Antenna length critical ?

[grahamjb]

Chopped of both my rx antenna from a DJI dr16 receiver through impatience and stupidity

My question is, is the length critical or can it be soldered, getting as close as possible to the original length or is it fubar

[Coyote]

The length of the wire coming out is not critical, the length of the antennas active element exposed at the ends is critical.

As long as you have enough to be able to match the lengths again your ok

[jamesb72]

Funnily enough I had caught an aerial in the props on Sunday, just fixed it today. You shouldn't solder/join the aerial, but you can cut the wire and strip a new tip to the correct length, for 2.4Ghz this is 31.25mm (1/4 wavelength), if your Phantom is on 5.8Ghz it will be different length - can you check the bits you cut off and match them.

I roll the wire on a sharp knife to cut through the outer insulation, about 40mm or so, then slide the outer plastic sleeving off, trim the ground sheathing right back then lastly measure the tip and cut it as close to 31.25mm as I can manage.

If you've completely manked the wire, you can buy a length of the thin coax and solder it onto the receiver board just as the original one was, and then trim the end - cheapest way I found was to buy a Nintendo DSi aerial on ebay for 99p delivered and chop the wire up to make new aerials.


Here's the one I fixed today:

[grahamjb]

thanks for the info,
after having another look  I'm not sure my eyes are up to the task but I'll have a go
fleabay here I come :-[

[electrotor]

For the really fiddly micro jobs I use an illuminated magnifying glass on a stand, and a mini soldering iron.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HELPING-HAND-MAGNIFIER-with-LED-LIGHTS-THIRD-HAND-SOLDERING-STAND-DUAL-POWER-NEW-/200967827484?pt=Clamps_Vises&hash=item2eca9db01c

[grahamjb]

For the really fiddly micro jobs I use an illuminated magnifying glass on a stand, and a mini soldering iron.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HELPING-HAND-MAGNIFIER-with-LED-LIGHTS-THIRD-HAND-SOLDERING-STAND-DUAL-POWER-NEW-/200967827484?pt=Clamps_Vises&hash=item2eca9db01c

I agree they are invaluable, I have a hobbycraft illuminated lamp got it from Argos ages ago

Having de soldered and prised apart the receiver, the antenna connection are little pluggy things and I hope are the same size as on the Nintend DSI cable (thanks jamesb)
If they are, happy days no soldering required if not then it seems I will have to stump up for a Phantom 2 receiver, this seems to work according to http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2107229 or I can use the antennas? from that

Either way it has taught me a lesson and to be more patient

[jamesb72]

Having de soldered and prised apart the receiver, the antenna connection are little pluggy things and I hope are the same size as on the Nintend DSI cable (thanks jamesb)

I snapped these off two phantom 1 receivers last year as they had been glued on, did you get the plug out ok, if not be very careful, if you did have you got any tips, i tried to pull the first one with forceps, second one I tried to twist, one snapped the plug the other broke the socket :-(

[grahamjb]

I snapped these off two phantom 1 receivers last year as they had been glued on, did you get the plug out ok, if not be very careful, if you did have you got any tips, i tried to pull the first one with forceps, second one I tried to twist, one snapped the plug the other broke the socket :-(

I thought one of them would break as they are very small and delicate, both seem to have come away without any damage, there was a small blob of black glue or silicon on them, I just prised up very gently with a very small screwdriver after cutting away the glue
I guess I will only know when I come to putting the replacements on

[jamesb72]

You did better than me, I didn't cut away the black blob, I just used forceps to try to prise the plug off - it didn't work - TWICE !!