It looks like cheap is the winner today! Horray! I saw a lot of people using these patch antennas these few weeks and last time i had chance to see some in action, i was not so impressed by the performances and your results confirmed my thought. From my experience for 5.8Ghz cloverleaf and helical is the perfect couple even for proximity, 3~5 turns for proximity and 10~15 turn for insane kickass long range... I would love to see a video of your homemade cloverleaf :) Thanks for sharing and happy midweek
One of the most useful videos you've made! Very helpful. I recently maidened a plane with that cheap chinese antenna you reviewed favourably. I have most of the other antennas (VAS, CW, you name it) and many not mentioned. But I am glad to know this cheap antennas (came with a vtx) tested so well.
I changed over to the Aomway 4-lobes some time ago. All my quads and receivers are equipped with them nowadays. A great all-around antenna which is also very, very tough and is at a good price (about $15-22 for 2). I've even lost 1 at the park and stumbled on it 2 weeks later after the council lawnmower had run over it and spat it out - no damage and I'm still using it to this day.
I use those cheap amonyway antannas and they work great... thanks for the test results, now i feel like picked a good one to use with out ever wasting my money on trying something else. you are the man Bruce.
I like the Aomway skew antennas too, tried them, and have about half dozen now, I've spent much more money on more expensive 5.8 antennas, but now the Aomway is my go to for 5.8. I love how sturdy they are too.
Great video. Actual numbers are great science, way better than the "other" youtube videos that just have two ambiguous videos side by side. My aomway patch also performed very poorly.
This video is the best could you please please please do prop shoot out for racing quads different brands as well as 2 vs 3 props in 5 or 6 inch cant find any good usefull information on youtube about it and your channel is the best most reliable source of information about quads. Ps Love your channel.
Hi Bruce, I've just done a comparison test myself using a 250mw IRC TX (using TBS Triumph at the TX) and found the Aomway skew planar is good but the TBS Triumph is better still! Despite being very small the TBS Triumph really cuts out almost all breakups from reflections and gave me a useable signal out to 2000M LOS My Skew planar ratings are: 1,TBS Triumph, 2, Aomway, 3, Circular wireless and 4, fatshark.
Great tech video. Bruce is no kid. He is one knowledgeable dude. It takes years to pick up the ability to analyze something and come up with logical ,demonstrable comparisons. He has a truelove analytical mind and the ability to explain his conclusions. I have an IQ of 136. I imagine ,if tested, he would score several points higher. We,who can, should help him as much as possible financially as well as supporting his channel. D.Fish
COME ON GUYS?!?! Bruce has over 116k subscribers and only 264 are willing to throw him a few bucks on Patreon to support this awesome guy's selfless work in our hobby?? Bruce deserves much more of our support. Sign up for a $1 a month AT LEAST!! I'm disgusted that more of us aren't giving our support in the form of a few bucks a month. Bruce is a retired guy supporting his wife by giving us his TIME and EXPERTISE on a daily basis. Hell, he even will take our CALLS if we need his help in all things RC related. MAN UP!!
+currdog44 - After all Bruce has done for us, we should probably send him our credit card bills. It's all his fault! Or maybe we can blame Barry? Thanks for everything, Bruce and it's only fair that we support you as all of this has been very difficult over the years. I am now a supporter!
That was awesome, thanks for the time and effort you put in. Very useful info for me. Looking fwd to the home made green unit video one day too. Thanks again.
Nice and clear review..This has got to be the most comprehensive antenna review I've seen on RUclips. Btw, one question, regarding the aomway patch antenna, I just thought that it was supposed to be receiver antenna and not a transmitter antenna that's why it didn't perform well.
+Jan Bobis By what I could see, he put a little FPV setup somewhere around the runway (with the transmitter), and he changed the receiver antennas on the ground station.
thanks Bruce for this great review again!!!! Unbiased, nicely told and including alle the numbers one needs. (Recently I ordered some of the Aomways just as cheap ImmRC replacements...not sure now... maybe they should become my new number one antenna's... too man good reviews coming out on them these days)
I hope you can show the inside of the Cloud Spirit antenna in a later video. B.t.w. I like the small locking connectors on those new transmitters. They waste much less space than those huge molex connectors on Fatshark transmitters. I just wish they were readily available as spares.
+xjet Few notes I made. First the cheap chinese one you noticed to get great RSSI. I have one pair looking like that and I have noticed that the beam of the antenna is very narrow. Looks nice when I fly it but when you flip the video breaks. Second point is that those antennas might be in different tone. For example. I got few really good quality antennas from a guy that lives close to me. He tunes all his antennas (both tx and rx) to match. When I flew with good tx antenna and with another cheap rx antenna i got no range what so ever. Figured out that they must have been differently tuned. So heres my ideas how to improve your test: 1. test antennas first in matching pairs 2. move the transmitter antenna in different positions to determine if the radiation pattern is good. Otherwise very well done!
I'd like to see the difference in construction in these mushroom antennas, especially the white one. And I'm a bit sad you didnt test your DIY antenna.
Well done...loved the reviews. If you can find some 3D patterns for those designs it might help show how they do what they do... Thank you for taking time to do the reviews...good content...nicely done.
I got a set of those Aomway 4 leaf CP antennas from Banggood for super cheap, and they are working just as well as the Fatshark ones I paid nearly twice the price for. And I can say from much personal experience they hold up in a crash. :)
+Stephen Clute Exactly the same as me. I got my first Aomway 4 lobe a while back, now I've switched to that antenna on all my quads. Very happy with it, and price vs performance is stellar compared to the others I've tried.
This man would be dangerous if given a proper production budget. If a slot opens up for a Mr. Wizard re-do, can we please have Mr. Simpson at the front of the audition line? Good smattering of choices to represent what's being used out there, I've been hanging a cheap Chinese antennas off my Fatsharks for a long time, (the Immersion antenna, without a 90 bend, were infuriating!) while VAS Blue Beams are on the valuable quads and planes. Look forward to your reviews of the new FPV hardware like the Quanum VTX!
I'd love to see a video showing different types of video interference to help us diagnose problems. It seems you can have at least multi-path problems, f-zone issues, interference from other onboard electronics or motors, environmental interference, and just plain distance fall-out. There are probably plenty of others. Videos showing what these look like would be great.
Very interesting Bruce. How about doing the same for RC transmitter antenna??? with all the types available that promise extended range. There must be a compromise either by way of a different radiation pattern or going "illegal" due to exceeding the permitted ERP. I am sure thaere are many of us who would love to see a shootout for these items.
I have that antenna as my first bundle, at first I want to replace it with a fatshark/immersion one because it can be bent, but after this review I might actually stay with it, it's white and actually helps with the orientation.
Bruce: I particularly liked that you gave a summary of your review in the text below the video. Did you do the radiation pattern on the Aomway skew planar antenna? Would love those results. That one looked like a winner. Also looking for the results and construction on your home brew skew planar (green one) mentioned but not compared here. Jim
Hi Bruce - great Test as always! Super idea to show the multipath rejection. Have you opend the white Chinese surprise? It says TX on it - maybe a 3 Lobe one? Does this change reflections that much? CWL expectedly good - but not immune to crashes :) AOMWay SPW - nice - will try it myself - but as it looks I will test the AOMWay Patch (I also have it) and see if I get similar bad results. Why dont you like helicals? Cause they are directional? Love the fact that they have same gain as patches but double the beamwidth! Only didnt use my two helicals from CWL now since a few month cause I thought they are the wrong polarisation (thought they were LHCP but they are RHCP and fit to most my SPWs... greets, Mario
Bruce, would you please post the vendor of the 20dB RPSMA Attenuator? I am doing tests of my store bought and DIY. I have no SWR meter so I am using the RSSI out from an RX5808 module. I have done an exhaustive search of the net and come up empty handed!! I'd use an SMA adapters but for every connector there is further attenuation of signal.
I own the Aomway RHCP omni, and I like them a lot more than the farsharks, for price, and performance. I also have the Aomway Blue Patch, and mine is total garbage as well. but I must say, I did just pick up some VAS Airblades....they're absolutely incredible
Since most people buy and fly in matching pairs wouldn't you want to test the same way? That would have eliminated your questions about the bird's eye antenna. Love your stuff it gave me the confidence to start my own scratch builds.
Good to see your still here i was getting worried as your normally quite a prolific uploader. How do diversity receivers perform with multipathing? Also what would be the ideal combination of antennas on a diversity setup for range and dropout minimization? By the way Bruce thanks for the videos they really are a reference for technical information.
Wouldn't it have been better to also test the metal reflector in front and to the side at 90° (parallel to the path)? That way you would also get results for the helical. What is the range of the RSSI signal from that receiver? Lowest I saw was about .625 volts when you had no antenna attached, and with a high of .95 V. Is it linear over that range vs. dB? Could .95 V be the max level and thus not showing the true signal strength of the helical for example? Easy to test if you take the attenuator out and put the TX and RX close together to see how hight it goes. Thanks for the review, Bruce.
Hey Bruce. I have had trouble with my Blue Aomway Patch aswell. I get better and more consistent picture with Aomway 4 leaf Clover on my receiver. Though i managed to break one of the lobes off so they are not that durable. There was someone who mentioned on a Forum that his Patch antenna was facing backwards when he opened it up. Might be something to look into.
i thought the aomway patch was circularly polarized if you look inside it is 4 small patches set up as a circular phased array. also the front plate in the antenna is only mounted to the centerpin of the sma and the ground plane to the body so there is no mechanical connection between them and they can rotate compared to each other.
The little white one I received with my boscam vtx/vrx. The TX ant I think is 3 lobes(unsure on polarization:left,right), I'll have to check when I get home. Will post my findings of the TX and RX antennas later.
On regards to the white antenna being better for reflections.. I am very very new to FPV and not the best on airbound radio but i come from a coaxial cable company providing two-way signaling. Main issues we get are radio leakage into the cable network wither providing specific frequency spikes or noise hills over a frequency span and in like 95% of the time this is due to bad connectors. You can make a perfectly good looking and very good working connector with screw-on-type connectors but most of the times it will be very prone to signal leaking in and disturbing the communication. With proper tools and crafty work a cable should be leakage free. Also a sloppy person can make a connector leak even with the proper tools :-) I don't know how this would translate to an antenna whos very job is to pick up outside signals but it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the connector was L-shaped and with a thinner/different antenna out compared to the others.
I've just noticed that the cheap chinese antenna that performed so well was labelled as the transmitter antenna (with 3 lobes) as opposed to the one they have designed as the receiver antenna (which has 4 lobes). Just an interesting coincidence or maybe some good reason?
I have aomway antennas both the CP and patch using diversity. Find them very good and in fact when I point the patch to another copter or someone flies close by it picks up that signal. I think it's due to the gain but I'm not sure... Anyhow find it hard to use unless you are alone and use it for more penetration mostly. But to be honest I get RSSI warnings more often from my taranis than have problems with video regardless of antenna setup.
what if I use 2 totally different type antennas? Like a patch/mushroom on my monitor and clover leaf on the reciever? Or do they have to be the same? And is it any different if I cut off the sma connector and just solder the antenna to the reciever?
Hey, Bruce! Could we make an attenuator for our rc transmitters for flying with simulators? People in my family were angry because it interfered with wifi!
The problem with testing hand made antennas is the difference from one antenna to the next of the same brand more than other electronic equipment. That's why I like the Blue Beams as you will pay more but I know the quality is likely to be far more consistent plus look who developed it for FPV... good fortune comes with supporting innovation.
Can you explain how you hooked up the receiver to the volt meter? I understand that the RSSI is not output just as a voltage, it is a pulsed width modulated signal (PWM) with variable high-low ratio depending on signal strength. It can be converted to a voltage easily using a low pass filter (Resistor-Capacitor filter). This would be good to know in order for us to test our own antenna. Straighten me out if I got that wrong. Cheers! David
Could you do a video on the difference between vertical and horizontal mounting of the Vtx antenna? some say it is better to keep it vertical but who can prove it? Thanks René.
Thanks Bruce. I feel vindicated for being a tight wad. Looking forward to any light you can shed on why cheapy white antenna works so well. As others mentioned, where was you home brew ant?
Really interesting stuff. The more I watch your content the more I like it, you have a good presentation manner. I wonder how the Team BlackSheep / IBCrazy TBS Triumph would have performed in this test.... I just ordered a pair of them, so I haven't had any real world experience with them yet, but I've read and heard good things, and the pricing is relatively reasonable... Cheers!
Heh.. I wish you'd done this vid a few months ago. I bought some FS LHCP Sprio's recently and before you did your review on the dual band doo doo I had one of those in my hands. Would love to see how iBcrazy compares and the cheapy Boscam CP's for bang for buck, they seem popular.
I got three of these beerotor antennas and all three seem to have some lobes with a slight bend in the middle, but a couple are straight? I'm wondering if they are supposed to have a bend in the middle.
Bruce do you have the antenna review numbers in text form on the Web? If so would you include your home-made antenna too? Lots of folks here are asking for that to be included. Some of the model magazines should hire you to write these real time reviews for them instead of the reviews that just use published manufacturers numbers which we know are manufactured just like their products.
I have also that Aomway patch antenna and I agree with you, there is something totally wrong with it! My 4 turn helical antenna give more range than that... It would be awesome if you find what is wrong with it!
If I understand correctly.... If I use a 3 lobe LHCP antenna on the Transmitter and a 4 lobe RHCP antenna on my Receiver I would essentially receive no signal except for any reflected signal. Is there logic in that Bruce ??? Also what are the effects if using 2 identical 3 or 4 lobe, RHCP or LHCP antennas on the Transmitter AND Receiver ???
I have a question, in which finaly is the best choice for a drone system. Especialy for a Dji mavic transmitter. We have to stand in the fact that we can not change the drone antenna. So the only modification we can do, is on transmitter. And here we have two different facts. 1. Frequencies are changing between 2.4 Ghz to 5.8 Ghz. 2. We have on controller two antennas (one transmitting controll signals- one receiving fpv signal) In order to accieve stronger signal (not nessasary for longer range but for more reliability) on both, which is the best antenna selection and configuration? A dipole for transmitting and an aomway kind circular polarization for receiving is the ideal configuration? I believe dipole antennas of a biger db gain are the most logical solution. But i see some people using helicoil antennas or even directional ones have better results than stock ones. Finaly which is the best solution? Thanks
hi Bruce...your contribution to the hobbyworld is amazing and appreciated! I was wondering...if the patch is linear wouldnt the tx antenna need to be linear also? and the fatshark antennas that look like that patch are circular polarized....Thanks
I understand the benefit of having a clover leaf antenna due to the UAV pointing in all directions while flying. But as I sit, the UAV is usually on the side of me some where and rarely straight above me. Would having the "Rubber Ducky" antenna on the receiving end be a benefit?
Just out of curiosity, what would the signal be like with an omni directional antenna on the transmitter and a "rubber ducky" on the receiver? I just bought the Eachine TX02 5.8gh camera and (what is effectively) the Eachine RC832 receiver that comes stock with the rubber antenna. Of course I plan to replace that antenna with a proper one as soon as I can, but I'm quite new to the fpv hobby and I just thought I'd ask the more experienced crowd! :)
Hey Bruce, at the start of the video showing which antennas you would be testing you included your own "home-made" one but you failed to show it in the test?
Re: reflective screens. I've found that wearing a dark shirt and a wide brimmed hat with a dark underside makes my reflective screen usable. When I added a black foam panel below the screen (parallel to the top panel) the screen became even more usable. There is a surprising amount of refection from below.
+Chuckles - I concur with your statement about the dark shirt. After all the screens are much like a mirror and what you see the most in the reflection is yourself. I also found it helps a lot to back up to a tree or wall depending on where you fly. When I was using the Samsung Note 4 for flying Phantom 3 the reflection was so pitiful in the Florida sun I couldn't see much of anything. Even made a real deep hood which helped some but not much for that smallish screen. Now I have a Shield tablet with a deep home made hood and I can finally see where I"m going but I do wear a dark sweatshirt most of the time.
i thought that these circular polarised antennas needed to be matched transmitter to receiver. and talking about circular polarised, i think a circular polarised filter for the camera might help mitigate reflexions. might as well block the image, as lcds are somewhat polarised, but worth a try. i estimate that within one year of watching your clips, i'll either pick up flying rc or move to new zealand :)
Bruce, It would be interesting to see if the cheap no-brand antenna consistently performs well from part-to-part, or if you just got lucky with a good one. Also - do you know if any of those antennas (e.g. the Circular Wireless one) use a ferrite choke or RF absorber along the coax to minimize the radiation of the coax feed?
![☀ Правильные антенны на FPV очки. Какую связку выбрать? [FPV Goggles Antennas]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-K7LmlSJn-c/mqdefault.jpg)
![☀ Правильные антенны на FPV очки. Какую связку выбрать? [FPV Goggles Antennas]](/img/tr.png)
What is the name of the antenna shown at 3:41, is it omnidirectional? (similar wi-fi antennas are caller omnidirectional)
It looks like cheap is the winner today! Horray!
I saw a lot of people using these patch antennas these few weeks and last time i had chance to see some in action, i was not so impressed by the performances and your results confirmed my thought. From my experience for 5.8Ghz cloverleaf and helical is the perfect couple even for proximity, 3~5 turns for proximity and 10~15 turn for insane kickass long range...
I would love to see a video of your homemade cloverleaf :)
Thanks for sharing and happy midweek
I love your explanations sir. Thank you for your time and effort
Great review, can you please list the commercial names of the good antennas or links to where one can get them? Thank you
Thank you for taking the time to do these tests for us. This information is gold for us RC enthusiasts.
One of the most useful videos you've made! Very helpful.
I recently maidened a plane with that cheap chinese antenna you reviewed favourably. I have most of the other antennas (VAS, CW, you name it) and many not mentioned. But I am glad to know this cheap antennas (came with a vtx) tested so well.
I changed over to the Aomway 4-lobes some time ago. All my quads and receivers are equipped with them nowadays. A great all-around antenna which is also very, very tough and is at a good price (about $15-22 for 2). I've even lost 1 at the park and stumbled on it 2 weeks later after the council lawnmower had run over it and spat it out - no damage and I'm still using it to this day.
I use those cheap amonyway antannas and they work great... thanks for the test results, now i feel like picked a good one to use with out ever wasting my money on trying something else. you are the man Bruce.
Great Video. You are a very good presenter. Love to listen to you talk.
I like the Aomway skew antennas too, tried them, and have about half dozen now, I've spent much more money on more expensive 5.8 antennas, but now the Aomway is my go to for 5.8. I love how sturdy they are too.
Great video. Actual numbers are great science, way better than the "other" youtube videos that just have two ambiguous videos side by side. My aomway patch also performed very poorly.
This video is the best could you please please please do prop shoot out for racing quads different brands as well as 2 vs 3 props in 5 or 6 inch cant find any good usefull information on youtube about it and your channel is the best most reliable source of information about quads. Ps Love your channel.
thank you for this video it really helps to see through all the vodo of fpv amnidirectional antenna's and to see a good starter cheaper antenna
You bring such joy from the word CRAP made me giggle every time :D
Hi Bruce, I've just done a comparison test myself using a 250mw IRC TX (using TBS Triumph at the TX) and found the Aomway skew planar is good but the TBS Triumph is better still!
Despite being very small the TBS Triumph really cuts out almost all breakups from reflections and gave me a useable signal out to 2000M LOS My Skew planar ratings are:
1,TBS Triumph,
2, Aomway,
3, Circular wireless and
4, fatshark.
Great tech video. Bruce is no kid. He is one knowledgeable dude. It takes years to pick up the ability to analyze something and come up with logical ,demonstrable comparisons. He has a truelove analytical mind and the ability to explain his conclusions. I have an IQ of 136. I imagine ,if tested, he would score several points higher. We,who can, should help him as much as possible financially as well as supporting his channel. D.Fish
+Don Fish Jr. (The Flying Fish) www.patreon.com/user?u=2951605
+Gary Balliet Thank You very much.
Great work Bruce , what would we do without you
+Fredy Lievano I just learned that he's on Patreon. So you can support $1 or whatever to keep him going. www.patreon.com/user?u=2951605&u=2951605&ty=c
Thank you for the awesome education that you provide to us all. :-) Always looking forward to your next video!
Very, very good, useful video, good methodology and testing - keep up the good work.
COME ON GUYS?!?! Bruce has over 116k subscribers and only 264 are willing to throw him a few bucks on Patreon to support this awesome guy's selfless work in our hobby?? Bruce deserves much more of our support. Sign up for a $1 a month AT LEAST!! I'm disgusted that more of us aren't giving our support in the form of a few bucks a month. Bruce is a retired guy supporting his wife by giving us his TIME and EXPERTISE on a daily basis. Hell, he even will take our CALLS if we need his help in all things RC related. MAN UP!!
+currdog44 www.patreon.com/user?u=2951605
+Gary Balliet Thanks Gary I should have included that link.
+currdog44 How do i donate want to chip in as well
+orangeriderz thanks for steppin up dude! See Gary's post above, click on link and sign up! Its easy peasy.
+currdog44 - After all Bruce has done for us, we should probably send him our credit card bills. It's all his fault! Or maybe we can blame Barry?
Thanks for everything, Bruce and it's only fair that we support you as all of this has been very difficult over the years. I am now a supporter!
That was awesome, thanks for the time and effort you put in. Very useful info for me.
Looking fwd to the home made green unit video one day too.
Thanks again.
Good to see the Helical still working well for you Bruce 👍
Let me know if you ever need another
Cheers and a great shootout
do you still sell these bignose??
looking for a helical 4 or 5 turns
+wippo76 yes mate, message me interested
cheers
Nice and clear review..This has got to be the most comprehensive antenna review I've seen on RUclips.
Btw, one question, regarding the aomway patch antenna, I just thought that it was supposed to be receiver antenna and not a transmitter antenna that's why it didn't perform well.
+Jan Bobis By what I could see, he put a little FPV setup somewhere around the runway (with the transmitter), and he changed the receiver antennas on the ground station.
Love the real world tests, thanks Bruce!
thanks Bruce for this great review again!!!! Unbiased, nicely told and including alle the numbers one needs. (Recently I ordered some of the Aomways just as cheap ImmRC replacements...not sure now... maybe they should become my new number one antenna's... too man good reviews coming out on them these days)
I hope you can show the inside of the Cloud Spirit antenna in a later video.
B.t.w. I like the small locking connectors on those new transmitters. They waste much less space than those huge molex connectors on Fatshark transmitters. I just wish they were readily available as spares.
Excellent review Bruce! An essential subject.
Fantastic Video and very informative! Thanks, Bruce.
+xjet Few notes I made. First the cheap chinese one you noticed to get great RSSI. I have one pair looking like that and I have noticed that the beam of the antenna is very narrow. Looks nice when I fly it but when you flip the video breaks.
Second point is that those antennas might be in different tone. For example. I got few really good quality antennas from a guy that lives close to me. He tunes all his antennas (both tx and rx) to match. When I flew with good tx antenna and with another cheap rx antenna i got no range what so ever. Figured out that they must have been differently tuned.
So heres my ideas how to improve your test:
1. test antennas first in matching pairs
2. move the transmitter antenna in different positions to determine if the radiation pattern is good.
Otherwise very well done!
I'd like to see the difference in construction in these mushroom antennas, especially the white one.
And I'm a bit sad you didnt test your DIY antenna.
Well done...loved the reviews. If you can find some 3D patterns for those designs it might help show how they do what they do...
Thank you for taking time to do the reviews...good content...nicely done.
I got a set of those Aomway 4 leaf CP antennas from Banggood for super cheap, and they are working just as well as the Fatshark ones I paid nearly twice the price for. And I can say from much personal experience they hold up in a crash. :)
+Stephen Clute Exactly the same as me. I got my first Aomway 4 lobe a while back, now I've switched to that antenna on all my quads. Very happy with it, and price vs performance is stellar compared to the others I've tried.
Stephen Clute --
This man would be dangerous if given a proper production budget. If a slot opens up for a Mr. Wizard re-do, can we please have Mr. Simpson at the front of the audition line? Good smattering of choices to represent what's being used out there, I've been hanging a cheap Chinese antennas off my Fatsharks for a long time, (the Immersion antenna, without a 90 bend, were infuriating!) while VAS Blue Beams are on the valuable quads and planes. Look forward to your reviews of the new FPV hardware like the Quanum VTX!
I'd love to see a video showing different types of video interference to help us diagnose problems. It seems you can have at least multi-path problems, f-zone issues, interference from other onboard electronics or motors, environmental interference, and just plain distance fall-out. There are probably plenty of others. Videos showing what these look like would be great.
Sensational video and review, very helpful information. Thanks Bruce. :)
Great Video Bruce!
Very interesting Bruce. How about doing the same for RC transmitter antenna??? with all the types available that promise extended range. There must be a compromise either by way of a different radiation pattern or going "illegal" due to exceeding the permitted ERP. I am sure thaere are many of us who would love to see a shootout for these items.
I would like to see a detailed review of the Bee Rotor antenna. I don't know why, but the look of it sparks my intrest and curiosity.
Brilliant video. Very informative. Kudos!
Nice video, thank you. From Poland with love Bruce
Thanks for this exzellent test.
Greetings from Germany
PS.: 99% of mushroom antennas look the same inside so no matter the cost its all the same.
I have that antenna as my first bundle, at first I want to replace it with a fatshark/immersion one because it can be bent, but after this review I might actually stay with it, it's white and actually helps with the orientation.
Bruce:
I particularly liked that you gave a summary of your review in the text below the video.
Did you do the radiation pattern on the Aomway skew planar antenna? Would love those results. That one looked like a winner.
Also looking for the results and construction on your home brew skew planar (green one) mentioned but not compared here.
Jim
Hi Bruce - great Test as always! Super idea to show the multipath rejection.
Have you opend the white Chinese surprise? It says TX on it - maybe a 3 Lobe one? Does this change reflections that much?
CWL expectedly good - but not immune to crashes :)
AOMWay SPW - nice - will try it myself - but as it looks I will test the AOMWay Patch (I also have it) and see if I get similar bad results.
Why dont you like helicals? Cause they are directional?
Love the fact that they have same gain as patches but double the beamwidth!
Only didnt use my two helicals from CWL now since a few month cause I thought they are the wrong polarisation (thought they were LHCP but they are RHCP and fit to most my SPWs...
greets, Mario
Ace review of the antennas.
Another great review, Bruce! Thank you I was hoping Alex could send you an sample to test, of his "Blue Beam Ultra" antennas.
But how did the Aomway one do? It's my favorite antenna. Just wish It had a hard case over it.
Ur the best Bruce! fantasic!
Nice video, I was looking for a great starting antenna and I think the cp aomway fullfill my needs, Thank you for the tests!
I'm looking at getting the Omway set.
This post is before I watched your post
Bruce, would you please post the vendor of the 20dB RPSMA Attenuator? I am doing tests of my store bought and DIY. I have no SWR meter so I am using the RSSI out from an RX5808 module. I have done an exhaustive search of the net and come up empty handed!! I'd use an SMA adapters but for every connector there is further attenuation of signal.
It's because it's an ugly antenna. That is why it works better. Everyone knows that ugly things perform best.
They have to work harder to get the same respect
But I’m ugly and still work really bad.
_...that's what she said!!_
I actually quite like those BeeRotor antennas, they're cheap and anecdotally they work pretty well. I really like their short pigtail too.
I own the Aomway RHCP omni, and I like them a lot more than the farsharks, for price, and performance. I also have the Aomway Blue Patch, and mine is total garbage as well. but I must say, I did just pick up some VAS Airblades....they're absolutely incredible
Since most people buy and fly in matching pairs wouldn't you want to test the same way? That would have eliminated your questions about the bird's eye antenna. Love your stuff it gave me the confidence to start my own scratch builds.
Good to see your still here i was getting worried as your normally quite a prolific uploader.
How do diversity receivers perform with multipathing? Also what would be the ideal combination of antennas on a diversity setup for range and dropout minimization?
By the way Bruce thanks for the videos they really are a reference for technical information.
Really a great video!! Very informative. Thank you
Wouldn't it have been better to also test the metal reflector in front and to the side at 90° (parallel to the path)? That way you would also get results for the helical. What is the range of the RSSI signal from that receiver? Lowest I saw was about .625 volts when you had no antenna attached, and with a high of .95 V. Is it linear over that range vs. dB? Could .95 V be the max level and thus not showing the true signal strength of the helical for example? Easy to test if you take the attenuator out and put the TX and RX close together to see how hight it goes. Thanks for the review, Bruce.
ahh! finally! i've been requesting about this video for a long time.
Hey Bruce. I have had trouble with my Blue Aomway Patch aswell. I get better and more consistent picture with Aomway 4 leaf Clover on my receiver. Though i managed to break one of the lobes off so they are not that durable. There was someone who mentioned on a Forum that his Patch antenna was facing backwards when he opened it up. Might be something to look into.
Thanks again mate love your work
Very useful. Thanks Bruce.
i thought the aomway patch was circularly polarized if you look inside it is 4 small patches set up as a circular phased array. also the front plate in the antenna is only mounted to the centerpin of the sma and the ground plane to the body so there is no mechanical connection between them and they can rotate compared to each other.
awsome video like usual. learned a ton.
Have you looked at the TBS Triumph antennas? those actually interest me!
The little white one I received with my boscam vtx/vrx. The TX ant I think is 3 lobes(unsure on polarization:left,right), I'll have to check when I get home. Will post my findings of the TX and RX antennas later.
On regards to the white antenna being better for reflections.. I am very very new to FPV and not the best on airbound radio but i come from a coaxial cable company providing two-way signaling. Main issues we get are radio leakage into the cable network wither providing specific frequency spikes or noise hills over a frequency span and in like 95% of the time this is due to bad connectors. You can make a perfectly good looking and very good working connector with screw-on-type connectors but most of the times it will be very prone to signal leaking in and disturbing the communication. With proper tools and crafty work a cable should be leakage free. Also a sloppy person can make a connector leak even with the proper tools :-) I don't know how this would translate to an antenna whos very job is to pick up outside signals but it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the connector was L-shaped and with a thinner/different antenna out compared to the others.
Holly crap Bruce really aren't just pretty face....Cheers great video
I've just noticed that the cheap chinese antenna that performed so well was labelled as the transmitter antenna (with 3 lobes) as opposed to the one they have designed as the receiver antenna (which has 4 lobes). Just an interesting coincidence or maybe some good reason?
"What have I done wrong to get that to test so well" lol
I'm a big fan of the bignose13 helical as well, I haven't had to use my 5 turn yet as I got 5km from a 3 turn - and that was a long way for me :)
do you find the 60degrees manageable while flying? Do you use it for quadcopter flights?
I have aomway antennas both the CP and patch using diversity. Find them very good and in fact when I point the patch to another copter or someone flies close by it picks up that signal. I think it's due to the gain but I'm not sure... Anyhow find it hard to use unless you are alone and use it for more penetration mostly. But to be honest I get RSSI warnings more often from my taranis than have problems with video regardless of antenna setup.
what if I use 2 totally different type antennas? Like a patch/mushroom on my monitor and clover leaf on the reciever? Or do they have to be the same? And is it any different if I cut off the sma connector and just solder the antenna to the reciever?
Hey, Bruce! Could we make an attenuator for our rc transmitters for flying with simulators? People in my family were angry because it interfered with wifi!
The problem with testing hand made antennas is the difference from one antenna to the next of the same brand more than other electronic equipment. That's why I like the Blue Beams as you will pay more but I know the quality is likely to be far more consistent plus look who developed it for FPV... good fortune comes with supporting innovation.
Can you explain how you hooked up the receiver to the volt meter? I understand that the RSSI is not output just as a voltage, it is a pulsed width modulated signal (PWM) with variable high-low ratio depending on signal strength. It can be converted to a voltage easily using a low pass filter (Resistor-Capacitor filter). This would be good to know in order for us to test our own antenna. Straighten me out if I got that wrong. Cheers! David
Could you do a video on the difference between vertical and horizontal mounting of the Vtx antenna? some say it is better to keep it vertical but who can prove it? Thanks René.
What happened to your antenna Bruce. Would love a build video
Thanks Bruce. I feel vindicated for being a tight wad. Looking forward to any light you can shed on why cheapy white antenna works so well. As others mentioned, where was you home brew ant?
Do you have any videos that discuss quadrifilar antennas? CP with gain basically. Well, that and increased construction complexity.
Really interesting stuff. The more I watch your content the more I like it, you have a good presentation manner. I wonder how the Team BlackSheep / IBCrazy TBS Triumph would have performed in this test.... I just ordered a pair of them, so I haven't had any real world experience with them yet, but I've read and heard good things, and the pricing is relatively reasonable... Cheers!
Heh.. I wish you'd done this vid a few months ago. I bought some FS LHCP Sprio's recently and before you did your review on the dual band doo doo I had one of those in my hands.
Would love to see how iBcrazy compares and the cheapy Boscam CP's for bang for buck, they seem popular.
Did you test your home made one?
I got three of these beerotor antennas and all three seem to have some lobes with a slight bend in the middle, but a couple are straight? I'm wondering if they are supposed to have a bend in the middle.
Bruce do you have the antenna review numbers in text form on the Web?
If so would you include your home-made antenna too? Lots of folks here are asking for that to be included. Some of the model magazines should hire you to write these real time reviews for them instead of the reviews that just use published manufacturers numbers which we know are manufactured just like their products.
I have also that Aomway patch antenna and I agree with you, there is something totally wrong with it! My 4 turn helical antenna give more range than that... It would be awesome if you find what is wrong with it!
If I understand correctly.... If I use a 3 lobe LHCP antenna on the Transmitter and a 4 lobe RHCP antenna on my Receiver I would essentially receive no signal except for any reflected signal.
Is there logic in that Bruce ???
Also what are the effects if using 2 identical 3 or 4 lobe, RHCP or LHCP antennas on the Transmitter AND Receiver ???
Don't want to push you but when are you going to put out the video for the turnigy graphene lipo
I have a question, in which finaly is the best choice for a drone system. Especialy for a Dji mavic transmitter. We have to stand in the fact that we can not change the drone antenna. So the only modification we can do, is on transmitter. And here we have two different facts.
1. Frequencies are changing between 2.4 Ghz to 5.8 Ghz.
2. We have on controller two antennas (one transmitting controll signals- one receiving fpv signal)
In order to accieve stronger signal (not nessasary for longer range but for more reliability) on both, which is the best antenna selection and configuration?
A dipole for transmitting and an aomway kind circular polarization for receiving is the ideal configuration?
I believe dipole antennas of a biger db gain are the most logical solution. But i see some people using helicoil antennas or even directional ones have better results than stock ones.
Finaly which is the best solution?
Thanks
hi Bruce...your contribution to the hobbyworld is amazing and appreciated!
I was wondering...if the patch is linear wouldnt the tx antenna need to be linear also? and the fatshark antennas that look like that patch are circular polarized....Thanks
+mrebysan The TX should also be V or H polarized matching the RX unless he was attempting to show the RX RSSI from mismatched polarities.
Bruce, could you not simply take a RH circularly polarized antenna, and see how well it rejects signal from a LH circularly polarized antenna?
I understand the benefit of having a clover leaf antenna due to the UAV pointing in all directions while flying.
But as I sit, the UAV is usually on the side of me some where and rarely straight above me.
Would having the "Rubber Ducky" antenna on the receiving end be a benefit?
Helical or patch would be better
Just out of curiosity, what would the signal be like with an omni directional antenna on the transmitter and a "rubber ducky" on the receiver? I just bought the Eachine TX02 5.8gh camera and (what is effectively) the Eachine RC832 receiver that comes stock with the rubber antenna. Of course I plan to replace that antenna with a proper one as soon as I can, but I'm quite new to the fpv hobby and I just thought I'd ask the more experienced crowd! :)
Hey Bruce, at the start of the video showing which antennas you would be testing you included your own "home-made" one but you failed to show it in the test?
Was there a TX antenna in the mix of RX antennas? One of them had a TX label.
Re: reflective screens. I've found that wearing a dark shirt and a wide brimmed hat with a dark underside makes my reflective screen usable. When I added a black foam panel below the screen (parallel to the top panel) the screen became even more usable. There is a surprising amount of refection from below.
+Chuckles - I concur with your statement about the dark shirt. After all the screens are much like a mirror and what you see the most in the reflection is yourself. I also found it helps a lot to back up to a tree or wall depending on where you fly. When I was using the Samsung Note 4 for flying Phantom 3 the reflection was so pitiful in the Florida sun I couldn't see much of anything. Even made a real deep hood which helped some but not much for that smallish screen. Now I have a Shield tablet with a deep home made hood and I can finally see where I"m going but I do wear a dark sweatshirt most of the time.
Bruce, How about your homemade antenna? Did you test it?
very interesting video! good job!
i thought that these circular polarised antennas needed to be matched transmitter to receiver. and talking about circular polarised, i think a circular polarised filter for the camera might help mitigate reflexions. might as well block the image, as lcds are somewhat polarised, but worth a try. i estimate that within one year of watching your clips, i'll either pick up flying rc or move to new zealand :)
A fine comparison video. I shall order the cheapest now. :O(
Bruce, It would be interesting to see if the cheap no-brand antenna consistently performs well from part-to-part, or if you just got lucky with a good one. Also - do you know if any of those antennas (e.g. the Circular Wireless one) use a ferrite choke or RF absorber along the coax to minimize the radiation of the coax feed?