Home made range extender from laptop parts

[solentlife]

OK ... the P3 Standard Control signal is based on 5.8Ghz ... and the Video Feed is on 2.4Ghz ...

Standard household WiFi is 2.4Ghz ....

What is your Sonicwall gear ? Will the antenna you fitted be tuned to correct length for the 5.8Ghz ?

Nigel

 

[redrussell]

I assumed his antenna was only for the 2.4. Doesn't the standard antenna have internal 5.8 panels inside ?


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[solentlife]

The Standard setup is 2.4Ghz panels INSIDE ... 5.8Ghz stick antenna outside, which is the centre one.

Nigel

 

[redrussell]

Oh ok good to know I thought the other way around


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[eatpasta]

OK ... the P3 Standard Control signal is based on 5.8Ghz ... and the Video Feed is on 2.4Ghz ...

Standard household WiFi is 2.4Ghz ....

What is your Sonicwall gear ? Will the antenna you fitted be tuned to correct length for the 5.8Ghz ?

Nigel

I wasnt able to research it very much yesterday - because it was here, I just tossed it on.

I was able to go fly yesterday and the vertical range was definitely better but I kept getting a 'heavy interference' warning while I was up in the air. Im assuming that was because of the conflict with the new antenna.

The park I was flying in was kind of tiny so I was checking out the vertical range, which again was better for sure but I would like to test the distance range.

 

[redrussell]

Anyone ever thought about one of these for an antenna? Would it work idk just a thought.
Directional WiFi Extender Antenna Panel 2.4 GHz 14dbi High Gain Long Range | eBay


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[eatpasta]

Anyone ever thought about one of these for an antenna? Would it work idk just a thought.
Directional WiFi Extender Antenna Panel 2.4 GHz 14dbi High Gain Long Range | eBay


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I was just looking around for a simple solution like this and found this on amazon:

which is a kit for a Husban and it's plug n' play .... and drill

One of the reviews is from a P2 owner who claims that it was good for 1700m. I think I'm going to try this as it's only $17, free shipping and frankly if it doesn't work I can just return it to amazon.

I'm tempted to take the plunge with the CBS mod but if this gives me >half a mile, I'm happy with that. I'm not planning on doing ultra long distance stuff but it sure would be nice to not have to worry about signal...

 

[solentlife]

So far I tend to read people looking at 2.4Ghz ..... forgetting that Flight Control is 5.8Ghz on the Standard model, with 2.4Ghz for Video only.

Only the Advanced and Pro use 2.4Ghz for both Flight Control and Video.

If you fit a 2.4Ghz antenna to that centre post you will not be with correct wavelength antenna and could in fact reduce range.

Nigel

 

[eatpasta]

So far I tend to read people looking at 2.4Ghz ..... forgetting that Flight Control is 5.8Ghz on the Standard model, with 2.4Ghz for Video only.

Only the Advanced and Pro use 2.4Ghz for both Flight Control and Video.

If you fit a 2.4Ghz antenna to that centre post you will not be with correct wavelength antenna and could in fact reduce range.

Nigel

yeah, I'm pretty sure the interference I was experiencing was from my ghetto antenna.

I tired repairing my stock antenna but it's in bad shape. That after market antenna is on order from Amazon so we will see how that goes.

 

[eatpasta]

I just wanted to update this. I bought this kit from Amazon while I was looking around for an after-market antenna. It's for a Husban but it's still 5.8 gHz so, what the hell? Plus it's only $16



I tested it yesterday and never once during my flight did it ever go below full bars. The park was kind of small so I never was able to get it more than about 80m away but I easily got it up to ~100M.

For $16 again, hard to beat.

So as far as laptop parts, they are a good source for sure for wireless cable connection but little else this far.

I'm going to test the range on this new antenna and see if video signal will keep up with it. If it can't, I'll try the 2.4 gHz sonicwall antennas to see how they work.

 

[solentlife]

The FPV boys use 5.8 gear and they have all sorts of antennae.

They also have boosters that could I believe be used by us to achieve long range.

The only problem I see, is the standard based on WiFi will limit maximum range even with boosters.

Interesting to see how far someone will eventually push the range. We already have some getting 2kms or more.

Nigel

 

[eatpasta]

The FPV boys use 5.8 gear and they have all sorts of antennae.

They also have boosters that could I believe be used by us to achieve long range.

The only problem I see, is the standard based on WiFi will limit maximum range even with boosters.

Interesting to see how far someone will eventually push the range. We already have some getting 2kms or more.

Nigel

I would be fine with an average range in that I'm not really interested in long range record breaking but it would be nice to not have to worry about range while flying

 

[solentlife]

I know it goes not help - but I do get reasonable control range with stock gear. My problem is the video feed.

I have argtek gear to fit when I get home.

Nigel

 

[eatpasta]

I know it goes not help - but I do get reasonable control range with stock gear. My problem is the video feed.

I have argtek gear to fit when I get home.

Nigel

My issue was that someone has been mucking about under the bonnet of my RC. This last flight I did on saturday was terrible and when I got home and opened it up, the cable was actually separated from the connector via a terrible soldering job so the stock antenna had to go no matter what.

 

[solentlife]

With such - I usually mistrust the whole as you never know what else they've played with. Maybe find another controller on eBay secondhand ? Put this one aside as spares ?

Nigel

 

[Uzi3L]

I have a question. So if your going to do a home DIY job for the antennas.
And the single external is the flight control signal 5.8ghz
And the 2 internals are for video signal 2.8ghz (correct me if im wrong please)
On a P3s.
When doing a conversion do you have to match antenna ie replace 5.8ghz with another 5.8ghz (but a bigger DBI)
And the 2.8ghz with other 2.8ghz (but bigger DBI)
Or can you replace the 2.8ghz with 2x 5.8ghz?

Sorry if this is a stupid question am very new to the Drone/RC community.

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[solentlife]

First of all its one 5.8ghz and two 2.4ghz sntennae.

Second you can use other antenna but its not 'tuned' for correct length .... forget measuring the plastic - its the wire inside that is the important bit.

For maximum performance you use properly matched antenna for the frequency you are using. Therefore 2.4 for 2.4 and 5.8 for 5.8.

Nigel

 

[Uzi3L]

lol

First of all its one 5.8ghz and two 2.4ghz sntennae.

Second you can use other antenna but its not 'tuned' for correct length .... forget measuring the plastic - its the wire inside that is the important bit.

For maximum performance you use properly matched antenna for the frequency you are using. Therefore 2.4 for 2.4 and 5.8 for 5.8.

Nigel

Ahh sorry for typo.
I sort of thought what you said but exchange same for same but like it when someone else confirms it for me,

 

[eatpasta]

lol

Ahh sorry for typo.
I sort of thought what you said but exchange same for same but like it when someone else confirms it for me,

Exactly as @solentlife said, you can use the wrong frequency antenna but it just won't work very well.

As I posted before, I used a 2.4 gHz antenna as my primary just to see how it worked.

It certainly was better than my broken stock antenna but it very much wasn't ideal - just something to get by in a pinch.

Eventually I may try and use two of these for the video antennas but how I understand it, these are Omnidirecitonal antennas and certainly not ideal for distance transmission. They are, afterall, designed to distribute wireless signal around a building which is hardly ideal for something flying one direction.

 

[eatpasta]

So finally had a chance to test this new antenna and it worked beautifully.

I had 500 meters set as my limit in the app and it easily reached 500 meters..... for $16 this is a really good mod.

I could easily go further so I need to test more but, this range is good enough for my comfort zone!

I never lost video, either.