Ok, what's the real deal? Why is it recommended to point the antennas on the controller down and out 20°? Why not point them up and out 20°? what is the significance of 'down'
Thanks!
Thanks!
What is the real deal with the antenna orentation?
- Thread starter Rusty Jones
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Mainly cause the top center of each going straight out is basically a dead spot in this type antenna and the waves come off the sides. Others may have a more technical answer than this, but this seems to be the main reason down Is our best bet.
Better still is the fpvlr, I love mine it improved range, penetration of objects and my video feed too if you find like a lot of folks the stocks are a bit lacking.
Better still is the fpvlr, I love mine it improved range, penetration of objects and my video feed too if you find like a lot of folks the stocks are a bit lacking.
But it would be awkward to hold the controller and point the bottom center toward solo in the air. It is kinda odd I admit and they could have done a bit better antenna wise anyway, at least we got other good 3rd party options quick though.
I'd be interested in finding the "real" answer to this as well.
To be honest, half the time I fly I don't even pay attention to what direction they're pointing. Usually I'm flying no more then a few hundred feet from myself so it's not an issue. But usually I just have them sort of pointed up at a 45 degree angle from the controller itself.
To be honest, half the time I fly I don't even pay attention to what direction they're pointing. Usually I'm flying no more then a few hundred feet from myself so it's not an issue. But usually I just have them sort of pointed up at a 45 degree angle from the controller itself.
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Odd thing is I could be wrong, but originally weren't they pointing up in the manual, seems it's just simply cause it worked better. Somebody tried it got better reception so they adapted things and changed the recommendation.
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My sketch was supposed to show that from a geometric standpoint, it seems intuitive that the down orientation would be the best.
It has more to do with polarization than directional sensitivity.
Stubby 2 dbi antennas like those on the controller & in the legs of the solo are what is known as 1/4 wave antennas with (near) vertical linear polarization. Their signal sensitivity is nearly spherically omnidirectional, i.e. They will transmit/receive with a 2 db gain in all directions up/down/left/right with a small amount of variation, usually on the top and bottom. When you are communicating between antennas, you want them to be lined up in the same arrangement horizontally or vertically--if they are lined up perpendicular to each other, you will see a significant loss of signal.
The reason for the 20° front/back has to do with how people tend to hold the controller, it will tend to put the antennas perpendicular to the ground. The 20° left/right , I suspect, is to more closely match the angle of the antennas in the legs of the solo. And remember, the solo is constantly changing it's angle in the air, it's not always perfectly level.
FWIW, the FPVLR antennas are directional & circular polarized (not sure if right hand or left hand). In the case of a circular/linear polarization mismatch such as with the FPVLR on the controller and vertically polarized antenna on the Solo, there will be a 3 db loss (compared to circular on both), but overall there will be a much better gain due to the directional nature of the FPVLR and its indifference to what direction the solo's antenna is oriented in.
Stubby 2 dbi antennas like those on the controller & in the legs of the solo are what is known as 1/4 wave antennas with (near) vertical linear polarization. Their signal sensitivity is nearly spherically omnidirectional, i.e. They will transmit/receive with a 2 db gain in all directions up/down/left/right with a small amount of variation, usually on the top and bottom. When you are communicating between antennas, you want them to be lined up in the same arrangement horizontally or vertically--if they are lined up perpendicular to each other, you will see a significant loss of signal.
The reason for the 20° front/back has to do with how people tend to hold the controller, it will tend to put the antennas perpendicular to the ground. The 20° left/right , I suspect, is to more closely match the angle of the antennas in the legs of the solo. And remember, the solo is constantly changing it's angle in the air, it's not always perfectly level.
FWIW, the FPVLR antennas are directional & circular polarized (not sure if right hand or left hand). In the case of a circular/linear polarization mismatch such as with the FPVLR on the controller and vertically polarized antenna on the Solo, there will be a 3 db loss (compared to circular on both), but overall there will be a much better gain due to the directional nature of the FPVLR and its indifference to what direction the solo's antenna is oriented in.
I tried them up and out once just to see how it reacted, and could not even pass behind a small tree 25 ft. in front of me before RTH occurred. I am super happy with my FPVLR setup, as I am sure most others who use it are.
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Omni directional antennas transmit more like a doughnut shape than a bubble so that why they recommend to place the antennas at 20 degrees. Now remember that the stock dipole antennas are 2dB gain giving you a smaller radius. I have been experimenting with higher gain dipole antennas (7 dBi) and directional high gain 8 dBi antennas. They have worked very well for me so far, depending on my surroundings or the occasion I might use the directional or the omni. The directional work on the same principle as the FPVLR. Having a mental picture on how this signal propagates you might have a good idea on how to position them. Here is what the omnidirectional looks like:
Also Always keep in mind that they work out of 2.4 GHz Band Radio Frequency so any type of structural, environmental and electrical in nature will affect the performance and interfere. Repositioning the during flight help also depending on the angle and distance of SOLO. The directional antenna you have to face in the direction of the sUAV (SOLO or drone) to get the best performance out of it, hence the name directional. The antennas I'm using were purchased from Amazon, my directional is the Alpha APA-M25 and the omni are the HUACAM HCM08. There way more types out there with more gain but I got these to try because they were not expensive. Here is what directional looks like in general. The angle of propagation may vary with manufacturer or antenna model:
I also found that the DIY windsurfer antenna (which you can download a schematic and experiment with http://www.aegisarts.com/wifi/ez12.pdf. In youtube you can find several instructional videos on how to put them together) works great with the omnidirectional antennas making them directional, they are currently being used by DJI and are sold separately. Im pretty sure they will fit the SOLO controller. Here you can see the comparison on this windsurfer antenna . You can test the wifi strength with solo turned on and simply exchanging the antennas and looking at the RSSID bar on the app or using a wifi analyzer. Hope you guys like this bit of info and find it helpful.
Also Always keep in mind that they work out of 2.4 GHz Band Radio Frequency so any type of structural, environmental and electrical in nature will affect the performance and interfere. Repositioning the during flight help also depending on the angle and distance of SOLO. The directional antenna you have to face in the direction of the sUAV (SOLO or drone) to get the best performance out of it, hence the name directional. The antennas I'm using were purchased from Amazon, my directional is the Alpha APA-M25 and the omni are the HUACAM HCM08. There way more types out there with more gain but I got these to try because they were not expensive. Here is what directional looks like in general. The angle of propagation may vary with manufacturer or antenna model:
I also found that the DIY windsurfer antenna (which you can download a schematic and experiment with http://www.aegisarts.com/wifi/ez12.pdf. In youtube you can find several instructional videos on how to put them together) works great with the omnidirectional antennas making them directional, they are currently being used by DJI and are sold separately. Im pretty sure they will fit the SOLO controller. Here you can see the comparison on this windsurfer antenna . You can test the wifi strength with solo turned on and simply exchanging the antennas and looking at the RSSID bar on the app or using a wifi analyzer. Hope you guys like this bit of info and find it helpful.
What @ibrew said is mostly correct. The down and angled is for how you hold it. You want the sides of the antenna facing SOLO at all times. The radial pattern off those factory antennas is like a Doughnut! (360deg and whats called omnidirectional) FPVLR are good for line of sight if you move the controller away you will loose signal FAST. You cant make more signal you can just shape it better (Like a flashlight vs laser light which goes farther?) . If that makes any sense. I swept the orignal antennas in another forum : Click here to view the sweeps
haha Shit you posted literally 3 seconds before me hahaha You have pictures at least!
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Nice I beat you but good info thoughhaha Shit you posted literally 3 seconds before me hahaha You have pictures at least!
it complements each others posts.Go outside with your SOLO and the controller, point one controller at the drone (no end fire radiation off a monopole) and put the other perpendicular to the antennas (legs of the drone) while watching the RSSI indicator. Do you see a null? No, probably not. Were you in an anechoic chamber you would (IOW what you are saying is in theory quite correct) but in the real world with all the reflections you probably won't see much if any difference.
Again correct, in theory. In practice I don't think you will find it makes much difference.
Now here is where it gets interesting. One of the FPVLR antennas is LHCP and the other RHCP. This means that the WiFi card can compare the phases of the signals from the two and align one to be in phase with the other. This means that it is capable of pol and beam combining thus synthesizing a linear polarization aligned with the linear polarization of the received signal but also can synthesize a beam aimed at the vehicle. It can thus track the SOLO both in attitude and position, the latter within limits because the array gain in multiplied by the pattern gain. Example - beam forming gives you 6 dB gain but if the SOLO is at an azimuth corresponding to -20 dbi gain you will realize -20 + 6 = -14 dbi which is better than -20 but not as good as 6 db over whatever the directional gain of the FPVLR antenna is. I have asked FPVLR in explicit, unambiguous terms what the gain of their antenna is but have not been given the courtesy of even an acknowledgement.
Pol diversity is definitely the way to go here but I want to point out that I said "can" instead of "does" when talking about the WiFi card processing. It is my understanding that 802.11n is supposed to be capable of this kind of combining but I cannot assert that any particular manufacturer's card actually implements it.
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So is there a significant benefit to the FPVLR antenna? I have one but am hesitant to use it as I understand you have to have the controller pointed at the copter. If Solo is doing a survey mission you might not see it for a moment (i.e. it flies behind a tree or some other object) and get the FPVLR out of alignment thereby losing the signal. Any thoughts here?
Me,
Go ahead and try the FPVLR. Do some short flights first. I think some of this is a bit exaggerated. I use the FPVLR all of the time. It works great. Just keep it pointed towards where your craft is. I have a total blind spot when it rolls behind my house and I've never lost the signal. I thought for sure that it would break when it was blocked by my house but it never did. Personally, I like it much better than the stock antennas. You just have to keep it pointed towards the general direction of your bird, which I do anyway.
Jerry
FPVLR will penetrate things like trees a LOT better than the stock antennas. Yes you do have to point it at the solo more than you do with stock, but that's because it's concentrating it's power into more of a focused beam instead of scattering it everywhere. Since the signal is stronger/more focused, it allows you to fly further. It also gives more penetrating power when flying close by, which means less signal loss, which means less video signal loss and rarely a RTH.
Picture a flashlight that allows you to adjust the beam of light. When it's spread, it lights a large area, but not as bright. That's comparable to the stock antenna that spreads the signal everywhere. When you focus the light beam, it concentrates the power into a smaller area, which illuminates a smaller area, but a lot brighter. That's comparable to the FPVLR.
Picture a flashlight that allows you to adjust the beam of light. When it's spread, it lights a large area, but not as bright. That's comparable to the stock antenna that spreads the signal everywhere. When you focus the light beam, it concentrates the power into a smaller area, which illuminates a smaller area, but a lot brighter. That's comparable to the FPVLR.
Well the FPVLR antenna probably has a real gain of 8 dbi. This means its beam width is something like 65 ° (somebody posted some actual patterns from it here a while back). You don't have to point terribly exactly to be aimed within 65 ° but at the same time you should not point north if the drone is to your east nor should you face west under those circumstances.
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