modified transmitter to improve signal output

[psicmar-6]

If you want to improve your drone signal range i suggest you do the following
if your radio is 2.4GHz get a pig tail connector like the one you have.
an antenna 2.4ghz omnidirectional WiFi 5db . TP LINK is a good brand.
Find a place where to place your pig tail connector in the transmitter so it will come out only the thread for screwing the outside antenna, you may have to do some drilling.
remove all the soldering and the original antenna in the board.

most likely you will have two soldering places next to each-other one is for the antenna signal and the other is the ground. the cable is composed, first the plastic covering, next the mesh that looks like a net or a web of silver wires. next a tube of plastic generally transparent and finally the core which is a very thin golden wire and that is the real antenna output.

cut the pig tail wire leaving a 7 to 8 cm long wire from the connector. cut the exterior covering at the end of the wire 1 cm long. next make more or less like a single wire out of the mesh, do not cut it, that is the ground. that will expose the plastic tube that is the isolation of the antenna wire, cut it extremely careful of a long approx of half a cm without cutting the very thin antenna wire and not all the way to the mesh wire and remove it. this will expose the antenna wire only. is extremely important that there is not connection whatsoever between the mesh and the antenna wire. if this happens you will short circuit the antenna and the ground causing a complete loss of the signal output, that is a common mistake.

check which is the ground and solder the mesh wire, be very careful not to melt the plastic tube and that the two points, the ground and the antenna output in the board do not solder together. and finally the tricky and difficult part is to solder the antenna wire in the board in the next spot and if you can add some silicone with a heat gun for electronics making sure is not a conductor silicone. this will fix the wires in place preventing they move or disconnect.

all this is done with caution and mos of all a lot of patience. can be frustrating.

finally reassemble the Tx and attache the 5Db antenna. i heard that if you turn on the Tx without the external antenna you will fry the output module. sounds to me more like a job wrongly done than something else, better no to do it.
put some fresh batteries in theTx and the drone and try it. the first time do not go too far.
You can also find my post in GENERAL DISCUSSION TRANSMITTER SIGNAL BLINKING

 

[RENOV8R]

This has been done to death on YouTube. Thing is, this is a mod that's done on a toy quad transmitter. Most guys that own a $75 Syma or Hubsan don't have the skillz or knowledge to open up their transmitter and perform this as it involves some pretty tricky soldering.

 

[psicmar-6]

i am sorry to clarify, but first this technique is not for toy quads because those drones and the transmitters do not have a mother board that sophisticated and more important with enough power to handle that kind of antennas. Even remotely if you could, it would be pointless to do so because those drones are not meant to fly longer distances than 10 20 meters at best. this technique is not the first time has been mention before, i agree, but i try to made it as complete, clear and simplify as i could because there is much more to be added tec wise.

if you have a better solution that do not involves opening up the transmitter or some soldering, please share it with everybody. I always like to learn different solutions that work.

 

[Jackson]

so because those drones are not meant to fly longer distances than 10 20 meters at best

That's simply not true.

 

[Quest]

The only type of transmitter that would require this type of modificaton would be a " toy" quad transmitter. Hobby grade and above provide more range than needed for LOS flying. Watch some you tube videos showing this type of modification.

 

[psicmar-6]

I thank you for your reply. i think that my confusion is, that i consider a toy quad those cheap small drones design only for indoor flying, what i personally call office drones. that is why i said they can only fly a 10 20 meters distance and that mod is pointless, on the other hand the high end drones that most of them are no longer quads but 6 8 blades it would be ridiculous to think they need this mod. the videos on you tube i had seeing them and as i mention before i am not taking the credit for this modification, those videos need more detailed explanation to a lot of people and also a lot of people likes better to have that info written because is easier to follow step by step slowly than a rush express video. that was my intention about this post.

i did some research on hobby grade as you suggested and for what i understood is difficult to define the difference.


https://skylinedronesupply.com/blog...by-grade-drones-and-professional-grade-drones

 

[Jackson]

The only type of transmitter that would require this type of modificaton would be a " toy" quad transmitter. Hobby grade and above provide more range than needed for LOS flying.

 

[psicmar-6]

Mr.Jackson i watched the video you send me, is refreshing and very interesting to see a transmitter pretty sophisticated that using the mod i suggested the signal range improved by 1.5 times that is 50% more i think is pretty good. i did the same test before with the Syma x8gh quad transmitter performing the signal range test that is with the signal output low, and i did see a difference, then with the signal output recovered and the signal range improved by something around that. fortunately i have two transmitters identical, one completely untouched from factory and the other with modification. So i did the same thing with both and the difference between them was pretty noticeable. Doing it this way there was not room for error.
Thank you for corroborate my point of view. i suppose the Tx in the video is a toy quad then. but lets drop it other wise wee are just going on circles.
Thank you again.

 

[Quest]

That's simply not true.

Go figure,

 

[Quest]

Actually the Tarannis transmitter is way beyond toy grade, open source programming, lots and lots of bells and whistles and mine cost 250.00 a couple of years ago, it does have a major draw back in that the antenna is not removable as with many other high grade radios. Any transmitters range can be improved (or reduced) with antenna replacements, I have not felt the need to make this modification on my Tarannis because the range is well beyond Federally mandated LOS flying and I feel confidant I could probably get 1.5-2 miles with FPV no problem, but I don'want to test that and risk losing my 1500.00 investment. Again any transmitter or receiver can with antenna replacement gain or lose range, same is true with your home or car radio, caution must be taken to make sure the antenna is tuned to the correct frequency, I did do this mod with a Syma X5C-1(toy grade) a while back along with extending (to the proper length) the receiver antenna and more than doubled the effective range, this is a tedious and difficult mod for anyone with no electronics soldering experience and I really would not recommed it for a novice because when you effectively double the range on a small toy quad and start feeling cocky you will probably end up losing orientation and experience a fly away, speaking from experience. I believe toy quads have the shortest wave length antennas ( nothing but a short length of coax cut to the proper wave length) as stock because it makes them cheaper to produce, range on these toys can also be increased by simply opening up the transmitter case and making sure the short piece of antenna wire is not obstructed and is properly oriented. Toys, hobby grade or self built this hobby thrives on expermentation and this is what makes it so enjoyable to me, with this expermentation comes a lot of responsibility so everyone please keep it safe.

 

[QuadKid]

Not for all quads but I use these Parabolic Antenna addons for my Phantom, not so much for distance (Phantom has more distance built in than I will use) but for signal strength, seem to get better video / FPV at a distance.