kindle fire even before I moded that i was getting even farther range by its self then i could with a good repeater/range extender. So with range extender it was actually a range shortener with the kindle which with out the extender was getting me out to about 350m. Which I have also seen others using other tablets getting about the same results. as the kindle. What I really like about the kindle also is that its a nice big screen with good resolution. Tho also what I dont like about it is also that it is big and sort of bulky to have on the transmitter. It would be nice if it were not so heavy.
and when I add the amplifier to it to get max range along with my antenna mod I did to the kindle its just to heavy and a lot of stuff. Which is were Im really likeing the idea of the camera also being moded and hopefully will get enough range with that and the kindle with added antenna and no amplifier and extra battery.

 

[Oliver84]

I just tried it with my Nexus 7 and I got maybe 150m? Something doesn't sound right. I even tried with a desktop router Linksys E1550 as a repeater and I could only get about 150m...

 

[J.James]

I just tried it with my Nexus 7 and I got maybe 150m? Something doesn't sound right. I even tried with a desktop router Linksys E1550 as a repeater and I could only get about 150m...

Do you mean WITH the camera antenna mod your only getting about 150m? if so what were you getting before that with the nexus7?

 

[Oliver84]

No, this is before the mod. Is that normal range before the mod?

 

[J.James]

Being its a phone ya that sounds about normal even a lil bit better then some get on just a smart phone. My Lg only gets a tad over 100m tho 100m is the range DJI rates them at.

But the Linksys E1550 repeater I would of assumed would have better range then that but I just did some poking around the net real quick and see lots of reviews saying it really sucks for range.