Ground Station antenna upgrade?

Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
489
Reaction score
130
So, I ordered the Ground Station and already want to invest in better range. I'm spoiled now since I have a 5.8ghz video signal that is running at 2000mw and I installed an RC 2.4ghz booster for my Phantom 2 radio that is also running at 2000mw. So, I am wondering what kind of antenna I can upgrade to for the ground station? Has anyone upgraded their GS antenna? Helical?

Second, the antenna on the GS confuses me. If it both transmits and receives data from the Phantom GS air module, then would installed a 2000mw booster on the GS side work, since it both sends and receives??

Thanks in advance!
 
Bump
 
The main reason I am wanting to upgrade is so I can get real-time tracking of the Phantom so I know exactly where it is without having to use a GPS tracker.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 180 Productions
I've asked a similar question before and got no answer. I think it's possible but not many have experimented much with Ground Station. You might be a trail blazer!
 
What a shame. I think if you got a powerful enough antenna then you really wouldn't need to use a GPS tracker.
 
Good question. No, I meant the iPad version.
 
if you want better range on your ground station you can try the
HIDDEN SECRET 2 ANTENNAS MOD for DJI GROUND STATION

link
grace_arc | eBay
 

Attachments

  • GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 01.jpg
    GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 01.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 857
  • GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 02.jpg
    GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 02.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 834
  • GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 03.jpg
    GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 03.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 628
  • GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 04.JPG
    GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 04.JPG
    1.3 MB · Views: 702
  • GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 12.jpg
    GROUND STATION DATALINK MOD - 12.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 996
In early 2014 I became curious to why the GS datalink air end transmitter has 2 diversity antennas while the ground end receiver has only 1.
So I opened up the ground end RX to see what was inside.
When I got a look at the circuit board I realized that the RX had 2 separate antenna connectors, I don't know why Dji chose to only use one, maybe somebody should ask them.
Anyway I figured 2 antennas are better than 1.
So I designed my own mod (DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD - 04.JPG)
In my first design I just made a second hole side by side next to the original hole but it turned out to be very impractical, the two SMA bulkhead components would make contact with each other & there just wasn't enough space inside the module to accommodate the second SMA bulkhead.
Maybe that's why Dji chose to use only one antenna in the GS datalink ground end receiver, they must have encountered the same problem I did.
Then I made a couple of different designs & by trial and error I came to the final product.
When I finally put it all together & turned on my phantom + the GS datalink everything worked perfectly, the GS datalink connected with my phantom & had no problems.
You can imagine how I felt.
It worked out great for me & having 2 diversity antennas ment I could use different combinations of antennas & as you all know, the choices are endless.
I never got around to testing though because I was too scared to push my phantom to the limits of the transmission signal.
In the beginning I made a couple copies for myself but it wasn't cheap, so then I started selling them on ebay for $20 dollars each to make some of my money back but I stop doing so when I lost interest. I still have 7 of them stored away from my selling on ebay days.
 

Attachments

  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD - 04.JPG
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD - 04.JPG
    1.3 MB · Views: 834
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARD - 06.jpg
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARD - 06.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 634
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARDS - 07.jpg
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARDS - 07.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 650
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY STOCK RX CIRCUIT BOARD - 13.jpg
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY STOCK RX CIRCUIT BOARD - 13.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 611
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARD - 09.jpg
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARD - 09.jpg
    2.3 MB · Views: 634
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARD - 10.jpg
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARD - 10.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 774
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARD.JPG
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY MOD RX CIRCUIT BOARD.JPG
    1.8 MB · Views: 798
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK RX DIVERSITY MOD - 02.jpg
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK RX DIVERSITY MOD - 02.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 749
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK RX DIVERSITY MOD - 01.jpg
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK RX DIVERSITY MOD - 01.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 610
  • DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY 2 ANTENNA RX MOD - 12.jpg
    DJI GROUND STATION DATALINK DIVERSITY 2 ANTENNA RX MOD - 12.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 653
Last edited:

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31