Homemade windsurfer results

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Best range without windsurfer was 2200 feet out at 350 feet altitude. I would normally average 1800 feet.

Using a homemade windsurfer I could get 3112 at 350 altitude.

This is in a fairly wooded area keeping LOS at all times. Considering the landscape, I'm pretty sure there were fresnel obstructions. I did find that the WiFi antennas are partially blocked by the windsurfer. I was getting some low video signal messages and quality did drop after 1800 feet where video was still strong without the windsurfer.

I figured I would share my findings for anybody who might be interested.
 
Thanks for sharing! Which type of windsurfer did you build?
 
Picture of how you made it?
 
Here's a link:

How to build your own Windsurfer Antenna

Here's the template:

Booster9dbi2_4Ghz_Phantom3.pdf



I did something similar to this. I can't find the page that had the PDF now but a quick google search for windsurfer templates brings up plenty to pick from. They are mostly for 2.4 but it seemed to work well on 5.8.

The one I built and tested came out pretty rough. I made the tabs too short but I know how to improve on the next one.

Here's another helpful page from the pro/advance discussion:

DIY Antenna Booster for Phantom 3
 
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This is same one I built a month or so ago. Finally tried it out yesterday and man what a difference! I had appx. 2200ft without and yesterday with it attached to my controller I flew easily 6200 ft before I started to get HD signal loss. I still had controller signal but did not want to go any further if I couldn't see it. 6200 ft is plenty far enough for me. This was all at 200ft agl also. might have improved if i would have went up to 400 ft. Might try that next.
 
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The windsurfers so an amazing job!! I got 1802m out of mine which is about 5900ft!

I produced a video on it
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Great results though :) nicely done!!




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The windsurfers so an amazing job!! I got 1802m out of mine which is about 5900ft!

I produced a video on it
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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Great results though :) nicely done!!




Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
Does the windsurfer boost the FPV/video feed on the Standard, or just control range?
 
This is same one I built a month or so ago. Finally tried it out yesterday and man what a difference! I had appx. 2200ft without and yesterday with it attached to my controller I flew easily 6200 ft before I started to get HD signal loss. I still had controller signal but did not want to go any further if I couldn't see it. 6200 ft is plenty far enough for me. This was all at 200ft agl also. might have improved if i would have went up to 400 ft. Might try that next.

Wow 6200. Nice. I was able to get 3750 on a different flight. The size and location of my tablet mount may interfere with my 2.4 antennas. I am looking into a different mount.
 
The one in that link looks big. Does it get in the way of the phone holder or block video signal antennas inside?


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I actually just modified the design to make the reflector part of the windsurfer have more of a curve. I just cut the middle cardboard piece to be a little smaller from the original design. The phone holder fits fine. My tablet holder prevents me from folding the 5.8 antenna out of the way and it looks like it blocks the video signal antennas a little bit but not completely. It functions just fine.
 
Ok sounds good. However isn't the shape of it(curve) important for best signal reflection that's why things like using a pop can isn't the best because it's too curved?


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It's surprising that Dronedestination gained video feed distance as the windsurfer is mounted on the rc antenna


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I get 2700 feet from my house on one path
d72faabed85bdcae397b59fc0e798506.jpg
without DIY windsurfer, 6600 feet with it.
a826427df55a3a880201f3b65e8e7ef0.jpg



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I got 8613.1ft with. Tom's Tech Time surfer with my P3S. The video signal got spotty along the way. Thinking of snagging an Argtek to improve the video connection. Seems like everyone has varied results though but that's for another thread I'm sure.

4af3439b95f57eeb3d35f0db4a703631.jpg



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Ok that's the one I printed as well. Because i printed the one from the "how to make a windsurfer" link to on page 1 and its massive. The EZ 12


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Yeah, I made one from the wrong scale print, it was huge and didn't fit on the RC


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I was just experimenting with shape a little to get the best of 5.8 and 2.4 until I get a chance to get the right tablet mount.
 
Here's a link:

How to build your own Windsurfer Antenna

Here's the template:

Booster9dbi2_4Ghz_Phantom3.pdf



I did something similar to this. I can't find the page that had the PDF now but a quick google search for windsurfer templates brings up plenty to pick from. They are mostly for 2.4 but it seemed to work well on 5.8.

The one I built and tested came out pretty rough. I made the tabs too short but I know how to improve on the next one.

Here's another helpful page from the pro/advance discussion:

DIY Antenna Booster for Phantom 3
57a714c64af5b082175efede63744cd1.jpg
b60ccb12480bd15cccfd947af9fb2022.jpg


I made that from the video. I am going to try it out this weekend


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