I wanted to share my antenna mod. This mod allows you to build a nice diversity patch antenna for under $25.
First, get one of these Cisco ANT5170R-P antennas:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/antenna/installation/guide/ant5170r.pdf
They list for $399 but you can get them used on Ebay for $20:
Cisco AIRONET AIR-ANT5170P-R 5GHz 7dBi Diversity Patchw/ Dual RP-TNC
They come with RP-TNC connectors so I had to swap them with SMA connectors.
The cable length is 3ft, so you can just cut off the cable to the appropriate length and terminate them with SMA ends.
Make sure you leave enough cable length to loop it around like in this picture. This makes the final product fit nicely.
Once completed, it also doubles as a sun visor
Performance was great compared to my stock antennas. I live near an airport so my max altitude was 95m. I went out about 450m and the picture was still clear. I was using the stock transmit antenna that came with the IRC 600mW. This is definitely a directional antenna because if I turn around, the picture gets somewhat fuzzy.
I also like the clean look of all my components being white on my remote control.
I'll do some more tests when I get a chance to go somewhere away from an airport. Definitely a great antenna for under $25.
Also, I used the leftover coax to make some circular polarized antennas:
These work surprisingly well! I was also able to go out 450m and get decent video. There was just minor flickering (compared to the patch which didn't flicker). The nice part was that these were omni directional so I didn't have to point to the quad.
First, get one of these Cisco ANT5170R-P antennas:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/antenna/installation/guide/ant5170r.pdf
They list for $399 but you can get them used on Ebay for $20:
Cisco AIRONET AIR-ANT5170P-R 5GHz 7dBi Diversity Patchw/ Dual RP-TNC
They come with RP-TNC connectors so I had to swap them with SMA connectors.
The cable length is 3ft, so you can just cut off the cable to the appropriate length and terminate them with SMA ends.
Make sure you leave enough cable length to loop it around like in this picture. This makes the final product fit nicely.
Once completed, it also doubles as a sun visor
Performance was great compared to my stock antennas. I live near an airport so my max altitude was 95m. I went out about 450m and the picture was still clear. I was using the stock transmit antenna that came with the IRC 600mW. This is definitely a directional antenna because if I turn around, the picture gets somewhat fuzzy.
I also like the clean look of all my components being white on my remote control.
I'll do some more tests when I get a chance to go somewhere away from an airport. Definitely a great antenna for under $25.
Also, I used the leftover coax to make some circular polarized antennas:
These work surprisingly well! I was also able to go out 450m and get decent video. There was just minor flickering (compared to the patch which didn't flicker). The nice part was that these were omni directional so I didn't have to point to the quad.
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