Hello,
This is my first post here. I own a FC40 too, and I was using it yet with the default setup since summer here in Lofoten Islands, Norway. Since then, I'm looking for the easiest and maybe cheapest solution to have longer and smoother distance FPV than the default one, which is really poor in my opinion. Here we have a lot of mountains and I love to "climb" them with the drone, but with the default camera and iPhone, trying with the mountain beside my house, I lost signal at half of the mountain (around 80m I guess).
I have experience with computers, so I know that, although the best ideal solution is to have two powerful signals on both sides you want to connect, you can also reach quite long distances with a default antenna in one side, and a powerful antenna on the other, because they not only transmit longer signal, but also listen much better to distant weak signals.
So, the first experiment I did was to buy an iPhone case that improves its signal (Linkcase):
http://www.absolute.com.tw/products.php?id=5
And I have to say that I was impressed, because it truly improves the signal. I could reach the top of the mountain, but just when I turn around I lost signal, so I was not yet satisfied. Here's the video I filmed with that setup:
http://youtu.be/fX1z7ealpMI?list=UUvaCzZQ2rP-yK_nv_r6u_uQ
Now I've bought a router, and I built a battery pack to use it in the field, and it's even better now, but I have discovered one thing: the default FC40 camera, when is only transmitting video home, has a much longer range, and the video is smoother, but when it's recording, the frame rate falls considerably and also the range, so I kept researching, and found this thread with a fantastic idea using the AR Drone boards! So thank you!
I found a used AR Drone (V1) and I'm waiting for it to arrive yet, but now, reading more about it, I've found that the antennas from the AR Drone V1 side cannot be improved, so now I'm a bit worried if I will get a better range or not.
Can anybody confirm if it's true that the AR Drone V1 antenna cannot be improved? I've seen photos of the mainboard and the antennas are on two sides of the board, so I'm wondering if soldering something there, could improve the signal. At least, to make them vertical polarized, so they match better the vertical antenna from my repeater. Or should I just relax because it will be enough improvement with the WIFI repeater? My objetive is to reach about 600-700 meters with live video and having freedom to move around at that distance.