Powering 3w Boosters from Phantoms Remote Battery!

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Hey guys.

I have the DBS MaxxRange antenna mod and decided to add the 3w Boosters to it which I purchased from Jake @ www.MaxxUAV.com and I love the performance from both of them working together.

The one thing I did not like was the extra weight that the USB battery pack added to the controller to power the 3w boosters. I used my own USB battery pack which was about the same size as the battery Jake sells which is on the large side.

I knew the remote controller has a built in 8v large battery pack that I could power the 3w amps from since the input voltage on the 3w amps is between 5v and 12v DC.

So last night I decide to try to dump the battery for the 3w boosters and just power them directly from the built in battery pack in the remote controller.

It worked out just fine and I really like how this came out since its light and about as simple as you can get it now.

I thought it would have been better to even put the boosters inside the controller but there is no room from them plus they could cause other issues being so close to the main circuit board inside the controller.

Here is what the controller looks like now and its working better than before. I can fly from inside my house at the kitchen table pointing out a glass sliding double door and get just at 3 miles out before turning back.

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Here is a link to all the pictures showing how I wired everything up inside the controller if your interested.

Dropbox - Phantom Booster Mod
 
Last edited:
Hey guys.

I have the DBS MaxxRange antenna mod and decided to add the 3w Boosters to it which I purchased from Jake @ www.MaxxUAV.com and I love the performance from both of them working together.

The one thing I did not like was the extra weight that the USB battery pack added to the controller to power the 3w boosters. I used my own USB battery pack which was about the same size as the battery Jake sells which is on the large side.

I knew the remote controller has a built in 8v large battery pack that I could power the 3w amps from since the input voltage on the 3w amps is between 5v and 12v DC.

So last night I decide to try to dump the battery for the 3w boosters and just power them directly from the built in battery pack in the remote controller.

It worked out just fine and I really like how this came out since its light and about as simple as you can get it now.

I thought it would have been better to even put the boosters inside the controller but there is no room from them plus they could cause other issues being so close to the main circuit board inside the controller.

Here is what the controller looks like now and its working better than before. I can fly from inside my house at the kitchen table pointing out a glass sliding double door and get just at 3 miles out before turning back.

View attachment 57172

View attachment 57173

View attachment 57174

View attachment 57175
View attachment 57176

Here is a link to all the pictures showing how I wired everything up inside the controller if your interested.

Dropbox - Phantom Booster Mod
How about designing a headgear to mount that big antenna and keep RC light?
 
That antenna is very light, I bet it does not even weigh a half pound although it does look pretty big it does not bother me since the range increase it provides is pretty big.

Relocating the antenna to your head would look kinda crazy plus then you would have to run wires to it from the controller also.

I have the smaller DBS antenna also which I have not tried with the boosters against the larger antenna pictured. If the range is as good or close to it then I will probably just switch to the smaller antenna since it is so much smaller and more convenient.

I think the best way to drop the weight of the remote is to using a iPad Mini instead of the full size unit and also get a neck strap to help hold the controller and take most of the weight off your arms.
 
The antenna at first your like ****! But I have to say, once connected it seems like the right size, and when I put my DBS_02 back on for some test, it seemed small and just, small. The size is about as big as you'd want, but trust me, it is about the perfect size for this size remote, certainly isn't heavy.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Solardude - I was just thinking about this yesterday. I love the evolite kit, but you end up with a lot of pieces and parts and cables which I'd like to simplify.

My main question for you would be - how does the internal battery do at powering these amps in addition to the RC? I know my RC charge seems to last a LONG time, I would just like to understand how much more frequently you need to charge the RC with this setup versus the stock.

Thanks!
 
Solardude - I was just thinking about this yesterday. I love the evolite kit, but you end up with a lot of pieces and parts and cables which I'd like to simplify.

My main question for you would be - how does the internal battery do at powering these amps in addition to the RC? I know my RC charge seems to last a LONG time, I would just like to understand how much more frequently you need to charge the RC with this setup versus the stock.

Thanks!
The boosters consume very little power so you will notice no difference in battery consumption levels vs not using them based on my experience of flying this setup every day.
 
Wow - so with this setup I can jettison the extra battery as well as the 3D printed attachment. I think I'm going to go ahead and do this. Have you noticed any difference in the range or effectiveness of the boosters?
 
Wow - so with this setup I can jettison the extra battery as well as the 3D printed attachment. I think I'm going to go ahead and do this. Have you noticed any difference in the range or effectiveness of the boosters?

It's so much better to not have the extra weight of that battery pack. And the range with the boosters is awesome. I can fly 3 miles out from my back yard which is 300% better than unboosted from the same location.
 
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I thought to do the same for the battery and also to install inside the radio two of those amplifiers NEW 2.4GHz RF Singal Amplifier Module UHF Radio LNA Ham Wifi amp 2400Mhz.
I think there is a lot of space inside the radio for those amplifiers.
And of course one of those ubec 3A UBEC 5V 6V Full Shielding Antijamming Switching Regulator New OE to stabilize the 8,4 volts of the radio battery to 5 volts to power the amplifiers.
I had come across those same tiny boosters, but for completely different reasons.
The image above is a 1W USA made beast, they cost $329, it was on eBay for $129 shipped but the guy accepted $80 for it, @ only 1W using a DC injector with radiated receiver gives this puppy some crazy specs, 24dB TX and 16 dB RX using AGC (auto gain control) and super low noise due to using less power. anyway this and another will power the roof antenna.

So we have different ideas for different styles and modes. I want to put these little ones inside the bird! Yeah, this would give much better "punch thru" for non-LOS operations. It doesn't look like the antenna come attached to that thing, I'd love to hear some feedback from someone who has bought these things. Lemme know what you see if you buy these things please!
I don't know if I am technical enough to install these tiny amps bird-side, I'm mechanical, just not proficient in electronics too much, I can read a schematic, but actually installing not one, but you may need 2 or 4 (one for each corner, or antenna) which might be crazy, two would be enough, with your antenna, or my Hawking's using the 3W boosters on ground station to really give the P4 some true legs. At 3.24 miles (my furthest) I run out of batteries anyway, but bird side boosters would give me much greater direction and many more places to fly
 
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Solardude - can you provide more detail on how you tapped the battery (I'm at that step). I see I need to add some wire runs (looks like you did both red) from the battery harness under the mainboard and to the top. Did you just connect to ONE of the 2 red / 2 black wires (one of each color), or did you do something else? Thanks.
 
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@Damager Yes I just tapped both of the red and black wires.

And @Sim597 Jake at MaxxUav showed me some pictures of the power output on these smaller 3w amps vs other 4w amps and the 3W amps I have are putting out the most power by far compared to the other options even though they are rated at a higher power output level. The 3w amps are working great for me.
 
@Damager Yes I just tapped both of the red and black wires.

And @Sim597 Jake at MaxxUav showed me some pictures of the power output on these smaller 3w amps vs other 4w amps and the 3W amps I have are putting out the most power by far compared to the other options even though they are rated at a higher power output level. The 3w amps are working great for me.

Just to be crystal clear - there are 2 red and 2 blacks coming from the battery packs into the connector on the main board. Did you jump these (red to red, black to black) and then add the red wires that run up to the top on each junction? My concern is with connecting the 2 reds and blacks coming from the batteries.
 
Just to be crystal clear - there are 2 red and 2 blacks coming from the battery packs into the connector on the main board. Did you jump these (red to red, black to black) and then add the red wires that run up to the top on each junction? My concern is with connecting the 2 reds and blacks coming from the batteries.

Yes you have it correct. Jump the 2 Red and 2 Black Wires and all will be good.
 
OK - battery cable splicing done (thats some closeup work). Now to wire the power connectors.
 
OK - got everything together BUT no power. Obviously I have something to fix in the battery splicing. What are you using for the metal connector at the battery cable?
 

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