DJI Mini 3 Pro: Controller Mod
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- Опубликовано: 17 июл 2022
- Welcome to my video where my buddy and I mod a RC Controller. Range on the drone was not satisfactory due to the poor range that the Controller antenna had. For those who has a Mini 3 Pro drone can follow along with the modding process. Enjoy!
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LINK FOR THE ANTENNAS:
www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B082SHB... 
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Next time, I recommend you use a drill bit to make the hole, use a caliper to measure exactly where you're drilling, get a flush mount with a shorter cable because at those frequencies every extra inch you're losing a significant amount of RF power.... Otherwise you guys are Pathfinders and I plan on doing a similar mod down the road. Thanks for your work!
oh my god, i've never seen such technical non-experts, pure luck that it worked afterwards, but all respect for the attempt...lol.....🤣
wow,
Exactly
"the range is not that good" what is not good?
Yeah I did this Bs to my controller and my range actually cut to less than half lmfao
@@greenvilleobserver9431 Probably the range lol?
Hi guys I really enjoyed watching you working together. I'm gong to watch more of your videos and look forward to the range test next. thanks Steve
Others are welcome to correct me if I'm wrong, but you are the first that I've seeing in modding the RC controller...well done!
R, you are brutal.😂
Nr. 2 or 1. Dep. On who came first.
Can't wait to see the range test!
Really great video! Cool just to see the inside and know the potential to upgrade but I would likely wait until the warranty is over ... Cheers
Just don't turn the controller ON with no antennas connected. If it transmits without the antennas connected the RF energy will return back into the transmitter and can damage it.
Yeah, and what frequency are those antennas set for as well… 😳
Catalin, ai facut si tu modificarea asta? Sunt curios daca semnalul este mai bun cu mult?
Just did the modification. Thanks for your help !
Your welcome! 👍
Can't wait to see the range test! I had the same idea. I was hoping someone would try this so I didn't have to lol! Was excited to see you did. Thanks for sharing this!
We just shot the range test...at the moment I am editing the video. It will be up soon.
Fantastic mod my friend 👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you!
Genius
thanks sir! you made a favor to all of us dji'ers
There's a couple of issues you might run into with the testing, namely the choice of antennae. Getting the SMA connection happening is the hardest part though and now you can chose whatever antenna style you want.
The Antennae used by DJI on their drones are usually a complex patch arrangement and to be fair they are actually quite good as far as gain goes especially for their size. I can't talk for the Mini 3 or 2 Antennae as I haven't seen one ripped apart yet :)
The problem is that most of the aftermarket antenna options available online are pretty much just cheap dipole crap with poor internal design and mostly designed for the old 2.4G wifi bands so you might be luky to see any improvement at all and if you find something that will work well on both bands you are lucky. You will have to test on both bands of course as it might be good on 2.4 but crap on 5Ghz or vice versa.
There's a couple of patch style options from Cisco that are fairly good all round but myself.... I'd like to see this controller working with some normal mavic 2 pro antenna's, I suspect that would give people a good result.
Great video, can You do a range video, so We can see the actual results?
Good stuff bros!
Thank You!
esse drone nao deveria se chamar mini porque e uma grande maquina de voar, parabens pelo canal.
Thank you for this info. For others... because these are external range extend specific antennas, the range will be extended regardless of any DJI mods. Opening up the unit will of course void any warranties.
In the usa its illegal to void warranty for opening or working on your own stuff. But modding it might be a different story lol.
Thanks for sharing your tryout. I think you can find better omnidirectional antennas like ARGtek 8dbi Dual 2.4/5.8 used for DJI Stark and Phantom 3 & 4. Or Alfa apa-MA25 (Directional) dual.
Perfect!
great job
I am jay from Hong Kong, well done.
salut-intresting editing, all the best! Roiss_Official~:)
Thank You!
This great thanks -
Threadlock on sma antenna would have helped. Hot glue could have stuck coax together and held in place while you fitted the back.
I saw 3 tutorial RC Controller Mod videos, all skip how opened the RC cover, and included your videos as well.
The most important part is how to open the RC cover step by step, then you skip it. 🤣🤣
Nice mod.
Thinking of doing that mod myself, only one thing missing in the video is the discription and part number of the cable assembly used for the mod?
Thanks for sharing!
Super 👏👍
Thank You!
Salamat Po'
Definitely should have hot glued the connectors on to avoid them popping off in the controller given the larger wire that's inside now. If one pops off, and you turn the controller on, it's toast
at these frequencies, the wire gauge needs to be matched to the Tx driver so that reflextions don't occur. This obviously goes for the new aerial too. I would go for passive yagi/dish designs which can only be good. This obviously still leaves a problem with drones that have internal aerials, e.g. Mini Pro 3.
So what about arrange a test comparing its range before and after the mod
Dude you need to take a lot more time taking apart these high end radio's the first thing you do is take a pair of needle nose tweezers and Pull on the wire. this will damage the wire or may weaken it. to do this properly always Pull from the connection. not the wire. I would of used a flat head tweezer with rubber coating to pull out the round silver connecters I hope this helps
Hello, first of all, thank you for your informative video. What should be the dbi value of the antennas we install instead of the remote's own antennas? If we install stronger antennas, can the remote control operate these antennas? Finally; Can it still work if we install an external antenna by paralleling these antennas without removing the remote's own antennas?
Nice vídeo 😀 liked e inscrito thank you
Good job. I found out the other video compare with external(5.9k) and internal(2.9k), external so better ! BTW the RF aerial is M.2 IPEX4 on your video?
Yes I believe so.
how big is the range difference?
Muy buen video, PERO, es que necesitan ver dos antenas en el mando para sentir que hay comunicación ? porque modificar algo que funciona de maravilla
After watching your video i changed my mini 3 pro antennas too . New antennas are 8dbp dual channel.. but couldn't find the difference in range. can u please specify my any antennas which works well.
I get a better signal using the DJI RC stock than using the DJI RC-N1. The maps are slow, they lag and you can't use them to fly but that's probably the processor but the signal stays strong in areas where the signal is in the red with the RC-N1.
you are the first person I that i have heard say this.
@@TriniWeekes Now you have a 2nd. There is absolutely zero need to modify the RC (RM330) Controller. Range is about 20% better than RC N1, after Firmware V01.01.300
A couple of dabs of hot melt glue to hold attennna cables or tape would have made that a whole lot easier for you 🤣🤣
Would you happen to know whether the USB port on Mini3 provides power to accessories, such as LED or strobe?
what cable does the dji rc have? ipex to sma female maybe? Tell me exactly which cable it has so I can make it myself
Show the coverage test in the city on these antennas
What's the result
How come anytime I watch a rc conversation they never show rande test dose it actually works 🧐?
I thought those SMA connectors came with the little wrenches. I cringed when you used the adjustable wrench and the pliers. Held my breath and hoped you didn't over tightened them and cracked the case!
Has anyone any idea, if this would work with regular remote? (not RC version without display)
The range on mine is great! No need to break open your controller.
If you can use FCC, CE is a complete different story though!
Its should have antenas like pro controller. But question is how better range signal is
When you screwed your antennas on towards the end did you fly the drone with them that way? They should be flat face of the antenna towards you. Sorry just seen your range test and thought you would of got more than that . Just thought I’d mention it. 👍🏼
That's what we were debating on. We didn't know how the antennas were suppose to be situated as we just followed how the other drone remotes used to be situated as...which was facing up.
Give it a go 👍🏼
Great Mod 👍🏻 Which Antenna’s do you use?
May I know where to buy the antenna, and which model?
so after this vandalism .. how far did you go ?
i did more that 3.5 km at 50 meter altitude in EC ( europe ) .. cannot see any need for this.
That's wrong. You don't put omni antennas on that controller, you put directionnal antennas. I made directionnal yagis and used the holes behind the controller opened by removing the rubber piece. I 3d designed and printed the support that fits under the controller. I didn't do any physical modification that I can't undo. So far I did 3500m in a big city sitting on the ground with a fence in front of me. That thing goes very far without me even trying. I just can't imagine on an open field...
Hey Ben, would you be willing to sell another copy of the support you 3D printed?
@@fatsammich3839 tell you what, it is very crude at this moment, I plan on making a clean version of it soon. I can then send it to you for cheap.
@@benjaminfournier1815 Sounds good! Thx.
@@benjaminfournier1815 Can you link to a picture?
Please show us a range test
I didn't understand if it helped..
Thanks
Wondering this mod will affect the care Refresh?
Like your mod do you have a link or can you tell me what make antennas you got for the mod,thanks
www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B082SHBWTK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
How much trouble did you have separating the case? Mine is not cooperating. I ended up going with the Itellite brand high gain range extender. It is a large patch type made for the DJI Spark RC and going to require some creative mods to the supplied hardware. But the price was right. They are on sale right now.
It was hard separating the controller...there are hidden screws that's why. You just have to be careful in separating it.
@@roiss_official4712 Yes I know about the 4 screws thanks. The ones in the front are some of the smallest I have seen in my 10 yrs of computer repair. It's the case I am having trouble with as I move along the seam towards the rubber grips. Probably dealing with that glue they used on the rubber insert that holds the joysticks.
So you more than doubled the RF cable length and added an additional coupling loss for each antenna. Betting you actually lost total gain overall even with external stalk antennas. Props for the effort, but do some RF calculations beforehand next time.
Egg on your face...falloutdjsteve, watch there range test videos. Always some one out there to be a critic...
@@jasonverbarg9790 They are getting far less range in similar conditions to standard unmodded controllers. Again, I applaud their effort but unfortunately there were mistakes made.
@@jasonverbarg9790 Thank God for critics! I'm here to point out your erroneous use of "there vs their".
@@alexthai4957 I should be tarred and feathered.
I will have to see some data but in this video ruclips.net/video/xvxdltOMY6k/видео.html the $1200 and $300 controllers both get out to 9 Kilometers with full signal which is about the full range the Mavic 3 will even go before wanting to return home for battery. Interesting but maybe not super useful.
I just want to know if you can add a mobile sim this way?
Wait, is that a hole inside the indent for the control stick storage? and it appears to be big enough to run the antenna cable through? I bet I could mod this without any cutting and 3d print a clip on attachment for the external antennae and r-SMA connectors. That would allow one to remove the mod without any trace for warranty purposes.
BTW, I agree with one of the comments; that cable is surprisingly lossy and you might do better than you expect with something ~2" in length. Of course, the quality of the cables and connectors is equally important.
Edit: maybe 3"-4" after looking at how you reassembled. Those connectors will pop off if you torque them too much.
I never thought of that before. Thanks for bringing that up. I will take at look at that and mention it to my buddy about it. Thank You!
Dave Foton
0 seconds ago
at these frequencies, the wire gauge needs to be matched to the Tx driver so that reflextions don't occur. This obviously goes for the new aerial too. I would go for passive yagi/dish designs which can only be good. This obviously still leaves a problem with drones that have internal aerials, e.g. Mini Pro 3.
@@davefoton7738 Gauge doesn't matter, at least not directly. The impedance needs to be 50 Ohms which is set by the dielectric properties and the distance from shield to the signal conductor. That said, all else equal, thinner coax has higher loss per inch and the overall loss is directly proportional to the length: 2" has half the loss of 4".
Yagi: too directional will make it difficult to hold and point and Yagi are often single band. The beam is very narrow.
The Alfa Network APA-M25 works very well and is a decent compromise. I'm getting ~50% better range with the Alfa compared to the stock in an urban area. Alfa is good because they actually publish the antenna beam pattern giving more in site into how to point.
I am using RG178 which has about a 1dB/ft or 25% loss at 2.4GHz; 5GHz is not spec'd. In this case ~6" so 12% signal loss. That's actually better than I expected so I haven't bothered with shorter cables.
Good luck!
Great info. I'm not an AE specialist (I sonar). However, lo-loss coax is available using a 'spongy' dielectric. (As you will know the signal travels through the dielectric as a TEM wave). My problem is I have a Mini 3 Pro (I.e. internal AE). So my test will be to hold yagi array(s) (just directors) in front of AE points. No butchery needed at this stage 😁
I’m sure it would void warranty on RC AND drone. As well as care refresh.
DJI has updated firmware - no need to do this.. Fly Safe... :)
Maybe you can do a range test before and after to compare any improvement?
We will do another Range Test on the next video...but yah my buddy should've done a range test before the mod. I'm just going off of what he said about the range not going as far as he wanted it to be right out of the box.
@@roiss_official4712 Yea, I though they have a new Firmware release just a few weeks ago to fix this range issue. I saw bunch of guys talking about it on RUclips. I haven't fly my mini 3 after the update.... Maybe next week.
@@meowmeow372 correct. Range was identical or within 10% over 300 flights. Now seeing a 15-20% improvement on RM330 (RC) vs RC-N1 with Firmware V01.01.300
@@roiss_official4712 ruclips.net/video/xvxdltOMY6k/видео.html
@@BlairAir yes, I believe the problem was it wasn't auto switching between the 2.4ghz and 5ghz.
Can you please follow up with another video showing the range?
The range test video is already up.
Bro, you are dealing with electronics with plumber tools, you should have proper tools for that
The next version will be with external antennas.
Yes I think the next version of the mini will have an antenna or just make a better version of the internal antenna. I don't know why DJI took the antenna out in the first place.
Hi, do you have any information how to change the batteries? Cannot find anything about that anywhere. Thanks!
That I wouldn't know but I assume that when you disassemble the controller carefully you would be able to change out the battery.
@@roiss_official4712 I did. There are 2x 18650 2600 mAh 3.6V batteries with special connectors. So no special controllers. Batteries can be switched between each other so they are not paired to the BMS and could be replaced I think. But DJI has a bug there and they must know about it. If you have an issue with quick battery drain (despite RC 1 year old), when you disconnect the batteries at 0%, they show around 70%...you drain them back to 0%, disconnect again and they show around 25%...you repeat that around 3 more times until they are really at the lowest and the RC cannot be turned on. You charge them back to 100% in 3 hours (took around 30 minutes before) and they last as new. This means they get, after some time, discalibrated and the BMS is not able to get proper 1 - 100% limits. This information is not mentioned at any of the forums yet.
Excellent work, thank you.
Beim nächsten mal etwas feineres Werkzeug benutzen, ein riesen Engländer ist da nicht die erste Wahl.🤣🤣.
Waiting the range test.
It'll be uploaded soon
Where can I get these antennas
Full batre bisa terbang berapa km ???
you have the inside nuts and washer on the outside and the single outside nut on the inside
I do not believe that the signal strength has changed after this modification. But if someone is bored, let them do it.
hay where can we buy these antenna's ??? with regards danny
www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B082SHBWTK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
It appears that there are screws in both strap holders.
is there no antenna-range-fly test???????????
Are those 18650 batteries ?
5.8 GHz through cables with 1,2mm and 25cm long - thats crazy in my eyes. a much better and may be easier way would be to work on passive Yagi Antennas which work well with the RC1. But... now we have seen how to open the controller to find out how the antennas are polarized and how they can benefit from external antennas - could be an Yagi arrangment without Reflector only director part and using only 2,4GHz. Theory or better practical knowledge about antennas the Rothammel is well known (i think its only in German).
Dave Foton
0 seconds ago
at these frequencies, the wire gauge needs to be matched to the Tx driver so that reflextions don't occur. This obviously goes for the new aerial too. I would go for passive yagi/dish designs which can only be good. This obviously still leaves a problem with drones that have internal aerials, e.g. Mini Pro 3.
You should get the correct tools for the job, remind me never to send my RC controller to you for repair
And there's another sheep
Range test plz :)
Before after test
Nice precise tools you are using to tighten the antenna nuts, Could you not get proper wrenches to tighten them !
It was funny to me at the time. Those tools were my buddy's tools and I've asked earlier before if he had any other tools but that's all he had at the time.
@@roiss_official4712 I guess they worked !
There's always one
@@iainhmunro yes and it’s you !!!!!!
@@thegoodvsthebadYou should team up with @Nigel Bennett, you make an excellent pair.
What 4.3 miles is not good range? what the hell are you doing with your drone that you need to fly that far?
Holy crap you over tightened those connections yes they need to be tighter but you over did it
LOL! That's what I said to my buddy when he over tighten the connection...but he said it has to be tight!
Same snap on connectors as the Motorola 5g uw ace cell phone has
Coiling the wire changes tuning of the antenna. NG
I don't know why you did a mode if you see Circling drone video the guy show in his video 6km. Go and back without any mode I recommend .you to see his video no need modf....rc work perfectly well
Okay,,, with these comments,,, I look no futher...
Great work , where are the antennas from?
You can purchase them on Amazon
Thanks 😉
@@roiss_official4712 you can't just buy any antenna on amazon, they have to match the freq that the controller uses. Which antennas are they from amazon????????????
@@CliveDrone www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B082SHBWTK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
Can't seem to get those antennas in UK???
no way that im gonna be doing that to my controller..
What is range before mod?
The range before the mod was less than 1000ft...and with the mod we got it to reach at 1890ft.
@@roiss_official4712 tested in city with full of interference? I tested mine on city. Stock dji rc. This morning giving 2.3km range until red signal.. My drone is CE and I am in Malaysia.
We tested ours in the city as well and the signal begins to drop close to 2000ft...we will make an update video to see how far the range can get to with the mod antenna.
Have you tried to range test until rc lost connection? I did mine today.. Rc lost connection at 3.1km.
Can someone add an extra mini-HDMI output to it? It will be extremely useful for screen recording and live steam via capture device
Why cant you show us the actual range test? Please
For the second video we will be testing the range on it.
You jacked the controller for nothing. The new firmware fixed the distance. Theres one youtube video where he flew 9000 meters. Thats almost 6 miles. He had to turn back because of battery life. But nice job on the work.
That's good that the other RUclipsrs reached that distant. I've watched another RUclipsr who reached 15km but he used the Mini 2 controller for that. The controller we modded is not jacked...it still works. I know the firmware fixes everything...but what does that matter. In reality nobody ever flies that far out unless its for testing purposes thats what every RUclipsrs are doing on their videos. But we had fun doing it.
It's a bummer you did this for a range problem that has been since fixed with a firmware update. Always best to wait with a new product, they always have bugs that need fixed.
Range issues have not been solved on all Dji Mini 3 Pro's.
You're right, it's hilarious. I watched this nonsense as I was curious about the inside of the controller.
The built-in antennas are just horrible. It’s not something that can magically be fixed with a firmware update. External antennas are always an improvement.
I modified my RM330 and get a lot more range at lower altitude. It does make a difference.
what are connector names? the one u add
www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B082SHBWTK?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
Good video, was there 4 or 3 hidden screes and Can you please confirm what is the pigtail connection to board is it IPEX IPX U.FL or IPEX MHF4 thanks
DJI have not made the Controller with the hobbyist in mind to take it apart 🙂