Thoughts on this range extended N1 controller?

wrybread · Jun 2, 2023

Well I got the controller, it's pretty.

Google Lens thinks it's using these antennas:

It's a windy day here so I haven't been able to test much, but I did a penetration test by flying my Mini 3 Pro to the other side of a small hill until the signal was marginal then removed the antennas and it completely lost signal, so the antennas are at least doing something. Which is significantly better than I was expecting. Excited to do some proper side by side range tests with my unmodded N1 when the wind stops, which might not be for a few days.

I'm thinking about ordering these cables so I can get the antennas up higher. Any thoughts on that by chance?

Amazon.com

And does anyone happen to know of any other antennas I should try?

And if anyone has any ideas for range tests, let me know. My plan is to fly it over open ocean until it loses signal and mark the distance, with the modded N1, the unmodded N1 and the RC. And with the modded N1 both using the antennas directly connected to the controller and at the top of a 10 foot pole using the cable linked above.

lewisrassee · Jun 4, 2023

I do know that I dont have any issues with my RCN1 at the moment with range. I know the RC Pro is 4x the transmission power, but I find that unnecessary where Showbox jiofi.local.html tplinklogin I live and fly. I would need a lot more battery to get of range on my N1 the way I fly over marsh and intercoastal waterways around here.

wrybread · Jun 4, 2023

Every test I've seen on YouTube has shown the RC pro not having any range improvement with the mini 3 pro. I think it's all about antenna placement, which external antennas enable improving. I've occasionally needed a bit more range when flying long missions over open ocean and this is cheap enough so I'm curious if it will help.

NightFlightAlright · Jun 5, 2023

wrybread said:
Every test I've seen on YouTube has shown the RC pro not having any range improvement with the mini 3 pro. I think it's all about antenna placement, which external antennas enable improving. I've occasionally needed a bit more range when flying long missions over open ocean and this is cheap enough so I'm curious if it will help.

I have reason to believe that the limitation is the mini three pro signal strength itself.. They're doing a lot with a little drum to keep it at 249 g… I wonder if it would make sense to put a mod on the drone itself… When my warranty is up I suppose I'll pop it open and take a look inside the drone.

moldorf · Jun 5, 2023

NightFlightAlright said:
I have reason to believe that the limitation is the mini three pro signal strength itself.. They're doing a lot with a little drum to keep it at 249 g… I wonder if it would make sense to put a mod on the drone itself… When my warranty is up I suppose I'll pop it open and take a look inside the drone.

there are a couple of youtube range tests with the Mavic 3. There really doesn't seem to be much difference in range

one pilot reached 10.6KM with the RC-Pro. But he turned around at the low battery warning. He had 3 bars on his signal and he landed with 8% battery. He then got out to 9.2KM with the RC-N1; but he had a full 4 bars on his signal and landed with 20% battery left. So it wasn't exactly an apples/oranges comparison but it's easy to extrapolate little difference

and that's seems to be similar to other comparisons. You might get a little boost in range with the RC-Pro, but it's likely not much. The limiting factor is signal strength from the drone

I don't have an RC-Pro; I use a Tripltek because I like the brighter scree that's more than 2 times the size. But I'd imagine the RC-Pro signal strength would make give it advantages around nearer obstacles like trees and for areas with lots of Wifi interference. More customizable buttons as well. $1200 is a steep price though

Armando Jr · Jun 25, 2023

OldGuy said:
For years I have used Alientech signal boosters on my DJI drones. At the moment my RC-N1 remote is fitted with an Alientech Pro 2.4G booster for my Mini 2 and newly acquired Mini 3. This is a quality product which works very well giving excellent range etc. The downside is that it is expensive and requires an electronics specialist to fit it to the remote ALIENTECH 2.4G/5.8G Antenna Signal booster long Range extender f DJI

You gave me the tip for what I was looking for: An external antenna for control of my mini 2 ! Thank you

Armando Jr · Jun 26, 2023

Hey guys!

Consulting once again this experienced team of this forum !

I have serious vision problems and am trying to create a solution with a large screen for placement behind the headrest of the car seat and another EXTERNAL antenna with long cables for placement over the car.

So it would have a screen with great vision and brightness, and no loss of signal using the control from inside the car.

Has anyone done this project?

someone help me by giving tips on how to put this together? What equipment and cables to use?

NightFlightAlright · Jun 26, 2023

Armando Jr said:
Hey guys!

Consulting once again this experienced team of this forum !

I have serious vision problems and am trying to create a solution with a large screen for placement behind the headrest of the car seat and another EXTERNAL antenna with long cables for placement over the car.

So it would have a screen with great vision and brightness, and no loss of signal using the control from inside the car.

Has anyone done this project?

someone help me by giving tips on how to put this together? What equipment and cables to use?

Here’s the problem with an antenna that is mounted to a building or a car: in order to have useful range, use antennas are fairly directional, which means they need to be pointed toward the drone. So if you have one with a fixed amount to a building or a car, it also needs to have some automated means to remain pointed at the drone there’s some reasonable degree.

However, that’s non-trivial. One old-school solution was to have an array of four antennas, each pointing slightly up, left down, left, up right, down right… and then a circuit would compare the signal strength of each of the four antennas and use that to actuate servo motors up down or left right to keep the signal strength an offer in 10 is equal.

For something more modern, capturing the GPS data from the drone and then using software to control the position of the antenna seems like a more elegant solution, but I haven’t even seen anything like that in among the enterprise drones, which is where you would expect to possibly see that kind of technology.

Of course, you could just have a manually positionable antenna and go about it that way, watching the signal strength and adjusting as needed, though that takes attention away from flying.

That said, it’s all doable, just depends on how much you wanna spend and/or how much time you want to invest.