GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback?

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Hi guys,

So after trying just about everything to boost the range of my Wi-Fi connection with the GoPro (Amped Wireless repeater on the ground, & even tried mounting an AP on my Phantom & trying to bridge the connection), I am now working with a vendor that specializes in working with the GoPro's camera bus interface to develop a solution for mounting a battery powered RP-SMA style antenna that directly interfaces with the GoPro to boost the range of connection by many orders of magnitude.

I am curious to see how many people out there would jump on the chance to get a true external antenna that would increase their Wi-Fi range for the GoPro, without having to buy a complicated FPV setup, with transmitter, receiver, display, etc?

Please share any thoughts.

Thank you!
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

Certainly if the cost wasnt prohibitive.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I don't know what the exact cost would be yet(I'd like to hope for sub-$100 USD), but the parts for something like this would be fairly inexpensive commodity hardware pieces in my opinion. What we'd be paying for would be the expertise of this company's knowledge of the GoPro's bus interface to make a solution like this work properly & to put it all together in a plug & play config.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I would jump at the opportunity, but as mentioned before, the price would have to be right.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

Id be in at 10$, at 100 id be moving on simply because its limited in use due to frequency.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I can almost guarantee it's going to be more than $10. The antenna alone would likely cost $5-6 for a semi-decent one.

This is for people on a 5.8Ghz Phantom FC40 that like using their $400+ GoPro & the iOS or Android app. Some people aren't into spending 100's of extra $$$ on a dedicated FPV setup, when they could achieve the same result with using the hardware they've already paid for. Yes, I realize there is a delay for FPV on a GoPro, but it's usable, if the range & signal were better.

The purpose of this post is really to gauge how many people there are out there that like tying it all together using their Phantom + GoPro + phone app, and would be excited about having a truly usable range to it.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I'm still wondering why someone like Boscam haven't put out a "kit" in 5.8 Ghz and 2.4 Ghz - They have some bits selling seperately but not a complete setup in the one plug n play kit..
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I'm pretty sure there are companies similar to Boscam that advertise FPV "kits", but usually don't include the monitor or a way of powering each side & are usually more complex than they need to be.

In my opinion it all seems entirely too complicated for what I'd like to get out of my Phantom FC40. I completely get people out there that want miles of FPV range & are willing to spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to do it, but for people like me, that are happy with the range of their FC40 Phantom & would just like to get more out of their GoPro investment, something like this could be huge.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

Im just giving you honest feedback regarding the limited application vs the pricepoint. Im not saying there isn't a market. There likely is.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I know I'm special, my mom tells me so. But, I get about 1,000 feet before some of the screen on my $62 Google android blocks into goofie colors and the signal is lost. I'm dealing with no, I repeat NO, local interference and thin air. When I am flying out that far, I take it out of the case and make sure there is nothing at all between the android and the bird.

I could easily fly 2 to 3 times that far if I had a clear WiFi signal. The delay really sucks but at least I would know which tree I flew into.

I'd probably give it a shot.

I agree about the FPV setups out there. The sellers are not making it easy. That way we buy more than we need. If there was a decent FPV package, making it simple for me, I would already be there.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I would recommend picking up an Amped Wireless repeater(SR10000) to use on the ground to boost your Wi-Fi signal. It's a cheap, easy fix & will give you some really workable range. Just configure in repeater mode & it'll grab that weak wireless signal & then connect your Android to the repeater, instead of the camera directly. It's the best you're going to do without something like my above post to actually boost the Wi-Fi of the onboard camera... Best of luck!
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I have barely use the amped repeaters. I have a kindle fire HD that I modded with a pigtail and added an alpha panel antenna. The range on this simple setup is out to 480 Meters (1574 feet) for me (maybe more but I got scared I couldn't see it at all) It is a very simple portable setup that works wonderfully. I have 3 different setups for fpv, but this is the easiest and most portable. I have larger panel antennas that I added to the amped repeater for another setup, and if you add a wifi booster to the mix you can get even more range. At 480 meters out, with the most basic and simple setup, I cannot see the quad at all its all but a dot in the sky.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

Interesting...

So in your experience, does the panel antenna give you a much better range than the standard omni-directional antennas normally do?

My current setup is a GoPro Hero4 - Silver + Amped Wireless(SR10000) attached to this really nice Anker Battery pack to power it.
http://www.ianker.com/product/79AN7905-BA

It's nice, because the battery is a flat long life battery, pretty similar to the dimension of the SR10000. All I need to do is power up the GoPro, then the SR10000 & then connect my iPhone to the repeater. Do you think by swapping out one of the antennas(I understand you really don't need both antennas on this one) on the SR10000 with a panel antenna I could see a marked improvement in range?

Thanks for the feedback!
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

The panel antenna gives you better range, but you have to point in the general direction of where you are flying because the signal from the antenna goes out in a 30 degree angle, where as the omni directional antenna goes in a circle.
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

I am having trouble configuring my SR10000 connection to my GoPro Hero 3+ camera.

Could someone publish the exact settings?

Thanks, mkikeg26
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

The easiest way is to turn on the GoPro Wi-Fi of course.
Login to the SR10000 & go to LAN settings.
Give the device a static IP of 10.5.5.10(or anything of that range).
Let the device reboot & log back in, using it's new static IP you've given it.
Then you'll want to connect it through the wizard to the GoPro's Wi-Fi. Name the new Wi-Fi whatever you named your GoPro's Wi-Fi with + "_Ext"(I'm sure you could use something else, but it seemed logical).
Then on your phone or whatever device you plan on connecting to the repeater with, find the new Wi-Fi SSID for the SR10000 & connect. I've found it's less finicky if you set a static IP for the device you're connecting from. So, 10.5.5.11, Subnet 255.255.255.0, & Router 10.5.5.9(GoPro's default IP).

There you have it, that should get you up & running. Best of luck!
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

How far do you get cwick?
 
Re: GoPro Dedicated External Antenna - CUSTOM JOB - Feedback

Cool. I just got my go pro to work with my amped wireless.

I saved the settings to a dat file. After I test it tomorrow or Sunday, if all goes well, I will upload the dat file to someplace on the web for those that want to load it into their wifi extender.

Tommy
 

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