Cheerwing CW4 Controller Antenna Mod

[Clayton List]

I opened my Cheerwing CW4 controller and spotted the 31mm 1/4 wave antenna. I modded it with speaker wire, twisting it to the original antenna, and cut the total length to 12.5cm. So it should be 1 wavelength now. I have a few questions from those before me who have modded 2.4GHZ antennae: (1) would modding to a 5/8 wave length work better? if so, I guess it would be 2.5X the 1/4 wave length, which is 2.5 X 31mm =~ 75mm - has anyone tried 75mm vs. 12.5cm? (2) I snaked the new antenna to the left along the inside of the controller in order to keep it roughly in the same parallel orientation as the original 31mm antenna - see the picture I made below, where the antenna is attached near the center of the controller - is this a good way to position the modded antenna? if not, what's a better way? the portion around the left index finger video trigger required a downward bend of my new antenna as well as the reroute (3) do I need to solder to make it work? or is twisting and electrical tape enough?

 

[Wildwelder]

Solder >twisting.

 

[Clayton List]

Thanks, I like that mathematically stated inequality. How about the 5/8 wave vs. 1 full wave thing? And the positioning of the antenna?

 

[Wildwelder]

Check out this thread right from this forum:

http://quadcopterforum.com/threads/modding-rtf-quad-transmitter-antennas.6380/

 

[grx]

Anyone know where to solder the ground of a pigtail on the CW4 remote? I wasn't sure if it had a ground pad near the wire antenna or not. I was going to put a regular 3db out the top like on the Syma.

As soon as I do that it should finish my project. I just got one of these Cheerson CW4's and after a few hours, turned it into a Syma X5C with it's board and remote. Body, motors, props etc all are all Syma parts I had laying around.
Flew it in the living room and it flew like a charm. Now I just need to rig up the CW4 camera and mod the transmitter.

Anyone know if it has a ground location?

 

[Jackson]

I just got one of these Cheerson CW4's and after a few hours, turned it into a Syma X5C

Cheering is not a manufacturer, they just rebadge. If the CW4 remote works with X5 board, that means it was a Syma all along.

 

[grx]

Misspoke when I said Cheerson (all these brands sound the same) I actually meant Cheerwing. No, the Cw4 will not work with the X5C remote and vice versa. It's a totally different board with different features. Cheerwing does re-badge and sell the X5C (who doesn't) but they also make their own proprietary models. The Cw4 is one of them. I have seen the new Syma X5U board and this board is even different from that one.

This Syma X5C has the board of a CW4 in it, I have to fly this X5C with the Cheerwing remote which is why I'm going to need to mod the antenna.

Frankly, I was surprised just how well the new quad worked. Granted, it's 35 degrees outside so it's only been test flown inside.
I'm anxious to find out if this quad is better than the original in the wind, it is smaller with less wind surface area on it.
The Cheerwing Cw4 body is also made up of a thin plastic which is not very flexible, I can definitely see it breaking up in a crash.

 

[grx]

Finished modding this CW4 controller. Was a pita because the controller doesn't have much room inside compared to a Syma. Antenna wire replaced little piece into the riser, Antenna shielding was tinned and then soldered to a wire which runs down to the negative battery terminal for a ground. So far so good as the controller hasn't displayed any issues or blown up.

I haven't flown the CW4 itself, I just took it apart, but it must have crappy range. When tested before this mod, I was momentarily losing quad connection at 125 feet (both antennas standing straight up and out of shells). I do like the fact that this remote has a lost connection alarm, it beeped whenever the quad lost connection and was temporarily out of control. Will be re-testing the quad with this.

Are you guys still about taking the quad antenna and standing it straight up to poke out the top of the shell? That's the way I currently have the antenna positioned on the X5C-1 this is controlling. I'm wondering if positioning it that way could effect vertical height control, as the antenna may be blocked by more stuff inside the quad when controlling it below.