I bought it to extend range in urban enviroments.  Based on range tests I've seen on Youtube, Yagi's are supposed to outperform parabolic range boosters.  I couldn't test it out today due to the wind.  I've seen Yagi antenna's come in 3 styles: 2.4GHz (longer bars), 5.8GHz (shorter bars), extended 5.8GHz (pictured below, reflector bar + 8 shorter bars).

Let us know if this works

Lots of videos confirming they work. Post results here. The most interesting video was the recent one where it outperformed a remote using 4hawks extenders. What a waste of money those things are.

22340179 Posted at 6-20 13:21
Lots of videos confirming they work. Post results here. The most interesting video was the recent one where it outperformed a remote using 4hawks extenders. What a waste of money those things are.

Yup, I saw that vid.  The 4hawks clearly works too, but I'll stick with cheaper options that don't involve disassembling the controller.  Right now I get up to 3,500 ft in an urban environment,  I'll update if the Yagi improves that.

trader6777 Posted at 6-20 13:34
Yup, I saw that vid.  The 4hawks clearly works too, but I'll stick with cheaper options that don't involve disassembling the controller.  Right now I get up to 3,500 ft in an urban environment,  I'll update if the Yagi improves that.

The cheap yagi ones work better and you can still store your drone, you don’t need to pull apart the remote to install etc. It’s a no brainer. I personally like the silicone yagi design, it comes in a slick box and is a better make than the 3D printed versions.

22340179 Posted at 6-20 13:46
The cheap yagi ones work better and you can still store your drone, you don’t need to pull apart the remote to install etc. It’s a no brainer. I personally like the silicone yagi design, it comes in a slick box and is a better make than the 3D printed versions.

5 element bars + reflector bar comes standard on silicone factory made Yagi's.  I got the 3d printed one from ebay because it's the only design with 8 reflector bars instead of 5.  And as a range test addict, I had to get it.... I've got the silicone one in the mail from Amazon, so I can compare the 2 when it arrives.

I think I can spare you some hassle here... as I've combined both.



I managed around 2 Km with the parabolics + Y/U and about 1.8 Km for each one with a caveat. The Y/U seem better suited for receiving, the parabolics better at transmitting. My Y/U appear to be of a very low quality... I am not sure whether I'll order a new better quality (perhaps the silicone one) set.

Logics want Y/U design associated with reception, like in common household aerial antennas. At about the same distance the Y/U lost connection 3 times while the video feed when the boosters were correctly oriented was very laggy but not disrupted. Meanwhile the parabolics offered a far more relaxing experience, requiring a less precise aim and although providing slightly more stuttering feedback the Mini never lost track of the oncoming signal.

I've done some sreen records, I don't know if I'll share... too much work and I am still recovering after my last video toil.
Btw my Y/U average performance might be due to the quality of the whole thing, the metal rods appear quite unevenly oriented and cut, also feel too light for the task. I've noticed the set you've got besides being a better print has several more rods.

m80116 Posted at 6-20 14:15
I think I can spare you some hassle here... as I've combined both.

[view_image]

Mine has 8 rods + reflector, instead of the standard 5.  That's why I call it 5.8GHz extended.  It's possible if the rod lengths on yours are uneven, it could cause low performance, since the only difference between 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz versions are the rod length.

After nearly losing my mini over the water on a 15,000 ft range test, I've put a self imposed limit of 11,500 ft, which is plenty to test them in an urban environment, where my current max range is about 3,500 ft.

I was able to go over 4 miles under ideal conditions with my Yagis before I decided to turn around.  My video had gone out at around 3 miles but could still control it.  After turning around, I was able to go about 2.5 miles before the battery ran out and it safely landed in the sand.  Retrieved without incident.

Art Vandelay Posted at 6-20 16:05
I was able to go over 4 miles under ideal conditions with my Yagis before I decided to turn around.  My video had gone out at around 3 miles but could still control it.  After turning around, I was able to go about 2.5 miles before the battery ran out and it safely landed in the sand.  Retrieved without incident.

[view_image]

You win....  My 15,000 ft range test has been one upped!  Could you link to the antenna you bought?

Also, just a reminder, if your mini doesn't have the power to make it back, land in the most deserted area you can find, away from people.  Last year I had my mini stolen by a sweet old lady, who picked it off the sidewalk next to the beach, thinking it was lost.  I posted lost drone signs in the area it landed and amazingly she called me, and told I can pick it up from her sons house, who had already ordered a controller for it.

trader6777 Posted at 6-20 17:39
You win....  My 15,000 ft range test has been one upped!  Could you link to the antenna you bought?

Also, just a reminder, if your mini doesn't have the power to make it back, land in the most deserted area you can find, away from people.  Last year I had my mini stolen by a sweet old lady, who picked it off the sidewalk next to the beach, thinking it was lost.  I posted lost drone signs in the area it landed and amazingly she called me, and told I can pick it up from her sons house, who had already ordered a controller for it.

These are the ones I got: My Yagis

Yeah, I was pretty lucky on where mine went down.  It was shortly after sunrise and the beach was probably the least traveled spot (except for one jogger and a crab).  I put my name and phone number on my drone just in case I lost it.

Cheers

Art Vandelay Posted at 6-20 18:41
These are the ones I got: My Yagis

Yeah, I was pretty lucky on where mine went down.  It was shortly after sunrise and the beach was probably the least traveled spot (except for one jogger and a crab).  I put my name and phone number on my drone just in case I lost it.

wtf, do you just slip it on?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Signal- ... :g:2acAAOSw3LJe67Dm

Can you risk frying something w/ that stuff?  Would it send the wrong code?

Art Vandelay Posted at 6-20 16:05
I was able to go over 4 miles under ideal conditions with my Yagis before I decided to turn around.  My video had gone out at around 3 miles but could still control it.  After turning around, I was able to go about 2.5 miles before the battery ran out and it safely landed in the sand.  Retrieved without incident.

[view_image]

Nice flight, that was good distance for a mini

AntDX316 Posted at 6-20 22:02
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Signal- ... :g:2acAAOSw3LJe67Dm

Can you risk frying something w/ that stuff?  Would it send the wrong code?

You can't fry anything with them.  They're not powered but, instead, just focus the energy where you point them instead of going in all directions.  When I use them in a suburban high-interference environment, I only get modest improvement.  Well worth the low cost, in my opinion.

Art Vandelay Posted at 6-20 18:41
These are the ones I got: My Yagis

Yeah, I was pretty lucky on where mine went down.  It was shortly after sunrise and the beach was probably the least traveled spot (except for one jogger and a crab).  I put my name and phone number on my drone just in case I lost it.

Same picture and kind of listing as the seller I've bought my Y/U from.

At this point I don't know what else to think... in my case I was getting connection losses before video freezes (ofc when you lose connection your video feedback goes to gray), in your case it appears to be the opposite.

I don't know how meaningful my test is, wondering what might happen in a busier frequency space. Anyway for now I know that parabolics + Y/U do indeed make a little bit of difference and I can use them both combined should I need maximum reach.

Art Vandelay Posted at 6-21 02:28
You can't fry anything with them.  They're not powered but, instead, just focus the energy where you point them instead of going in all directions.  When I use them in a suburban high-interference environment, I only get modest improvement.  Well worth the low cost, in my opinion.

Do you still get 360° coverage or does it turn them into directional?

AntDX316 Posted at 6-21 07:15
Do you still get 360° coverage or does it turn them into directional?

From my experience they're directional, if you rotate the drone to look at something you break signal, If you don't keep the remote pointed in the same direction you lose signal. They work like a zoom lens does taking in light, the further you are the cone of signal becomes a bullet line to the drone.

I'm honestly surprised by how tame this thread is, I made a video because some people were discussing yagi's here on this forum and I was attacked by the Antenna Nazi's for so much as humoring the idea of using some sort of signal booster.

I'm working on part 2 of my first video going more indeph with the things I've found from using Yagi's, they're worth the few bucks to have around.

ABeardedItalian Posted at 6-21 07:28
From my experience they're directional, if you rotate the drone to look at something you break signal, If you don't keep the remote pointed in the same direction you lose signal. They work like a zoom lens does taking in light, the further you are the cone of signal becomes a bullet line to the drone.

I'm honestly surprised by how tame this thread is, I made a video because some people were discussing yagi's here on this forum and I was attacked by the Antenna Nazi's for so much as humoring the idea of using some sort of signal booster.

So the yagis make them More directional??

ABeardedItalian Posted at 6-21 07:28
From my experience they're directional, if you rotate the drone to look at something you break signal, If you don't keep the remote pointed in the same direction you lose signal. They work like a zoom lens does taking in light, the further you are the cone of signal becomes a bullet line to the drone.

I'm honestly surprised by how tame this thread is, I made a video because some people were discussing yagi's here on this forum and I was attacked by the Antenna Nazi's for so much as humoring the idea of using some sort of signal booster.

All the nazis are in the active track thread. That keep them very busy.

So basically if you do not point the remote directly at the drone, you lose the signal with them? I ordered some and waiting for it to arrive. I thought they would make the signal stronger, not directional only.

trader6777 Posted at 6-20 14:10
5 element bars + reflector bar comes standard on silicone factory made Yagi's.  I got the 3d printed one from ebay because it's the only design with 8 reflector bars instead of 5.  And as a range test addict, I had to get it.... I've got the silicone one in the mail from Amazon, so I can compare the 2 when it arrives.

Hi, can you post the link you got it? I could not find any of those with 8 bars or made of silicone.

thanks!

AntDX316 Posted at 6-21 10:21
So the yagis make them More directional??

It is a directional. It like a flash light, putting a reflector mirror (in this case the Yagi) in the back of light bulb. The Yagi doesn't do any amplification but guiding the EM wave in the disired direction to achieve the gain.

Thanks for posting it here! We are testing the 8 rods Yagi in rural area. We reached 19,750feet yesterday without losing the video link, and performing farther distance testing in a couple of weeks.

We can fly pretty far here, but our range is limiting by the battery capacity so far. Does anyone have a modifyied battery can sell to us?

ABeardedItalian Posted at 6-21 07:28
From my experience they're directional, if you rotate the drone to look at something you break signal, If you don't keep the remote pointed in the same direction you lose signal. They work like a zoom lens does taking in light, the further you are the cone of signal becomes a bullet line to the drone.

I'm honestly surprised by how tame this thread is, I made a video because some people were discussing yagi's here on this forum and I was attacked by the Antenna Nazi's for so much as humoring the idea of using some sort of signal booster.

Looking forward to it. There are quite a few videos on YouTube now...

22340179 Posted at 6-21 12:40
Looking forward to it. There are quite a few videos on YouTube now...

Antenna Nazi's ?.?

AntDX316 Posted at 6-21 10:21
So the yagis make them More directional??

So this is a bit crude and I thought of better visual examples toward the end.

Default the signal from the radio to the mini is a broad band, it spans out in front and behind you, and bleeds out the sides giving you close to 360 coverage.

(Were going to focus on if the drone is in front of you for my examples.)


Now if you pan to left/right you are in the saturated signal area, the drone is still in the net so to speak.


With the Yagi's it's amplifying the signal but in a focused fashion, so the net that's being cast out becomes more focused.


If you are in it's regular range and pan the drone you will still have coverage but when you get out further you break the direction of the receiving antenna's



A picture is easier to explain what's going on, if you have a basic understanding of how wifi works this illustrates what's being changed with the Yagi's.

Bearded not to be pedantic but I can't understand your red triangles, if those were signal span areas for transmission they should have been in the front leg and inwardly oriented and the emitted beam crossing each other completely at some point. Y/U cones are pretty easy to figure out... but the spray paint err.... is it bushes?

Miniformer Posted at 6-21 13:05
Antenna Nazi's ?.?

Yeah, she is referring to people who actually may know what they are talking about.

m80116 Posted at 6-21 14:38
Bearded not to be pedantic but I can't understand your red triangles, if those were signal span areas for transmission they should have been in the front leg and inwardly oriented and the emitted beam crossing each completely at some point. Y/U cones are pretty easy to figure out... but the spray paint err.... is it bushes?

Yeah those red triangles aren't correct. They are multidirectional receivers...

If someone wants to experiment with yagi antennas with minimal effort and expenses here is a template. Photocopy on white sticker paper and/or glue it on foam core board (3mm). Cut the perimeter with an x-acto blade. Use elements in any distance you like. The guides are 9.7mm apart. Quick, and cheap.
myYAGI_5_8GHZ.pdf (26.73 KB, Down times: 73)

2020-6-21 Upload

Click on the file name to download attach

ABeardedItalian Posted at 6-21 13:13
So this is a bit crude and I thought of better visual examples toward the end.

Default the signal from the radio to the mini is a broad band, it spans out in front and behind you, and bleeds out the sides giving you close to 360 coverage.

Nice, so it turns it into directional then?  

Those with a Yagi, have you tried turning around facing away from the drone to see if the signal is lost?

"Bearded not to be pedantic but I can't understand your red triangles, if those were signal span areas for transmission they should have been in the front leg and inwardly oriented and the emitted beam crossing each other completely at some point. Y/U cones are pretty easy to figure out... but the spray paint err.... is it bushes?"

I apologize as I said it was a rushed job and I didn't explain it all that well, I'll try to do a better Job below. The spray paint was suppose to represent signal saturation outside the cones, how you have an area that has little to no signal, a weak range, and a good strong signal but the colors don't really work when talking about wifi.

"Yeah those red triangles aren't correct. They are multidirectional receivers..."
True, but have you tried to fly away panned 90­°? If I fly out 800' and hover I have video, if I pan 90° I lose video. If I rotate another 90° so that I've rotated 180° in total the video will return, so while it does work in all directions the signal strength isn't at it's best when the drone is rotated and the antenna's are facing away. I'm just trying to visualize what I've experienced, I'm not trying to say the antenna's are directional but that the orientation matters for peak reception.

So here's a better attempt at visualizing how the signal is being broadcasted, from my experiences the signal is at it's best when the drone is facing away or facing toward to the remote. The signal from the drone is being cast out 360° but after X distance the signal starts to fall off and become weaker. So the green spray paint is the immediate area surrounding the drone which will the signal will be at it's strongest, the orange paint is that middle area's where you start to see lag on the video but still have signal and the gray is when you lose signal entirely.


Now from the remote's view this is what it looks like when you are flying, you are within the signal net. As long as you are within the green area you are free to fly as you please, but the further you get the weaker the signal will become and orientation becomes a factor.


Looking at what the Yagi's do you can see you have a much smaller area that you can fly in, you have to follow the drone with the remote to keep the drone flying within the net.




Here I've made an attempt at illustrating how orientation effects the performance of the Yagi's. Let's say the best you can get before the Yagi is 1000', you can rotate 360° and retain video. With the Yagi's installed we can reach 1500' but if you rotate the drone 90° you will lose video signal. Only when rotating 180° will the video return, I think it's close to what I have drawn. When going out and the antenna's are casting back to the remote you are within the Cone and the mini's transmission is strong enough to stay connected but when the drone rotates the signal output becomes weaker and not strong enough to transmit video any longer.

AntDX316 Posted at 6-21 18:48
Nice, so it turns it into directional then?

The parabolic and yagi extenders focus the connection so the direction the rc is in relation to the drone is more important using them. It's not a difficult concept to grasp.

m80116 Posted at 6-20 14:15
I think I can spare you some hassle here... as I've combined both.

[view_image]

Your picture Just gets me thinking of adding a couple of reflectors on the Yagi. Do you think you can play around and see how this preform in comparison to the parabolics +Y/U?

Sorry I am pretty new here. Are you in the US?

Hello there trader6777. Thank you for reaching out and for sharing these information about your new Yagi 5.8GHz Antenna Range Booster for your DJI Mavic Mini. Just a reminder, that DJI don't recommend using third-party accessories such as the range extender or Yagi antennas to our DJI Products as we can not guarantee the outcome of using it. Thank you and have a safe flight always.

Ok, got your point @Bearded, I've never experienced that kind of orientation signal drop off but I was thinking based on how the internal MM antennas are oriented it could have been a thing.

To answer @Miniformer I am not in the US, I am based in Italy.

PanX Posted at 6-21 15:18
If someone wants to experiment with yagi antennas with minimal effort and expenses here is a template. Photocopy on white sticker paper and/or glue it on foam core board (3mm). Cut the perimeter with an x-acto blade. Use elements in any distance you like. The guides are 9.7mm apart. Quick, and cheap.

Nice, the rods are what material and diameter and length?

djiuser_TMVxYMvAICGG Posted at 6-25 16:07
Nice, the rods are what material and diameter and length?

If you use the printed guides i made them from a plan circulated on net, the length is 1.45 cm for these in front of the antenna (5 pieces) and 2.45 cm for the one back. You can use any metal you like, if you prefer aluminium an "easy" source are aluminum rivets with diameter 2.5-3 mm .

A Yagi Antenna for this purpose, is just a gimmick, and nothing else. A Yagi Antenna is in it's design made, to be fully directional, as it has nearly no effect, when it turns just a little bit out of direction, where it has to receive the signal from. So to believe in, that it has effect, is nonsens. If you will boost the signal, then go for the Parabolic reflectors. And yes, I'm technician, and has been working with Yagi Antennas, for many years, and know in deep, what they can, and can't.

A Yagi Antenna for this purpose, is just a gimmick, and nothing else. A Yagi Antenna is in it's design made, to be fully directional, as it has nearly no effect, when it turns just a little bit out of direction, where it has to receive the signal from. So to believe in, that it has effect, is nonsens. If you will boost the signal, then go for the Parabolic reflectors. And yes, I'm technician, and has been working with Yagi Antennas, for many years, and know in deep, what they can, and can't.