More powerfull repeater?

[phantomguy]

Yours truly's Vision augmented with 2.4GHz 360° cloverleaf FPV & telemetry antenna.
iDrone :ugeek:

iDrone, how did you tie/attach the cloverleaf antenna to your P2V? Is it possible for you to post a close-up picture for this, please? Thanks!
By the way, do you have another 2.4GHz cloverleaf antenna on the "other side", I mean, in the Wi-Fi repeater?

The cloverleaf SMA's fit perfectly into the upper rubber bushing without stiffening it and so far seems to stay put.

Yours truly's Vision augmented with 2.4GHz 360° cloverleaf FPV & telemetry antenna.
iDrone :ugeek:

i have 2 tx and rx antennas cloverleaf can i use one the rx antenna tu connect one of my camara antenas but dont know if will work because the clover are 5.8 ghz, can it work?

Cloverleaf's for 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz are available off the shelf complete with protective radomes like mine.

My goal is to be able to maintain a steady FPV link no matter which way I yaw the Vision. Even a single 2.4GHz cloverleaf on the Vision and a 2.4GHz TP9 directional patch antenna on the Range Extender makes a huge improvement towards accomplishing steady FPV.

But I'm still playing & testing though...

iDrone

Hi:
Did you achieve this goal? If so, what did you find to be your ideal setup after it was all said and done.
THanks

 

[Glockindahaus]

So far I have done the repeater mod with a 14dbi tplink and I get fantastic video. I've only flown about 1500ft distance, but for me that's pretty ballsy.

Yesterday I did the TX upgrade with a 9dbi whip.... Less then stellar results. In fact, my first "return to home", which freaked me out. Thankfully I've watched enough videos to learn how to take control of the craft prior to it landing. In any case i only achieved about 750ft, about half of what I did with the stock whip,,, I tested it a second time, vertically with the same result.

I was thinking maybe it was my batteries in the TX, but I assume it's the same power level until you get a battery warning?

Tomorrow I'm thinking of doing a cloverleaf antenna. I'm not sure if that will help.

Thoughts?

 

[BenDronePilot]

So far I have done the repeater mod with a 14dbi tplink and I get fantastic video. I've only flown about 1500ft distance, but for me that's pretty ballsy.

Yesterday I did the TX upgrade with a 9dbi whip.... Less then stellar results. In fact, my first "return to home", which freaked me out. Thankfully I've watched enough videos to learn how to take control of the craft prior to it landing. In any case i only achieved about 750ft, about half of what I did with the stock whip,,, I tested it a second time, vertically with the same result.

I was thinking maybe it was my batteries in the TX, but I assume it's the same power level until you get a battery warning?

Tomorrow I'm thinking of doing a cloverleaf antenna. I'm not sure if that will help.

Thoughts?

Might be a problem with the pigtail cable you used. It may be shorted or not making good contact. It may also possibly not be making a good connection with the ufl connector to the main board. Also probably going with a slightly lower gain whip would work better do to the radiation pattern, like a 3 or 5dbi antenna. Also check out amazon they have a good 11dbi 5.8ghz patch antenna that should more than double the stock range from what I hear. I've personally (and others) have had pretty good experience with this antenna used for both 2.4ghz as well as 5.8ghz.

Here's link.
http://www.amazon.com/RP-SMA-aerial-pan ... roduct_top

 

[Glockindahaus]

So far I have done the repeater mod with a 14dbi tplink and I get fantastic video. I've only flown about 1500ft distance, but for me that's pretty ballsy.

Yesterday I did the TX upgrade with a 9dbi whip.... Less then stellar results. In fact, my first "return to home", which freaked me out. Thankfully I've watched enough videos to learn how to take control of the craft prior to it landing. In any case i only achieved about 750ft, about half of what I did with the stock whip,,, I tested it a second time, vertically with the same result.

I was thinking maybe it was my batteries in the TX, but I assume it's the same power level until you get a battery warning?

Tomorrow I'm thinking of doing a cloverleaf antenna. I'm not sure if that will help.

Thoughts?

Might be a problem with the pigtail cable you used. It may be shorted or not making good contact. It may also possibly not be making a good connection with the ufl connector to the main board. Also probably going with a slightly lower gain whip would work better do to the radiation pattern, like a 3 or 5dbi antenna. Also check out amazon they have a good 11dbi 5.8ghz patch antenna that should more than double the stock range from what I hear. I've personally (and others) have had pretty good experience with this antenna used for both 2.4ghz as well as 5.8ghz.

Here's link.
http://www.amazon.com/RP-SMA-aerial-pan ... roduct_top

I'm going to go through it this weekend. Ordered the patch antenna as suggested. I also have some circular polarized antennas from my fat shark equipment. Any chance those might. Help?

 

[BenDronePilot]

Might be a problem with the pigtail cable you used. It may be shorted or not making good contact. It may also possibly not be making a good connection with the ufl connector to the main board. Also probably going with a slightly lower gain whip would work better do to the radiation pattern, like a 3 or 5dbi antenna. Also check out amazon they have a good 11dbi 5.8ghz patch antenna that should more than double the stock range from what I hear. I've personally (and others) have had pretty good experience with this antenna used for both 2.4ghz as well as 5.8ghz.

Here's link.
http://www.amazon.com/RP-SMA-aerial-pan ... roduct_top

I'm going to go through it this weekend. Ordered the patch antenna as suggested. I also have some circular polarized antennas from my fat shark equipment. Any chance those might. Help?

Assuming all else is good yes you can certainly use those fatshark antennas tho they'd work even better if you put a circular polarized antenna (clover leaf or skew planar) on the 5.8 GHz side of the phantom itself. You're probably best off with a whip or the patch antenna you ordered which will definatly improve your range over stock.

 

[nhoover]

I've been running with a 5 dBi omni and a 9 dBi directional on the repeater for a while, and generally lose FPV around 4000-4500'. Yesterday I tried it with a pair of 9 dBi directionals (mounted next to each other but one at 90 to the other). At first the FPV was balky and kept freezing up even at 2000'. But I noticed the app had updated itself and preview was set to 640x480@30. Once I toned it back down to 640x480@15 it worked great. So I put it down to the lowest setting 320x240@15 and was able to fly over a mile, facing forward, with nice FPV. As a bonus the new app shows distance over 3300' finally. At 5900' I turned sideways and continued to a bit over 7000' where I lost control but still had FPV the whole time.

 

[johnbowen]

This question is directed to Tony at FPVLR.com, but certainly others may help provide me some insight.

Can the Sunhans 2.5W Bi-Directional Amplifier. http://fpvlr.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=69&product_id=84, be used to replace the standard WIFI extender on the P2v controller?

If so, what are the power requirements, ie batteries needed, etc?

 

[gpauk]

No hacking needed. You can use an external high power repeater like the ArgTek / DoCooler one that's been well documented. That gets you a boost without opening any of the boxes or wiring anything, and allows you to use any antenna you like, easily....

 

[DJIP2VPlus]

This question is directed to Tony at FPVLR.com, but certainly others may help provide me some insight.

Can the Sunhans 2.5W Bi-Directional Amplifier. http://fpvlr.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=69&product_id=84, be used to replace the standard WIFI extender on the P2v controller?

If so, what are the power requirements, ie batteries needed, etc?

hi john, in order to replace the extender, you'd have to hack the tablet itself with a pigtail....

it can be done, but then your tablet is dedicated only to the phantom
TOny

I would be interested in dedicating a tablet to do this. Could you explain what tablet and how to do this. Thank you.

 

[gpauk]

What would be the point of that? Either boost the power on the existing extender, or use an external extender...

 

[DJIP2VPlus]

What would be the point of that? Either boost the power on the existing extender, or use an external extender...

For me, I would like to have less things. If I could use only a tablet (which I must have anyway) I would not need extender. I think not having extender would be better. Sounds like it has been done, I'm just looking for how to do it or what I need to buy.

 

[gpauk]

Yeah, but all you are doing is replacing the extender with a power amp, and / or a big antenna, as your tablet won't have enough power.
All you have to do, hardware wise, is dismantle your tablet, find the wifi antenna connection. If you are lucky and it's not harwired, unplug it and plug in a pigtail. Otherwise, solder a wire ended pigtail onto it.

Then re assemble. Your tablet can still be used as normal with an external wifi antenna.

Then you have to persuade it to talk direct to the camera, not via the extender. That might be tricky - will depend on the OS as well, different devices have different levels of tweak that you can to the wifi.
Essentially you need to spoof the extender settings into the phone. You'd be best doing that before the hardware mods, in case it proves impossible with your tablet....

I've not seen anyone go down this route on any of the forums -- you'd be the trailblazer I think!

 

[DJIP2VPlus]

Yeah, but all you are doing is replacing the extender with a power amp, and / or a big antenna, as your tablet won't have enough power.
All you have to do, hardware wise, is dismantle your tablet, find the wifi antenna connection. If you are lucky and it's not harwired, unplug it and plug in a pigtail. Otherwise, solder a wire ended pigtail onto it.

Then re assemble. Your tablet can still be used as normal with an external wifi antenna.

Then you have to persuade it to talk direct to the camera, not via the extender. That might be tricky - will depend on the OS as well, different devices have different levels of tweak that you can to the wifi.
Essentially you need to spoof the extender settings into the phone. You'd be best doing that before the hardware mods, in case it proves impossible with your tablet....

I've not seen anyone go down this route on any of the forums -- you'd be the trailblazer I think!

My thought, like John's question, was to replace the extender with the amp rather than adding something else to extender.

When TOny responded

hi john, in order to replace the extender, you'd have to hack the tablet itself with a pigtail....

it can be done, but then your tablet is dedicated only to the phantom
TOny

It sounded like it had been done. I've tried to connect my tablet to camera without extender and have not been able to. Tony, could you share how?

 

[BenDronePilot]

What would be the point of that? Either boost the power on the existing extender, or use an external extender...

For me, I would like to have less things. If I could use only a tablet (which I must have anyway) I would not need extender. I think not having extender would be better. Sounds like it has been done, I'm just looking for how to do it or what I need to buy.

Why forgo the range extender? It's small light weight and unobtrusive. Also without that you would get 300 foot range max if using a tablet and less than that if using a iPhone or similar sized device.

In Summary, bypassing the P2V range extender is a bad move and will kill both FPV range and reliability in a very dramatic way. Scratch that if you were bypassing it by using a more powerful repeater instead if the stock p2v repeater cause in that cause you'll get increased range.

Regarding amps. Amps are just that they work in conjunction with a wifi router or repeater not in place of it.

P.S. If you still want to try a direct connection from your tablet to your vision just for the sake of seeing for yourself I am pretty sure this can be done and I believe I know how to do it. I'll give it a quick go myself then post the instructions and or make a video on my YouTube channel.

 

[BenDronePilot]

Video how to on making your modded P2V range extender "more powerful" by using a Sunhans wifi amplifier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tUW6pg5zwc

 

[EricT]

Okay, I have read through all of the posts on modding the P2V's wifi extender and transmitter to get more distance than the out of the box configuration. My head is spinning with all of the options, so if someone could give me some advice it would be very much appreciated.

I would like to extend the range of both the wifi extender and the transmitter and still be able to fit the transmitter and the wifi extender in my P2V GoProfessional case....so detachable antennas are probably the best solution for me. I am very competent in opening electronics up and soldering and desoldering, etc. What would be an optimal and stronger signal strengths solution that allows the modded transmitter and wifi extender to fit in my case and then when I go to fly merely screw in the antennas? TIA.

 

[cavaleiro01]

Okay, I have read through all of the posts on modding the P2V's wifi extender and transmitter to get more distance than the out of the box configuration. My head is spinning with all of the options, so if someone could give me some advice it would be very much appreciated.

I would like to extend the range of both the wifi extender and the transmitter and still be able to fit the transmitter and the wifi extender in my P2V GoProfessional case....so detachable antennas are probably the best solution for me. I am very competent in opening electronics up and soldering and desoldering, etc. What would be an optimal and stronger signal strengths solution that allows the modded transmitter and wifi extender to fit in my case and then when I go to fly merely screw in the antennas? TIA.

Check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9993

Anything from Tony (FPVLR) is a good choice. You will have more than one option (which cannot be bad...) both for the radio transmitter and the Wi-Fi extender.

 

[helixaviator]

I have done it with iphone 5. Turn on P2V range extender. Connect to Phantom_xxxx. Go to binding and find the ssid of the camera. Should start with FC200.... Go to settings, wifi and then click other networks. Type in SSID of Fc200 under network name and then click join and it should connct. You can then turn off range extender and still have control over camera. The problem is the connection is weak and easy to lose it. When I put the amplifier on the camera it will stay connected and I can see video and move camera without the range extender being on...hope that works for you.

 

[BenDronePilot]

Here's a youtube playlist link to most mods and upgrades you really need to do to get good range and performance from your P2V. Mods include range extender mod, camera mod, using an amplifier, radio control mod, and so forth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEHzDi4 ... wAR6KXbJvS

Youtube channel name is Ben7seven7

I just finished my Radio Control mod. I show in detail how I remove the silicon / glue covering the U.FL connector inside the control. That video is in the Playlist. btw just using a 3dbi 2.4ghz omni directional antenna has made a HUGE improvement over the stock 5.8ghz control antenna, let alone what a 5dbi or better antenna will do.

 

[Highcloud]

Hi all - I'v been a bit delayed doing this but here is my latest set up.

2 x RHCP pinwheels on the PV - Circular wireless
2 x RHCP helicals - Circular Wireless, feed by 2 x 1000mW Sunhans amplifier
1 x linear 5.8 Ghz 11 dbi patch antrenna fed by Taiwanese 1000mW 5.8 Ghz amplifier on the controller, cut snd diced into a custom box , heatsink and RPSMA connectors. (I had previosuly blown several Sunhans 5.8 Ghz Amps and cannot understand why - they seem to be very dilicate, so I opted for the AP 1000 from Taiwan. Built like a tank and seems to be robust electrically).
Stock dipole reciever on the PV for control

Distance is limited ONLY by the battery. I have full control and vision in any resolution at any angle and yaw in any environment - city or suburbs. The maximum that I have flown to date is 4.25KM. I think you need a very still day to do better, although if I take the prop guards off I will be able to pick up speed and probably push towards 6KM. Hope this is useful for anyone pushing range. By the way I landed with 12% - not a nice feeling having to ignore alrams and push the stick up to keep the PV from dropping :lol: