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I agree. But a $3.00 can of plastic spray paint from local hardware store and it looks like it came with the Solo !
Solo Antenna Mods
- Thread starter Chuck
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I agree. But a $3.00 can of plastic spray paint from local hardware store and it looks like it came with the Solo !
I see this also on YouTube this morning..it's a great video for people that really want to know how much more you gain with the FPVLR Antenna..I ordered one of there FPVLR off there site yesterday for my self..and I got an email this morning that it's shipped.. Really Looking forward to receiving it !
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I don't know much about the Alphas but are they not panel antennas? If so the way he has those pointed it can't get decent range. By time he tipped the controller enough to get the antennas in proper plane you could not see the display.
I would expect the FPVLR to be better but not sure that is a fair test.
900' stock is pretty sad by any means.
I would expect the FPVLR to be better but not sure that is a fair test.
900' stock is pretty sad by any means.
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@FPVLR:
Maybe you can answer this better than anyone.
First the setup:
Instead of using the Solo app for FPV, I'm using Tower and I have a monitor for FPV on a tripod. The monitor is connected to the HDMI out on the controller, meaning its tethered by cable.
Lets say I'm flying pretty close in - anywhere from 20 to 600 feet away horizontal distance. There are mountains and trees around. I'm darting in and out between stuff. Sometimes the Solo is kinda off to the side of me, or even behind me (because the tether to the monitor limits my ability to turn around and also I'm busy watching the monitor).
Is your FPVLR a good solution in that case, or am I better with the stock omni directional antennas?
Now lets take the tripod/monitor set up out of the equation. I'm either using the new version of Tower with FPV built in, or using the Solo apps FPV. This means it will be EASY for me to pivot in place and always keep the controller aimed at the Solo. (everything else the same - still within 600 feet, still flying through mountain valleys, with trees, etc).
In that second situation I assume your antennas would be better because they would probably pierce through light foliage a little better... but I just wanted to ask anyway.
(I ordered the Horizon Range extender from dslrpros, but I'm betting tired of waiting).
Maybe you can answer this better than anyone.
First the setup:
Instead of using the Solo app for FPV, I'm using Tower and I have a monitor for FPV on a tripod. The monitor is connected to the HDMI out on the controller, meaning its tethered by cable.
Lets say I'm flying pretty close in - anywhere from 20 to 600 feet away horizontal distance. There are mountains and trees around. I'm darting in and out between stuff. Sometimes the Solo is kinda off to the side of me, or even behind me (because the tether to the monitor limits my ability to turn around and also I'm busy watching the monitor).
Is your FPVLR a good solution in that case, or am I better with the stock omni directional antennas?
Now lets take the tripod/monitor set up out of the equation. I'm either using the new version of Tower with FPV built in, or using the Solo apps FPV. This means it will be EASY for me to pivot in place and always keep the controller aimed at the Solo. (everything else the same - still within 600 feet, still flying through mountain valleys, with trees, etc).
In that second situation I assume your antennas would be better because they would probably pierce through light foliage a little better... but I just wanted to ask anyway.
(I ordered the Horizon Range extender from dslrpros, but I'm betting tired of waiting).
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I'm flying in a wooded and high density residential area and I got 7200' on the Alfas before RTH. Have some wifi amps inbound for delivery today. Hoping for 10k. Alfa was quite a bit better than my DBS MODS panel. I'm going to continue to tinker with the DBS MODS as I may not have had it properly hooked up.
One thing to consider if you use amps - they likely won't play nice with others if you fly with a group.
After testing out an Alfa antenna with the wifi card in the controller, decided to try another antenna. Tinkering just for the fun of it.
Got this 2.4ghz Immersionrc patch pretty cheap on eBay - at a huge discount from list price. Needed a way to mount it up and after some deliberation at the hardware store, bought a couple dollars of bolts, washers etc. and used some existing GoPro parts for an arm mount.
It's 13bBi but RHCP. Since I haven't got my clovers in yet to modify the Solo, I'll expect to lose about 3dBi? At 10dBi, still a couple more dBi than the Alfa.
It's late now but will post back once I have a chance to compare it to the stock/Alfa combo.
Its a tad front heavy - definitely need a lanyard now!
After testing out an Alfa antenna with the wifi card in the controller, decided to try another antenna. Tinkering just for the fun of it.
Got this 2.4ghz Immersionrc patch pretty cheap on eBay - at a huge discount from list price. Needed a way to mount it up and after some deliberation at the hardware store, bought a couple dollars of bolts, washers etc. and used some existing GoPro parts for an arm mount.
It's 13bBi but RHCP. Since I haven't got my clovers in yet to modify the Solo, I'll expect to lose about 3dBi? At 10dBi, still a couple more dBi than the Alfa.
It's late now but will post back once I have a chance to compare it to the stock/Alfa combo.
Its a tad front heavy - definitely need a lanyard now!
Hey erikgraham, you were asking FPVLR, but I thought I'd chime in with a suggestion. If you have a ground station and tripod, read up on the Pepperbox. From what I can tell online, one will be great. Two stacked on top of each other would be amazing to give you high altitude if you're going for that. I have one being shipped to me now. I'll post back once I've gotten a chance to test it.
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Thank you! I never did get an answer to that. I've asked in a couple of places. About to google Pepperbox now.
Anytime. I posted about it in the wifi mod thread as it came up in discussion. The dimensions for the 2.4Ghz variant is in my post. Quite ok if you already are using a ground station/tripod.
http://www.3drpilots.com/threads/wifi-card-upgrade-testing.510/page-5#post-15274
Edit: correcting post link
Alex explains the Pepperbox here:
I'm not too sure which frequency antenna he has shown in the video - he tends to like using 1.3Ghz from what I can gather. Those are the largest. According to his customer service rep, the 2.4Ghz version is 18" on the long side.
Update: just got the 2.4Ghz Pepperbox. It's only 10" long x 5 X 2 3/4. Much smaller than reported. It does have a wood reinforced backside, so it's hefty. It includes a standard tripod mount.
I'm not too sure which frequency antenna he has shown in the video - he tends to like using 1.3Ghz from what I can gather. Those are the largest. According to his customer service rep, the 2.4Ghz version is 18" on the long side.
Update: just got the 2.4Ghz Pepperbox. It's only 10" long x 5 X 2 3/4. Much smaller than reported. It does have a wood reinforced backside, so it's hefty. It includes a standard tripod mount.
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I posted a couple of these over on the Wifi hostapd.conf mod thread, but here's the whole set with combinations of antennas. I didn't try hard to push past a RTH. It was getting dark fast and I was turning into mosquito fodder despite my OFF bug spray.
As I said in the other thread, with the Wifi card swapped in just the controller and a single Alfa antenna, I normally only get about 1650ft in this spot. I maxed out at 4879ft.
In a suburban/rural area I'm sure I would be significantly over a mile, as I was doing 4000ft vs 1650ft with my previous setup of just one Wifi card swap and the Alfa antenna.
First screenshot doesn't show detailed view in the app - struggling with the silly Android screenshot button combo.
The Spironet patch definitely needed more aiming.
As I said in the other thread, with the Wifi card swapped in just the controller and a single Alfa antenna, I normally only get about 1650ft in this spot. I maxed out at 4879ft.
In a suburban/rural area I'm sure I would be significantly over a mile, as I was doing 4000ft vs 1650ft with my previous setup of just one Wifi card swap and the Alfa antenna.
First screenshot doesn't show detailed view in the app - struggling with the silly Android screenshot button combo.
The Spironet patch definitely needed more aiming.
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I have an alpha antenna replacing the antenna 2, the antenna 1 is the original, and i get great results, plus the wif range mod, I have full signal at large distance. It would be worth replacing the other antenna too?
I find I get a little more range when using 2 patches (Alfa). But it is a bit more directional and when flying close in, the beam feels a bit more narrow. I'd use 2 patches if you are going for max range. Mix with the stock Omni if you're flying around shorter range and all about. I find I always use at least one Alfa.
The good thing is, it's easy to swap antennas in the field and the stock Omni is so small and easy to carry. You can change it when you want. Just make sure you power down the controller first when swapping antennas.
My clover and other antennas just got through customs - took pretty much a whole week. I'll put those on the controller to test when I get them. Eventually, once I get my gimbal and everything seems to run great, I think I will put at least one clover/mushroom on the Solo to match my RHCP antennas on the controller.
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The thing with alfa is turn them under, because you see in the "shootout video" in which they had them up, holding the controller naturally pointed them down and toward the ground. Turn them under and very slightly out to get a wider field of coverage. Also when you fly above yourself at higher altitudes just flip one up level from down and then you have a panel pointing straight up...
Just be careful as materials outside the antenna are not always completely "wifi transparent". That is, the plastidip could cause the antenna to tune down in frequency - you could lose some efficiency or in the worst case, make the signal poor. It may or may not be significant.
Good manufacturers actually tune their antennas to accomodate the casing, backplane etc. If being detail oriented, you could do some test runs with it stock, get used to the performance for a while and then try the plastidip and see if you notice a change. Without the proper measurement tools (relatively expensive & specialized), you won't know for sure what the impact is on coating the antenna.
Has anybody experienced this with the FPVLR ..lost of signal to the Solo then "return home" appears ...but still had 2 bars of signal strength ?
I just got my FPVLR shipped to me this week and having had time to try them out till today! So I hooked them up on the controller..and flew up about 200 feet up..and flew out around 3000 feet over a Gorge with water... There was no obstructions with trees or Wi-Fi interference in the area I was in. So around 3000 feet out .. I still had 2 bars of Signal strength but it lost connection with Solo and returned home...I only usually lose signal to the Solo when your signal bars go down to read !!
And while it was returning home I got connection again with the Solo... But When Solo was coming home about a 1000 feet from me it lost connection again and I couldn't get it back till it was basically over my head?..
It was only my first test flight with the FPVLR ... But sure was a strange one!!
I'm gonna try it again with the FPVLR tomorrow morning in different part of town and see if I get the same result !
Just wondering if anybody els had experience this with the FPVLR?
I just got my FPVLR shipped to me this week and having had time to try them out till today! So I hooked them up on the controller..and flew up about 200 feet up..and flew out around 3000 feet over a Gorge with water... There was no obstructions with trees or Wi-Fi interference in the area I was in. So around 3000 feet out .. I still had 2 bars of Signal strength but it lost connection with Solo and returned home...I only usually lose signal to the Solo when your signal bars go down to read !!
And while it was returning home I got connection again with the Solo... But When Solo was coming home about a 1000 feet from me it lost connection again and I couldn't get it back till it was basically over my head?..
It was only my first test flight with the FPVLR ... But sure was a strange one!!
I'm gonna try it again with the FPVLR tomorrow morning in different part of town and see if I get the same result !
Just wondering if anybody els had experience this with the FPVLR?
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