Easiest and Most Effective Antenna Mod?

[stuka75]

Besides the windsurfer, what mod gives the best improvement in range, video and control?
that said I did get 2900 feet with anew p3 standard without any mods. the weather got too cold to try the windsurfer for comparison.
Thanks

 

[Mark The Droner]

And while we're at it, where is the fountain of youth?

 

[xxxntwv]

Windsurfer is the easiest mod for Rc but doesn't help video signal.the easiest aftermarket antenna mod is the argtek.


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[stealle]

And while we're at it, where is the fountain of youth?

That's thread hijacking but I'll answer anyway, lol
11 Magnolia Ave.; St. Augustine, Florida
just messing with ya ...

Windsurfer is the easiest mod for Rc but doesn't help video signal.the easiest aftermarket antenna mod is the argtek.


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Have you done this mod? It increases video signal as well?

 

[WilliamM]

The DBS, I went from 1000m to 2500m with just this mod. Then up to over 4000m when I added amps to it. But NOT so easy.

 

[cjoffutt]

Took my standard out over 4300 the other day with the Argtek anteneas.

But i do live in super rural area with wide open fields and realitively no interference.

And yes, it's blistering cold here as well.

 

[xxxntwv]

That's thread hijacking but I'll answer anyway, lol
11 Magnolia Ave.; St. Augustine, Florida
just messing with ya ...


Have you done this mod? It increases video signal as well?

I have the argtek mod,before the mod I could get 3000ft after I've gotten to 7660ft without loss of Rc or video


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[respibob]

I did the DBS mod. Before I was getting about 3000 feet (914 meters) with once getting all the way over 4000 feet with just the standard controller. After the DBS mod my farthest is 10680 feet (3255 meters). I also live in rural area but even in town I have gotten around 5000 feet with pretty good signal.

 

[chrislongley]

The DBS mod has been a game changer for me. It's like getting new aircraft. It's a joy to use. I'm cack-handed, not good at taking things apart etc. I took my time doing the DBS mod, was ultra-careful with the silicone removal and removing the original antenna wires - it's crucial that this is done without damage. I've no experience of the Argtek. Windsurfer was a waste of time for me.

 

[solentlife]

One question I have and maybe someone has seen inside the centre stick antenna .....

At what point of the stick is the actual UNSHIELDED part of the antenna, 5.8 and 2.4 have very short active parts so placement of the windsurfer can be crucial if not aligned with that bit. Assuming that the active part is like most other RC / WiFi at 1/4 wavelength .... ?

Nigel

 

[chrislongley]

Don't P3S aircraft controllers only have 5.8ghz in the external antenna and the 2.4ghz (wifi for video) uses internal antennas. Square things. A windsurfer is probably going to block signal from reaching them rather than helping out.

 

[solentlife]

Yep - 5.8 is external and 2.4 is internal. With the stock system.

Point is both can have very short active pickup part to antenna. Take a look at a normal RC Rx .... or at a WiFi set .... WiFi sets are available in both freqs.
When my WiFi router at home was replaced a while back - it had a broken antenna stick. It was 3 parts shielded antenna inside, only the last little bit was actually active.

Nigel

 

[cstout]

@WilliamM I just placed my order for a DBS and I'm looking into amps now but I'm not finding any that people swear by. What did you end up using and have you been pleased with them?

I have both the ArgTek and the DBS coming and I'm eager to compare them as many others have already. I meant to cancel my ArgTek order but it shipped too fast (first world problem...). I figured I'd spend the extra $30 for the DBS since it seems to be the most widely-loved antenna mod available.

 

[WilliamM]

@WilliamM I just placed my order for a DBS and I'm looking into amps now but I'm not finding any that people swear by. What did you end up using and have you been pleased with them?

I have both the ArgTek and the DBS coming and I'm eager to compare them as many others have already. I meant to cancel my ArgTek order but it shipped too fast (first world problem...). I figured I'd spend the extra $30 for the DBS since it seems to be the most widely-loved antenna mod available.

First off you must get Sunhans, there the best. Next you need to choose between the silver or gold ones. The gold ones are better because they use a varied amount of voltage, so different power supplies can be used (silver is 12v only), are half the size and weight. But cost twice as much as the silver ones. For performance there the same, watt for watt. As you can see I use a combo of both.

 

[cstout]

@WilliamM thank you for the info! Your TX looks exactly like what I'm planning to configure mine like. Is there a vendor your recommend for best price on these Sunhans amps? From your attachment it looks like you have one gold and two silver...is that correct or is it just lighting? Also, did yours come with a battery bundle or did you splice the power cable into a battery?

 

[eatpasta]

my stock antenna was nearly worthless... i got this one for $16. i had a chance to test it last weekend and it got me out to my max distance of 500M with full bars so for $16 this was huge for me.



i need to see how far it will go.... I'd like to do the DBS mod but I have a feeling this will work fine for me in most applications

 

[xxxntwv]

@WilliamM I just placed my order for a DBS and I'm looking into amps now but I'm not finding any that people swear by. What did you end up using and have you been pleased with them?

I have both the ArgTek and the DBS coming and I'm eager to compare them as many others have already. I meant to cancel my ArgTek order but it shipped too fast (first world problem...). I figured I'd spend the extra $30 for the DBS since it seems to be the most widely-loved antenna mod available.

I hope you compare both antenna systems as I haven't seen anyone use both on the same quad and give a real world comparison.I'm using the argtek and very pleased with it but also looked at the dbs,cost and the fact that dbs looks to be very directional steered me to the argtek.my argtek was the latest system and includes a total of 6 antennas both direction panels and Omni.


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[cstout]

@xxxntwv that's interesting that you mention about the dbs being very directional. I actually read the opposite from several reviews saying the argtek required too much antenna manipulation during flight and the dbs gave a wider, but still directional beam which offered a more pleasant flying experience. Yeah, I'm really interested to see how they compare irl. I'm no expert and I'm new to drones but I intend to test where I like to fly...which is one of the least favorable places to fly...neighborhoods. ;-) Plenty of 2.4GHz networks in my densely populated neighborhood. Current range on the stock antenna is about 820ft when the video starts to cut.

 

[WilliamM]

@WilliamM thank you for the info! Your TX looks exactly like what I'm planning to configure mine like. Is there a vendor your recommend for best price on these Sunhans amps? From your attachment it looks like you have one gold and two silver...is that correct or is it just lighting? Also, did yours come with a battery bundle or did you splice the power cable into a battery?

You are correct, the 5.8GHz is gold and the two silver ones are for the 2.4GHz (wifi). The only real reason I even got the gold one was because I got it off eBay for a good cost. On the power supply, since I have the silver ones I needed a 12 volt supply for them. So bought one 12v which powers all three. You can see the vendor's name right on the pic of the battery it came from. See pic.

 

[xxxntwv]

@xxxntwv that's interesting that you mention about the dbs being very directional. I actually read the opposite from several reviews saying the argtek required too much antenna manipulation during flight and the dbs gave a wider, but still directional beam which offered a more pleasant flying experience. Yeah, I'm really interested to see how they compare irl. I'm no expert and I'm new to drones but I intend to test where I like to fly...which is one of the least favorable places to fly...neighborhoods. ;-) Plenty of 2.4GHz networks in my densely populated neighborhood. Current range on the stock antenna is about 820ft when the video starts to cut.

I'm curious to here your opinion on both. Where I fly there's not much interference and stock I could get 3000ft before I would get low signal warnings and after the argtek I went 7760ft before the warnings. If the dbs is that much better I'd be out of battery before I ran out of signal


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