Aircraft Antenna Mod

[beanbubba]

What are the best tools to use for terminating these tiny Mavic antenna co-ax cables? I've successfully separated and soldered the shield and line connections to a factory Mavic antenna, but it was a pain trying to strip the insulation back and avoid soldering one big blob. I had to work under magnification. Is there are tool out there that makes this job easier?

I go to great lengths to avoid ever having to solder the tiny coax cables. I will order custom length of whatever I need, then use adapters as needed. Examples below:

cable IPX U.fl jack RG178 to RP.SMA plug female right angle 65mm pigtail FPV UAV | eBay

2-pack SMA Male to IPX U.FL Plug Connector Adapter | eBay

1pce SMA female jack to IPX U.fl male plug center RF adapter connector 756330775094 | eBay

 

[beanbubba]

Did one flight out to 20k ft with a pretty poor signal trajectory and lots of WiFi interference. HD signal was 4-5 and RC signal was 3-4. Looks pretty good. Anyone who wants good signal without messing with controller mods, I recommend this mod or the 4w amp mod along with this one. I'll post more results once I've had a chance to test more. Pretty windy out right now. Gonna work on a better location for the amp.

Did you ever come to any final conclusions? I am preparing a bird side variant of the 8W amp and curious to know if you ran into any other issues before I get too far down this rabbit hole.

 

[fileophile]

I go to great lengths to avoid ever having to solder the tiny coax cables. I will order custom length of whatever I need, then use adapters as needed. Examples below:

cable IPX U.fl jack RG178 to RP.SMA plug female right angle 65mm pigtail FPV UAV | eBay

2-pack SMA Male to IPX U.FL Plug Connector Adapter | eBay

1pce SMA female jack to IPX U.fl male plug center RF adapter connector 756330775094 | eBay

Ok, thanks, but isn’t soldering still needed on the factory antenna side? Or the new Airgain you discovered yesterday?

 

[beanbubba]

Ok, thanks, but isn’t soldering still needed on the factory antenna side? Or the new Airgain you discovered yesterday?

Are you using a bird side amp?

 

[fileophile]

Not yet, but I have one. I was going to try better antennas first, then add the amp later

 

[beanbubba]

Not yet, but I have one. I was going to try better antennas first, then add the amp later

Sorry, I am a little confused. Can you not direct attach your antenna under test directly to the mavic motherboard U.FL port?

 

[beanbubba]

Did you ever come to any final conclusions? I am preparing a bird side variant of the 8W amp and curious to know if you ran into any other issues before I get too far down this rabbit hole.

I was getting horrible GPS errors everywhere near up top of the bird with the 8W amp. I just did a test flight in this configuration and received ZERO errors. Need to figure out a cleaner mounting design though.

 

[beanbubba]

Ok, thanks, but isn’t soldering still needed on the factory antenna side? Or the new Airgain you discovered yesterday?

Here is where to attach your antennas under test:

 

[fileophile]

Yes, but the coax from those ports runs through the front arm, down into the leg, snd attaches there (at least on mine) with little dabs of solder onto pads.

I’m talking about the antenna end of the coax.

 

[beanbubba]

Yes, but the coax from those ports runs through the front arm, down into the leg, snd attaches there (at least on mine) with little dabs of solder onto pads.

I’m talking about the antenna end of the coax.

The antennas from the front rotor arms are routed to the rear ports I depicted in the last post. They are kept in place with 2 or 3 blobs of black silicone that pluck right out and cause no damage. If you decide to run a bird side amp, you need to carefully extricate the coax cable and reroute out the opening of the front rotor arm hinge, or drill a tiny hole to pass through near the front of the aircraft then attach to your amp with a U.FL to SMA adapter.

Or maybe I am still not fully understanding your issue. Please skool me

 

[fileophile]

I’ll have to grab a picture later on. Or, if you look at the top of the Airgain antenna in your post #445 above, you will see the connection point I am talking about.

 

[droneuser]

Yes, but the coax from those ports runs through the front arm, down into the leg, snd attaches there (at least on mine) with little dabs of solder onto pads.

I’m talking about the antenna end of the coax.

I think I know what your are saying you want to keep the coax that is there now BUT unhook the antenna that is in the leg and solder a connector on there?

 

[fileophile]

Good idea. That wouldn't have helped in the two cases where I crashed and the leg antenna pulled out and ripped off the "stick" antenna (as I call it), but for new antennas is a good thought. IN the cases of my crashes I didn't have another antenna yet to replace the factory one with, so had to resolder.

 

[fileophile]

bean, here is a picture of the place I had to solder: View media item 1849

 

[droneuser]

bean, here is a picture of the place I had to solder: View media item 1849

that's looks like the stick antenna in that pic? is that correct? can you zoom out and then take the pic?

 

[beanbubba]

bean, here is a picture of the place I had to solder: View media item 1849

Ahhhhhhh, my brain was in a completely different place. My bad.

Anyway, I again reaffirm my position on not ever soldering the tiny coax cables. If you figure out a way to do it with precision, god speed to you. I would recommend direct attaching the antenna you want to try direct to the motherboard on the rear of the AC or at the bird side amp (if you are doing this).

 

[droneuser]

Ahhhhhhh, my brain was in a completely different place. My bad.

Anyway, I again reaffirm my position on not ever soldering the tiny coax cables. If you figure out a way to do it with precision, god speed to you. I would recommend direct attaching the antenna you want to try direct to the motherboard on the rear of the AC or at the bird side amp (if you are doing this).

I was wondering if a guy did that but put an 6 dbi Omni antenna in place with no amps would that be better then the "stick" antenna that is there instead or no?

 

[fileophile]

@droneuser, yes it is the factory stick antenna. I have never understood how these sticks work as well as they do. I thought a good antenna had to be some factor of the wavelength of the frequency, like 1/2, or 1/4. At 2.4Ghz the full wavelength would be 122.45 mm, or 4.82 inches. That stick maybe is 1/2 wavelength? But doesn't it need to be metal?

@bean, are those motherboard ports you point to in post #458 installed by the factory, or did you add them aftermarket? (Don't have my Mavic open right now to look)

 

[beanbubba]

@droneuser, yes it is the factory stick antenna. I have never understood how these sticks work as well as they do. I thought a good antenna had to be some factor of the wavelength of the frequency, like 1/2, or 1/4. At 2.4Ghz the full wavelength would be 122.45 mm, or 4.82 inches. That stick maybe is 1/2 wavelength? But doesn't it need to be metal?

@bean, are those motherboard ports you point to in post #458 installed by the factory, or did you add them aftermarket? (Don't have my Mavic open right now to look)

The front rotor arm antennas have a long coax that runs all the way to the rear of the AC and plug in there. The starboard side antenna coax is white and the port side coax is black.

 

[beanbubba]

The front rotor arm antennas have a long coax that runs all the way to the rear of the AC and plug in there. The starboard side antenna coax is white and the port side coax is black.

Here is a picture of the AC right side antenna and coax: