Colin will flip out. DJI parts on Solo !

[DBS]

Chuck, how far did you get stock vs this swap?

I haven't been able to test all out range because of wind right now... but I get a very good idea looking at the RSSI numbers in the telemetry at different known points where I fly... much stronger out at 5000ft distance than before... and in close at 3000ft range I could drop down much lower in altitude than before.

I'll get better info when better weather decides to come around.

I havn't taken apart the SOLO yet. I dont know what the connectors inside the quad look like? But yes I could! Thanks Rich.

u.fl connectors on the WiFi board... and it's a multi board sandwich in there... bummer to get the dipoles unplugged

 

[CanadianSolo]

Ya i work for Comm company I have a Spectrum Analyzer with tracking generator, that goes up to 3Ghz. I can inject signal and receive in full duplex. Im not going to be doing a tear down on the inside of the SOLO im going to assume its the same tuning as the controller whips. As far as im concerned the feedback from SOLO in the air is a "feature". What matters is Command and Control so SOLOS Receive sensitivity.

Ya I dont have the fe-male side of that connector i have male adaptors but im not going to play with u.fl's crappy if i broke mine. lol.

Thanks @DBS

 

[rrmccabe]

Well my analyzer only goes to 230mhz. LOL. Nice unit but useless for this task.

You can bet DJI is picking up some gain with those antennas that DBS put on the solo over the stock vertical radiators. I am sure they are going to be weak off the sides so unless someone is not a long range flyer its probably not a good choice.

Works fine on the controller because you are always pointing the flat side of antenna to the bird. You dont have that luxury on the Solo because as soon as you rotate the aircraft all that forward gain is working against you in the form of side rejection.

But @CanadianSolo I do appreciate you doing the sweep because it stimulated some thought that never crossed my mind. DJI uses all the WiFi channels and you can even lock it on the top ones that are not available in the US. That is great for no interference but if the loss on channel 14 is a lot more, then you are not gaining anything and probably losing. Chucky @DBS are you listening

 

[DBS]

I've been on channel 20 on the P3 since the second day out of the box... just figured it's less congested up there.

 

[rrmccabe]

I've been on channel 20 on the P3 since the second day out of the box... just figured it's less congested up there.

That brings up another thing. Figured out its really not channel 20. LOL. DJI just numbers them different.

So my point is lets say you have a 9dbi antenna and move up the band to avoid congestion and lose 3db because the antenna is not resonant at that frequency. According to @CanadianSolo testing the loss moving a couple channels is high.

I plan to test this in terms of real word flying. Go from one end of DJI band to other. Might be a good question for Itelite. Some antennas are more broad banded than others. Typically thicker elements, etc.

 

[Jubalr]

Well my analyzer only goes to 230mhz. LOL. Nice unit but useless for this task.

You can bet DJI is picking up some gain with those antennas that DBS put on the solo over the stock vertical radiators. I am sure they are going to be weak off the sides so unless someone is not a long range flyer its probably not a good choice.

Works fine on the controller because you are always pointing the flat side of antenna to the bird. You dont have that luxury on the Solo because as soon as you rotate the aircraft all that forward gain is working against you in the form of side rejection.

But @CanadianSolo I do appreciate you doing the sweep because it stimulated some thought that never crossed my mind. DJI uses all the WiFi channels and you can even lock it on the top ones that are not available in the US. That is great for no interference but if the loss on channel 14 is a lot more, then you are not gaining anything and probably losing. Chucky @DBS are you listening

Rich, how difficult would it be to splice in a set of these? COuld a connector be splice directly into the antenna wire it self? Wouldn't we get back at least 3db by being CP and using the DBMS or FPVLR on the controller? Wouldn't that also eliminate the loss of signal when pitched forward?

 

[Raybro]

Rich, how difficult would it be to splice in a set of these? COuld a connector be splice directly into the antenna wire it self? Wouldn't we get back at least 3db by being CP and using the DBMS or FPVLR on the controller? Wouldn't that also eliminate the loss of signal when pitched forward?

You would have to do it on the controller and the aircraft side I believe. I have been thinking about those. I use them on my P2 video tx.

 

[rrmccabe]

Better question for Chuck. Honestly although understand theory (which still applies at this frequency) I don't have enough experience to talk about it. I commonly use antennas that are 235' long. The loss is low and you can splice anything. haha

That said at 2.4 ghz, loss is critical. There really isn't any simple splicing to speak of. Even small snips off the end of one of these antennas changes resonant frequency drastically.

 

[Jubalr]

Better question for Chuck. Honestly although understand theory (which still applies at this frequency) I don't have enough experience to talk about it. I commonly use antennas that are 235' long. The loss is low and you can splice anything. haha

That said at 2.4 ghz, loss is critical. There really isn't any simple splicing to speak of. Even small snips off the end of one of these antennas changes resonant frequency drastically.

Well I was thinking the splice would need to be in the antenna wire between the legs and the WiFI card.

 

[Jubalr]

You would have to do it on the controller and the aircraft side I believe. I have been thinking about those. I use them on my P2 video tx.

I'm thinking that since the FPVLR is already Circular Polarized, adding these to the Solo should be a match.

 

[rrmccabe]

i would think you can get them with the right connector ready to go. They have adapters too. But at 2.4 you want short runs and not a lot of connections.

 

[ChrisM101]

The u.fl to rpsma are $5 on eBay, not too far fetched. I'd do it if I was keeping solo. I already have them.

 

[NYG]

The u.fl to rpsma are $5 on eBay, not too far fetched. I'd do it if I was keeping solo. I already have them.

I agree. Run new cables with RP-SMA adapters. Much cleaner install.