Extender for 5.8ghz

[85percent]

Hi I am sort of new to drones. I have a Mavic platinum. I understand that flying on 2.4ghz will give a longer range as long as interference is low, but 5.8ghz will give better quality video and image streaming with less interference. I am looking for a circular extender (1 mile increase) for the 5.8ghz that doesn’t require it to be amplified. Any ideas?

(This way I can increase range a bit and maintain quality).

 

[brett8883]

Hi I am sort of new to drones. I have a Mavic platinum. I understand that flying on 2.4ghz will give a longer range as long as interference is low, but 5.8ghz will give better quality video and image streaming with less interference. I am looking for a circular extender (1 mile increase) for the 5.8ghz that doesn’t require it to be amplified. Any ideas?

(This way I can increase range a bit and maintain quality).

I’m not sure this is how it works. You can change just the antennae to focus the signal in a particular direction (gain) but then you’ll have smaller angle to to which your remote will need to be oriented toward the drone. When you amplify the signal is when you see an increase in range without haveing to focus the signal.

5.8 GHz also presents additional challenges as you amplify it. It can actually interfere with its own signal as it bounces off of things. The further out you go the more this becomes an issue since there are more things to bounce off of.

Getting 1 mile with the power from a stock mavic remote would be considered excellent and that’s before you figure in things like location and interference.

 

[TheWolfen]

Getting 1 mile with the power from a stock mavic remote would be considered excellent and that’s before you figure in things like location and interference.

Kind of a sidebar but I'm confused... I easily go out past one mile without any signal degradation with the stock mavic remote. As long as there are no obstacles, it should certainly handle significantly greater distance than that, shouldn't it?

 

[Thomas B]

Check out Alientech. It’s more cost that just an antenna, but gives me full signal to and from the drone 2-3 miles out. Quick noninvasive install and can be disconnected with 2 thumbscrews for transport and storage. I am very happy with it. Several models for all DJI drones. Shipping is a little slow, waited nearly a month for mine due to customs. They have 2.4GHz, 5.8GHz, and dual frequency also despite the wording of the text link below.
ALIENTECH 2.4Ghz Antenna booster for DJI MAVIC PRO / PHANTOM ...
They have an install video among others on the site. No internal work required.

 

[brett8883]

Kind of a sidebar but I'm confused... I easily go out past one mile without any signal degradation with the stock mavic remote. As long as there are no obstacles, it should certainly handle significantly greater distance than that, shouldn't it?

You almost certainly are on 2.4 GHz at that range. This is basically a math problem. The mavic remote has an output of 26dbm that means at 5.8Ghz frequency with an Omnidirectional antenna with 2 dB gain you are looking at a maximum theoretical range of 1.019 miles. That’s best case senerio that doesn’t really happen in the real world.

On the other hand at the 2.4 GHz frequency with 26dbm and 2db gain you are looking at 2.461 miles of maximum usable transmission range. 2.4 is also less likely to interfere with itself and in fact those “bounces” can sometimes help.

 

[Thomas B]

You almost certainly are on 2.4 GHz at that range. This is basically a math problem. The mavic remote has an output of 26dbm that means at 5.8Ghz frequency with an Omnidirectional antenna with 2 dB gain you are looking at a maximum theoretical range of 1.019 miles. That’s best case senerio that doesn’t really happen in the real world.

On the other hand at the 2.4 GHz frequency with 26dbm and 2db gain you are looking at 2.461 miles of maximum usable transmission range. 2.4 is also less likely to interfere with itself and in fact those “bounces” can sometimes help.

Correct. On the frequency as the MPP offers only that. The Alientech is a focused beam in the direction pointed with 13dB gain increase over stock. I have seen stock mP1s on stock controllers out to distances of 3+ miles in videos posted on this site. I am talking about max signal strength though, not just reception. I’m wondering if it is the directional focus that makes the difference.

 

[brett8883]

Correct. On the frequency as the MPP offers only that. The Alientech is a focused beam in the direction pointed with 13dB gain increase over stock. I have seen stock mP1s on stock controllers out to distances of 3+ miles in videos posted on this site. I am talking about max signal strength though, not just reception. I’m wondering if it is the directional focus that makes the difference.

Definitely. The Alientech antenna you reference has a amplified signal of 36 dbm (4 watts) which 8 times higher than stock 26 dbm (.5 watts). It also has up to a 15 dB gain on both the transmitter and receiver. This combo gives you a maximum theoretical range of 64 miles. Again this is purely theoretical and actual range will be significantly less due to interference increasing with range.

On the page for this product they have a visual that explains the concept of gain.


You see that when you increase the gain the distance the radio transmission will travel will increase but the angle the remote has to be oriented to the drone also becomes smaller.

It flatly says my original point “only modifying the antenna will only increase the gain. It does not increase the microwave signal radiation intensity.”

I guess you could upgrade your antenna to an 8 dB 5.8 GHz only antenna and get a decent compromise between distance and coverage. You’d be cutting your transmission angle in half but you’d be doubling your range without an amp.

Interference is still an issue and now you ONLY have 5.8 GHz with no option to switch to 2.4. Maybe you can find an 8db dual antenna but you are decreasing your range with 5.8 GHz due to the cross interference of the two frequencies.

And just to drive this point home for anybody reading this, I’m not saying you can’t over go over 1 mile with a stock remote. I know you can because I do it all the time. What I am saying is it’s impossible to get much further than a mile on the stock remote that hasn’t been modified while ONLY using 5.8Ghz. This is just math. You can get well over 1 mile with 2.4GHz stock controller and the Mavic switches between those frequencies automatically so you might not have even realized it happened.

 

[Thomas B]

Agree entirely plus would add that even trying to go to the end of a battery would be limited by the curvature of the earth. On completely level terrain the horizon is about 7 miles out.

BTW, I emailed them with make and model of my bird and followed the advice they gave.
Lots of good technical info above. There are other options. I just wanted to say that the Alientech controllers are, imho, worth the $300 and the wait.

 

[TheWolfen]

You almost certainly are on 2.4 GHz at that range. This is basically a math problem. The mavic remote has an output of 26dbm that means at 5.8Ghz frequency with an Omnidirectional antenna with 2 dB gain you are looking at a maximum theoretical range of 1.019 miles. That’s best case senerio that doesn’t really happen in the real world.

On the other hand at the 2.4 GHz frequency with 26dbm and 2db gain you are looking at 2.461 miles of maximum usable transmission range. 2.4 is also less likely to interfere with itself and in fact those “bounces” can sometimes help.

Ah.. OK I understand now. Thanks for the excellent explanation and later follow up too!

 

[brett8883]

For anybody reading this that is still confused radio is actually a form of light we just can’t see it.

Think of your remote as the flame of a candle. It shoots out light in every direction. Well to increase that light you can put a mirror behind it and now it will focus the light only forwards and anyone on the other side of the mirror won’t be able to see it at all.

Now if you put a curved mirror around it like the head lights to your car you will focus the light even further and get a narrow “beam” of light that is even brighter. However, you will only see it if it is directly facing you. This is gain and the type of antenna you use dictates the “beam.”

Or you could just dump gasoline on the candle to make it brighter. This is what an amplifier does. You can combo the two as well

 

[Thomas B]

For anybody reading this that is still confused radio is actually a form of light we just can’t see it.

Think of your remote as the flame of a candle. It shoots out light in every direction. Well to increase that light you can put a mirror behind it and now it will focus the light only forwards and anyone on the other side of the mirror won’t be able to see it at all.

Now if you put a curved mirror around it like the head lights to your car you will focus the light even further and get a narrow “beam” of light that is even brighter. However, you will only see it if it is directly facing you. This is gain and the type of antenna you use dictates the “beam.”

Or you could just dumb gasoline on the candle to make it brighter. This is what an amplifier does. You can combo the two as well

Great analogy!