Mavic Monitor Hood

[AgentOrange2015]

FedEx just delivered a box of accessories from DJI and the first box I opened was the Monitor Hood. I was very surprised to see how the antennae holders were constructed. For those of you who do not know, the slots that the antennae's fit into are solid in the sense that they completely cover up the Antennae's. The first thing I thought of was Reception Interference. How would these covered up antennae's work if entirely encased in what appears to be a kind of leather.

I have yet to try them out but was wandering if someone out there can share their thoughts on this and if they have the hood, used it and encountered any problems? Sure as heck would hate to put the hood on and then have the Mavic head for the Stars and Outer Space.

 

[Robbyg]

Works fine for me, no drop in signal. The part that fits around the Antenna is plastic, so it does not affect the RF signal.

Rob

 

[kona]

How does the hood work for you for keeping the sun away form the screen?

And how did you get it so early? Mine is still on backorder from B&H.

 

[CyberNate]

FedEx just delivered a box of accessories from DJI and the first box I opened was the Monitor Hood. I was very surprised to see how the antennae holders were constructed. For those of you who do not know, the slots that the antennae's fit into are solid in the sense that they completely cover up the Antennae's. The first thing I thought of was Reception Interference. How would these covered up antennae's work if entirely encased in what appears to be a kind of leather.

I have yet to try them out but was wandering if someone out there can share their thoughts on this and if they have the hood, used it and encountered any problems? Sure as heck would hate to put the hood on and then have the Mavic head for the Stars and Outer Space.

I did a 8.56 mile round trip with that hood on. No connection issues at 4.28 miles out. Unfortunately I've modified my controller to use other antenna and can't use the hood anymore ;-).

 

[Robbyg]

How does the hood work for you for keeping the sun away form the screen?

And how did you get it so early? Mine is still on backorder from B&H.

Standby, I am going to make a post with comparative photos on that tonight.

Rob

 

[rnewman34]

anyone using the hood with success? Frankly, it doesn't look like it would do much good, except maybe block a little overhead sunlight? the problem with similar hoods I have used, is that unless the hood wraps all the way around the display, it lets in too much reflective light and doesn't really help at all.. but hoping for some reason, that maybe this one might help

 

[AgentOrange2015]

I did a 8.56 mile round trip with that hood on. No connection issues at 4.28 miles out. Unfortunately I've modified my controller to use other antenna and can't use the hood anymore ;-).

CyberNate, What antennae mods did you make and what was the equipment you used, did you post it on YouTube?

 

[Cgomez1978]

I've got one no signal issues but the furthest I've pushed the mavic is 4000 feet. I'm using the iPhone 6s Plus and used to have th screen brightness at max which drained the phone battery after 3 mavic battery flights but with the screen hood after 3 flights I still had 76% left on my phone and could still see the screen perfectly. So I've got nothing but praise for it. Just waiting now for my goggles to turn up so sun glare should be a thing of the past.

 

[CyberNate]

CyberNate, What antennae mods did you make and what was the equipment you used, did you post it on YouTube?

The only real modding of the controller is the installation of the RP-SMA connectors. This requires the opening of the controller to remove the stock antennae and wire and replace with RP-SMA connectors which attach directly to the circuit board mini sockets. At that point you can put any 2.4GHz antenna and amplifier you want. I have 2 sets of antennae, the FPVLR Yagi and the RexUAV Circular Polarizing. I also added Sunhams 2.4GHz amplifiers to both the transmit (left connector) and receive (right connector) and use a USB power bank to power them. The RexUAV antennae work better for me. I've reached distances of 34,500 feet out without ever losing connection. I'm currently limited by battery which I've also modded with a battery clip. I need a different battery mod to use larger batteries.

 

[AgentOrange2015]

The only real modding of the controller is the installation of the RP-SMA connectors. This requires the opening of the controller to remove the stock antennae and wire and replace with RP-SMA connectors which attach directly to the circuit board mini sockets. At that point you can put any 2.4GHz antenna and amplifier you want. I have 2 sets of antennae, the FPVLR Yagi and the RexUAV Circular Polarizing. I also added Sunhams 2.4GHz amplifiers to both the transmit (left connector) and receive (right connector) and use a USB power bank to power them. The RexUAV antennae work better for me. I've reached distances of 34,500 feet out without ever losing connection. I'm currently limited by battery which I've also modded with a battery clip. I need a different battery mod to use larger batteries.

Alot of what you have written I understand to a point. Make it a small point. I would not come anywhere close to being able to reproduce what you have done to your controller as much as I would like to be able to. Definitely have to take my hat off to you and your abilities with these specific electronics, but even more, you have an understanding of these electronics that I am just now learning about at age 64. I really and truly wish these bad boy drones had come out when I was a kid. Back then, all we had were fly by wire planes with gas engines. Those things could cut your finger real bad in one flip of the prop when trying to start one. The bigger the prop, the worse the cut.

How much did the Controller Modifications end up costing you? I would also include an hourly rate for yourself in the final figure. Being a 100% disabled Vietnam Veteran, I am somewhat limited on things I can do, so therefore must depend on others to help me out if possible. I am trying to set up a Training School for Drones/Quads and just teach a person the basics when it comes to flying. This improved Mavic Controller would be great to have and help out in teaching would be pilots. Think about what it would cost, for you, to take my Mavic Controller and make it identical to the Controller your using to fly your own Mavic with. Last thing I want is for some newbie pilot to fly my Mavic out of range by accident or on purpose and not be able to get my hands back on it.

Holler back at me if you find the time.