Has anyone thought of this or have any idea how it could be done? The problem I've faced about flying around my neighborhood is I can't get past a couple of blocks becasue the radio transmission is blocked by the homes. If I have a roof antenna I could extend my range as well as fly from my couch

You would need to spend an awful lot of money to buy a cable that did no have so much line loss that you would end up with no signal at the antenna.  Expensive.  Then,  you would have to make sure the SWR was correct or you would burn out the finals in the transmitter.   I am lazy too,  and want to do this,  but it is not too practical.  Also,  it would be illegal.

Good to know, I was wondering why no one was doing this. Thanks Kneepuck

You could put a skylight in your living room with a retractable roof and give that a go...yes/no...or a covered patio yes/no or surely at the foot of your driveway/garage under an awning or something and it would be a whole lot safer/legaler with LOS etc....Just sayin.....
Oh, and for the record, you can buy as long an HDMI cable as you want (I have a ginormous and very heavy one running between a satellite receiver to a splitter and works great, i think it is 30' feet if memory serves me correct)..just google it.. but expensive and as Kneepuck says, you will loose a lot of singal over real long lengths....etc,,,

Northofthe49th Posted at 2016-3-21 20:50
You could put a skylight in your living room with a retractable roof and give that a go...yes/no...o ...

I fly off my back deck over the house behind me that blocks me from the ravine with deer and various wildlife.  I lose video signal all the time and end up pushing the home button to get my drone back as I can't see to navigate so I think this is a good idea.   

I also think it would be valuable for companies who want to provide drone based services to a larger area.   I think if DJI sold an out door Arial that was tuned to the right frequency there would be a entire new use for my Apple TV.   

60"  Big screen TV, Ipad on your remote, share Ipad screen via bluetooth with Apple TV, Receiver on roof to relay signal and transmit again via outdoor antenna relay, a case of beer and BBQ wings.

The problem with an outside antenna would be frequency interference.  The 2.4 ghz radio spectrum,  in fact all radio spectrum,  operates as well as it does because of strict rules on the amount of emissions a given device can put out at a given range.  The 2.4 ghz spectrum is quite crowded already.  And if you had an external antenna,  it would also receive all those other 2.4 ghz signals.  I'm not saying it can't be done,  because it can,  and I have done it,  for a short time.  You can buy off the shelf stuff to do it.  But it would cost a good bit.
  Mostly,  as I said earlier,  for a good quality coax cable to replace the skinny little 5 inch long cable in the remote.  Also you would need to mount 2 connectors on the remote, unless you intend to leave it permanently hard wired to the outside antenna.  2 outside antenna, I mean and  2 long quality coax cables.  Off the shelf stuff.

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-3-21 22:38
The problem with an outside antenna would be frequency interference.  The 2.4 ghz radio spectrum,  i ...

Not sure you need anything attached to the remote. You just need a repeater (receiver and transmitter relay on the roof with your antenna)

Receiver on roof receives signals from remote and then relays this to the quad by transmitting the signal via the roof antenna.  It then receives signals from quad and relays them back the controller.

I hear you on the issue around killing the 2.4Ghz spectrum though.  Maybe if you lived in the country or if you just like messing up your neighbors wifi.  I'm Jammin, I hope you like jammin too.  

Nink Posted at 2016-3-21 19:56
Not sure you need anything attached to the remote. You just need a repeater (receiver and transmitt ...

Roger that.  And I had not considered a 2.4ghz repeater.  I was thinking amp,  but would be costly anyway. And the repeater would need real good rejection.

Nink Posted at 2016-3-22 13:56
Not sure you need anything attached to the remote. You just need a repeater (receiver and transmitt ...

Repeaters work with known WiFi communication protocols, the RC does not use standard WiFi protocols, it simply shares the same band. Won't work.

Geebax Posted at 2016-3-22 00:38
Repeaters work with known WiFi communication protocols, the RC does not use standard WiFi protocol ...

DJI know how to decode and rebroadcast their own protocol  and yes it would work.  

You know....  you can live stream from it, right?

boxerman Posted at 2016-3-22 08:21
You know....  you can live stream from it, right?

Yes, that's a cool feature but doesn't solve the problem of flying longer distances from the house. A higher antenna would solve that, the HDMI to TV is just an added bonus.

Live streaming,  casting,  those things add a delay which is not desirable for fpv flight anyway.

Anyway,  I did this already,  like I said.  Not with a repeater though.  I just used a 5.8 ghz bi-amp on the controller for my Standard and it worked.  A thought occurs,  you could get the stand alone Lightbridge and use that.  The downside is,  it cost 1000 dollars.  But garunteed to work.

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-3-22 10:07
Live streaming,  casting,  those things add a delay which is not desirable for fpv flight anyway.

...

That's what I'm looking for but $1,000 is a bit much. Is it sold by DJI.com?

Yeah, I wanted to get a little higher up so I could maintain better line-of-sight so I just put up a 15 foot deer stand next to the house
(only $89 with Free shipping from WalMart -  Ameristep 15 TwoMan Ladderstand)

gil Posted at 2016-3-22 17:14
Yeah, I wanted to get a little higher up so I could maintain better line-of-sight so I just put up a ...

How was the range with all that metal surrounding your controller?

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-3-22 13:07
Live streaming,  casting,  those things add a delay which is not desirable for fpv flight anyway.

...

Which bi-amp did you use?  Always eager to mod mine more. {:3_52:}
I slapped on a 5.8ghz 11 dBi panel antenna to increase my RC range.

gil Posted at 2016-3-22 17:14
Yeah, I wanted to get a little higher up so I could maintain better line-of-sight so I just put up a ...

Lol. It must suck to live in an urban area and have to go to this extent just to fly.

Would you call yourself a couch pilot or potato pilot?

Elmer Fudd Posted at 2016-3-22 17:25
Lol. It must suck to live in an urban area and have to go to this extent just to fly.

Maybe a roof top helipad would be the next logical step?

microcyb Posted at 2016-3-22 17:28
Maybe a roof top helipad would be the next logical step?

Lol ...This thread is young.Im sure that one will come up sooner or later.

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-3-22 13:07
Live streaming,  casting,  those things add a delay which is not desirable for fpv flight anyway.

...

I found Airplay to the Apple TV using  bluetooth is actually pretty quick and gives you a second screen without the need for the HDMI adapter.  I was running around with an inverter and batteries in bag until I finally got my HDMI adapter and had it connected up to a  Headplay HMD.

microcyb Posted at 2016-3-22 17:18
How was the range with all that metal surrounding your controller?

I went out to around 4100 feet on the first flight but I haven't really tested the limits yet.

Elmer Fudd Posted at 2016-3-22 17:25
Lol. It must suck to live in an urban area and have to go to this extent just to fly.

Actually, my nearest neighbor is 1 half mile away and I live about 15 miles from the nearest town.  I have 160 acres and despite my house sitting on a hill I am surrounded by trees that limit the reception range of the lightbridge unless I fly upwards of 400 feet.  By sitting on the deerstand I can fly closer to the ground and see more details without losing the picture.

Check this out... Im in process of doing this with my Wi Fi signal. Only works with P2V and plus models. This is not my video.

Nink Posted at 2016-3-22 23:24
DJI know how to decode and rebroadcast their own protocol  and yes it would work.

No it wouldn't. The RC unit uses standard RC transmission techniques which have nothing to do with WiFi transmission protocol. The only thing in common is that they share the same frequency.

Geebax Posted at 2016-3-22 18:00
No it wouldn't. The RC unit uses standard RC transmission techniques which have nothing to do with ...

Who said anything about WIFI.  I stated DJI should bring out an external arial and that you don't need to run 200 feet of coax to a booster they could just make a repeater.   With a repeater, you would just need a firmware upgrade on the RC and Drone so they know when it locks onto a repeater to use this as a gateway between the RC and the Drone.

gil Posted at 2016-3-22 17:53
Actually, my nearest neighbor is 1 half mile away and I live about 15 miles from the nearest town. ...

Gotya. Trees are good.Neighbors suck.

Nink Posted at 2016-3-23 09:07
Who said anything about WIFI.  I stated DJI should bring out an external arial and that you don't  ...

DJI will not bring out an external aerial because it violates all the guidelines that they stand behind. The aircraft has sufficient range to do the job, you should not be flying it out of sight, etc.

Kilted Flyer (D Posted at 2016-3-22 17:59
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2O3_1eeDtI

Check this out... Im in process of doing this with my W ...

Sweet! That's some high tech hardware you've got flyin'.  (Guess it would be easier than carrying around a deer stand!

coreysromero Posted at 2016-3-22 14:08
That's what I'm looking for but $1,000 is a bit much. Is it sold by DJI.com?

Yeah,  Dji standalone Lightbridge

gil Posted at 2016-3-22 14:53
Actually, my nearest neighbor is 1 half mile away and I live about 15 miles from the nearest town. ...

You sound like me.  I'm on 150 acres with no neighbor for over a mile.  No trees though.  Just lots of rocks.

microcyb Posted at 2016-3-22 14:20
Which bi-amp did you use?  Always eager to mod mine more.
I slapped on a 5.8ghz 11 dBi pa ...

I got one on ebay for 59 bucks.  Just enter 5.8 or 2.4 ghz amplifier.  The one I got does 5 watts.!!  It runs on from 9 to 18vDC.  I power it with a small gelcell motorcycle battery.

Hey, I asked this question a while back! Here.

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-3-21 18:38
The problem with an outside antenna would be frequency interference.  The 2.4 ghz radio spectrum,  in fact all radio spectrum,  operates as well as it does because of strict rules on the amount of emissions a given device can put out at a given range.  The 2.4 ghz spectrum is quite crowded already.  And if you had an external antenna,  it would also receive all those other 2.4 ghz signals.  I'm not saying it can't be done,  because it can,  and I have done it,  for a short time.  You can buy off the shelf stuff to do it.  But it would cost a good bit.
  Mostly,  as I said earlier,  for a good quality coax cable to replace the skinny little 5 inch long cable in the remote.  Also you would need to mount 2 connectors on the remote, unless you intend to leave it permanently hard wired to the outside antenna.  2 outside antenna, I mean and  2 long quality coax cables.  Off the shelf stuff.

hey mate,  im living in apartment block and on the 8th floor of nine but im needing to put antenna on the roof as I want to fly at the other side of building so the window cleaners said they can put one up there for me I just need to organise cables and what type of antenna would be good enough and weather proof I have my remote all ready moded and have a Mavic pro platinum and Mavic two pro would be very greatfull if you could help me and I have money to spend so what ever price I just want it done right

djiuser_fMZWiJhpiHEb Posted at 4-19 21:59
hey mate,  im living in apartment block and on the 8th floor of nine but im needing to put antenna on the roof as I want to fly at the other side of building so the window cleaners said they can put one up there for me I just need to organise cables and what type of antenna would be good enough and weather proof I have my remote all ready moded and have a Mavic pro platinum and Mavic two pro would be very greatfull if you could help me and I have money to spend so what ever price I just want it done right

The problem with something like this is you'd lose so much RF as it runs down the long cable between your antenna and your controller.

To "get it done right" you'd want to purchase and install something like this:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/SUNHANS ... :g:190AAOSwBO1Z0gI4

See the last photo to understand how it works.  

Another cheaper option is to get high quality cable such as CA400 and an amp, but the cable would be difficult to work with because it is so stiff, and it likely wouldn't work as well as the option above.  And you'll need the correct couplers on the cable ends so that you don't need adapters which would weaken the RF.  

Good luck.

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