mod. antenna, its really worth it (now)

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today i took my p2v w/ "Phantom 2 Vision super PLUS KIT" mod. antenna from horizon fpv antennas. this test was taken from my airfield club in daytona bch , fl. i got 10 sat. at the open field and clear sky. the result was 700 ft max. dist. before i lost signal (2.4) form my screen (ipod). not sure how far i can get for my radio signal (5.8) coz i cant see any further than that or how can i test it. i will take it out all antennas on my radio and replace it w/ simple one for easy carrying and leave it along the 2.4 & 5.8 antennas in the phantom. any suggestion of antennas replacement, thanks for help.
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

Check your wiring. With nothing done to the aircraft, and just the ground end fitted (2.4GHz Blackhawk 9dB and 5.8GHz Blackhawk 9dB) I'm getting wifi out to 2300ft plus on my setup.

Double-check the modification you made to the range extender to make sure the pigtail is still attached, and that the one you removed isn't shorting out anything, for example. I used to be able to get 1000ft on 2.4 with a totally stock Vision, so my experience is that the Horizon antenna more than doubled my range.
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

Your results may vary, but I got to 1,500 ft video link using the BlackHawk 2.4 on the extender and a single 2.4 SP on the P2V. This was also about a 100% increase for me. You'll need to keep the controller fairly aimed at the P2V to get smooth video. What were your effective ranges before the mod?

With regard to keeping things simple, I like FPVLR's half-dome 2.4 GHz for it's smaller footprint. It fits in my case mounted, whereas the BlackHawk 2.4 has to be removed.

But definitely check your wires for crimps/shorts and stuff before ditching these antennas.
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

rfernandez said:
Hate to spoil the fun but today I tested mine vision to 1,600 feet stock at an alt of 175 feet across water with the new 3D power gimbal


no video?
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

I tested mine twice with just stock yesterday , fully charged on the 1st test, for the wifi for the video link, I flew both times at 96' high apx.
1st I got to about 1200' - 366 meters before it fully went.
2nd I got about 800' - 244 meters before it fully went, I'm guessing because the battery power may have dropped.
Both over a field with a clear view but overcast and gusty.
My Horizon Blackhawk and Nimrod have just arrived and aim to fit over the weekend. I'll post my results
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

rfernandez said:
Hate to spoil the fun but today I tested mine vision to 1,600 feet stock at an alt of 175 feet across water with the new 3D power gimbal

Yep, I'm not noticing any range issues with Rotorpixel either - in fact I got my best-ever range with the gimbal fitted and my Horizon antennas on the ground-end only - 2370ft, versus 2175ft previous record no gimbal, versus 1025ft max wifi on stock range extender.

There are lots of variables such as the amount of local 2.4GHz traffic in the area, the nature of the terrain, anecdotally the amount of charge in your range extender...
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

Pull_Up said:
rfernandez said:
Hate to spoil the fun but today I tested mine vision to 1,600 feet stock at an alt of 175 feet across water with the new 3D power gimbal

Yep, I'm not noticing any range issues with Rotorpixel either - in fact I got my best-ever range with the gimbal fitted and my Horizon antennas on the ground-end only - 2370ft, versus 2175ft previous record no gimbal, versus 1025ft max wifi on stock range extender.

There are lots of variables such as the amount of local 2.4GHz traffic in the area, the nature of the terrain, anecdotally the amount of charge in your range extender...


Question - why would the charge in the range extender make a difference? Should it not function just the same as long as it has normal amount of power to draw on and thereafter work intermittently when the voltage drops to below the required level? I don't understand why it would make a difference between say 100% charge and 60% charge - it should not, or am I missing something?
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

You are exactly right, it shouldn't really. However at least two people I've seen have reported they noticed a degraded wifi performance when their range extender was less than fully charged - but there's been no empirical evidence provided, hence my use of the term "anecdotally". We do know, though, that the extender will lose charge even if switched off - at a rate much higher than you'd expect just from the battery's tendency to lose some charge over time.

I have a portable USB power pack with two outputs that I use velcro'd to the back of my tx which I use to keep the phone topped (constant streaming and max brightness is a battery killer!) and as it's there I plug the extender in too. If nothing else it get me out of jail when I arrive at the flying site to find I've forgotten to charge both phone and extender... (been there, done that). :roll:
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

Pull_Up said:
You are exactly right, it shouldn't really. However at least two people I've seen have reported they noticed a degraded wifi performance when their range extender was less than fully charged - but there's been no empirical evidence provided, hence my use of the term "anecdotally". We do know, though, that the extender will lose charge even if switched off - at a rate much higher than you'd expect just from the battery's tendency to lose some charge over time.

I have a portable USB power pack with two outputs that I use velcro'd to the back of my tx which I use to keep the phone topped (constant streaming and max brightness is a battery killer!) and as it's there I plug the extender in too. If nothing else it get me out of jail when I arrive at the flying site to find I've forgotten to charge both phone and extender... (been there, done that). :roll:

oh yes, I love that too - and in addition red light on the transmitter on Sunday with no gas station in sight ;) thanks for the answer - I'll do some tests in the near future and try to observe the outcome
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

okay, im sure that all of my connection works i done is about 90% correct since i am not expert on this. the 10% that im not sure of that is when i connected the 2.4 antenna inside the camera. i disconnected both antenna from camera transmitter and connect only one antenna wire w/c provided by horizon. is this could be causing my weak video signal ?
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

I really think to get range greater than 2000 feet you have to fly higher than 96 feet. At this altitude and 2000 foot horizontal distance the angle above horizontal is only 2.5 degrees -- you are picking up a lot of ground clutter and interference.

I can fly out 3000feet with good video and control but my altitude needs to be about 400 feet (mostly due to trees in flight path). I use the "radar" in app to rotate the ground controller so its always pointed at the P2V so my directional antennas have best effect.

Here's a calculater for you to experiment with:

http://www.pagetutor.com/trigcalc/trig.html
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

Yes. The camera will switch antennas to find the best signal. If you turn the aircraft such that the camera body is blocking your newly installed skew planar there's no fall-back. As I said I'm getting 2300ft plus using only the stock camera antennas and the Blackhawk on the range extender. Reconnect the second camera antenna.

Also, where have you positioned the skew planar on the aircraft? Ideally it wants to be positioned so that no matter which way the aircraft is facing the antenna can "see" the range extender. Hanging down below is probably optimum and you need to be up at 200ft or more to give everything the best chance of clearing "ground clutter" that can poach your signal.
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

help, help, help......

do i have to reconnect the other one antenna inside the camera ? i hate that operation. i was just lucky to get it done in the first place following the ben7??? in the utube video instruction. what for ? if you said that if one signal is bad then the other one will pick up, if i understand correctly?
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

mra1228,


on my first trial i was 60 ft high and 700 ft horiz. dist.
next time may be today. ill go 200 ft high and ????? horiz. dist.

ill let you know the result later, thx
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

mra1228 said:
I really think to get range greater than 2000 feet you have to fly higher than 96 feet. At this altitude and 2000 foot horizontal distance the angle above horizontal is only 2.5 degrees -- you are picking up a lot of ground clutter and interference.

I can fly out 3000feet with good video and control but my altitude needs to be about 400 feet (mostly due to trees in flight path). I use the "radar" in app to rotate the ground controller so its always pointed at the P2V so my directional antennas have best effect.

Here's a calculater for you to experiment with:

http://www.pagetutor.com/trigcalc/trig.html

Thank you I'll consider that during my next tests, although i flew over flat fields with no houses nearby, so I'm guessing shouldn't be much interference ?

Regards
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

mra1228,

2nd test flight result

i fly same set up as 1st test. but this time higher altitude 230 ft high, and goes to 1000 ft horiz. dist. before lost video signal. go back to 900 ft and fair video signal except when i pivot at 180 deg. video lost again. (phantom facing me, 2.4 antenna located at the back of phantom)

i did also w/ one 2.4 antenna connected and one 2.4 antenna disconnected at port outside of repeater. same result as both on.

i will try it again next time w/ different location of 2.4 sp antenna. away from sbus wires or other side were 5.8 orig. stock ant back located.
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

Pull_Up said:
You are exactly right, it shouldn't really. However at least two people I've seen have reported they noticed a degraded wifi performance when their range extender was less than fully charged - but there's been no empirical evidence provided, hence my use of the term "anecdotally". We do know, though, that the extender will lose charge even if switched off - at a rate much higher than you'd expect just from the battery's tendency to lose some charge over time.

I have a portable USB power pack with two outputs that I use velcro'd to the back of my tx which I use to keep the phone topped (constant streaming and max brightness is a battery killer!) and as it's there I plug the extender in too. If nothing else it get me out of jail when I arrive at the flying site to find I've forgotten to charge both phone and extender... (been there, done that). :roll:

I've started the day with a fresh fully topped off battery on the WiFi repeater, run through 3 batteries and did not notice any change in range. I'm sure when the charge drops below a certain threshold and you're in a area clear enough of WiFi interference and you're testing max possible range that you'd see a drop. But for the average Phantom user who has only 2 or three batteries I wouldn't worry having to keep a secondary battery connected to it. If you're going to even bother with that it would be better used to power a WiFi signal booster as even the two watt signal booster I got can run off a 6v 2amp power source which you can use an external USB battery for like my Ravpower
 
Re: mod. antenna, not worth it

I typically got 300 ~ 320m if I am lucky. Desired to mod my repeater, it was a struggle getting the parts. I only managed to get a replacement 2.4Ghz radio antenna.

Tested it again and the best I got was just over 1000m. Works pretty good upto 900m. Then I have to turn the PV2 to the side to get last few m out. This is with stock antenna on camera only mod on the repeater.

What do you think?

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