Augustine...replacement antennas?

[HiloHawaiian]

I have spent way too much time on different antennas and range extenders trying to enhance the video/control signals at greater range. I fly over rugged inaccessible areas of the Big Island, and I’ve had harrowing moments loosing signal, but the Home command has always worked, thankfully.
I finally bit the bullet and got the

Aloha @HiloHawaiian ! I lived on Oahu for 10+ years while stationed at Bellows and Hickam. The Raptor and IteLite are basically identical systems and I have gotten some really good range extension in a more urban area with lots of houses. Have not made it out to an open area yet to test real distance gains. Glad that you are getting good results from yours. Look for the 4Hawks Raptor thread in here and happy flying.

Ahhh Hickam. My GGF was head groundskeeper during his retirement years after working at the nearby Ewa Sugar Plantation for 30 years. Oahu isn’t great for drones, but the 4,000sq.mi Big Island only has 200,000 people, mostly lava, jungle, canyons, lava, waterfalls, rugged coastline, and lava. Hairy flighting, I stopped worrying about loosing my XSP. Lava makes for hard landings.... I do have more confidence flying with the new antenna, no doubt about it!

 

[LuvMyTJ]

I finally bit the bullet and got the $130 Itelite antenna on eBay. Yes, it’s big, but very light weight. The clip to hold it to the RC is funky, but can easily be enhanced to hold it more securely. The brain surgery on the RC unit is tense but doable. Use a white table cloth, well lit room, and have no distractions. It takes about an hour, if you take your time to fully understand each step before proceeding.

The range increases have been dramatically improved — 200-300%. In an open field, the range is scary far, well out of sight, which I’ll never do again. There is still the occasional video signal hiccup, but they are brief and few. It’s a drastic mod, but IMHO, worth it.

Is this the same, heavy (zipped tied it on), 7.5" x 13.5" Itelite panel I have?
The Itelite panel on my Phantom was about 3" x 6"

It does make a world of difference. Itelite makes a nice antenna but I no longer see the XSP panel available. Must have been a one-off run to gauge interest.

 

[HiloHawaiian]

You can find them on eBay, Amazon and Drone sites. Yea, it’s big, but I made a crude metal bracket that tightens with a wing-nut to the RC.

Amazon.com: Buying Choices: ITELITE DRONE RANGE EXTENDER FOR Autel X-Star Premium Quadcopter ITE-DBS06.7B

ITELITE DBS MAX Upgrade for Autel X-Star Premium Drone ONLY, 900MHz

drone-antennas

 

[LuvMyTJ]

You can find them on eBay, Amazon and Drone sites. Yea, it’s big, but I made a crude metal bracket that tightens with a wing-nut to the RC.

Amazon.com: Buying Choices: ITELITE DRONE RANGE EXTENDER FOR Autel X-Star Premium Quadcopter ITE-DBS06.7B

ITELITE DBS MAX Upgrade for Autel X-Star Premium Drone ONLY, 900MHz

drone-antennas

Must be a new batch. They were nowhere to be found fairly recently. I was tired of the terrible video reception, this fixed it for the most part.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Is this the same, heavy (zipped tied it on), 7.5" x 13.5" Itelite panel I have?
The Itelite panel on my Phantom was about 3" x 6"

It does make a world of difference. Itelite makes a nice antenna but I no longer see the XSP panel available. Must have been a one-off run to gauge interest.

Here is the size difference. Some feel the need for zip ties but mine seems to fit nicely.

ITElite Antenna=13.4 x 7.5 x 1.6 inches

4Hawks Antenna=11.5 x 7.25 x 0.75 inches

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Here is the size difference. Some feel the need for zip ties but mine seems to fit nicely.

ITElite Antenna=13.4 x 7.5 x 1.6 inches

4Hawks Antenna=11.5 x 7.25 x 0.75 inches

My experience has been that without the zip ties on the Itelite it falls off due to its own weight with any movement of the TX.

(Hmmm, my Itelite dimensions are 13.5 x 7 3/8 x 7/8)

 

[Jagerbomb52]

The ITElite Antenna setup looks a lot different than the 4Hawks set up. Mine does move a tad but not enough for me to worry about it.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Actually, the mounts look very similar to me. The springs that hold the clamps closes are too weak in the Itelite.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

OK thats a better picture. i could not tell from the other ones.
looks to be the same.
When I first pick mine up the antenna will drop down a tad and then stop. It seems like it will not go any farther on my setup but not saying that is for sure. I have used it a dozen times and it stays put. Hopefully it will stay put in the future.

 

[intrepidusa]

Mine does sag a little too when you lift the RC up but it doesn't fall off even with jerky movement of the RC. The springs could be a little heavier to stop any movement. I'm going to tap a small hole and thread one side for a tighten down thumb screw to go in, plastic washer (like the ones that hold mounting screws to a electrical outlet) inside the non-threaded side to hold the screw when not threaded should do the trick. When I get time to do it I will post pics...might be a while, quite busy lately with work and camping season kicking off next weekend.

 

[HiloHawaiian]

Thanks much, both methods better than mine! Yes it’s big, but so far, the range and reliable video signal makes me not care...