I know this question has probably been asked loads, but basically what are the best antennas for the VRX (Cobra X Analogue SteadyView module, which I believe is one of the top modules). I ended up running two omnis, instead of 1 patch and 1 omni. Tried both mix and diversity mode too. Would like long ones I guess, so do I run 2 omnis, or 1 patch one omni or 2 patches I guess? This is an area of FPV I’m getting my head around. Also I “may” look at HDZero in future, and be nice to use whatever I get with them in future. I just want a “better” experience. Note I will be freestyling in open, and bandos mainly (hopefully if I have confidence in the feed!)
Basically I had a LOT of issues with break up, fuzzy, weirdly not in any kind of pattern and very close <80meters from me (some may have been caused by a HDZero guy who turned up, though he was running R1, and me R5 on ALL quads, but happenned when he was off too). This occured with all three quads I was flying (200, 400 and 1600mW VTX’s). Two of them are small UFL and the 1.6W is a Tank Solo with “proper” antenna (RHCP). I tried other goggles which weren’t great at first, but switch from 1 patch and one omni, to both omni’s really really helped. i.e. I was confident to fly and do what I wanted to do with my flying.
So I noted you switched a patch out and replaced it with an Omni.
I guess you may have had a bad patch antenna? It was loose and rotated around. If you remember it was pointing behind you at one point. Perhaps it had a bad connection?
Was the other onmi also poor? It was only a little short one.
So many options.
I’ve been running great with a TBS patch and a True-RC singularity, long lead for a while now on my “Mix” RX module. Brendan has been doing much the same with similar success…
It best for a patch + omni? maybe I need research. Seems my Omni is a TBS Triumph Pro, which is highly rated (at last by oscar liang), so maybe another Omni, and a decent patch…
yeah I get that, but wasn’t inside at the time, seriously meters away from the pilot. I will probably look at HDZero at some point probably
Sounds like a dodgy connection somewhere. Either what Yith mentioned above with the patch spinning or the vtx itself.
I know @Earwig had a similar issue that seemed to be a broken connection on his vtx.
Now that depends on the type of flying you’re doing and where you are flying.
I think where we were sat with the buildings in front of us and with the chance that we would be flying behind us that patch + omni is preferred. But I’ve heard arguments for two omnis at different angles. It varies a lot.
I like my patch/omni setup over dual omni for a few reasons.
I like to be able to fly long range, that’s when my patch comes in. It’s very tightly attached to stop it moving, so I leave it on even for closer stuff.
I like to be able to remove the omni and use the patch and the drone finder feature of my goggles.
I think that two identical omnis will produce more switching between signals as they will be so close in power. The switching will produce visible interference even on “Mix” style VRXes, and far worse in diversity.
Just my reasoning… I know there are reasons for going with two omnis, but those are the killers for me.
The great thing about antennas is the opportunity to experiment and tailor setups to suit various different situations.
I’ve not had much opportunity to play with mix mode on my Skyzone 04X goggle but I’ve been treating it in a similar way to a system I helped to develop quite some years back.
We were working on improving the reception of digital microwave signals in regions that were prone to severe reflection issues. As some of you may know when a signal is reflected its polarity is reversed, RH becomes LH, etc. In simple terms we received in both polarities, and because the signal was digital we would compare the error rate in the sync and combine the two polarities into one signal before demodulation.
Skyzone and ImmersionRC (Rapidfire) have not described their mixing process in detail but I think they are doing something similar with the video’s sync pulses to produce the resultant image. I’ve used two dipoles, one H and the other V using mix mode and the result was favourable to using just one dipole and two dipoles in the same polarity. I haven’t done the test with two CP antennas as I don’t have any suitable LH polarity antennas to play with yet.
yeah might be the connection on the strange patch antenna I had, and yith said was lose, but even tightnened was the same. We did try lot’s of different things and in the end the two omnis worked well (think my TBS Triumph and a foxeer lolipop). So if I get a decent long SMA RHCP + a decent patch I think is best. Was the same on all 3 quads, so was what was on my head that was the issue
If the HD0 VRX were in stock and reasonably priced I would look at that, but that won’t help with the micro quads where can’t put on a new VRX not at that size anyways
I guess we might have had some bounce back off of metal. And the guy who turned up and nearly lost his quad the same way I lost mine last year didn’t give warning when turned on.
Always useful to read your posts Nidge. Learnign is my thing and sure it’ll click one day. Radio waves and how they work something I’ve never been able to get my head around. Will try more!
Not that it’s particularly helpful, but I’ve been using a Menace RC omni and Menace RC patch on my EV300O (04X) for ages and it works very well. I have found that Mix mode can be terrible on cheap cameras/VTXs that come bundled with BNF quads - constantly jumping around and switching from colour to B&W. Changing to Diversity mode on these fixes things. No problems with Mix mode on decent branded Caddx Ratel/Runcam Phoenix type cameras though, with TBS Unify VTXs.
Also, I’ve come to accept that sometimes you go out to fly and the video signal is just rubbish and there’s nothing you can do about it. Wet fields and damp foggy days seem to cause particular problems. Even on warm, dry, sunny days I might get great signal one day and poor the next - I guess there’s no telling what else might be going on at the time to interfere with things (without some sort of RF scanning kit).
Thanks @Jase_MK some really good information there. I did notice the colour changing, etc. It was really bad yesterday for whatever reason, and was defo my goggles.
Will look at options of antenna, and probably be forced slightly by stock levels (seems flying tech have more stock than UMT!)
Slightly off topic, but I love the MenaceRC aero antenna that fits on the bottom of planes. Super tough little aerodynamic plastic bubble for the bottom of your fuselage that you can happily land hard on. I really should buy a couple more.
Oh yeah under £9… Well coming highly recommended from you guys… As my SMA’s point directly up I want a straight omni, with patch… 45 or 90 degree? Also they very tight I may need an “extension” I guess? Sooo close together on the steady view.
I have both (can’t remember the names). The smaller purple one has a smaller field of view - around 60 degrees I think - but more ‘gain’. The black one has a wide field of view but doesn’t pick up such a strong signal. I tend to use the black one mostly when flying around in a park or something and stick the purple one on if I’m flying out a long way in one direction. In reality, I’ve used both in both scenarios and they both have great reception. I have a tendency to look down at the floor though - with the purple one, ocassionally things get a bit crackly and I have to remind myself to tilt my head back up and everything is fine again.
