Antenna jungle - inventory - What's out there?

[IBV]

Yeah no worries, I know better than to do that! I was commenting that at that range, full bars doesn't really equate to anything.

At any rate, I ended up testing the amps on my computer's wifi so they appear to operate normally. Tho the throughput wasn't good when I did speed testing. I'm surmising that it's because the l-com's are too close to the router and the beam width too narrow. Hope that's the case anyway. The green light was extremely dim so I'm not sure it will be visible under normal lighting conditions. I'm hoping for a small gap in the rain so I can make at least one test run today.


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okok I got other Rf-linx amps and there is a bright green light.
The Wifi speed isn't of any relevance. These amps are not made for Gigabit networks but operate below 100Mbps as I understood.They are too slow for today's Wifi networks so I wouldn't worry for this. One thing I found out to be important with amps is that other Wifi signals can be much stronger than the one from the P4 which makes these signals "overrepresented" in the amplification. Directional antennas do help to minimize this effect. My first test runs where not so good due to this only.

 

[jhax01]

Ugh, well, I did get a chance to test them and the performance was abysmal. So that set me investigating and as it turns out, the amps are in a user defined configuration -- lord knows what that is however. Little did I know when I bought them, but this is indicated by the 'U' on the end of the part number. As I'm not one to give up, I've emailed rf-linx in the hopes that they can tell me how to return them to an AGC mode or provide info on the configuration based on the serial #. Guess I know why they were so cheap now lol... sorry to those who have followed me down the rabbit hole!

 

[IBV]

Ugh, well, I did get a chance to test them and the performance was abysmal. So that set me investigating and as it turns out, the amps are in a user defined configuration -- lord knows what that is however. Little did I know when I bought them, but this is indicated by the 'U' on the end of the part number. As I'm not one to give up, I've emailed rf-linx in the hopes that they can tell me how to return them to an AGC mode or provide info on the configuration based on the serial #. Guess I know why they were so cheap now lol... sorry to those who have followed me down the rabbit hole!

Luckily I got the 2400LTE and LTX. I can program them myself via USB. Actually both Tx and Rx can be limited. Didn't see that frequencies can be filtered. I assume that the green dim LED indicates whats going on. If the programming is hardware "flashed" or some seriell interface on yours I don't know.
pls specify what the test result was. Rx, Tx? Swapped amps? Changed cables?
by the way.. All my Rf-linx are 12V. Sure yours is 5V? .. Maybe yiu checked all this but just wanna drop some ideas

 

[jhax01]

Luckily I got the 2400LTE and LTX. I can program them myself via USB. Actually both Tx and Rx can be limited. Didn't see that frequencies can be filtered. I assume that the green dim LED indicates whats going on. If the programming is hardware "flashed" or some seriell interface on yours I don't know.
pls specify what the test result was. Rx, Tx? Swapped amps? Changed cables?
by the way.. All my Rf-linx are 12V. Sure yours is 5V? .. Maybe yiu checked all this but just wanna drop some ideas

Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah, I tried swapping the cables and the amps around just to see if something different was going on. My impression is the user specific parameters are set at the factory. But again, who knows what those parameters are. Maybe they get locked in Rx or Tx mode, or locked to a channel, or a specific gain setting (although, I wouldn't think that would cause the problems I'm getting) If you look at the end of this datasheet, there's a blurb about the U designator on the part # - http://www.rflinx.com/pdf/ds/cat/267.pdf

Pretty sure they are 5V, I seriously doubt they would even power on if they were supposed to 12V.

Not ruling out my cabling just yet either. I'm going to swap on a set of antennas off from my router directly to the RC and make sure I didn't botch the wiring in the radio. Seems unlikely, but you never know.

 

[Dirtdroner]

I snagged a pair of these yesterday

 

[jhax01]

Ok, it's definitely the amps in my opinion... My not so scientific method was to hook everything up to my computer and conduct speed tests. With everything hooked up and powered on, I was getting barely 8Mbps of throughput. Leaving everything hooked up but simply not powering the amps, I was getting 30Mbps. Now that's quite a bit off of my internet speed either way, but I figure the drop off in speed means something. Not sure what, but something. Hopefully the RF-Linx people will answer my inquiry and provide a ray of hope, but for now, these amps are a bust.

@GadgetGuy @wassala! Either of you guys have a chance to test yours out yet? Hope you are getting better results than me, but I doubt it. :-(

 

[jhax01]

I snagged a pair of these yesterday
View attachment 65074

Thanks for posting. I just grabbed two from the same seller. Ended up paying $45 more than you tho! These look huge so I imagine I will make them a part of a dedicated install in my suburban and if I can get the other amps working, I'll use those when I backpack somewhere.

 

[IBV]

I snagged a pair of these yesterday
View attachment 65074

These are the best! I got them and they work great. Let me know how it worjs for you. I use them for my roof antennas on the house.

 

[IBV]

Ok, it's definitely the amps in my opinion... My not so scientific method was to hook everything up to my computer and conduct speed tests. With everything hooked up and powered on, I was getting barely 8Mbps of throughput. Leaving everything hooked up but simply not powering the amps, I was getting 30Mbps. Now that's quite a bit off of my internet speed either way, but I figure the drop off in speed means something. Not sure what, but something. Hopefully the RF-Linx people will answer my inquiry and provide a ray of hope, but for now, these amps are a bust.

@GadgetGuy @wassala! Either of you guys have a chance to test yours out yet? Hope you are getting better results than me, but I doubt it. :-(

The speed is no inicator. These amps will not handle more anyway. However, this with the green light is weired.Tx should defenitely trigger the green light. You got the LTX amps? Great. Curious to here your result.

 

[wassala!]

Ok, it's definitely the amps in my opinion... My not so scientific method was to hook everything up to my computer and conduct speed tests. With everything hooked up and powered on, I was getting barely 8Mbps of throughput. Leaving everything hooked up but simply not powering the amps, I was getting 30Mbps. Now that's quite a bit off of my internet speed either way, but I figure the drop off in speed means something. Not sure what, but something. Hopefully the RF-Linx people will answer my inquiry and provide a ray of hope, but for now, these amps are a bust.

@GadgetGuy @wassala! Either of you guys have a chance to test yours out yet? Hope you are getting better results than me, but I doubt it. :-(

Hey buddy since I am in Italy I am still waiting to receive them. Should arrive in 3 days. At this point the best is to have answers from the rf links guys.

W la figa

 

[IBV]

Hey buddy since I am in Italy I am still waiting to receive them. Should arrive in 3 days. At this point the best is to have answers from the rf links guys.

W la figa

Rf-linx is bankrupt. That's the answer I got from these guys before buying on ebay.

 

[jhax01]

Rf-linx is bankrupt. That's the answer I got from these guys before buying on ebay.

Doh! I'm guessing I won't get an answer then! Lol. Wonder why their website is still up?


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[jhax01]

The speed is no inicator. These amps will not handle more anyway. However, this with the green light is weired.Tx should defenitely trigger the green light. You got the LTX amps? Great. Curious to here your result.

Yeah, I think the light is dim because the led is on the board and the light is only brought to the surface of the enclosure by a glass elbow. So they definitely work, but when I tested them with the Phantom, the signal would start cutting out at 700 ft! I haven't had a chance to test just the radio with some small antennas to make sure it's not the radio mod wiring yet, but I really doubt that's the problem.

 

[IBV]

Yeah, I think the light is dim because the led is on the board and the light is only brought to the surface of the enclosure by a glass elbow. So they definitely work, but when I tested them with the Phantom, the signal would start cutting out at 700 ft! I haven't had a chance to test just the radio with some small antennas to make sure it's not the radio mod wiring yet, but I really doubt that's the problem.

sounds bad. Just flew 3km with trees in LOS using the 2400LTE

 

[jhax01]

Doh! I'm guessing I won't get an answer then! Lol. Wonder why their website is still up?


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Ok, I did hear from their support and the guy mentioned they are shutting down the company. I've sent him pictures of the guts and he's going to try to get me any info he can. Hopefully that will get me somewhere because the 2400LTX looks like a bit much to hang off the controller, lol.

@GadgetGuy @wassala! Looking forward to hearing your results when you guys try your amps. Hopefully you guys won't have any issues!

 

[Dirtdroner]

Thanks for posting. I just grabbed two from the same seller. Ended up paying $45 more than you tho! These look huge so I imagine I will make them a part of a dedicated install in my suburban and if I can get the other amps working, I'll use those when I backpack somewhere.

Now they are $150 each. Still more than half off new though.

 

[jhax01]

@GadgetGuy @wassala! OK, got some info fellas. I was wrong about 5V, this particular revision is indeed 12V. If you are powering from the jack, either with a plug or soldering, then resistor R9 needs to be removed. This is providing you have the same board revision as I do. 130200 rev D. The pot at R18 is the one that sets average output power, but there's no detent, etc so you would need to scope the output if you're going to fiddle with it (I have no plans to). Schematic attached.

I'm now waiting on a 12V lipo to retest. If you guys beat me to it, then post results!

 

[jhax01]

I was able to find a couple 12V power supplies from a couple old monitors I have and just did a mini test. Things are looking good! I didn't remove resistor R9 but instead cut the trace on the board with a hobby knife. Won't be able to do a real distance test at my spot until Saturday. The LED indicators on the amps are now as bright as you would expect...yes, even the green one. So you were on the right track about the power, IBV.


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[IBV]

I was able to find a couple 12V power supplies from a couple old monitors I have and just did a mini test. Things are looking good! I didn't remove resistor R9 but instead cut the trace on the board with a hobby knife. Won't be able to do a real distance test at my spot until Saturday. The LED indicators on the amps are now as bright as you would expect...yes, even the green one. So you were on the right track about the power, IBV.


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.. Good to hear. I thought it must be more then 5V. Curious to hear your next test. I flew 3.8km with some irksome trees in LOS (using 20dbi flat panel antenna)

 

[IBV]

.. Good to hear. I thought it must be more then 5V. Curious to hear your next test. I flew 3.8km with some irksome trees in LOS (using 20dbi flat panel antenna)

Here are some picts from the 20dbi antenna setup with the 2400LTE amps attached to the bar mounted to the pan/tilt unit. Worth a 4,5km through a bunch of trees.. The 20dbi are awesome but tracking the bird with the antenna is a "must be". The joystick control is just great. Hope that UGCS is providing some tracking module to take the final step of auto-tracking. Not needed for Range but it feels saver to stay in control..