antenna mods, how many have done them....

Art-Tistic · Sep 9, 2016

So I was wondering how many of the members here have made the antenna mods to their H or ST16. The 2 external 2.4 ghz pole antennas on the H and the new external 2.4ghz on the ST16 (like the new ST16+)

If so which and what results did you notice?

Peace,
Anthony

Brian Mackey · Sep 9, 2016

Art-Tistic said:
So I was wondering how many of the members here have made the antenna mods to their H or ST16. The 2 external 2.4 ghz pole antennas on the H and the new external 2.4ghz on the ST16 (like the new ST16+)

If so which and what results did you notice?

Peace,
Anthony

In the future I may send my to carolina dronz or over to "richard gilmore" across the big pond - LOL and let them do both the mod's, I would not even think about trying it until the warranty is over.

DroneClone · Sep 9, 2016

You did not give the option to select ST16 "Only"!!!!!

Steve Carr · Sep 9, 2016

I see the antenna mods to the ST16 as way to achieve solid video and telemetry connections. The mod is fairly straightforward and likely about an hour to complete.

The antenna mod on the H appears to me aimed at long distance. I would be much less likely to try this one. BTW, I have everything I need for the ST16 mod and will do it in the near future.

Hunter_Michael · Sep 9, 2016

I did the ST16 antenna mod yesturday as my connections finally showed up from Amazon, however it came from China. It was actually pretty easy to do, took me about 45 minutes, I am in need of a second stock antenna now if anyone knows where I can get one on the cheap. I am going to wait to do the H, I want to be able to extend the antennas like the Pro and have them in the stock covers or hopefully someone will 3d print and sell them in a kit. Make it every bit the pro.

alsey7 · Sep 9, 2016

I have done it with internal booster on the ST-16 and H

DroneClone · Sep 9, 2016

Steve Carr said:
I see the antenna mods to the ST16 as way to achieve solid video and telemetry connections. The mod is fairly straightforward and likely about an hour to complete.

The antenna mod on the H appears to me aimed at long distance. I would be much less likely to try this one. BTW, I have everything I need for the ST16 mod and will do it in the near future.

Please enlighten me on the antenna mod? Is there a kit or something I have missed while hibernating for 30 days in Clackey's Cave? LOL ! No offense Clackey, just a little humor on my side!

Steve Carr · Sep 9, 2016

DroneClone said:
Please enlighten me on the antenna mod? Is there a kit or something I have missed while hibernating for 30 days in Clackey's Cave? LOL ! No offense Clackey, just a little humor on my side!

The ST16 has 4 antennas. One the outside is a 5.8 and a 2.4Ghz. There are two more on the inside. 5.8 and 2.4Ghz also. It's just a matter of moving both the internals to the outside.

DroneClone · Sep 9, 2016

Steve Carr said:
The ST16 has 4 antennas. One the outside is a 5.8 and a 2.4Ghz. There are two more on the inside. 5.8 and 2.4Ghz also. It's just a matter of moving both the internals to the outside.

Is there a kit to do it? Antennas, cables and SDC connectors? Or is this just fishing string and bailing wiring it? Thanks Steve!

Steve Carr · Sep 9, 2016

This is what I'm using for the 24Ghz antennas. They seem to work well. I'll post the cables in a minute.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZWPS3O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hunter_Michael · Sep 9, 2016

Get the below from amazon and then follow the video. It's that easy, have to get a second antenna too. I didn't move the 2nd 5.8 just the 2.4 like the ST16+. Just a reminder that when you unplug your ST16 Battery your time and date revert back to a default setting as I realized when I went out and flew today.

Im curious if moving the other internal 5.8 antenna outside the box will do anything?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005...o+RP-SMA+Pigtail+Antenna+WiFi+Cable+Pack+of+2

Sparkorc · Sep 9, 2016

At the moment I have no intention of voiding the warranty.

My TH has got really excellent range without any mods, I suspect my good fortune is I only generally fly in isolated rural locations where spurious wifi signals are probaly negligible, I cant think of any other reason to account for my excellent range.

Steve Carr · Sep 9, 2016

These are the connectors I have. Since the antennas I posted above have center pins and the cables have center pins, you need an adapter to install the antennas.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CVQ3XLY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LKGY8VA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hal · Sep 9, 2016

Steve Carr said:
The ST16 has 4 antennas. One the outside is a 5.8 and a 2.4Ghz. There are two more on the inside. 5.8 and 2.4Ghz also. It's just a matter of moving both the internals to the outside.

Here we go again.... As far as all my research has shown...There are three 2.4GHz antennas and only one 5.8Ghz antenna on the ST16. There is a 2.4GHz RF board that has one internal Zigbee antenna and one external Zigbee antenna.... Then there is the WiFi board that has one external 5.8Ghz antenna and one internal 2.4GHz Wifi antenna.

One only has to move the internal 2.4GHz Zigbee antenna externally to improve the telemetry signal. Moving the internal 2.4GHz WiFi antenna is pointless unless you are using your ST16 to surf the internet and want to hit a hotspot at a distance.

The nearly hour long video posted above is a good visual reference but I wish he would have zoomed in a few times to see clearly the boards and connections. He states that the upper board is a 5.8GHz board....Well, yes and no...It's the WiFi board and it is dual band. He also made comments about NOT using any generic brand WiFi antenna and making sure you buy a Yuneec antenna. While I would like to stick with the Yuneec antennas...Fact is, the ST16 works on the 2.4GHz wifi frequencies and there is no reason to think that a nice high gain WiFi antenna wouldn't work as well or better then the stock Yuneec antennas. Of course, the WiFi band overseas might have a different bandwidth then here in the US...So, he might have a point outside of the US.

I've studied the paperwork submitted to the FCC by Yuneec. I also reviewed parts they sell and came to my conclusions about what is what inside the ST16. Keep in mind, that the 2.4GHz RF control board in the ST16 is the same one used in the H. This is the board one modifies with the two external 2.4 GHz antennas on the craft itself. 5.8GHz is reserved for the video feed only and that comes straight from the CGO3+.

I've modified two ST16s and on the second one... I only moved out the one 2.4GHz telemetry antenna just like Yuneec did. Again, I'm using the ST16 to fly the H...Not surf the internet. The other 2.4 GHz antenna can stay internally.

Hal · Sep 9, 2016

DroneClone said:
Is there a kit to do it? Antennas, cables and SDC connectors? Or is this just fishing string and bailing wiring it? Thanks Steve!

DC...If you can find antennas with the correct RP-SMA male connections then go with that...Personally, the few adapters and shorter the cable the better the results. Since we are dealing in milliwatts and high frequencies... The more direct cabling one can do the better chance of little signal loss.

Hunter_Michael · Sep 9, 2016

Thanks Hal, I just found the FCC paperwork submitted by Yuneec for both the ST16 and ST16+ and you are correct on all.

Steve Carr · Sep 10, 2016

Hal said:
Here we go again.... As far as all my research has shown...There are three 2.4GHz antennas and only one 5.8Ghz antenna on the ST16. There is a 2.4GHz RF board that has one internal Zigbee antenna and one external Zigbee antenna.... Then there is the WiFi board that has one external 5.8Ghz antenna and one internal 2.4GHz Wifi antenna.

One only has to move the internal 2.4GHz Zigbee antenna externally to improve the telemetry signal. Moving the internal 2.4GHz WiFi antenna is pointless unless you are using your ST16 to surf the internet and want to hit a hotspot at a distance.

The nearly hour long video posted above is a good visual reference but I wish he would have zoomed in a few times to see clearly the boards and connections. He states that the upper board is a 5.8GHz board....Well, yes and no...It's the WiFi board and it is dual band. He also made comments about NOT using any generic brand WiFi and making sure you buy a Yuneec antenna. While I would like to stick with the Yuneec antennas...Fact is, the ST16 works on the 2.4GHz wifi frequencies and there is no reason to think that a nice high gain WiFi antenna wouldn't work as well or better then the stock Yuneec antennas. Of course, the WiFi band overseas might be different then here in the US...So, he might have a point outside of the US.

I've studied the paperwork submitted to the FCC by Yuneec. I also reviewed parts they sold and came to my conclusions about what is what inside the ST16. Keep in mind, that the same 2.4GHz RF control board in the ST16 resides in the H. This is the board one modifies with the two external antennas on the craft itself. 5.8GHz is reserved for the video feed only and that comes straight from the CGO3+.

I've modified two ST16s and on the second one... I only moved out the one 2.4GHz telemetry antenna just like Yuneec did. Again, I'm using the ST16 to fly the H...Not surf the internet. The other 2.4 GHz antenna can stay internally.

I'm certain you are correct. After our previous conversation I wasn't quite sure about the antenna configuration on the boards. Also agree that adding connectors can attenuate the signal. When I was ordering the antenna they were all male SMA connectors which wouldn't work the existing external connectors on the ST16.

Hal · Sep 10, 2016

Steve Carr said:
I'm certain you are correct. After our previous conversation I wasn't quite sure about the antenna configuration on the boards. Also agree that adding connectors can attenuate the signal. When I was ordering the antenna they were all male SMA connectors which wouldn't work the existing external connectors on the ST16.

Following someone else's mod I found online with boosters and their use of odd connections with all sorts of adapters... I decided and ended up ordering special/custom cables from China so to avoid using any adapters on the cables-- Amazing what the internet can do for us

With years of installing two-way radio antennas on homes, repeater sites, cars, etc...And troubleshooting SWR and other antenna signal issues... The more direct a RF signal can take the better. And since we are trying to increase range with such a low level signal...less is more

DroneClone · Sep 10, 2016

Hal said:
Following someone else's mod I found online with boosters and their use of odd connections with all sorts of adapters... I decided and ended up ordering special/custom cables from China so to avoid using any adapters on the cables-- Amazing what the internet can do for us

With years of installing two-way radio antennas on homes, repeater sites, cars, etc...And troubleshooting SWR and other antenna signal issues... The more direct a RF signal can take the better. And since we are trying to increase range with such a low level signal...less is more

Hal, do you have any links as to where in China to purchase the correct SMA connectors and cables? And also the two "Craft" antennas and do you recommend using the OEM H antenna for the one external ST16 2.4 GHz antenna, or have another preference?Thanks

Hal · Sep 10, 2016

The correct cables I mentioned were for another project but was to share the length one goes to reduce the variables in an antenna system. I actually purchased the cables and antennas on Amazon. To get you familiar with the style and lengths here's some of what I purchased:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A4I3AGE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019FUHAU8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used the shorter 3dB antennas (so they don't interfere with the camera) along with the shorter cables from the other kit, on the H, and then then higher gain antennas can be used on the ST16. You can use the longer cables inside the ST16 ---- But, I actually bought a couple sets of both (and some spare cables) since I have two H Advances and I mixed and matched cables. I really think you should poke around and search Amazon to find out what works best for you based on the descriptions of what I bought . I did learn, after purchase, that the thicker coax cable was too hard to easily route inside the H and in certain parts of the ST16 -- So, other cables I ordered where never used. And 20cm length seemed to work well for both H and ST16.

In the end... I have options with antennas and like you, have already invested in the "higher end" 3rd party antennas. If Itelite comes out with their Pro antenna then you certainly can use that alone. Right now, I have my Itelite on one ST16, with two of the higher gain antennas from Amazon for the newer antenna connections I made (that ST16 has 4 connections) and on my other ST16, I use my FPVLR along with another FPVLR antenna for the 2.4GHz connection (that ST16 has only 3 antenna ports) I also could put the higher gain antennas (from Amazon) on the H and just not pan around where the antennas would get in the shot.....But, I have lots of combinations and have not really gone the distance yet to tell you which ones work best. My goal is to have a solid connection within LOS in a relatively high RF environment. The FPVLR antennas allow to be easily placed along with the Itelite panel antenna or all by themselves --- But, I'm not sure you, specifically, plan to purchase the FPVLR antennas soon.