Maxx VS Terminator. Long distance antenna shootout!

[Chris P Duck]

Who did you buy from?

Horizon FPV Antennas

 

[shockwave199]

Yikes, that's not good at all. I would send back for a full refund. If that's just a poorly altered cheap antenna, that's horrible business practice and I would write them off my list immediately.

The Midwest horizon must be different entirely because I bought my battery mod and they were very helpful and excellent.

 

[KyleMaxxUAV]

I keep hearing the same issues echo through these forums, seems always the usual suspects are giving poor quality service & professionalism [emoji17]


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[Chris P Duck]

NOT GOOD.

Couldn't wait so delayed a pub session to give them a go.

Less than half the range I got when completely stock.

Controller flagged up weak controller signal at just 110m out when the bird was up at 120m (400ft) and I was elevated with the remote too. Tripod mounted and aimed at the horizon vertically and the bird horizontally.

It complained the whole way out and the controller signal rarely went above 2 bars. At about 1,100m it lost everything and started to return home.
This with the controller, the launch point, the flight path and the altitude in exactally the same place as I have flown many times before and always managed more than 2km with everything stock.
I was curious that the controller signal died so early and thought maybe the lead or antenna was damaged (after all one of them rattles!) so swapped the leads and antennas round and tried again but the results were just as disappointing.

Will post healthy drones log when I can be bothered but am now off to the pub to drown my sorrows. My advice is to stay away folks!

To give a balanced view I contacted them and they replied within an hour saying they believe it must be faulty and that I could return it for exchange. Also adding they will refund my postage.
Great service considering the rapid response outside working hours.

Watch this space!

 

[maxwell smart]

Well I can tell you MAX UAV is top notch. I am having trouble with one or both of my sunhan boosters and he was fast to answer my Email.
And has a no hassle return pollace. I am liking that.,. MAX is good to go.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I second Maxx! I needed some cables today and asked him a question online. They got back to me in less than 10 minutes! I had the new cables ordered in less than 30 minutes from asking my question. They also ship very quickly and have great communication. Top notch!


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[maxwell smart]

Yea MAX will get back to you before you get dune typing.

 

[dirtybum]

Do they have the 19dB panel?

there are 2 ARC brand 19dbi panels on ebay right now for $45....has the N connector tho..can change or buy the adapter

I mean 19 dB the same brand as the terminator panels knockoffs (or originals)?

 

[seb evans]

Yikes, that's not good at all. I would send back for a full refund. If that's just a poorly altered cheap antenna, that's horrible business practice and I would write them off my list immediately.

The Midwest horizon must be different entirely because I bought my battery mod and they were very helpful and excellent.

Horizon fpvlr antennas are a UK company and Midwest horizon is their US outlet as far as I know.
I have emailed them a few times and had a reply quite quickly and Will is very helpful.
I'm in the UK though so maybe different your end

 

[dirtybum]

Well I can tell you MAX UAV is top notch. I am having trouble with one or both of my sunhan boosters and he was fast to answer my Email.
And has a no hassle return pollace. I am liking that.,. MAX is good to go.

What was your amp prob and his response!

 

[BeauS]

Hey, you see Horizon's new version of the Term for the standard? Phantom Terminator Linear kit P3 Standard with 5.8 GHz

 

[Chris P Duck]

What was your amp prob and his response!

DB did you get your Terminator antenna from Horizon Midwest?
If so would you mind posting some close up pics of it?
I'm curious if mine is a "knock off" or cheap copy of what their Midwest outlet was selling or if I was just unlucky as yours defiantly seems to perform.

 

[KyleMaxxUAV]

I mean 19 dB the same brand as the terminator panels knockoffs (or originals)?

Is the understanding that Horizon actually had the terminator panels manufactured ? (i.e. itelite) or that they bought a lot of the Chinese panels, threw them together & tested them. After testing was successful they brought it to market ?

I don't know much other than they work really well as I have been following your panel showdown lol !!


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[dirtybum]

DB did you get your Terminator antenna from Horizon Midwest?
If so would you mind posting some close up pics of it?
I'm curious if mine is a "knock off" or cheap copy of what their Midwest outlet was selling or if I was just unlucky as yours defiantly seems to perform.

Mine was sent to Midwest from the UK and then to me, Midwest gets all their antennas from the UK. The picture I seen of these Chinese panels looks a lot like the panel that used on the terminator that I have. Like was noted you can even see where the cable used to come out of the bottom of the panel. Unless, and only Will can answer this, there's a possibility that Will from Horizon just bought those antenna panel covers the gray ones for pennies on the dollar and he actually uses his own panel variation/design on the inside

 

[BeauS]

Mine was sent to Midwest from the UK and then to me, Midwest gets all their antennas from the UK. The picture I seen of these Chinese panels looks a lot like the panel that used on the terminator that I have. Like was noted you can even see where the cable used to come out of the bottom of the panel. Unless, and only Will can answer this, there's a possibility that Will from Horizon just bought those antenna panel covers the gray ones for pennies on the dollar and he actually uses his own panel variation/design on the inside

I can see where Will might have bought those antenna panel covers to save money.

I think he did something similar with the V3 Power mod by keeping the control board and case bits of the original DJI battery.

 

[dirtybum]

DB did you get your Terminator antenna from Horizon Midwest?
If so would you mind posting some close up pics of it?
I'm curious if mine is a "knock off" or cheap copy of what their Midwest outlet was selling or if I was just unlucky as yours defiantly seems to perform.

 

[dirtybum]

You noticed the holes where the Chinese version cables would go through and was possibly removed by horizon, if indeed they did just buy some Chinese panels and assemble this panel as their own. Notice how the holes look a little buggered up, like maybe they wasn't just brand-new covers, the plot thickens, only horizon can answer these questions[emoji41]

 

[MasterBlaster]

You would think they would at least throw some plugs in there. Like the ones we used in the antenna hole of the controller when we did the Itelite mod and drilled the holes (before the clean install)....


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[seb evans]

Nice pics db, very informative as always

 

[RocketBrew]

19dbi 2 Arc PA2419B01 19dBi 2 4GHz Flat Panel Wide Band Directional Outdoor Antennas | eBay

Those are two single antennas, like the Terminator setup.
The MaxxRange uses a diversity antenna which is two elements in a single package. Seems like a much les clunky solution.
For DIY, this Hawking Technology 14dBi Directional Antenna looks like an interesting possibility.