Homemade DIY "windsurfer range extender"

[PhantomWeezel]

Waiting on my Phantom 3 Standard to arrive today and I made a couple homemade windsurfers, short and tall, using only a pringles can, hot glue and duct tape. We will see how it works. LOL.

 

[N017RW]

You'll likely see some improvement. But the physics behind them is the parabolic shape which creates a focal point along a vertical axis and placing the antenna in this axis allows all the energy to focused onto the active portion of the antenna in the same phase.

 

[PhantomWeezel]

You'll likely see some improvement. But the physics behind them is the parabolic shape which creates a focal point along a vertical axis and placing the antenna in this axis allows all the energy to focused onto the active portion of the antenna.

I appreciate the info! I hope it works the same as if i bought one. LOL.

 

[N017RW]

Good luck!
Did you image you'd be exposed to and learn so many different things by buying this toy?

 

[PhantomWeezel]

Good luck!
Did you image you'd be exposed to and learn so many different things by buying this toy?

Definitely not. Gaining knowledge I never thought about before. haha.

 

[Abadrs]

I doubled my range plus some. In same location/time 1500' stock 3000+ with. Mine was the Amazon $15 one.

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[PhantomWeezel]

I doubled my range plus some. In same location/time 1500' stock 3000+ with. Mine was the Amazon $15 one.

Sent from my SM-G935V using PhantomPilots mobile app

That's awesome! I hope my homemade pringle can extender can do something similar. If it doesn't work like i want it to, i'll probably end up buying it off amazon.

 

[Abadrs]

From what I have read the homemade ones work just as good. Also if you read about P3S a bunch you will see these run the gamut of range from bad to pretty far all stock. Not counting the interference factor which add more to it. From what I've read mine seems average

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[PhantomWeezel]

From what I have read the homemade ones work just as good. Also if you read about P3S a bunch you will see these run the gamut of range from bad to pretty far all stock. Not counting the interference factor which add more to it. From what I've read mine seems average

Sent from my SM-G935V using PhantomPilots mobile app

Ok. I like to hear that. haha.
I have read about all sorts of mixed reviews on range with this thing. A lot depends on where you live it seems and if there is a lot of wifi interference and/or buildings or trees in the line of sight... Hopefully I am mostly on the positive side.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

N017 I am glad you brought that up about the parabola. I bought a cheap windsurfer on Ebarf and saw some inprovement. It was fairly well made, in that it is molded plastic plated with real copper. I even took a DMM to it to verify it was real copper, and it is.

But looking at it, it is a perfect arc rather than parabolic. As a mater of fact it is exactly the diameter of (part of) a hard drive disc.
Anyone who has looked closely at a headlight or anything else which is focused at infinity recognizes what a parabola should look like.
It is not just part of a circle.

So I read here and discovered that one particular company is regarded as the originator of the windsurfer reflector.

I ordered one at about three times the price of the copper clad knockoff. It arrived, and to my chagrin it is perfectly circular also and used simple assed aluminum duct tape as the reflector surface. As a matter of fact, it has exactly the same dimension curved surface as the knockoff. The knock off is far better quality.

So what is your opinion?

 

[N017RW]

Well. I can only comment with regard to the physics. The phase of the signals is important as the out of phase signals can cancel or reduce the effectiveness of the signals in phase. This is where the focus point comes in to play.
Google this for a more in-depth description.
Having said all this, the antennas are constructed on PCBs as opposed to a 'wire' or similar form making the focus less critical.
Having worked as a technician with/for engineers in antenna design and testing I tend to lean towards the more specific and pure science solutions.
Also the metal type and thickness of the reflector also don't offer any significant difference.

 

[PhantomWeezel]

Well. I can only comment with regard to the physics. The phase of the signals is important as the out of phase signals can cancel or reduce the effectiveness of the signals in phase. This is where the focus point comes in to play.
Google this for a more in-depth description.
Having said all this, the antennas are constructed on PCBs as opposed to a 'wire' or similar form making the focus less critical.
Having worked as a technician with/for engineers in antenna design and testing I tend to lean towards the more specific and pure science solutions.
Also the metal type and thickness of the reflector also don't offer any significant difference.

I was wondering about the metal type, aluminum or copper, if one was better than the other. Glad to hear it doesn't matter.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Thanks N017
Yeah any metal is good, alum or copper, but my concern is that the overlapped Duct tape is not electrically connected as each piece is insulated from the other by the adhesive on the back as verified with a meter.

 

[Lunatech]

How to build your own Windsurfer Antenna
https://rchelimenace.wordpress.com/how-to-build-your-own-windsurfer-antenna/
What do you all think of this one. There is a link about 1/4 way down the page to a printable template. I've printed it on card stock paper to make it more ridge but haven't actually made it yet. Still trying to get enough flight time in to see my average range without it but the weather just won't cooperate. Either rain or windy (massive wind today). If anyone gets to try it before me post up your results.

 

[N017RW]

I'm speaking now on a hunch as I've never been involved with testing that scenario but it should not matter that it be a uniform or homogenous reflector. Gaps or spaces would be more likely to be a problem as opposed to overlapping segments as the reflectance is occurring at the point of incidence and not as a whole. Hope that makes sense as it is just my though at the moment.

 

[moflyer]

I used the design I got from tomstechtime. It was easy to make and better than doubled my distance.




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[Kirby Johnson]

You'll likely see some improvement. But the physics behind them is the parabolic shape which creates a focal point along a vertical axis and placing the antenna in this axis allows all the energy to focused onto the active portion of the antenna in the same phase.

Nov_Zerne I have bought a couple windsurfers, a cheap one from ebarf and one from the originator. I actually have not tested them yet, but I want to do a side by side test. To establish a baseline I picked a clear day and flew from my front lawn over a residential area then an industrial park with a Home Depot. Given these conditions, I thought my little 3A did fairly good. I wonder how much additional range a WS will yield.

 

[Lunatech]

How to build your own Windsurfer Antenna

I made this one last night and tried it today (had to trim about 3/4" off the bottom for it to fit correctly) after doing the Magic Power mod. WOW! I got 9733 ft when I turned around and came back. Video was pretty much in and out. I did a screen record of the DJI Go app and recorded the flight. When I get a chance to make a PIP synced video with both videos and I'll have proof. Might be tonight or tomorrow before I get it on here but she did do it. Was sweating bullets until she made it back. On thing that was weird is that both video and control signals got worse when I turned it around and it was facing me (video more so than control). I'm guessing it the placement of the antenna in the legs that make the difference? I can share this for now...