Extending the wifi range of the FC40 camera

[canvey1981]

I just did a 1000ft fpv flight with the 3040 setup with 7dpi directional antenna in a built up housing area. Very very happy with that.

Thanks guys. Hopefully a lot more to come.

This was the first flight with the antenna and I will be back out tomorrow for more.

Impressive! Thanks for sharing. I should be getting my directional antenna tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to report back with similar results!

No problem.... I was quite shocked when I measured the distance. That was where the camera started breaking up right before it loses signal. I may have got further if I had gone a tad higher to keep line of sight but who cares that plenty far enough away for now.

 

[J.James]

Anyone else pick up a Kindle Fire HD refurbed on Amazon's lightning deal today? I've been using my Nexus 7 but have read so much about the Kindle's badass wifi I couldn't resist trying it out for under $90.

if its any thing like the regular non hd kindle fire they do have badass awesome wifi distance. I was getting over 1200 feet FPV before I modded it to take an external antenna and bumped it up to almost 2000 feet. and with a wifi amplifier got it going to .5 miles or about 2640 feet. Tho using the amp and battery for it is sort of a pain in the butt to deal with and prefer it with out the extra bulk of the added stuff.

 

[zerodb]

Anyone else pick up a Kindle Fire HD refurbed on Amazon's lightning deal today? I've been using my Nexus 7 but have read so much about the Kindle's badass wifi I couldn't resist trying it out for under $90.

if its any thing like the regular non hd kindle fire they do have badass awesome wifi distance. I was getting over 1200 feet FPV before I modded it to take an external antenna and bumped it up to almost 2000 feet. and with a wifi amplifier got it going to .5 miles or about 2640 feet. Tho using the amp and battery for it is sort of a pain in the butt to deal with and prefer it with out the extra bulk of the added stuff.

Yeah, I think I'd probably be more than happy with the tablet and a directional external antenna, at least as long as I'm using the FC40 cam. I'll almost certainly move up to a Gopro and have to figure out an alternate FPV solution as soon as I get this working as well as I'd like to.

 

[Kwas]

Thanks for the quick setup guide for the TP-Link Dragonash, it sure saved a lot of reading and searching the net and a whole lot of grief. When first tested it asked for a password, I just rebooted everything and the next time it connected without a problem. I will go out flying tomorrow morning and see how it performs in the real world.

Thanks again, Kwas

 

[Cajvol94]

Had anyone tried this model wifi extender?
TL MR3040-it's a battery operated small device.
Curious to see if it makes a difference. I don't plan to fly over 500-700ft and would this work? I'm not talented enough to make a homemade one so just looking for the easiest option. Thanks.

 

[wattage]

Cajvol94, use the search function. This very thread is full of peoples' experiences with that extender.

 

[Cajvol94]

Ok Wattage. I'm using my iPhone(tapatalk)for this forum and not to familiar will all the options. Ill figure it out.

 

[Cajvol94]

Ok I've searched.
Does anyone make a repeater with a external antenna already attached that's battery operated? I've found some but none are battery powered. Any suggestions?

 

[wattage]

Not heard of any myself. Gap in the market for WiFi FPV'ers :-(

 

[Cajvol94]

Be a nice Gap to fill

 

[MarzBGx]

I believe this video example would work great with the FC40 camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FhZge-gLAI

Dude thats the funniest thing ever, randomly searching the forum and find that you've linked my video! haha! Made me smile

 

[dragonash]

Ok I've searched.
Does anyone make a repeater with a external antenna already attached that's battery operated? I've found some but none are battery powered. Any suggestions?

nope.
everything is normally customized
as seen here with my router/antenna setup

 

[Cajvol94]

Nice. What parts did you all use? Model #s etc would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[Cajvol94]

Anyone try the TP Link MR3040 with out the external antenna? How far will that boost the wifi range? Or is it not worth getting if your not gonna mod the external antenna. Thanks.

 

[dragonash]

Nice. What parts did you all use? Model #s etc would be helpful. Thanks.

dude, I said before to use the search option in other threads.
You are even in the thread with all the info. Just take a look around. It's all been covered

 

[Cajvol94]

I did and found "0" inquires regarding that device without the external antenna. I've since found what your set up is. Apologize for my ignorance but everyone has diff lingos calling out parts and pieces. I'll search elsewhere, Dude

 

[fofun]

Trying to find a way to extend the wifi range of the FC40 camera. Anyone have any ideas? Here is what I am thinking.

Would a wifi extender hooked to a small usb power source pick up the signal from the camera and extend the wifi range. I am thinking something like this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 1145951528

hooked to this for a power supply

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370953066013?va ... 1439.l2649

both of these items would not add much weight to the phantom and I was thinking of using something like this to help mount them to the phantom using the area designed to hold a transmitter

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Radio-Control-C ... 562/i.html

So for about $60 it would extend the range of the wifi camera. My only question is....will the wifi extender pick up the wifi signal from the FC40 camera.

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

I made a tin foil parabola and held it over my iPhone facing the camera and I got 980 feet with my stock fc40 camera. I have been messing with parabolas for years and they really work well and you can make one for nothing.

 

[Oliver84]

Ok, so I'm pretty frustrated with this MR3040 external antenna mod. I've re-soldered everything and tried to make a better connection. With the wifi analyzer I can tell that the 7dbi Alfa directional antenna does make a difference. Not huge but it's something. However, when I test it outside, my range isn't that huge of an improvement as you guys are reporting here. I'm getting no where near 1,000 ft with the 7dbi external antenna attached to the repeater.

In the picture below you can see what I've done. The lead that was on the jumper broke off so I had to solder it to the strip. I did remove the green covering to expose the track and make a good connection. So I think the connections are there. What else can it be?

 

[dragonash]

Ok, so I'm pretty frustrated with this MR3040 external antenna mod. I've re-soldered everything and tried to make a better connection. With the wifi analyzer I can tell that the 7dbi Alfa directional antenna does make a difference. Not huge but it's something. However, when I test it outside, my range isn't that huge of an improvement as you guys are reporting here. I'm getting no where near 1,000 ft with the 7dbi external antenna attached to the repeater.

In the picture below you can see what I've done. The lead that was on the jumper broke off so I had to solder it to the strip. I did remove the green covering to expose the track and make a good connection. So I think the connections are there. What else can it be?

Well, you obviously know more than me about circuitry (which I know very little of lol) since you knew enough to expose the track.
So I really cant help. This would be IIVII's territory.

Unless you have a bad cable.

The fact is, there IS a difference when you put the antenna on. So the connection is being made. I can only really think of the cable

 

[Cajvol94]

Once again apologize for my ignorance. How does the FC40 camera connect to the repeater/booster? I purchased a TP Link WR703N with external antenna and just trying to figure how to make the device and camera communicate??? Before I chose the repeater as my wifi spot. Any help????