DIY Helical Antenna For Long Range FPV - CHEAP & EASY -
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- Опубліковано 19 лип 2024
- I've had great results with this CHEAP & EASY to build 5.8g Long Range FPV helical antenna! Full guide to building your own.
Thingiverse files for orqa goggle mount: www.thingiverse.com/thing:475...
Thingiverse files: www.thingiverse.com/thing:367500
Thingiverse Info: www.thingiverse.com/thing:249...
RC Model Reviews DIY helical video: • DIY Helical FPV Antenn...
I B Crazy post with lots of science info: bit.ly/37duAj5
Thingiverse longer former: www.thingiverse.com/thing:476...
Video Chapters: (sorry about the audio, I'll work on improving it)
0:00 - Intro
0:35 - DVR flight examples using this antenna
1:40 - What you need
10:32 - Forming the coil
12:50 - Getting coil into antenna frame
15:30 - Flatten the last 1/4 turn
17:02 - Marking hole to drill in reflector
17:12 - Cutting out reflector
17:45 - Attach RG402 to reflector
20:27 - Wave trap
24:20 - Attaching antenna frame to reflector
26:20 - Soldering antenna coil to cable pin
27:30 - Glue it up
29:05 - Reflector size and frame alignment
30:00 - A different way?
30:24 - Cutting the coil to length
31:00 - How I mount on my goggles
32:35 - Final words on range and using with a Rapidfire module.
Quad & Gear used (Airblade UAV affiliate links):
7 inch long range fpv frame - FalconRad 7" V1.0
Transmitter - Taranis X9D+
Tx - TBS crossfire micro Tx at 250mw: bit.ly/395NrwR
Rx - TBS crossfire nano diversity: bit.ly/3rSWny0
Rx Antennas -
- Back/Vertical - True RC Bardpole: bit.ly/38eIhzm
- Front/ horizontal - TBS extra extended immortal T: bit.ly/2MvtyaF
Motors - Brother Hobby Avenger 2806.5 1300kv: bit.ly/2XaTSZN
Props - Gemfan 7040: bit.ly/38YDf9j
Fpv cam - Runcam Phoenix V2: bit.ly/2XcHyIs
GPS - BrainFPV GPS: bit.ly/38WOiQe
VTX - Tank Ultimate Plus: bit.ly/2L33UcT
VTX antenna - True RC singularity: bit.ly/2L2YONN
Flight controller - DYS F4 Pro V2
ESC - Diatone 40amp from MK2 stack
Goggles - Orqa FPV.One (Amazing Goggles!)
Goggle antennas -
- 2 x DIY 7 turn helical (thingiverse link): www.thingiverse.com/thing:367500
HD Camera - GoPro Hero 6 Black
Camera Butter ND filter: bit.ly/3rXd0IM
Comments? Questions? Leave them in the comment section below. I'll do my best to answer.
Music all from youtube audio library.
![☀ Направленные антенны - замеры и тесты в городских условиях. [Directional Antennas Shootout]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4rWWklr0VLM/mqdefault.jpg)
![☀ Направленные антенны - замеры и тесты в городских условиях. [Directional Antennas Shootout]](/img/tr.png)
The king of long range FPV BACK AT IT AGAIN !!!
lol, thanks, I've always thought of myself as a guy who's just very persistent about their passion for long range fpv. I really appreciate the kind comments like these.
Steve Erwin
@Tristen Saul STOP!! DON`T DO IT!! Instaportal is a scam, sullivian grey is a bot. There are many comments like this. You´ll have to pay, afterwards your payment data will be abused
Thank you for this, loving the informational stuff. hope the channel keeps growing, you deserve it.
Much appreciated! Thanks for the nice comment!
@@FalconRadFPV have you thought about making these to sell? Not that hard to get a manufacture on board to build something like this and line up distribution
You keep pumping out some crazy valuable information! Keep it up brotha, thank you for the knowledge! Hoping parts get here soon! :D
Thanks! Will do!
These are great, thanks so much for sharing this build series!
Glad you like them!
You're a Legend, the community thanks you!
I appreciate that!
The video we all wanted! Thanks!
You're welcome!
Learnt a lot. Thank you for sharing the specific parts! Time to build one ;)
Go for it!
Very nice video sir, was looking to buy one of these last year , to put on my goggles, I heard they work wonders, I’m not going to far and I’m quite happy with the patch I have ( mid range) for me it’s good , but this is a incredible video you have here , takes a lot of skill and patience to do this 👌👀thank you for posting this 😃
You're welcome, thanks for the comment!
Great video, thanks for the walk-through.
Glad it was helpful!
another DIY video I needed the most
Glad it's helping out.
Subbed to your channel. Super interesting work and very informative. Thank you.
Awesome, thank you!
Many thanks for detailed video!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks! Very useful video!
Awesome vid mate, thank you for the tips. New scriber, looking forward to your future vids.
Awesome, thank you!
Thank you for this. I was looking for better video antenna. I have a typhoon h I'm gonna make one of these so I thank you for this.
Glad it was helpful!
INSPIRATIONAL DUDE!!!
Thank you!
Great video and great content. Thanks for this :)
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
You teach very informative stuff keep goin 😍 I
Thank you! 😃
How did I miss this one?? Thanks for this!
You're welcome.
yesss!! The helical antennas
ya, finally got it done!
woo , great job bro
Thank you! Cheers!
Loving this, including the specificity - thank you FalconRad. Any news on the sheath length topic? Even if I could measure any cut as precicely as 88.3mm (!), did you gain experience with the extensions? Or are you lucky that the extensions were also multiples of 17.72mm (!!!). Thanks mate - my inspiration. Hope all is well in Canada.
I believe the extensions I have were listed as meant for 5.8g video so I think the lengths should be correct.
Great how to.....thanks for all the work you put in to your videos.
p.s.lets talk about the finger.
You're welcome. Thank you for the comment! It wasn't a prop, it was a work thing. Power saw + being in a rush + tired on a friday = stitches (which the doctor did an awesome job at)
thank you for this, i will definitely do some of these ! :) passionate about RF and antennas, very well presented tutorial !
Awesome, thank you very much!
i would love a video like this for the DJI FPV Goggles V2 or even the Goggles 2 maybe - great video btw!
I just got goggles v2 and an 03 air unit recently. so I might try messing around with some helical's for the V2 goggles.
Years ago, I made one of these, nowadays I just use 1280mhz video and compact Dipoles on the model...A low gain patch on the GS, with 5.8 relay, job done, a lot easier and no tricky pointing of the Rx antenna...Kudos though, nice video at 8.5k..😳🇬🇧
Nice that sounds like a great setup! Maybe I'll get a chance to try out something like that eventually.
@@FalconRadFPV Yes, I have one quad on 433mhz UHF control, but another two using 868mhz control....Both play nicely with 1.2g video...So the new 915mhz control option is an obvious choice...Just separate the antennas on the quad..I use iNAV for a real secure RTH and autoland...🤔🤔😯😳😳🇬🇧
Great video thank you very much for that :D
You're welcome!
i made one i used jar lid as reflector and it does work
Oh great, good idea.
I've had success with Pringles bottoms.😄
Superglue works nicely on copper, BUT you have to clean the surface immediately before gluing. You can use something like sandpaper or a scotch pad to clean it. Copper is another of those metals that corrodes really fast, so it has to be cleaned thoroughly prior to gluing...
Thanks for the tip! Oh that's why it doesn't stick well for me!
@@FalconRadFPV Copper and Aluminum are bad for corroding really quickly. They always need scrubbed/sanded with fine sandpaper, etc., immediately before gluing.
i just did it with a sauce lid and it works perfectly, no need to have some complicated parts
Oh great!
thx for sharing how to get these together :D
No problem!
Wow awesome! Going to give it a try. Was thinking of getting deathrays but will give this an attempt! Thanks for a great walkthrough and instructions!
Did you do any testing with measuring equipment before going out or just do a couple test flights?
I'm super careful about losing gear. So I'd test it by going out farther and farther slowly and in an easy location not anywhere with a complex line of sight to deal with. I sometimes will just give the new antenna to my spotter and get them to check out how well it works for them before I use it and have to trust all my gear to it.
@@FalconRadFPV By "in an easy location" you mean on top of a mountain lol. thanks for the vid!!
@@KylePlackeBadass By easy location I would assume he means one that's easy to recover the quad should the anteanna not work as planned. SO like an area accessible by ATV or vehicle where the quad can be easily located and recovered so you don't loose your equipment should test fail.
Very informative
Glad you think so!
THANK GOD I found this video, I was about to spend 70 Dollars on a patch antenna.
(Big fan of your long range vids!! And how far will it go on 200 or even 25 mw? Range test video?)
Glad I could help!
Great detailed instructions as usual. This video is a few years old now. Is there anything you would do differently now?
Thanks! No pretty much the same, I'm still using the antennas I made before making this video, they work great. I've used it for 99% of my long range flights. That said I'm working on testing something similar but different for HD goggles with four antenna sma spots. If it works well there will be a new updated video with the changes.
Hi. Thanks a lot for the great video! I learned so much and i will try to build one of these like you.
One small question.
Does the wave trap has a connection to the reflector?
Isn't that a short circuit?
Thank you
the wave trap is the copper foil on the surface of that rectangle piece. the rest of the rectangle is non conductive backing, same stuff electronics are attached to. the backing is just to help maintain about 2mm off the reflector surface. you could use just the foil part and let it all float 2mm up from the reflector instead if you wanted.
Thanks for sharing. Much appreciated. Do you mount your dual helicals in parallel or slightly canted to allow "overlap" coverage.
they have a decently wide beam width so I point them both the exact same direction. It would probably be better to have more distance between them but it works well enough the way I've been using them.
Hi! Great videos great tutorials it is just amazing what you do! I subbed first time I came here. My question is can you share files for antenna adaptor for ORQA cuz I fly with them and you inspired me for long range. Big thanks for sharing your flights with us!
you can download the file here:
www.thingiverse.com/thing:4751061/comments
@@FalconRadFPV Thank you very much! And thank you for the flights and information you share with us!
Thank you for the awesome video, very informative. After building the antenna do youalso tune it? If so,, how? Thank you
The "tune" of the antenna is the radius and spacing of it's coils. You could "fine tune it" by flying at a low power output (25mw to 200mw) and just seeing if it works better at 5665 vs 5800 vs 5885 as the coil size being slightly off it would still likely be within this range or pretty close. This type of antenna is more forgiving than others when it comes to tolerances to minor defects and performance.
Hello, nice tutorial, so many thanks, I'm building mine right now :) Does polarity depend on the direction of the spirale ? Yours are RHCP or LHCP ?
Sorry maybe I d9idn't mention in the video. This is a right hand polarized. To make a left polarized the spiral goes the other direction.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
You should make a store on Ebay or Amazon. I'd like to by a few of these 🤙
It's rather time consuming to make them. But it's enjoyable if you like doing that kinda stuff, and interesting to see what kind of range you can get with a home made antenna.
Definitely gonna build one and use along with my x2air
Ya it's a good idea. The X2-air is a bit higher gain and the helical if I understand correctly has really good cross polar rejection (I believe it helps with multi-pathing or signal bouncing off of cliff faces etc.. I think....) I'm pretty sure it's a good combination.
(sorry it's taking so long with the frame. Now that I have the battery and antenna videos that I'd promised people all done I'll have a chance to get on the build with the v2 frame this week, then it shouldn't take long for a few test flights if the weather is nice to me.)
@@FalconRadFPV right, helicals are a really nice choice. If only they had the amazing beamwidth of a crosshair antenna.
My current video setup is starting to get a few dropouts and a snowy feed already at 3.5km. farthest I have flown was 5.3km. I think my ev200d module is what's limiting the range, so I have to probably replace that first.
Regarding the frame, I wouldn't have time to test it atm anyways. I designed a 5inch frame I would like to have cut, so it would be nice if I could order them both together from CNCmadness.
@@FalconRadFPV Is there a way I can contact you regarding the frame other than here on UA-cam ? Do you have insta?
@@ariafpv You can email me at falconradfpv@gmail.com.
Amazing video & very educational, I'm a big fan of you & your flying. I recently bought a IBCrazy 5.8GHz 12.5dbic Helical Black Cannon & I'm using the same Orqa goggles you are using but I don't have a 3D printer so my question is are you willing to sell the mounting plate for two Helical antennas & can I run two IBCrazy Helical antennas into my Orqa/TBS Fusion or should I use my Mushroom antenna or a patch antenna with the Helical? Sorry I'm new to the long range game but I'd like to try but before I do I want to educate myself. Thank you!
I'm not sure if those antennas would fit the mounting plate that I designed. It holds a circle roughly 55mm in diameter that can be up to about 4mm thick. I just used the 3D printer slicer to reverse the print for the opposite side. Along with shipping (i live in canada) it might be cheaper for you to get it printed somewhere locally. Sometimes places like the UPS store or web cafe's etc... wil have a 3D printing service available. For long range you're better off using two high gain antennas, the omni directional mushroom style is only good out to about 1km maybe 2km max. After that your goggles won't get anything usable from it. I think once you get into the range of about 9dbi or more is when an antenna can be considered a long range antenna.
Awesome video man! new subscriber here. Where did you get the reflector?
Thank you! Its made of copper clad prototype board or FR4. its available at electronics stores and also on amazon I think.
A fellow Canuck, Happy New Years! Quick question. Did you post a vid specifically testing this home built antenna or are all the videos on your channel after this vid using this helical? I was thinking of building my own, I have seen Bruces vid on this and he ended with some flight footage. I did check your channel to see if you had a follow up vid but there is nothing specific to it from what i can tell. Thanks for the tutorial, just subbed
The descriptions all mention the antennas used for the flights. But basicly after making my first helical antenna I have used it for every single long range flight afterwards. So any long range DVR footage from the last year and a half that you see in a video of mine was made with one of these antennas. I only use DIY helical antennas for my long range flights now. My record with this DIY antenna is 8.5kms, still had almost perfect clean video. I bet it could do 10kms easy if you do a good job making it.
@@FalconRadFPV Thats awesome i will check it out. Right now with my triple feed patch i am only getting 3kms on 1000mw, not so long range at all. This should help a ton. I will check out your other vids, thanks for the reply
Sweet, thanks for the video! How do these compare (in range) to the TrueRC antennas you also use?
the helical if made well is 11.25 dbi. The TrueRC X2-air is 13 dbi, which is more of a difference than it sounds like. The X2-air has a beam width at least twice the size as well. (I think it must be more efficient at focusing forward than the helical.) That said, many might not notice the difference depending on what they plan on using it for. It you get behind some trees far out, the X2-air will probably maintain better clarity. I think the best choice might be using one of each. So with rapidfire combining you get the best of both, sort of. The wide beam width and higher gain of the X2-air and also the great cross polar rejection of the helical antenna, if I'm understanding it all correctly. (I've read that record range for the X2-air was 10km at 200 mw but that must be in perfect conditions with quality gear. No way this helical will do that)
Lupet talaga sir willy
Thanks!
You should pre tin first, all parts to be soldered. Makes soldering them much faster and easier.
Yes for sure. Did I not pre tin something? Maybe I did it before starting the recording....
Love it! Thankyou! Can you use aluminum as the reflector?
I'm not sure, my guess is that if it worked it wouldn't be as well due to it's low conductivity compared to the copper surface of the prototype board.
@@FalconRadFPV Sweet! thanks for the insight! hope your channel keeps growing keep it up!
Nice ...
well it practically easy for those who had 3d printer, however without the appropriate measurement tools we never know how well the result (fine tuned).
For those who doesn't have 3d printer just search "ort helical antenna" on google
In the video I give another route for no 3d printer. RC Model reviews shows how to make it without 3d prints. This antenna has high tolerances so you DON'T need to get the coil perfect. It can be done without a 3d printer! I wanted it to be easy so I left out all the specific measurements for coil sizing. There is even a link in the description to take you right to the RC Model Reviews video about making it with just a piece of tube from any hardware store.
Thanks man! I have a question before I'm building one too:
Is it that the longer the antenna is, the better the video reception is? Because I want to make a 18 turn or maybe even a 22 turn helical!
yes longer increases the gain but narrows the effective width of the reception area. You would be better off trying to make the best 7 turn that you can or making several and testing them against each other. A good 7 turn will give you video for as far as almost any battery could take you. a good 7 turn should get 8 to 10+ km of range with a good vtx set at 800mw
@@FalconRadFPVThanks! Do you know if carbon fiber would work as the 15mm tube? Because there is nothing else near my house in the shops that has tubes of 15mm...
Mice bruh love it thanks for sharing
You're welcome!
FarVew has all your antenna building supplies that way you don't have to sacrifice an antenna.
I was under the impression that every adapter reduces your db a bit
Yes that's right, every sma connection and every length of cable reduces the signal a little. So you could use the low loss RG 402 measured out to be long enough to go all the way to the module but it would be hard to manage that length of ridgid 402. The more flexible cables have a bit more signal loss but if the lengths are kept to a minimum it still works. I have at times just connected the helical sma on the side right to my goggle module but it sometimes gets loose and I worry about that during a flight so feel better using an extension and that mount.
Hey !
Thanks for this huge tutorial 🤩
What is the copper plate diameter ?
I will do this antenna soon 🔜
I think it was one wavelength or about 54mm in diameter. I'm pretty sure I cover that in the video.
You are amazing! Thank you for sharing. Help me with my young mind about antennas. So with helical, what is that acceptable degrees that we'll still receive good signal from the drone? 10, 20 or 30 degrees? Oh no my friend, what happened to your finger?
I have a DJI fpv goggles. Antenna is LHCP. Will helical still work?
Thank you very much! are you referring to degrees on the fpv camera? Any angle is fine, I can do flips and rolls or dive perpendicular to the ground and maintain a good video signal the whole time. That's more a matter of the antenna that is one the quad. You want one with a near perfect circular pattern, like a TrueRC Singularity.
If I had to guess, I think it would probably work. To make a left hand polarized helical it just needs to spiral the other direction. I guess mirroring the object in a 3d slicer should take care of that. I have never used the DJI system before though so I no nothing about how it works or how or if these antennas would be a reasonable choice for use with it.
Cut my finger at work, power tools. It'll be ok, might have some sensitive scar tissue but I fly with my thumbs anyways so no worries there.
@@FalconRadFPV I was referring to the coverage of the helical antenna in width when it's very far away from the drone. This is how I think it works but I am not sure if it's correct. I just want to make sure that if I try long range in the future, the drone will be in this triangular looking space. i.imgur.com/FxBWCha.jpg
@@neilfpv I'm not sure the size of the cone but it's fairly wide. Out at distance I never really have an issue with the cone size since it gets wider the further away you are. It must be at least 30 degrees I would think. I only run into directional issues when I fly way to the side of myself while closer by. (I have a spotter who I will double check my head direction with every now and again if I'm covering a large area)
@@FalconRadFPV Awesome! Thanks for the tips. I will watch your battery builds then next will be this again. 😊
Hello, very nice work but I have a question. Why the length of rg402 should be multiple of 17.72mm? How it works with your extended antenna cable for avoiding switches? In thingiverse project I see SMA connector soldered to reflector.
The lengths need to be multipules of a half wavelength. It would require a video to explain why. Sma extensions for 5.8g video should already be in correct lengths unless they have been made incorrectly or for a different purpose.
@@FalconRadFPV I have another question. I have double sided copper plate for refector. What is the best way to solder that. Shall I soldere both side or only one?
You shold do some more videos vith explenation how you are flying how to prepare your Quadcopter for this type of flights. I have 2 long range 7inc quarters but i really scared to push limits like this ;)
I plan on doing videos going from building all the way to proper setup and short flights working up to longer ones.
That sounds very good. Ifyou can explain some steps you shold test or know about quad. That's Will be brilliant. Maybe parts you trust and somthing like this😊
Hi! I am really curious as to what batteryies you are using! Got myselve a 7inch drone recently and am still experimenting how to get as much range as possible.
molicel li-ion. If you check my youtube home page I just did a couple of videos about li-ion batteries.
thanks i was gonna ask you about your helicals, i think i'm gonna go oldschool and use a tripod with a carefully aimed helical. also i was curious as to how you add the dipole antenna to your tbs rx
The bardpole for crossfire? I use the the ufl version and skip the sma connector. I have my receiver right in the back so that it reaches the mount beside my vtx antenna. Since I have the ufl version instead of the hole for pushing an sma through I made it to have a sleeve that comes up about 1/2 inch tall, same size as the sma hole but a 1/2tube instead of hole. Then I cut the tube in half so I can spread it open and put the bardpole into it. Then use a piece of heaty shrink to keep it all tight together.
@@FalconRadFPV thanks, i think the crossfire micro 2 is next on my shopping list,
I like that set up could build that set up for Amway goggles for me
The video shows how to do it yourself. It's not really too hard to do. You just need the 3d printed parts, that's the hard part.
😎 cool
Thanks!
I have made a pair of this and they are even much better than the VAS Ethix Extreme. Very happy. Just 1 question: I got the strongest signal when pointing the antenna 45 degrees from the VTX pagoda antenna. Both antenna behaves the same. I am using with the Cobra X. is it supposed to be so?
I'm not sure I understand the question. But the helical gets the best signal pointed directly at the location of the drone. A pagoda antenna should have it's strongest signal coming sideways out of it when its pointed straight up.
You ever try electrical butter? The petroleum-based lubricant electricians use to pull wires thru metal conduits? It might help u roll that copper thru the holes
I have not, but I learned something today!
All hail king long range
Wow, thanks!
can you do a video on how you edit your footage to make them look nicer?
That's an interesting idea. I might do a video like that in the future, but my video schedule is pretty full with many promises of build and setup videos to work through. (to be honest I feel like I need to get a bit better at post production stuff before I should start giving advice about it. So far I've been more about playing around with settings and seeing what happens rather than having any sort of refined process that I go through. It is in large part due to the huge variety of lighting conditions that I end up recording in. Most of the year there is a small window of daylight where the light is good and shadowed areas are at a minimum. Otherwise it's all about trying to get the gopro to get useable video from two extremes, in shadows and from snow in sunlight. Of course gopro settings can't be changed during a flight unless it's on auto. I still go back and forth between auto and locked exposure depending on the light that day. When I get a bit better at it I'll try and share some knowledge!
Hi! what is the diameter of the former? I find different values for 5.8ghz, between 15mm to 18mm (internal diameter of the helix). I know that will work with any value, but which one is the best? Thank you!
I believe the internal diameter is about 15mm. Ya just measured it, 15mm or a tiny bit less.
Where abouts in Canada are you? I am on Vancouver Island. By the mountains you must be in BC somewhere
That's right! I'm in Vancouver.
There's a 10$ and 40$ helical antenna on Banggood. Could you test both of them and maybe even show what you could do to them to improve the video quality?
That's an interesting idea. I might try that in the future. Thanks!
Yea , then after u test both of them justsil thrm to mr soni can dispose if them for u, yhen nest week can u get the dji v2/goggles n rinse n repeat Lol
Are there LHCP version of it (for digital VTX)?
Hi, you mention the wavetrap should be one sided to avoid it from getting in contact with the reflector? Because in ib crazy blog he has a steel piece soldered to the copper wire that's in the air.
Both ways do the same thing. I've made it both ways.
@@FalconRadFPV i just finished making one. I used a double sided copper board reflector and a computer hard drive mounting bracket strip for wavetrap. Soldering the wavetrap was a bit tricky. Thanks for the excellent tutorial 👍
I'm waiting for my new 3d printer to arrive to print some of this antennas.
Awesome, good luck!
This kind of antenna's don't have a direction like RHCP or LHCP correct?? Amazing job Falcon
Yes they do, they are circularly polarized.
@@FalconRadFPV thanks....and to change the polarization i must only change the rotation of the spires?
Sir, I want to ask, if I use NYY type electric copper wire with a diameter of 1.0 or 1.5 does it work? and make sure again the diameter of the PCB reflector is 51.7 mm to 52 mm?

Yes that right. The reflector doesn't have to be perfect, it can be a few mm bigger or smaller and it will still work well.
one more thing sir, what is the size of the copper cable spring, and what is the diameter of the mold? Thank you
Doesn't the extension screw up the 83mm length? I mean if yours are performing that well I guess it fine... Or is the extension still add up to a multiple is the 17mm?
I believe an extension that is meant for 5.8g video would likely be made the correct length. Generally speaking manufacturers will higher engineers to to assist with product design parameters such as cable length and type VS signal loss or degradation. This antenna (if made correctly) easily gets a clean video signal at 8 to 10km range or more. So there is also some headroom for a bit of signal loss if someone doesn't use a proper cable to connect it to the goggles.
do you have to use bare copper wire or can you use the coated stuff and just remove the coating at the needed solder points?
Either would be fine. Ya that's right the only issue would be scraping it a little bit to be able to solder to the end.
Would this work with RP SMA ends too? Where would you measure to cut it to length?
Yes that would work. you measure the shielding. So from where the pin goes into the rp-sma, just don't include the pin length in the measurement.
@@FalconRadFPV Awesome. Thank you! I appreciate the help!
One more quick question. Could I use aluminum instead of copper for the coiled antenna wire?
No I don't think so. The bare copper wire can be bought at many different electronics stores. It should also be on amazon etc... Or just a piece of 16g home wire from the hardware store will probably work fine as well.
Hey there!
Just wanted to drop a quick question - I'm rocking the Commandos on the 915 MHz band (iFlight Chimera Pro v2), and my eyes caught the Goggles 2 antenna strutting its stuff at 5-7 GHz.
Now, I'm not exactly a long-range guru yet, so I gotta ask: is this frequency mashup gonna vibe well together?
I'm all ears for any wisdom you can drop on a rookie like me. Much appreciated!
If the frequencies are far apart it'll be fine. It's when they get close together that its and issue. Like using 2.4ghz for the transmitter and video would be a bad idea. I would use crossfire or ELRS at 915ghz and video at 5.8ghz is perfect, they are far enough apart that there is no interference between them.
No clue, thanks for the heads-up! Yeah, RC's rolling at 915 MHz, and the Integra's rocking the dual-band vibes (2.4 and 5.8)... thinking of ditching the 2.4 and going all-in on the 5.8, what's your take on that?
Oh, and by the way, just throwing it out there, planning to pull off the FCC hack. Watched a bunch of vids, and they swear by it for boosted penetration and crazy range.
Any firsthand wisdom you can drop on that?@@FalconRadFPV
Hello. I wanted to know where I can find supports for helical antennas. Not those of the antenna but those to put on the glasses in order to then host the antennas. Thank you.
Here's a link to thingyverse. There's a helical antenna holder by me near the bottom. It's for my orqa goggles but it could be modified possibly. Just reverse it in the 3D printing software for the other side.
www.thingiverse.com/search?q=falconrad&type=things&sort=relevant
@@FalconRadFPV thanks
How come, the length of the RG402 is actually relevant if it's shielded anyway? I mean, you even extend it with another extension. Doesn't it affect it as well then?
The length requirement is due to RF science that I can't explain. Good point though, perhaps the cable length should be measured from antenna to receiver instead of the next coupler. I'll have to test that out!
Can I use old CATV 6 cable (18AWG 150V) with SMA connector?
I'm not sure, but I think it might not be the right impedance.
Could one also use some copper sheet metal for the reflector?
Yes I believe so.
How much range would you get if you tripled the antenna length/size?
oh it gets less efficient. 7 turn 11.25 dbi. 12 turn only around 12+dbi. 6 and 7 turn work best. It's more range than the examples though.
What is the Wave Trap actually doing(is it necessary)? and is the copper side on the copper plate or on the wire? im building it right now
the copper side goes up and is soldered to the middle of the flattened out first quarter turn. The wave trap is a necessary part. The impedance of the coax is 50ohm and the coil is more like 110 or more. The wave trap helps get them to the same impedance to improve performance. For more info on it check out the link for the I B Crazy post.
@@FalconRadFPV Thanks for responding and helping me out :D !
I already 3d printed the model with the coil inside and already cut out a round sheet of copper.
I looked at the linked post (I B Crazy post), and also googled a bit but for me it seems pretty difficult and I don't understand it properly.
Can I also use a piece of copper which is isolated from the copper sheet as a wave trap or does it need to be a one-sided copper clad board?
Pretty cool! I made myself one and it’s still my best antenna yet! #islandfpv
That's great to hear!
Has the reflector to be round? And has it to be flat? (Sorry, I´m not into physics, just trying to figure out what influences what)
Yes flat, I think square is ok but not sure what the size should be then, 52mm, I guess. A 52mm circle gives maximum dbi but is not necessary unless you are trying to get max range, like over 7 or 8 km it might be worth making it round or if you are using 600mw or less vtx.
I just wanted to ask if you could a tutorial!
Perfect timing then!
I have read the reflector material does not matter much and heard of people even using the lid of a bean can. Do you know if this is true?
An alternative would be galvanized steel. A 12 x 18 inch sheet at home depot is $7 canadian, probably $5 or $6 in the US. Maybe you can find a smaller one for even less. I believe copper or galvanized steel works best.
Where does one find a wire jig like that to make that perfect spiral.
The antenna part and a dowel/jig for the wire shaping are found here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:367500
Can you use a solid copper piece for the reflector?
I believe solid copper should work for the reflector.
Is the wave trap touching the copper plate? What is the piece you call wave trap?
the wave trap is the small 6mm x 3 or 4 mm square of thin metal. It should be soldered to the bottom of the antenna coil and defiantly not touch the base plate. My example is confusing. I used a piece of one sided copper coated pcb for the wave trap. The copper side only touches the antenna but yes the inert pcb (plastic) side does touch the base plate. But wave trap refers really to just the copper coating not the rest of the plastic supporting it.
did you design the 3d print file for a lhcp guide pole?
I didn't design the prints, got them from thingiverse. It's for right hand polarized, although you could just mirror it in Cura slicer to reverse the polarity.
If the copper sheath is higher than the reflector would that cause issues? Mine is like 2mm above the reflector
I would keep it as short as possible. I have it come just high enough that I can solder the sheath to the base plates copper surface. The last quarter turn of the coil that goes flat should be only 1 or 2mm above the reflector (base plate) surface. You can email me at falconradfpv@gmail.com and I'll help you figure it out. Send me a couple of pictures and I'll see if I can spot a reason for it not working.
@@FalconRadFPV Thanks so much I will do!
I don’t think I’ll be able to make these antennas, can you recommend an antenna that I can purchase that will Have similar performance? Southwest FPV Durango Colorado
Many FPV stores will have high gain long range antennas. The higher the gain the stronger the signal, BUT also the narrower the area of coverage. Compare the gain and area of coverage pictures for different antennas to make a good choice. Most good quality (the more expensive ones) antennas will have a picture for the gain levels at various positions around the antenna as well as the shape of the pattern for area of coverage. More coverage = lower gain, one goes up the other will go down. 12 or 13 dbi (like TrueRC X2-air) should be plenty for a long range goggles receiver antenna. For a quad antenna the same thing except you want low gain and coverage in a perfect circle around it, like with the TrueRC Singularity.
Does the wavetrap make a big difference? I made one without a wavetrap and I get similar penetration as a foxeer lollipop.
I think the wave trap might be to help adjust the impedance of the antenna to 50ohm's. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes to the antennas function, I've always included it on my antennas. If you are referring to using a lollipop antenna on your goggles vs the helical, you should get significantly better reception with the helical I would think. It should be roughly 3X higher dbi than the omni directional lollipop antenna. You need to have the helical antenna pointed roughly towards the drone at all times. If you are a few km away its easy to keep it pointed correctly, if you are flying nearby and go off to the side you need to turn your head to keep the drone within a roughly 60 degree cone of high gain reception for the helical antenna. With the lollipop there is no need to turn and face the drone no matter the position or direction. That's the trade off between high gain directional antennas like a helical and a lower gain omni directional like the lollipop.
@@FalconRadFPV Yea I know exactly the difference between the two. I usually use two omnis perpendicular to one another with my Fusion module. I tested the helical against the one omni and just put the drone on 25mw and walked behind a couple walls. There doesnt seem to be a huge increase in performance. For example If I put my hand infront of the helical the Fusion rssi favours the omni.
I'm using a 5 turn helical.
Are you sure that mode 1 on the Rapidfire module was used? Some of the people told me that mode 2 is much better for LR ? P.s. I also use the FPV.One, are you happy with them? 😊
Would be nice to know which one is better
@@RealKushrage Yea man, because I have flown until 2km with mode 1 and then a friend told me it would be wise more to switch to mode 2. But I'm not that sure anymore... I have not passed more than 2.5km yet.
Ok I'll try a test for it when I get a chance and let people know what the results are. I have always used mode 1. According the the immersion rc rapidfire manual mode 1 is the one with all the special stuff going on for signal combining. Then mode 2 was for quads that didn't work properly on mode 1 due to cameras not conforming to proper video signal standards. But mode 2 was supposed to be just about as good as mode 1.
I was thinking about trying mode 2 though for a different reason. Just before sunset my camera gets near impossible to see through in certain light conditions. I've seen a video where a guy showed that rapidfire mode 1 made SOME cameras appear to be really dark and mode 2 seemed to get a brighter picture. So I want to test that out a bit.
YES I love my fpv.one's they're great. Plus I'd rather not support fatshark who has no interest in innovation or moving the community forward like orqa does. Fatshark was happy making no new products and sitting on the profits of old design's until they got some competition, then they just copied the competition and beat them to market.
@@FalconRadFPV Yes I experienced that also. On my NewBeeDrone Acrobee the image is not that good on mode 1 and much better on mode 2.
@@FalconRadFPV Please do make a short video once you test the mode 2 please! P.s. I am having problems with my camera brightness which is seen in the DVR. But my thought is it is related to the VTX. Because on all other TBS Unify quads I have 0 problems, and the latest one with the AKK Infinite I have problems. Mode 1 or mode 2 make the video (for me) the same brightness. To jump over the problem I just crank up the brightness and contrast on the FPV.One, but the DVR once it is recorded can be seen very dark... I have also tried switching the cameras with a different model and it was the same.
Still can't seem to get mine to work at all. Have tried two different base plates and have redone the coil many times.
Check your most recent comment.
Can i use a bare copper plate for the reflector as well?
Yes, I believe you can.
@@FalconRadFPV okay 👍 i will try build one with that, thatnk you for the super quick answer🤜
bro, is necessary the firts 1/4 lap of the helical of copper paralell with the circle of copper?
I believe so, that's how I made mine and I get great range with it.
@@FalconRadFPV thanks very much bro!!!!! Excelente videos!!!!!!!