Phantom 3 STANDARD antenna upgrade

[TG3S]

You said you had got 7400' back a few post and you don't know this ?
After reading all your post I'm not sure what you got other than your first post where you said

Your not blowing smoke up our ( I )"s are you .
We do have flight logs ya know where you can stop the arrow at your farthest point to post .
No doubt then
The proof is in the pudding

I am asking because some people are not aware that the red no signal bar means that the FPV signal is lost and not the RC.. They automatically assume both are out of range..

Here is my flight log..

 

[dirkclod]

Was just asking..we get a lot of leg pullers in here TG ! Now we know you straight up !!
Don't let me get ya hot I just have to check Done had my leg pulled way to many times here .

 

[TG3S]

No worries..

Was just asking..we get a lot of leg pullers in here TG ! Now we know you straight up !!
Don't let me get ya hot I just have to check Done had my leg pulled way to many times here .

No worries.. Just here to learn and also help others.. Here's my contribution..
I recently modified the birdside FPV antennas.. No need to open the shell.. Just remove the camera/gimbal assembly and take off 4 screws, pop off the covers and remove stock plugs.. plug in the u.fl to RP-SMA cables and re-assemble..

 

[dirkclod]

No worries..


No worries.. Just here to learn and also help others.. Here's my contribution..
I recently modified the birdside FPV antennas.. No need to open the shell.. Just remove the camera/gimbal assembly and take off 4 screws, pop off the covers and remove stock plugs.. plug in the u.fl to RP-SMA cables and re-assemble..

Hey that's good to know but I'm going in to change the antenna puck antenna as well and add that GPS booster just to see if it does anything plus am adding the 5.8's also . Wish it didn't have those clips but gonna take care of that also
First I've seen that !!
Thanks

 

[Ray108]

@dirkclod
Its Ray went out few times with p3s I only get 970 feet dist 70 feet height then red signal wich i am sure is for transmitter ... i left ps3 in front of tv went down block lost control & gimbal but tv screen still playing ..

I live in missouri not sure about interferance?? Hate to put $$ like dbs in a standsrd when like to do like happy tree did put 6 db save $ get ps3a

Do u think i have bad transmitter Or lot interferance..

Be honest i could bsrley see p3s not sure if Dist meter acurate??

 

[ryback]

View attachment 34579 Those 2 square panels at the top are your 2.4 antennas .

Thanks again... So that is my controller... Do you think that the booster can be a problem? If yes the only way to boost the signal is to buy the DBS mod...

 

[ryback]

How do you know the RC signal drops? Does it trigger RTH?

I am not sure but the app is completely disconnected and asks me if I want to come back home... If I say yes the phantom starts to come back and then I am able to take the controls back...

I dont know if the controls are still working when the app is disconnected...

 

[ryback]

I am asking because some people are not aware that the red no signal bar means that the FPV signal is lost and not the RC.. They automatically assume both are out of range..

Here is my flight log..

So that's my case... I didn't know that and so I have to do more test... How far do you lose the fpv signal?

 

[dirkclod]

@dirkclod
Its Ray went out few times with p3s I only get 970 feet dist 70 feet height then red signal wich i am sure is for transmitter ... i left ps3 in front of tv went down block lost control & gimbal but tv screen still playing ..

I live in missouri not sure about interferance?? Hate to put $$ like dbs in a standsrd when like to do like happy tree did put 6 db save $ get ps3a

Do u think i have bad transmitter Or lot interferance..

Be honest i could bsrley see p3s not sure if Dist meter acurate??

Ray what you just said make's absolutely no sense to me .
Try again

 

[TG3S]

I am not sure but the app is completely disconnected and asks me if I want to come back home... If I say yes the phantom starts to come back and then I am able to take the controls back...

I dont know if the controls are still working when the app is disconnected...

If that's the case then you did lose both signals.. You said earlier that you went 200m, it's probably antenna position or bad RF interference.. Try to point antenna perpendicular to phantom at all times..

 

[Ray108]

@dirkclod

Not getting good distance according to my dji spp? says weak signal @ 955 feet? However i can barley see it ? Wonder if distance meter is not accurate ? If it is accurate 1000 feet and 60 feet height is not good correct?

 

[ryback]

If that's the case then you did lose both signals.. You said earlier that you went 200m, it's probably antenna position or bad RF interference.. Try to point antenna perpendicular to phantom at all times..

hi TG3S, today I have done another test: I went to a lake near home and tried to fly straight over the water at about 50mt of altitude with the antenna almost perpendicular to the drone and the booster mounted on it.

I have got a very good result this time: I've lost connection at 1350mt far way, the app started to show a weak fpv signal with the red bar and after few meters I've lost the connection completely. The app was greyed out and "disconnected"

Now, that is not clear to me if I lost both the signals or only the fpv one, this time the app asked me if I would make the phantom come back home and I said NO; then, after few seconds I pulled back with the controller I and I was able to catch up again with the fpv when it was almost at 500 meters.

So I don't know if it was coming back home himself or it was coming back because of me and the connection was still on, at this stage that remain a mistery for me...

 

[TG3S]

hi TG3S, today I have done another test: I went to a lake near home and tried to fly straight over the water at about 50mt of altitude with the antenna almost perpendicular to the drone and the booster mounted on it.

I have got a very good result this time: I've lost connection at 1350mt far way, the app started to show a weak fpv signal with the red bar and after few meters I've lost the connection completely. The app was greyed out and "disconnected"

Now, that is not clear to me if I lost both the signals or only the fpv one, this time the app asked me if I would make the phantom come back home and I said NO; then, after few seconds I pulled back with the controller I and I was able to catch up again with the fpv when it was almost at 500 meters.

So I don't know if it was coming back home himself or it was coming back because of me and the connection was still on, at this stage that remain a mistery for me...

Sounds like your technique has improved and now you have exceeded DJI's advertised range..

If you got the RTH then you lost RC signal.. When RTH is activated on your screen you now have control of phantom and you can either cancel and try to fly further or allow the RTH to bring phantom home.. Sometimes you can turn phantom (yaw) or increase altitude to get a better signal and continue further out.. Try it out and let us know how it goes..

 

[ryback]

Hi TG3S, I've done another thest today and I've reached about 830mt that is not bad for me... I'm going that far only for testing reasons...

Today after that distance I've lost connection again and the app was grey as the last time, then I pulled back with the controller and I got connected when it was almost 200mt far me... It was not coming home itself because when I got the connection back the RTH was not triggered.

That is what the app have recorded...

Screenshot_20151103-193559

• ryback
• Nov 3, 2015

The return path was not even recorded, that was the same thing that happened over the lake 2 days ago...

Is that ok?

 

[TG3S]

Hi TG3S, I've done another thest today and I've reached about 830mt that is not bad for me... I'm going that far only for testing reasons...

Today after that distance I've lost connection again and the app was grey as the last time, then I pulled back with the controller and I got connected when it was almost 200mt far me... It was not coming home itself because when I got the connection back the RTH was not triggered.

That is what the app have recorded...

Screenshot_20151103-193559

• ryback
• Nov 3, 2015

The return path was not even recorded, that was the same thing that happened over the lake 2 days ago...

Is that ok?

That's exactly how mine functions so it seems like yours is ok..

Overall, I think the app and/or FPV system has its deficiencies.. There should be a separate signal or connection for flight statistics rather than combining with FPV data so that you can still determine distance, altitude, and direction of flight to safely continue flying.. Perhaps DJI will allow us to lower the FPV bit rate so it's range can match the RC signal.. Ultimately, the FPV system should exceed the RC range so boosting FPV would probably be the best solution..

 

[ryback]

ok, sounds good to me... but If I have to boost the fps signal it seems that the only way to do that on the standard is the dbsmod or replace the onboard antenna, am I wrong?

 

[TG3S]

ok, sounds good to me... but If I have to boost the fps signal it seems that the only way to do that on the standard is the dbsmod or replace the onboard antenna, am I wrong?

Depends on what your purpose is.. the DBS mod will increase both RC and FPV range evenly so the RC signal will still be longer and you will run into the same situation upto a certain point.. You can also install bird side 2.4 antennas to gain a little more FPV range and even out the distances..

Ultimately, with the DBS your effective range will be increased and as long as it meets your needs in range, then it may work for you..

 

[Timritchieblue]

Well I flew 2700ft yesterday, got the weak signal flash red on my remote for the first time. So today, I'm going to install my DBS mod, with upgraded cables. Thanks Dirtclod for all your help

 

[dirkclod]

Good luck and just take your time Tim . It will go smoothly .

 

[TG3S]

Good luck and just take your time Tim . It will go smoothly .

Yes, take your time... The hardest part is removing the silicone from the connectors..