Antenna jungle - inventory - What's out there?

You are doing great! However, the cable from that base needs a heavy converter part to change it to an SMA plug used by the RC mod. If you buy it with the SMA plug to start, you save weight and money and some minor signal loss. Black (Domed) Magnetic Mount - RP SMA Plug Connector - HMA3-RSPA10

Right. Try to avoid adapters.. There is magnet mount for almost every plug.
i didn't find one for the bigger antennas that are using N-female so I lade my own one and same time using a better Cable. There are these magnet trays used in car garages/workshops to hold screws and parts. I bought 2 If them for a total of 12$ drilled a whole and put my own N-male plug there with 4 small screws holding it..
used a LMR240 and crimped/soldered Rp-SMA. It's so was to make your own cables. For small antennas using SMA you can get magnet mounts for 18$ or so. Tp-link got some. Using the Rf-linx with the 8dbi or 12 dbi omni antennas does the job for 90%. Curious to hear how it goes with the SAX version amps.
 
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Right. Try to avoid adapters.. There is magnet mount for almost every plug.
i didn't find one for the bigger antennas that are using N-female so I lade my own one and same time using a better Cable. There are these magnet trays used in car garages/workshops to hold screws and parts. I bought 2 If them for a total of 12$ drilled a whole and put my own N-male plug there with 4 small screws holding it..
used a LMR240 and crimped/soldered Rp-SMA. It's so was to make your own cables. For small antennas using SMA you can get magnet mounts for 18$ or so. Tp-link got some. Using the Rf-linx with the 8dbi or 12 dbi omni antennas does the job for 90%. Curious to hear how it goes with the SAX version amps.
Cool! You are our hero, along with Jeremy, who started us down this wonderful path! :cool:
 
You are doing great! However, the cable from that base needs a heavy converter part to change it to an SMA plug used by the RC mod. If you buy it with the SMA plug to start, you save weight and money and some minor signal loss. Black (Domed) Magnetic Mount - RP SMA Plug Connector - HMA3-RSPA10

Actually, the amp has an N-female connector on both sides so original one I posted will connect directly to the amp antenna side without an adapter. For the radio side of the amp I'm going to use this - https://www.amazon.com/Pigtail-Coax...=1473770234&sr=8-51&keywords=rp-sma+to+n+male

And then, for the antenna side when using the DBS, I plan to try this - https://www.amazon.com/Right-Angle-...=8-37&keywords=sma+male+right+angle+to+n+male

My only concern being that it may be too short depending on how I settle on mounting the amps. If that's the case, then I may have to try to get something custom made from mouser.
 
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UPDATE - ok, the aluminum casing is really soft so it's easy to drill through. I was able to expose the jacks with minimal damage to the center pin. If I had it to do over again, I would just stick with my direct solder plan. I started to widen the exterior ground hole and when I saw how easily the case was cutting I thought I would try to expose the jacks. It can be done, but it would have looked much cleaner to widen the ground hole and feed in a USB cord. Anyway, I'm one step closer, now it's just a matter of waiting for cables to arrive!
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Amazing! I have bought a couple of those boosters but I will wait for you to install them. Can you make a step by step instructions with pics?

W la figa
 
Amazing! I have bought a couple of those boosters but I will wait for you to install them. Can you make a step by step instructions with pics?

W la figa

Not sure what you would need instructing about. Other than them having N connectors, it is the same as any of the other amplifier solutions. As I said in the previous post, I would recommend soldering a USB cable directly to the jack on the board rather than trying to expose the jack by drilling. But if you do drill, then all you need is a USB to 2.1mm X 5.5mm plug which you can find on Amazon or eBay. The casings are much larger than the Sunhans amps so none of the current mounting solutions will work without modification. I will probably Velcro them to something. Haven't decided what yet tho. Lol.


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Actually, the amp has an N-female connector on both sides so original one I posted will connect directly to the amp antenna side without an adapter. For the radio side of the amp I'm going to use this - https://www.amazon.com/Pigtail-Coax...=1473770234&sr=8-51&keywords=rp-sma+to+n+male

And then, for the antenna side when using the DBS, I plan to try this - https://www.amazon.com/Right-Angle-...=8-37&keywords=sma+male+right+angle+to+n+male

My only concern being that it may be too short depending on how I settle on mounting the amps. If that's the case, then I may have to try to get something custom made from mouser.
I discovered that, too, when the amps arrived yesterday. I was assuming the same small SMA connectors as on the Sunhans amps. These are monsters, but the extra power will be worth it! Thanks for all the research and the links! :cool:
 
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I discovered that, too, when the amps arrived yesterday. I was assuming the same small SMA connectors as on the Sunhans amps. These are monsters, but the extra power will be worth it! Thanks for all the research and the links! :cool:

Yeah, no worries. Be careful if you decide to drill and/or cut! Just a waiting game for me now. Should have all my cables by the middle of next week... Hopefully this will reduce or eliminate my tree troubles!


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Not sure what you would need instructing about. Other than them having N connectors, it is the same as any of the other amplifier solutions. As I said in the previous post, I would recommend soldering a USB cable directly to the jack on the board rather than trying to expose the jack by drilling. But if you do drill, then all you need is a USB to 2.1mm X 5.5mm plug which you can find on Amazon or eBay. The casings are much larger than the Sunhans amps so none of the current mounting solutions will work without modification. I will probably Velcro them to something. Haven't decided what yet tho. Lol.


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The holes are to access the power directly? Why you do that? Thanks!

W la figa
 
The holes are to access the power directly? Why you do that? Thanks!

W la figa

Well, because the board needs to be powered. This particular amp was designed to be weatherproof, but the board design wasn't changed from the indoor model, they just changed the case and covered the PCB in a waterproof gel-like material. It was meant to have 5V DC power injected over the antenna line via a separate device which is around $100. Rather than do that, I exposed the power input by drilling out the side of the case but it's kind of crappy looking. However, if you remove the bottom plate you will see the power input casing. The center +5V pin is accessible from the back, just solder the positive line from a USB cord directly to that, then solder the ground to one of the antenna screws that protrude into the case. Or you could try to dig out a section of the gel to find a ground point but I think it would be difficult to get completely clean and ensure good contact. Best to just stick with something that's already attached to the casing and exposed. Does that help?


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Thanks a lot! Now I understand. But why they didn't let the power connector exposed? If you don't power these amps, will they still work? Can you post a close up pic of your final work?

W la figa
 
Forget my last message. I didn't read that it's meant to powered using the antenna line. Ok now I go it. Thanks!

W la figa
 
Thanks a lot! Now I understand. But why they didn't let the power connector exposed? If you don't power these amps, will they still work? Can you post a close up pic of your final work?

W la figa

The power connector isn't exposed because this model is meant to be weatherproof. They will not work without power so you'll have to decide to either drill or solder. These aren't available to consumers from RF Linx and purchased new are $400-ish (but include the DC injector). This is a hack pure and simple. Once I saw the guts, I realized they could be powered in a more conventional way as opposed to the DC injector.


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The power connector isn't exposed because this model is meant to be weatherproof. They will not work without power so you'll have to decide to either drill or solder. These aren't available to consumers from RF Linx and purchased new are $400-ish (but include the DC injector). This is a hack pure and simple. Once I saw the guts, I realized they could be powered in a more conventional way as opposed to the DC injector.


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Great! I bought 2 from the ebay seller. I should receive them in a few days. I have the amplified Maxx range kit of Jake. It's time for some testing! Did you test them i why the immersive rc power meter?

W la figa
 
Yeah, no worries. Be careful if you decide to drill and/or cut! Just a waiting game for me now. Should have all my cables by the middle of next week... Hopefully this will reduce or eliminate my tree troubles!


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Thanks for the tips! Need to order the cables myself, too! I used gaffers tape to hold my old amps under the transmitter with the 5V battery, and then use a tray to hold the entire setup from my shoulders, with a neckstrap as a safety strap, so it doesn't fall, in case it slides out, while needing both hands to attach the external batteries, after powering up. I hope it solves your tree problems, too, because then it will solve mine, too! :cool:
 
Great! I bought 2 from the ebay seller. I should receive them in a few days. I have the amplified Maxx range kit of Jake. It's time for some testing! Did you test them i why the immersive rc power meter?

W la figa

No, I haven't hooked them up yet, still waiting on cables to mod my radio and to get everything connected, but IBV has a similar model that is rated at the same power level. He pitted them against the Sunhans amps and there was a 12dbm difference, which is exponentially better. Under ideal conditions, you are doubling your output every 3dbm.


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No, I haven't hooked them up yet, still waiting on cables to mod my radio and to get everything connected, but IBV has a similar model that is rated at the same power level. He pitted them against the Sunhans amps and there was a 12dbm difference, which is exponentially better. Under ideal conditions, you are doubling your output every 3dbm.


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12dbm is an HUGE difference and considering that the Sunhans are rated at 3w and these ones at 1w....but again. 12db is A LOT

W la figa
 
12dbm is an HUGE difference and considering that the Sunhans are rated at 3w and these ones at 1w....but again. 12db is A LOT

W la figa

It's kind of like aftermarket car audio amps. Some companies publish misleading figures it seems. The post is somewhere in this thread, IBV said he was getting 8dbm of noisy signal out of the Sunhans and 20dbm of clean signal from the RF Linx amps. And since the eBay find was cheaper than the Sunhans amps, this seems like a win to me no matter how it shakes out provided they work.


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