DIY: DBSMODS ITELITE ITE-DBS02 Mount

[AccessDenied]

Hey guys, I've been a 3DR Solo owner for a few months now and thought it was time to update my antenna. I decided on ordering the ITE-DBS02 from the guys over at dbsmods.com.

I received the antenna about a week ago and finally got around to retrofitting a mount for the 3DS controller. I thought I would share the project as I think it might help other people who are interested in doing something similar. I already owned a Dremel and all the extra parts I needed costed around $4 tax included.

Click here to view an imgur album of the DIY

Final Product:

What You'll Need:
Dremel or method of cutting metal.
PS3 Mount (supplied by DBSMODS.com) or access to metal plates/brackets
Pencil or Marker (for marking cuts on the mount)
2x 6-32 Aluminum Threaded Spacers
2x 6-32 Socket Head Screws
2x washers
Power Drill w/ matching drill bit
Allen Wrench for the screw
Rubber Mallet and clamp for bending the angle into the mount

Here is the process, took me approximately and hour to complete start to finish:

The mount supplied by DBSMODS.com. The lines mark where I made my initial cuts into the mount:

Here's the mount after the initial cuts with the line for the second cut:

After I made the second cut, I also made a third cut in the center of the mount so that the 3DR Phone/Tablet mount could still be utilized with the controller:

After two drilled holes, here is the finished mount and materials needed to connect the mount to the controller:

Finished Product:

In the end I'm very happy with how it turned out. I'm no Dremel expert though so pardon the rough lines!

Currently, I've only been able to test the antenna in the middle of a WIFI crowded neighborhood so I wasn't able to achieve much different result than from the stock antennas. I'm hoping to take it out to a more desirable test location soon. I've also sent an e-mail over to DBSMODS to see what configuring would be recommended for best results using this antenna.

Any comments and criticism is welcome. Thanks!

EDIT: forgot to add the drilling to the tutorial

 

[rrmccabe]

Looks familiar to this

DBS Mods P3 antenna bracket alteration | 3D Robotics Drone Forum

 

[AccessDenied]

Haha nice! I guess I'm not as creative as I thought. That or great minds think alike.

 

[Maddog]

Currently, I've only been able to test the antenna in the middle of a WIFI crowded neighborhood so I wasn't able to achieve much different result than from the stock antennas

I thought one of the reasons to upgrade to these antennas was to get better performance, although maybe not better range, in congested areas- no? Did you see better numbers like RSSI?

Thanks for sharing your work!

 

[AccessDenied]

I thought one of the reasons to upgrade to these antennas was to get better performance, although maybe not better range, in congested areas- no? Did you see better numbers like RSSI?

Thanks for sharing your work!

To be honest, I had read a lot of positive reviews on the internet about this antenna in particular getting double or even more on flight distances including better video quality/performance. I've flown my Solo a few times at a park by my house, every time with the original stock antennas. I knew what to expect from the stock antennas in terms of distance and I was expecting to notice a huge difference in performance today. With this experience in mind I did not bring my stock antennas with me, only my memory of how they had performed at the park in the past. The difference I witnessed didn't match up to what I was expecting, the Solo flew from my perspective about the same as it flew with the stock antennas on previous flights. As of now, I don't have any evidence, distance screen shots, or quantifiable data to speak either way. Just a comparison to what I was anticipating with the new antenna, and how I remember it performing with stock antennas on previous flights.

Due to it being night at the moment, I took the Solo out in the backyard and did an on ground comparison. From 1 meter away, the Solo's RSSI reads -15dB with the ITELITE and -25dB with the stock antennas. From about 15m away it was reading approximately -30dB with the ITELITE and -40dB with the stock antennas. In either case, I was getting a difference of about 10dB between the two. I even changed the configuration of the wiring (criss-cross, etc), as well as rotation of the ITELITE antenna and no change resulted. Thus, there is no doubt that the ITELITE antenna shows an improvement over the stock antennas, it's just not the double distance I was hoping for.

Tomorrow I plan on running a more thorough test of flight distances by documenting flights with both the ITELITE antenna as well as the stock antennas. I will make sure to post the results.

 

[CPurdue]

I have this antenna with a pair of Sunhans amps.

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[Maddog]

Interesting- thanks for your insight. I'm not familiar with that particular antenna but it seems anything is better than stock.
I might try a bent coat hanger. Lol

I'm not interested in so much range that I can't see Solo anymore but a stronger wifi for video would be great as well as more "power" to maintain control in wifi congested urban areas. (I'm a city slicker.)

Cpurdue & I were typing together- lol. I'm referring to the OP's setup.

 

[AccessDenied]

I have this antenna with a pair of Sunhans amps.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

CPurdue, what Sunhans amps do you use and what do they look like mounted to your controller? Also, it looks like you tested this in a pretty rural and WIFI free area. Have you tested it in a more radio prolific area and achieved similar results?

 

[Maddog]

I have this antenna with a pair of Sunhans amps.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow-almost 2 miles! Can you see Solo that far away? Don't know what Sunhams amps are.
How far can you go and still have enough battery to return?

 

[CPurdue]

It was in a rural area for sure. The only reason I stopped at 10,000 feet was to make sure I could get it back before the battery fell on its face. I haven't done much of a permanent mount yet because I want to ask everything out first and see how it worked. I also needed to find a smaller battery pack to run it off of.


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[CPurdue]

Here are the amps.
http://sunhans.com/wifi-signal-booster-2000mw/

I got out to that distance with 56% of my battery remaining. I manually brought it home and landed with 32% remaining. I was going into a strong headwind and I did that on purpose so I can ride the tailwind back and make sure I had enough battery left. Realistically I would never try doing any kind of filming at that distance. I just wanted to have a stronger better signal at short distances that I know would be more reliable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Maddog]

Here are the amps.
http://sunhans.com/wifi-signal-booster-2000mw/

I got out to that distance with 56% of my battery remaining. I manually brought it home and landed with 32% remaining. I was going into a strong headwind and I did that on purpose so I can ride the tailwind back and make sure I had enough battery left. Realistically I would never try doing any kind of filming at that distance. I just wanted to have a stronger better signal at short distances that I know would be more reliable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow- looks like you could fry bacon with those! Thanks for the info.

 

[AccessDenied]

Wow, that is impressive. I wonder if amps are a requirement to get the types of results I was expecting. CPurdue, would you say that doubling up on 2000mw amps is a bit overkill for the limitations Solo's battery life has?

I was taking a look at Sunhan's website and came across this wifi booster:
WiFi Signal Booster 1000mW 2.4 GHz 2T2R / 300Mbps

Has anyone used this with their Solo?

 

[CPurdue]

Wow, that is impressive. I wonder if amps are a requirement to get the types of results I was expecting. CPurdue, would you say that doubling up on 2000mw amps is a bit overkill for the limitations Solo's battery life has?

I was taking a look at Sunhan's website and came across this wifi booster:
WiFi Signal Booster 1000mW 2.4 GHz 2T2R / 300Mbps

Has anyone used this with their Solo?

I would say so in this kind of environment. That loooooong range capability could be useless because the battery only lasts so long. But in a congested wifi area it may be most beneficial to have these amps. I'd have to try the same location with the 1000mw amp.


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[AccessDenied]

I went ahead and bought the 1000mw dual receiver/transmitter amplifier. I should be receiving both it and the battery pack by the end of next week.

I'm hoping to have updated information on the DBS antenna vs stock antenna without amplification tomorrow and will have the results with amplification by next weekend.

 

[CPurdue]

What battery did you get?


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[z3r01]

I don't have that much success with the DBS mods antenna and I'm actually thinking about buying FPVLR


~z3r01~

 

[nsvr66]

Thanks for this post!

 

[nsvr66]

z3r01... I'm sure many would love to hear your experience with the DBS antenna. Can you elaborate?

I don't have that much success with the DBS mods antenna and I'm actually thinking about buying FPVLR


~z3r01~

 

[rrmccabe]

I don't have that much success with the DBS mods antenna and I'm actually thinking about buying FPVLR


~z3r01~

I don't think you will make any headway by doing that. Results seem to be quite similar between the two. I would look elsewhere like doing the free WiFi mod posted by Ian.

I think most will agree the stock Solo is sensitive to WiFi and that seems to be an issue with Range. I would try to work around that.