Poor wifi 5.8ghz feed from the C23

[Rayced]

Hi everybody,
I've acquired an H+ second hand on late 22.
Everything works fine, except for the video feed from the C23 which is really weak.
Flying straight ahead with no obstruction and the wifi connection is lost around 200 meters.
I've tried with the patch antenna, same result, bought a 4 hawks raptor XR... Same result.
The control feed of the drone (2.4 wifi) works fine so I'm thinking there's something bad in the C23.
Planned to buy the C23 wifi receiver (same as E90) but they're off stock everywhere I managed to find them listed.
Do you have the same issue (in that case it's a normal issue), or is it weird behavior ?
I've tried switching from Us firmware to EU with no improvements...
Any ideas will be most appreciated.

 

[Vaklin]

Check the antenna ground soldering joint.

Check the forum first about similar issues.

 

[DoomMeister]

I would strongly suspect that it is the cloverleaf antenna and not the WiFi board that is the issue. Check the solder joint at the base of the cloverleaf.



This is the most common problem. This has the shield broken. The inner conductor and insulation is still intact but transmission range is reduced with the shield broken.

I was able to repair this one by removing 3mm of the outer insulation then wrapping fine copper wire around the exposed shield and up onto the solder filet. I then applied a bit of flux and used a 350 degree C soldering iron to quickly apply solder without melting the inner insulation.

 

[Vaklin]

The inner insulation has good thermal resistance. Soldering it as usual.

 

[WTFDproject]

Planned to buy the C23 wifi receiver (same as E90) but they're off stock everywhere I managed to find them listed.

I've tried switching from Us firmware to EU with no improvements...
Any ideas will be most appreciated.

"Planned to buy the C23 wifi receiver (same as E90) but they're off stock everywhere I managed to find them listed."
I'm not sure if you mean the WiFi board or the antenna.
I saw some Wifi boards listed on eBay:

Yuneec E90/C23 Wifi Board | eBay

Le migliori offerte per Yuneec E90/C23 Wifi Board sono su eBay ✓ Confronta prezzi e caratteristiche di prodotti nuovi e usati ✓ Molti articoli con consegna gratis!

www.ebay.it

The antenna is listed as in-stock at Vertigo. @joe@vertigodrones may be able to confirm?

Yuneec E90 Mushroom Antenna-P8-WWAO-FO

www.vertigodrones.com

John Michell @Yuneec Skins drone may also have the part(s) you need.

"I've tried switching from Us firmware to EU with no improvements."
Did you switch back to US firmware?
The EU firmware intentionally has weaker signal. I don't know the typical normal range for the EU firmware.

 

[Chris Koch]

"Planned to buy the C23 wifi receiver (same as E90) but they're off stock everywhere I managed to find them listed."
I'm not sure if you mean the WiFi board or the antenna.
I saw some Wifi boards listed on eBay:

Yuneec E90/C23 Wifi Board | eBay

Le migliori offerte per Yuneec E90/C23 Wifi Board sono su eBay ✓ Confronta prezzi e caratteristiche di prodotti nuovi e usati ✓ Molti articoli con consegna gratis!

www.ebay.it

The antenna is listed as in-stock at Vertigo. @joe@vertigodrones may be able to confirm?

Yuneec E90 Mushroom Antenna-P8-WWAO-FO

www.vertigodrones.com

John Michell @Yuneec Skins drone may also have the part(s) you need.

"I've tried switching from Us firmware to EU with no improvements."
Did you switch back to US firmware?
The EU firmware intentionally has weaker signal. I don't know the typical normal range for the EU firmware.

Total agree with John @Skins only use the US firmware, EU is rubbish

 

[Rayced]

"Planned to buy the C23 wifi receiver (same as E90) but they're off stock everywhere I managed to find them listed."
I'm not sure if you mean the WiFi board or the antenna.
I saw some Wifi boards listed on eBay:

Yuneec E90/C23 Wifi Board | eBay

Le migliori offerte per Yuneec E90/C23 Wifi Board sono su eBay ✓ Confronta prezzi e caratteristiche di prodotti nuovi e usati ✓ Molti articoli con consegna gratis!

www.ebay.it

The antenna is listed as in-stock at Vertigo. @joe@vertigodrones may be able to confirm?

Yuneec E90 Mushroom Antenna-P8-WWAO-FO

www.vertigodrones.com

John Michell @Yuneec Skins drone may also have the part(s) you need.

"I've tried switching from Us firmware to EU with no improvements."
Did you switch back to US firmware?
The EU firmware intentionally has weaker signal. I don't know the typical normal range for the EU firmware.

I've seen this one et place an order, but the item is actually it off stock so they refunded me.
I'll try checking the antenna in C23, and, as I'm not very confident with my soldering skills, go for a new one.
Thanks for your replies.

 

[Pier2162]

Are you sure 100% the problem is in the camera and not into the ST16?
Sometimes a little oxidation can create parasite capacity and reduce contacts efficiency and signal loss.
Have you checked cables and connections between antenna's connectors and wifi board on the ST16 (and/or the same on the camera)?

 

[Rayced]

Hi,
As I did not tear the ST16 open I'm not sure of anything.
Worth a look, as I'm waiting for delivery on the mushroom antenna I just buy for the C23.
Right now I'm trying to figure out how to dismantle the camera to check on connections without breaking anything.
Thanks for the idea, time for a full clean up of ST16.

 

[Vaklin]

Take pictures until you're disassembling it or you'll not be able to reassemble it. Use not sharp tools and so on. Don't move any magnets. This camera is a very delicate toy.

 

[Rayced]

Take pictures until you're disassembling it or you'll not be able to reassemble it. Use not sharp tools and so on. Don't move any magnets. This camera is a very delicate toy.

So far I'm still looking at it hoping I can remove the cantilever it without touching anything else...
I don't think it's possible sadly.

 

[Vaklin]

Interested for you board is placed in the vertical arm. Later I can post some pictures if you want them.

 

[Vaklin]

 

[Rayced]

Hi,
Thanks for the picture it's really helpful.
Seems like I can remove the cover of the vertical arm and have direct access to the wifi board and the antenna... Without touching anything else !
Will try that this weekend.
Thanks.

 

[Vaklin]

Pay attention to these two bolts.

 

[WTFDproject]

Hi,
...
Seems like I can remove the cover of the vertical arm and have direct access to the wifi board and the antenna... Without touching anything else !

You will also have to remove two screws in the green roll motor encoder and carefully tilt the encoder out of the way. No need to disconnect the motor wires or encoder ribbon.

The two screws mentioned by @Vaklin are often not there. Yuneec apparently only installed them on a few C23/E90 type vertical arms. If yours has the screws you can use a hole in the lower mount that was provided by Yuneec. It has been so long since I've seen an arm with the screws present, I can't remember if they are hex head or phillips. Sorry. See Pics below.

 

[Rayced]

Hi,
I've managed to check on the c23 antenna connexion during the weekend thanks to @Vaklin and @WTFDproject.
It's pretty easy actually as long as you take your time and dire to those two screws being not there on my version.
Everything seemed fine except the plug of the antenna onto the wifi board being loose (however I can't say if that happened when I remove the cover of the vertical arm...).
Having plug everything back firmly it seems the link is stronger but I'm loosing it after nearly 300 meters, but this time there was plenty of obstruction (trees, abandoned sugar plant full of metal structures...)
I'll still waiting for the delivery of the brand new antenna as I did not try to pry the old one off to check for bad welding (not sure I would be able to remove all the plastic parts around it without damages).
I'll wait for the replacement and will give it another try then.
Thanks you all for all the advices, I'll keep you posted on how it's going.

 

[WTFDproject]

.... (not sure I would be able to remove all the plastic parts around it without damages).

You can't. Or at least I can't. Yuneec didn't plan on us taking that thing apart.

 

[Vaklin]

I can. Press the cap firmly with your fingers. This will give some room to add a sharp tool to the glued area. With very gentle force and careful listening, you should disassemble the cap from the base.

 

[JohnBarnes]

Had the same yesterday with the video stream breaking up with the drone 50m away. As above broken screen on the coax at the solder joint. Followed the strip back 3mm, wrap some copper strands around upto the existing joint and re-solder instructions above. Done a walk test and it seems quote good but still not as I would expect maybe 300 meters. putting the directional antenna on the ST16 worked better.

Tonight I've just changed the firmware on the drone / C23 to the US version (no change to the ST16), not done a walk test yet but the ST16 picks up the 5.8 Ghz Wifi before the drone now. On the EU version I could be waiting 2 mins before I get a camera feed.

Not the best design, stiff coax and a flexible joint holding the mushroom antenna to the gimble, its most likely going to fail at the soldered joint. When I get back home, I may see if I can strengthen the joint with some heat shrink. Or does anyone know if the C23 antenna can be changed to something else / upgraded? Looked and I can only see upgrades on for the ST16.