Phantom 3 STANDARD antenna upgrade

[TheTanger]

I'm not sure how the device and signal are related but it seems to be. I flew in my neighborhood and flew 2000' away over houses before losing connection. It wasn't even close to that before.

Wow...that's weird. I definitely think there should be some investigation into this, no? Double the range just based on your choice of device seems more than coincidence. I'm using a Nexus 7, but I'll have to swap my iPhone in there to see if it makes any difference in range.

 

[robertoo85]

That was my plan as well, but I just went ahead and ordered the DBS kit for the standard and installed it the way it was designed. There is plenty of length on the cables though if you wanted to avoid drilling the holes and just make the connections inside of the TX. I thought about doing that but now that I have drilled the holes and mounted the kit, I'm happy with it. DBS made a big difference in signal strength so I'm happy with the results as well. If I get some decent weather, I will see just how much of a difference it did make. If I get a mile, I will be happy.

I am planning also to install dbs without drilling the remote...just like Kesuki made on page 13. My only fear is to find the best way to fix the cable at the original antenna output. Probably the best way is to use some glue??
A found an sma male - u.fl cable also, for low price:

cable SMA male plug right angle to IPX U.fl female RG178 8" pigtail

or this one:

https://www.ip-sa.com.pl/male-right-angle-245ghz-18cm-p-356.html

What do You think ?

Regards:
Robert

 

[Deleted member 27337]

Both look great! Any USA vendors?


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Scottfree]

I am planning also to install dbs without drilling the remote...just like Kesuki made on page 13. My only fear is to find the best way to fix the cable at the original antenna output. Probably the best way is to use some glue??
A found an sma male - u.fl cable also, for low price:

cable SMA male plug right angle to IPX U.fl female RG178 8" pigtail

What do You think ?

Regards:
Robert

I like the idea. I would use hot glue to secure the internal cable connections as well as to secure the cables right before they exit the TX.

 

[Jay H]

I am planning also to install dbs without drilling the remote...just like Kesuki made on page 13. My only fear is to find the best way to fix the cable at the original antenna output. Probably the best way is to use some glue??
A found an sma male - u.fl cable also, for low price:

cable SMA male plug right angle to IPX U.fl female RG178 8" pigtail

or this one:

https://www.ip-sa.com.pl/male-right-angle-245ghz-18cm-p-356.html

What do You think ?

Regards:
Robert

When i originally installed my dbs antenna i didnt want to drill holes. the ones that come stock are just barely long enough to fit all three out of the top, however, it was tight enough that i was worried about it ripping out the connector if the wire got caught on something. I hot glued the connection inside the remote and hot glued the antenna hole with the three wires coming out. I did end up drilling the holes, but i exchanged the p3s for p3a so i dont remember how long the cables were... an inch longer than the stock will give the wires enough slack.

Cables in the US (or ask dbs if he has longer cables when ordering)
Cables & Connectors

 

[danesmess]

I am planning also to install dbs without drilling the remote...just like Kesuki made on page 13. My only fear is to find the best way to fix the cable at the original antenna output. Probably the best way is to use some glue??
A found an sma male - u.fl cable also, for low price:

cable SMA male plug right angle to IPX U.fl female RG178 8" pigtail

or this one:

https://www.ip-sa.com.pl/male-right-angle-245ghz-18cm-p-356.html

What do You think ?

Regards:
Robert

Robert,
The ufl cables attach pretty securely to the board. I don't have any glue on mine right now, I just used a cable tie to secure the three antenna wires together and give them some more structure. The only way they would come off is if you pushed the itelite antenna all the way up and essentially pulled the cords off the board. I have my antenna mounted tight enough that I couldn't rotate it that far up if i wanted to. I'd rather not glue them so that if i accidentally pull on them the connector comes off instead of ripping the contact off the board. Also those cables are the right ones, the only downside is you have to wait for them to arrive from china, and the ones I posted are in the US.

 

[robertoo85]

Robert,
The ufl cables attach pretty securely to the board. I don't have any glue on mine right now, I just used a cable tie to secure the three antenna wires together and give them some more structure. The only way they would come off is if you pushed the itelite antenna all the way up and essentially pulled the cords off the board. I have my antenna mounted tight enough that I couldn't rotate it that far up if i wanted to. I'd rather not glue them so that if i accidentally pull on them the connector comes off instead of ripping the contact off the board. Also those cables are the right ones, the only downside is you have to wait for them to arrive from china, and the ones I posted are in the US.

Thanks for Your reply!
I just checked and 18cm seems to be too short from the tx connection to the Itelite antenna's sma connector...

 

[Jay H]

Robert,
The ufl cables attach pretty securely to the board. I don't have any glue on mine right now, I just used a cable tie to secure the three antenna wires together and give them some more structure. The only way they would come off is if you pushed the itelite antenna all the way up and essentially pulled the cords off the board. I have my antenna mounted tight enough that I couldn't rotate it that far up if i wanted to. I'd rather not glue them so that if i accidentally pull on them the connector comes off instead of ripping the contact off the board. Also those cables are the right ones, the only downside is you have to wait for them to arrive from china, and the ones I posted are in the US.

And definitely hot glue the connections down if you are going to have the wires come out the top.... if it accidentally gets disconnected while the remote is on, you got bigger problems than the connection being ripped out...
also, it takes less than 10 seconds to hot glue the connections down.

 

[danesmess]

Thanks for Your reply!
I just checked and 18cm seems to be too short from the tx connection to the Itelite antenna's sma connector...

The 8 inch (20 cm) ones will reach. I just did it on my P3S, but there's not alot of extra cable at the top, which is what I wanted anyway. Ideally I would like 9 or 10 inch, but I couldn't find anyone who made them. As far as the glue, like Jay said it's certainly not hard to hot glue them on. I'm not sure what would happen if they came off while the controller was on. My thinking is that I'd rather have the connector pop off if it gets jarred or falls accidentally instead of ripping the antenna ufl contacts off the board and me having to get a new controller. But if the controller is fried anyway if the connections come off while the controller is powered on, I suppose it doesn't matter much either way.

 

[gwilson001]

Hm...interesting So you just have a DBS Mods (ITElite panel) and no extra amps with stock bird and almost DOUBLED your range just using a different DEVICE? I too have noticed some interesting differences between my iPhone vs. Nexus 7 tablet-the Nexus seems to cut out earlier and more often. Not sure WHY the device would matter-but it apparently does somehow? Wonder if anyone could shed light on this? Obviously iPhone has Wifi/4G whereas the Nexus has only Wifi-wondering if that affects the signal in any way?

the cellular capabilities have nothing to do with WiFi performance. Completely different signals. The only thing that would matter is the quality of the WiFi in your smart phone or tablet. I use a Galaxy Tab S tablet and have never had any issue with WiFi connectivity to the aircraft.

 

[gwilson001]

I want to run my wires from the board through the antenna hole directly to the panel. I know I need U.FL to the board, and then RP-SMA female on the other end to screw onto the DBS panel? Is this correct? Also, what length would I need to go from the board directly to the panel without much slack in the wires?

Thanks guys!

From the connectors on the boards to the antenna is going to require 8" - 10" cables. 10" will give you about an inch to 1 1/2" of slack. I would not recommend going direct to the antenna unless you can secure the cables inside the controller where they exit through the antenna hole. The connections on the boards are very small and delicate and will not tolerate any repeated movement of the cables. The cables must not be allowed to move inside the controller or you will eventually have a problem with one of the connections. You will need to drop some hot glue on the connectors in any event.

 

[gwilson001]

The 8 inch (20 cm) ones will reach. I just did it on my P3S, but there's not alot of extra cable at the top, which is what I wanted anyway. Ideally I would like 9 or 10 inch, but I couldn't find anyone who made them. As far as the glue, like Jay said it's certainly not hard to hot glue them on. I'm not sure what would happen if they came off while the controller was on. My thinking is that I'd rather have the connector pop off if it gets jarred or falls accidentally instead of ripping the antenna ufl contacts off the board and me having to get a new controller. But if the controller is fried anyway if the connections come off while the controller is powered on, I suppose it doesn't matter much either way.

The last thing you want to have happen is to have the antenna connector disconnect from the board while powered on. If you are flying while this happens I believe the consensus is that you would lose the aircraft.

 

[mcphipps]

I think if you lose your radio connection to the drone it will go into RTH mode and should return to home.

 

[N017RW]

The last thing you want to have happen is to have the antenna connector disconnect from the board while powered on. If you are flying while this happens I believe the consensus is that you would lose the aircraft.

Consensus???


LOS results in RTH (provided there's enough battery & GPS.)

 

[danesmess]

Consensus???


LOS results in RTH (provided there's enough battery & GPS.)

If the antenna connector comes off the board during flight I would assume that RTH would be activated as well. However, can't say I've ever tried it.

 

[N017RW]

Loss of [control] signal is loss of signal.

RTH assumes an otherwise flight-able aircraft.

 

[Digger7719]

So upgrading the range of the rc also extends the range of the video feed? Or do you need a separate antenna for the video feed?


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[TheTanger]

I would agree it makes MORE sense that it you ripped off your antenna, the bird just loses connection and goes RTH. Why would it do ANYTHING else? (Provided you set Failsafe to RTH and not hover).

 

[TheTanger]

the cellular capabilities have nothing to do with WiFi performance. Completely different signals. The only thing that would matter is the quality of the WiFi in your smart phone or tablet. I use a Galaxy Tab S tablet and have never had any issue with WiFi connectivity to the aircraft.

You might be onto something there. Obviously wifi connection through the RC (and then the craft) is what is interesting here. I have no doubt almost ANY device would have no issue connecting to the RC via wifi since it's sitting on top of it, but how does the WIFI then from the RC to the bird work?

I can't imagine it has anything to do with the DEVICE, but rather the signal should go straight from the RC to the bird via the antennas. So still up for debate is how does SpringDink get his bird to go almost twice as far simply by using a different DEVICE? Does the phone cause more interference than the tablet? Was it just a weather thing and not really an issue of which device he used the DJI Go App on? Is Wifi on the RC somehow "boosted" by whatever device is also using wifi and some devices are better than others in amping the signal somehow? Thoughts anyone? NVidia Shield looking better and better.

 

[dirkclod]

If it's a case of what device then ya better go with an IOS one as I got 6,666' stock over Wi-Fi .
If anything affects distance from the 2 it's weather conditions .
IMO the device you use has nothing to do with distance .Look at what I fly over to get that .

Now look right after I installed the panel what I got and what over .

I think it's just where ..when..and how ya hold your mouth as I got the 3 miles in a drizzle .
All I can see from all the different distances everyone is getting is where they live .
That's just the way I see it .