Mavic2 Radio & Antenna Mods

[beanbubba]

Now that the Mavic2 is shipping, there will be great interest in all the mod possibilities.

Here are some starter threads to get things kicked off:

Official Mavic2 Range Leaderboard

Mavic2 Battery Mods

Mavic2 Battery Controller Mods

Mavic2 Motor Mods

Mavic2 Radio & Antenna Mods

 

[beanbubba]

The M2 has the exact same antenna leads as the MP and basically in the same physical position. I don't anticipate any significant radio changes, but will hold out judgment until I can get the spectrum analyzer hooked up to the bird for testing.

 

[beanbubba]

I also expect the M2 RC to be almost identical to the MP. I will get it tested as soon as my schedule allows.

 

[Elton Hammonds]

I also expect the M2 RC to be almost identical to the MP. I will get it tested as soon as my schedule allows.

Eagerly waiting for your post with the results!

I wish there was a mod for the antenna on the bird, but I haven't found mention of it in the old MP threads yet.

If someone is aware of something, I would appreciate knowing where to find it.

 

[beanbubba]

Eagerly waiting for your post with the results!

I wish there was a mod for the antenna on the bird, but I haven't found mention of it in the old MP threads yet.

If someone is aware of something, I would appreciate knowing where to find it.

This is a starting point that converges on all the MP radio mods:

Mavic Radio Mods Primer

This is a long thread that evolves towards the end:

Aircraft Antenna Mod

 

[lolo780]

The most basic of bird side antenna mods is to flip the front leg(s) so that they're more vertical while in forward flight. This works very well on the M1 and I noticed the M2 has less sweep back on the antennas. Flipping the M2 antennas should still net some gains but won't be needed unless you're battery modded.

With the GPS more up front on the M2, a rear mount antenna may work.

 

[beanbubba]

The most basic of bird side antenna mods is to flip the front leg(s) so that they're more vertical while in forward flight. This works very well on the M1 and I noticed the M2 has less sweep back on the antennas. Flipping the M2 antennas should still net some gains but won't be needed unless you're battery modded.

With the GPS more up front on the M2, a rear mount antenna may work.

OMG I love the GPS up front now on the M2. This solves a ton of old logistical mounting issues on the MP.

 

[SkyNinja]

I also expect the M2 RC to be almost identical to the MP. I will get it tested as soon as my schedule allows.

Are you planning to do a 2.4 or 5.8 bridside amp?

 

[beanbubba]

Are you planning to do a 2.4 or 5.8 bridside amp?

2.4 only. 5gHz is just fine, but it inherently has ~20% less range. If I am going to mod a device for range, 2.4 is my only option to consider.

This is an RF fact and not related to any vendor or product. I know there are some old timer phantom users that got better results on 5g versus 2.4g. I am not questioning that they experienced this or not, but other factors were at play that gave this result.

Unless DJI has some purpose built restrictions on 2.4 so it performs the same as 5g, there is zero reason to mod a 5g amp when the exact same 2.4 mod performs @ ~20% farther distance.

Nevertheless, I will be testing and mod'ing both 2.4 and 5g just for sport and to prove the theory just stated

 

[beanbubba]

The most basic of bird side antenna mods is to flip the front leg(s) so that they're more vertical while in forward flight. This works very well on the M1 and I noticed the M2 has less sweep back on the antennas. Flipping the M2 antennas should still net some gains but won't be needed unless you're battery modded.

With the GPS more up front on the M2, a rear mount antenna may work.

The M2 antenna orientation can't be improved very much with the MP flip trick. And you will lose the front rotor arm LED's on the M2 due to a different design if you decide to flip them around.

 

[beanbubba]

I retract that one comment. If you pop off the LED lens cover there is a tiny screw to unmount the light system and you can move it wherever you want.

 

[beanbubba]

Here is the guts of the M2 antenna. Note that it does not have the "dish" component like the MP. I always believed the MP "dish"element was to offset the angle of the antenna orientation.

 

[beanbubba]

Just finished the M2 battery controller mod:

Mavic2 Battery Controller Mods

Since the factory battery cells are removed, there is plenty of open real estate inside the casing to hold a radio amplifier. I am going to attempt the radio mod and place inside the factory battery case.

This will be a very cool and compact device if I can make it work.

 

[beanbubba]

The M2 has the exact same antenna leads as the MP and basically in the same physical position. I don't anticipate any significant radio changes, but will hold out judgment until I can get the spectrum analyzer hooked up to the bird for testing.

View attachment 45623 View attachment 45624

I don't see any evidence of a Wi-Fi radio. Does anyone know if they removed it from the M2?

 

[lolo780]

M2 has no wifi. Nobody used it on the Mavic 1 anyways.

 

[SkyNinja]

Yep they remove the Wi-Fi radio. like Lolo said everyone used the controller, no one would just using their phone to fly.

 

[beanbubba]

Just finished my first M2 RC mod. If you have ever done the MP RC mod it is virtually identical. Only significant change is the joysticks now have electronics and you have to carefully remove the tiny ribbon cable when you disassemble the unit.

EDIT: forgot to mention you need to turn the factory antenna 45 degrees before you "pop" it out if its socket (and it takes some force to the point you might fear breaking it, but that's normal).

NOTE: this is not a mod for everyone. If you don't spend a lot of time doing this stuff, you can damage the RC. There are a half dozen micro/tiny ribbon cables and a couple dozen screws to extricate and they are easily torn/ripped/damaged. Proceed with caution if you attempt and more than anything else, take your time.

 

[beanbubba]

Can't wait to try out this 19 dBi antenna I got months ago on the M2 now. Giddyup!!

Antennas - ITElite

 

[Kilrah]

Ugh, they went back to these usually ****** toy stick assemblies

 

[SkyNinja]

Can't wait to try out this 19 dBi antenna I got months ago on the M2 now. Giddyup!!

Antennas - ITElite

View attachment 46129

Time for you to strap on the 2 thunderpower 4500 and see if this thing has the 58,900 foot hard limit.[emoji106]