Aircraft Antenna Mod

[beanbubba]

Hold on, that kit has everything you need. No need to buy anything else and is priced right.

2.4GHz 2 Watt Signal Amplifier for DJI Phantom 1 & 2 (White)

 

[beanbubba]

A final note, the U.FL cable connectors are relatively delicate especially when removing or inserting on the board connector. Take your time and don't pull the cable to remove, use a tiny tool and gently pry loose at the connector head. And when inserting, the alignment has to be spot on or you will splay the connector part on the cable. Always use your finger to insert because you usually won't do damage because you will know exactly the pressure needed to make it "pop" when properly inserted. If you didn't feel the "pop", it's probably not inserted properly and if you applied too much pressure the connector is probably damaged.

BTW - the board side connector is very durable and can't really be damaged, the cable side connector is what is fragile.

We also need to figure out a cable management plan because this won't survive a couple trips to your local flying place. I have duct tape over the LED hood holding the cables in place for now, but any suggestions on a more elegant solution?

 

[beanbubba]

Here is a much more durable RG178 cable that will probably last longer. Those very thin black cables are really only meant for internal use to a bulkhead.

Amazon.com: Generic 2 X 6inch U.fl / IPX Female to SMA Male Right Angle RF Coaxial Coax Cbale RG178 Assembly for Wireless 15cm: Home Audio & Theater

 

[sprtbkrydr]

Hey BeanBubba you going to have time to run that test for me on the two mini amps?

 

[ZeeKodadii]

@beanbubba have you tested those small amp's?

 

[MacIak]

A final note, the U.FL cable connectors are relatively delicate especially when removing or inserting on the board connector. Take your time and don't pull the cable to remove, use a tiny tool and gently pry loose at the connector head. And when inserting, the alignment has to be spot on or you will splay the connector part on the cable. Always use your finger to insert because you usually won't do damage because you will know exactly the pressure needed to make it "pop" when properly inserted. If you didn't feel the "pop", it's probably not inserted properly and if you applied too much pressure the connector is probably damaged.

BTW - the board side connector is very durable and can't really be damaged, the cable side connector is what is fragile.

We also need to figure out a cable management plan because this won't survive a couple trips to your local flying place. I have duct tape over the LED hood holding the cables in place for now, but any suggestions on a more elegant solution?

View attachment 17940

Thanks for these goodies! Would just a single SMA sticking out of MavASs not do the trick? You could just unscrew for transport. Going towards the upper case will cause issues I think seen the construction.

 

[sprtbkrydr]

@beanbudda have you tested those small amp's?

You don't have his name right!

 

[ZeeKodadii]

You don't have his name right!

LoL Thx fixed it

 

[beanbubba]

@beanbubba have you tested those small amp's?

Yes I plan to test those 2W amp's at some point soon.

 

[beanbubba]

Thanks for these goodies! Would just a single SMA sticking out of MavASs not do the trick? You could just unscrew for transport. Going towards the upper case will cause issues I think seen the construction.

Sure you could do that no problem, in this last round I was going to the extreme limit of the minimalist approach. Keep in mind that each additional cable and connector steals dBm signal.

 

[beanbubba]

Getting ready to fly and I killed 2 birds with one stone. I covered up the RPSMA bulkhead holes and at the same time made a velcro cable management solution to secure the U.FL cables.

 

[sprtbkrydr]

That looks a lot better.

 

[Natedoggz]

I've been out of this for a while now, WOW, y'all have really improved everything now!
Keep up the great work.!!!!

 

[MacIak]

I've been out of this for a while now, WOW, y'all have really improved everything now!
Keep up the great work.!!!!

Hey! Where have u been??

 

[beanbubba]

Storms moved in last night and today. Sorry, no testing results. I will be out all week at my day job but will try again this coming weekend.

 

[beanbubba]

Just confirm the " TX" is the bird's transmitter?

MakIack,

I am sure we are talking about the same thing, but we are using different terminologies.

The aircraft has a TX and RX port. From the bird's perspective are you calling the TX port the HD signal and the RX port the RC signal? We have been talking around each other on a few posts on this and want to get it clear.

 

[MacIak]

MakIack,

I am sure we are talking about the same thing, but we are using different terminologies.

The aircraft has a TX and RX port. From the bird's perspective are you calling the TX port the HD signal and the RX port the RC signal? We have been talking around each other on a few posts on this and want to get it clear.

Hey Bean,
Yes we talk about the same. TX port on mavic is HD downlink. Just got caught up in using GO4 terminology which is unnatural to me also. Been working in aviation business too long... Let's stick to TX/RX from now on.

 

[beanbubba]

Hey Bean,
Yes we talk about the same. TX port on mavic is HD downlink. Just got caught up in using GO4 terminology which is unnatural to me also. Been working in aviation business too long... Let's stick to TX/RX from now on.

Not to confuse folks BUT on the Mavic the TX port is actually both RX and TX. You can unplug the other RX antenna from the radio board and fly just fine.

 

[MacIak]

Not to confuse folks BUT on the Mavic the TX port is actually both RX and TX. You can unplug the other RX antenna from the radio board and fly just fine.

Ok, so THAT is important to know. What's the function of the other one then?

 

[beanbubba]

Ok, so THAT is important to know. What's the function of the other one then?

We have positively determined that only one port transmits (TX) on both the mavic and remote controller.

We have positively determined that the other port only receives (RX) on both the mavic and remote controller.

I was able to determine that what we call the TX port is actually a TX/RX combo port (the other port is RX only).

Moving forward we should probably call the TX port the TX/RX port, or just assume if someone refers to the TX port it is actually the TX/RX port. And the other port stays the same as simply the RX only port.

You can disconnect the RX port on both the mavic and controller and fly business as usual. I suspect they employ the dual RX antennas to take advantage of some diversity technologies you commonly see in this space (that is way to complex to discuss in this thread).

Is this clear as mud??