Homemade dipole antennas for 2.4ghz

[Lunatech]

Awesome. One guy said that he went 2 miles with them today!!!

I was going to try for 2 miles last sunday, but soooooooo dang windy out.

I know what you mean. The wind right now is blowing about 15-20mph gusting to about 35. No flying today but tomorrow is supposed to be nice.

 

[WilliamM]

I know what you mean. The wind right now is blowing about 15-20mph gusting to about 35. No flying today but tomorrow is supposed to be nice.

That means you might get five miles at least on a one way Phantom suicide mission.

 

[Matts175]

I did my 1 mile run on a 12-15mph wind. It went almost 40 mph on the way there and topped out at 18mph on the way home. It felt like an eternity.

 

[Lunatech]

I think I've about hit my personal limit on distance or at least what I feel comfortable with. I might try for 11880 ft to make it an even 2.25 miles but that's plenty far out for a basically "stock" bird (only a homemade windsurfer and then this mod). I probably could have hit it the other day on my 2.21 mile run but the video was getting pretty choppy (but RC signal was full). I'm hoping that these antenna will keep my video feed smooth. I still can't believe I got 11685 ft with nothing more than that windsurfer. For those who haven't seen the videos here is the thread I have with my two distance runs. The longest run video on on page 2.
New personal distance best with P3S **UPDATE new max distance on page 2**

 

[Lunatech]

That means you might get five miles at least on a one way Phantom suicide mission.

I did my 1 mile run on a 12-15mph wind. It went almost 40 mph on the way there and topped out at 18mph on the way home. It felt like an eternity.

@WilliamM LOL It would be interesting. I would get some great speed going as all that wind would be at my tail going out but coming home would all head wind. A 35-40 mph gust straight on would stop the bird and might push it back some.

@Matts175 I can imagine it felt like forever. I'm sweating pretty good at 2 miles with little to no wind.

 

[dronesover Texas]

How do I mark this thread so I can come back later to do this mod?


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[WilliamM]

How do I mark this thread so I can come back later to do this mod?


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"Watch Thread" Which you might have done already by posting that post.

 

[Charles Frentzel]

On the selling them part, that's what we have eBay for, right.
On the range question, the other day I got my max distance ever with my dipoles. Now I do have a DBS powered by three amps, but it's still apples to apples for me @ 4559 meters. I turned around it that point because of battery % being in the 50%'s, not signal loss. Had full FPV the whole way, both directions.

 

[dronesover Texas]

Ok thank you


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[Sevyn13]

UPDATE:

Kits are complete and are now for sale.

DJI Phantom 3 Standard birdside 2.4ghz dipole antenna mod kit BOOSTS VIDEO RANGE

What's the bit size to drill the holes in the landing gear?


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[yjander]

What's the bit size to drill the holes in the landing gear?


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1/4" is the size you want. I would start with a 1/8" first as a pilot hole, makes it easier......check out this thread for details on how to install the RPSMA connectors

Stock birdside antenna replacement

 

[Lunatech]

Well I tried out my antenna setup today. Actually worked worse than stock. I'm not sure if I messed up on the build or what but once I lost video it never fully came back even with hovering a few feet in front of me. I had to hook up the OEM antenna again to get the video to work again. On the positive side I did go 12354 ft before the RTH kicked in (SWEATING BULLETS waiting for it to come home from over 2 miles away). Video cooking now and I'll post it up sometime tomorrow.

 

[Lunatech]

Ok, here is the video of the flight. What do you guys think? Did I mess up somewhere on the build? Seemed straight forward enough but I didn't get the performance I was expecting. I actually still had control of the bird when I turned around and headed home but no video to confirm what I was doing or where I was going so I confirmed the RTH and she came home but I never did get video back, even when it was hovering right in front of me.

 

[WilliamM]

Ok, here is the video of the flight. What do you guys think? Did I mess up somewhere on the build? Seemed straight forward enough but I didn't get the performance I was expecting. I actually still had control of the bird when I turned around and headed home but no video to confirm what I was doing or where I was going so I confirmed the RTH and she came home but I never did get video back, even when it was hovering right in front of me.

Where did you install and how are you angling the dipoles? And are you 100% certain the connections were on tight? Also did this just happened after one test and you're assuming a hardware failure or under multiple tests. Because one test is not evident of a issue, it has to reoccur multiple times to be confirmed.

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[Matts175]

Most of the time, flicking back and forth from camera to video camera in DJI Go will get your video back during a flight.

At what point (in feet) did the video go out?

Congrats on the distance.

 

[DARLAK]

I did three test flights with my Matts175 antenna's and my results were not what I was hoping for, video starts getting choppy at only a few hundred feet and is gone at 500 feet. switching back to stock antennas today

 

[WilliamM]

I did three test flights with my Matts175 antenna's and my results were not what I was hoping for, video starts getting choppy at only a few hundred feet and is gone at 500 feet. switching back to stock antennas today

Did you install and angle the dipole antennas in the same arrangement that Matts175 did. Seems odd that he got much better range with the same item that he fashion.

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[WilliamM]

Most of the time, flicking back and forth from camera to video camera in DJI Go will get your video back during a flight.

At what point (in feet) did the video go out?

Congrats on the distance.

Without looking back in this thread, if you included some type of instructions on installation of this item. Being dipole antennas are very directional installation / angle is critical to their performance.

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[DARLAK]

Here is a pic

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[shanek]

I did three test flights with my Matts175 antenna's and my results were not what I was hoping for, video starts getting choppy at only a few hundred feet and is gone at 500 feet. switching back to stock antennas today

I have the materials for these antenna arriving soon but youve kinda deflated my bubble just there. In the mean time please post up if you get any improvements on subsequent trials

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