What is really inside the ST-16 antenna

[BobW55]

There have been numerous discussions on Antennas and the ST-16. I thought I would share what is really inside the 2.4 GHz antenna.
I DO NOT recommend anyone taking their's apart.

The antenna on the bottom is what you would find inside the stock ST-16 antenna bodies. This is for the 2.4 GHz band or your flight control. The antenna on the top is a 7dBi colinear antenna that I made several years ago. The bottom antenna is considered a 1/4 wave dipole antenna. the little wire part above the brass part is the actual radiating part of the antenna. It is also the same antenna you find protruding from the left and right sides of the H body. There is nothing wrong with it, they work just fine but can be better. I use my home made antenna for the flight control. I do not fly that far out to worry about video, but do not want to loose control.
Be very carefull when buying 3rd party antennas that claim to have all this gain, they do not, take one apart and you will only find what is on the bottom of the photo I posted.
All things come with a price, when I fly my homemade antenna, there is a null or no control area when directly overhead and more that 100' up. putting a 10-15 degree tilt on the antenna will correct this
Some times the engineers get things right and the stock antennas are just fine. Pay attention to antenna orientation when flying. The antennas on the H are straight up and down, so should the antenna on your ST-16, if you move the screen around, you may have to reposition the antenna to keep it in a vertical orientation.

 

[gwhuntoon]

BobW55, Great info. Would you say then the stock antenna is that good compromise for range and reduced null area directly overhead or is there something better yet (in the area of diminishing returns) between your 7dBi colinear antenna and the stock one?

 

[BobW55]

Anything other than the stock antenna is going to have a slight null in one or more directions.
For my homemade one, I only slightly noticed it when directly overhead, a slight change in ST-16 angle solved it.
Have to ask yourself, how often to I have the aircraft directly overhead?
For me, I usually have more problems with orientation (front/rear) when the H is directly overhead than I do with it far away. I know I can fly further than the video will work, but in my own playing around also discovered that I do not like flying that dang far away. I can handle loosing my video, but do not want to ever loose control.

 

[PatR]

I know I can fly further than the video will work, but in my own playing around also discovered that I do not like flying that dang far away. I can handle loosing my video, but do not want to ever loose control.

I'll side with that all day long.