Blade 350QX short RC range fix - external extended RC aerial - doubled range test distance
I've been really enjoying the 350QX with FPV, but flying further out have had range issues, today I did some thorough testing, and range with 350QX tail in (so aerial is closest) I am getting good range - to the limit of my FPV video signal starting to break up, but when I turn nose in I lose RC well before this (around 2/3 video range), slightly less flying behind myself, this is very frustrating. The recently announced 350QX AP due in May will come with an upgraded full range receiver, but I wanted to do something now to improve range on my original 350QX. I bought some thin coax cable to make an extended flylead aerial (search ebay for IPX cable or Nintendo DSi wifi - loads of cheap options from 99p/$1.60 delivered), stripping back insulation and outer shielding using a sharp knife and measuring exactly 31.25mm for the inner 'tip' and cut this, I then tinned and soldered this onto the QX board replacing the original aerial, this gives me an extended aerial I have run outside the body and attached to skid leg. I performed range tests before and after with my DX8 to verify this and looks pretty promising. Original aerial gave me 11 paces range test nose in, 15 paces tail in. Extended aerial just gave me 22 paces nose in, 30 paces tail in, so looks to have doubled the range based on range test. Video and stills show how this was done, the soldering is not as fiddly as I feared, if you have a thin tipped soldering iron and a steady hand this shouldn't be a problem. I removed the top of body and undid the 4 screws holding the main board, so I could tilt it up to access underside, then desoldered the original aerial, and soldered the extended cable in its place using the red circled pad for ground/shielding. I made a hole in the underside so I could loop the extended aerial straight down out of the body, then re-fitted the main board and put top back on. UPDATE: I flight tested this today, and RC range is MUCH better, I flew to the end of the flying field and piro'd no issue, previously I could get almost all the way tail in, but nose in I would lose signal about 2/3 the way across the field. Am really pleased with this, I didn't keep flying until I ran out of range as this is all I need, but its definitely worth doing. I can fly to the limit of FPV video in all directions now, with confidence. More details on helifreal forum: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=604481 Hope this is useful
I've been really enjoying the 350QX with FPV, but flying further out have had range issues, today I did some thorough testing, and range with 350QX tail in (so aerial is closest) I am getting good range - to the limit of my FPV video signal starting to break up, but when I turn nose in I lose RC well before this (around 2/3 video range), slightly less flying behind myself, this is very frustrating. The recently announced 350QX AP due in May will come with an upgraded full range receiver, but I wanted to do something now to improve range on my original 350QX. I bought some thin coax cable to make an extended flylead aerial (search ebay for IPX cable or Nintendo DSi wifi - loads of cheap options from 99p/$1.60 delivered), stripping back insulation and outer shielding using a sharp knife and measuring exactly 31.25mm for the inner 'tip' and cut this, I then tinned and soldered this onto the QX board replacing the original aerial, this gives me an extended aerial I have run outside the body and attached to skid leg. I performed range tests before and after with my DX8 to verify this and looks pretty promising. Original aerial gave me 11 paces range test nose in, 15 paces tail in. Extended aerial just gave me 22 paces nose in, 30 paces tail in, so looks to have doubled the range based on range test. Video and stills show how this was done, the soldering is not as fiddly as I feared, if you have a thin tipped soldering iron and a steady hand this shouldn't be a problem. I removed the top of body and undid the 4 screws holding the main board, so I could tilt it up to access underside, then desoldered the original aerial, and soldered the extended cable in its place using the red circled pad for ground/shielding. I made a hole in the underside so I could loop the extended aerial straight down out of the body, then re-fitted the main board and put top back on. UPDATE: I flight tested this today, and RC range is MUCH better, I flew to the end of the flying field and piro'd no issue, previously I could get almost all the way tail in, but nose in I would lose signal about 2/3 the way across the field. Am really pleased with this, I didn't keep flying until I ran out of range as this is all I need, but its definitely worth doing. I can fly to the limit of FPV video in all directions now, with confidence. More details on helifreal forum: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=604481 Hope this is useful