DBS and Argtek Mods vs 5.8(Controller) Range

stuka75 · Jun 10, 2017

How do some get 10,000 ft give or take, with their P3 S using a DBS or Artek tx mods? Video I could see, but I was under the impression after reading hundreds of posts over the last year, that the above mods only boosted the wifi(video) transmission not the 5.8 ghz. I may very well be missing something here in my advancing age and ADH

I currently am getting around 3600 to 4000 feet in rural settings using a windsurfer. My p3 rth'd after around 3600ft just as video was starting to get choppy although other times I have tx control well after video is lost.
Thanks

dchao · Jun 10, 2017

You are mistaking Power Magic (a software patch) for antenna mods. Power Magic only boost the 2.4g down-link video signal. With the antenna mods, there are three antennas on the RC, one for tx uplink and two for video downlink, if you upgrade all three, you could boost both tx/rx signals.

New Phantom Owner · Jun 28, 2018

dchao said:
You are mistaking Power Magic (a software patch) for antenna mods. Power Magic only boost the 2.4g down-link video signal. With the antenna mods, there are three antennas on the RC, one for tx uplink and two for video downlink, if you upgrade all three, you could boost both tx/rx signals.

You are correct. That is precisely how the antenna mods are supposed to work...
...However I myself have just recently experienced this phenomenon mentioned above by stuka75. I recently installed the argtek blue proton mod on my p3s. When I measure the continuity of the antenna jacks on the mod I am detecting only the infamantecimally small (<0.01ohm) internal resistance of the secondary side of the transmitter windings. I have entirely adequate continuity through my connections in the controller. However with the mod, while my 2.4ghz video signal is at full strength my 5.8ghz control signal cuts out just after 3,000ft. I achieved better results with my stock setup and a parabolic reflector (4000+ft). The reason for this as I mentioned on my other recent post is due to the apparent inconsistency of the antenna manufacturing process utilized by argtek. My 2.4ghz antennas from the kit have very close to 50ohm impedance, as they should. Although no matter if I range my meter from 100-2,000,000ohms no reading is present on both of my 5.8ghz antennas. I believe there is an issue internally with the 5.8ghz antennas included with this kit. I will test my hypothesis soon as my new alfa apa-m25 5.8ghz 10db flat panel antenna arrives and I test my control signal range again. As mentioned on my recent post regarding this issue I will post my results. As always any input is appreciated.

betabilly · Jun 29, 2018

New Phantom Owner said:
You are correct. That is precisely how the antenna mods are supposed to work...
...However I myself have just recently experienced this phenomenon mentioned above by stuka75. I recently installed the argtek blue proton mod on my p3s. When I measure the continuity of the antenna jacks on the mod I am detecting only the infamantecimally small (<0.01ohm) internal resistance of the secondary side of the transmitter windings. I have entirely adequate continuity through my connections in the controller. However with the mod, while my 2.4ghz video signal is at full strength my 5.8ghz control signal cuts out just after 3,000ft. I achieved better results with my stock setup and a parabolic reflector (4000+ft). The reason for this as I mentioned on my other recent post is due to the apparent inconsistency of the antenna manufacturing process utilized by argtek. My 2.4ghz antennas from the kit have very close to 50ohm impedance, as they should. Although no matter if I range my meter from 100-2,000,000ohms no reading is present on both of my 5.8ghz antennas. I believe there is an issue internally with the 5.8ghz antennas included with this kit. I will test my hypothesis soon as my new alfa apa-m25 5.8ghz 10db flat panel antenna arrives and I test my control signal range again. As mentioned on my recent post regarding this issue I will post my results. As always any input is appreciated.

DC resistance means nothing, impedance is the key factor. Are you using the flat panels or the sticks?

I have the Blue Proton kit and usually get better range with the sticks in a rural area.

The 2.4 panels will out perform sticks when flying in a WiFi congested area.

Only the genuine ones are made in Taiwan and do work well in most areas.

New Phantom Owner · Jun 29, 2018

betabilly said:
DC resistance means nothing, impedance is the key factor. Are you using the flat panels or the sticks?

I have the Blue Proton kit and usually get better range with the sticks in a rural area.

The 2.4 panels will out perform sticks when flying in a WiFi congested area.

Only the genuine ones are made in Taiwan and do work well in most areas.

I believe your statement to be true. I have tried combinations of both the panels and the sticks. Best distance being just over 3,000ft. I was able to achieve just over 4,000ft with the factory set up and a parabolic reflector. My Blue proton kit says on the box it was made in Taiwan. I hope it's genuine. My issue no matter with the panels or sticks is the 5.8ghz control signal dropping out after 2,000-3,000ft. 2.4ghz Video still present. I would have thought the results would be the other way around. Maybe I still have yet to find a decent test site. I believe what you said about the DC resistance being meaningless. Not sure how to accurately measure the impeadence. Considered using my function generator setting up a 5.8ghz sinosoidial waveform signal to the antenna and measuring the magnitude loss with an analog oscilloscope. Doing the math or measuring through resistance while loaded with the FG and 5.8ghz sine signal applied. Before I get that in depth with it I just recently ordered an alfa apa-m25 5.8ghz 10db flat panel antenna to test the signal range again. I'm curious why some have great success with this kit and some have achieved less than stock performance. Am I missing something? What is your understanding of this phenomenon? Also I'm curious how your blue proton kit performs for you? Range? Signal loss issues? Which bandwidth is lost first and when? Under what conditions? You sound like you know what you're talking about. I could sincerely benefit from your understanding. Please respond. Any input would be much appreciated.