Nexus 7 WiFi antenna mod CRUSHES WORLD RECORD!!! 12/16/2012 THE MAGIC MILE

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pool0513

Member
Jun 4, 2010
17
0
Paris
HI,

Im on vacation now but i have my nexus 7 rooted with a custom rom which also has more wifi optimisations.
I thought i've red somewhere that chuck has his one rooted too with a light weight rom.
My AR Drone is unmodded.
Maybe the quality of sma cable matters?


Hi !

ty for your reply.

Could you tell me witch rom do you use ?

I was using the last Cyanogene Mod Rom, but I have some issue with ARFligthPro.
After reading some post of chuck on ardroneflyers, I found a discution between him and the develloper of ARFligthPro who says that is recommended to use stock roms.

And what do you mean by : Maybe the quality of sma cable matters?

the cable are all the same ? no ?

ty
 

b00mb00mchuck

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2012
416
317
Right here... Right now
Dammit... I've been missing the best parts of the conversation here ... sorry ... I don't check as often as I used to because this thread dies out sometimes for weeks... anyway

Many if the questions have been adressed correctly by bigbop so we're still on the right track... dude knows what he's talking about but I don't think there was to much going wrong with your solder job... just the misconception that you should be flying farther...

Your ohm meter was beeping for continuity because of inductors in the nexus circuit - correct - no way to test that with a multimeter...

I had been using a custom rom back in november of last year but now I run stock 4.3 with many apps disabled... this is not for wifi performance but rather for app performance using ARDF Pro... don't want any force closes or glitches while in the air...

When my drone was UNboosted , my farthest flight was 460meters using the same antenna you are using...

My progress went like this...

16dBi antenna - unboosted drone................................................................... 300meters
19dBi antenna - unboosted drone................................................................... 460meters
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (installed wrong with cheap equipment).... 732meters (500mw boost)
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (better install , still cheap equipment)........ 1082meters (500mw boost
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (correct install , still cheap equipment)...... 1372meters (500mw boost)
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (correct install , all new equipment)............ 2250meters (500mw boost)
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (correct install , high power equipment)..... 4989meters at 915meters altitude (1000mw boost on both drone and tablet) {this last entry was the flight where I lost my drone on the return trip approx 750meters from home base... also lost the video file that proves the flight so I don't claim this distance but I'm throwing it out there to show what is possible}

So anyway... looking at your numbers... you are getting around 300meters with a 19dBi antenna and having link quality problems... the one thing that immediately comes to mind is polarity... the drone's antenna is horizontally polarized so you should have your panel antenna set up to match that polarization... the sticker on the back should have arrows and they should be horizontal... <-------> ...

Looking at all your pictures and description I think you got your tablet wiring correct... but I don't think you'll get a kilometer range from that setup unless you do Garrock's wheel antenna mod on your drone... you can find that on the flyers forum (I saw your message there a few minutes ago and came here... good thinking)
 
Last edited:

pool0513

Member
Jun 4, 2010
17
0
Paris
Dammit... I've been missing the best parts of the conversation here ... sorry ... I don't check as often as I used to because this thread dies out sometimes for weeks... anyway

Many if the questions have been adressed correctly by bigbop so we're still on the right track... dude knows what he's talking about but I don't think there was to much going wrong with your solder job... just the misconception that you should be flying farther...

Your ohm meter was beeping for continuity because of inductors in the nexus circuit - correct - no way to test that with a multimeter...

I had been using a custom rom back in november of last year but now I run stock 4.3 with many apps disabled... this is not for wifi performance but rather for app performance using ARDF Pro... don't want any force closes or glitches while in the air...

When my drone was UNboosted , my farthest flight was 460meters using the same antenna you are using...

My progress went like this...

16dBi antenna - unboosted drone................................................................... 300meters
19dBi antenna - unboosted drone................................................................... 460meters
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (installed wrong with cheap equipment).... 732meters (500mw boost)
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (better install , still cheap equipment)........ 1082meters (500mw boost
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (correct install , still cheap equipment)...... 1372meters (500mw boost)
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (correct install , all new equipment)............ 2250meters (500mw boost)
19dBi antenna - boosted drone (correct install , high power equipment)..... 4989meters at 915meters altitude (1000mw boost on both drone and tablet) {this last entry was the flight where I lost my drone on the return trip approx 750meters from home base... also lost the video file that proves the flight so I don't claim this distance but I'm throwing it out there to show what is possible}

So anyway... looking at your numbers... you are getting around 300meters with a 19dBi antenna and having link quality problems... the one thing that immediately comes to mind is polarity... the drone's antenna is horizontally polarized so you should have your panel antenna set up to match that polarization... the sticker on the back should have arrows and they should be horizontal... <-------> ...

Looking at all your pictures and description I think you got your tablet wiring correct... but I don't think you'll get a kilometer range from that setup unless you do Garrock's wheel antenna mod on your drone... you can find that on the flyers forum (I saw your message there a few minutes ago and came here... good thinking)


Ty ty ty ty ty ty Chuck

Can you tell me what is the equipement you did use to do this :

19dBi antenna - boosted drone (correct install , high power equipment)..... 4989meters at 915meters altitude

Was that Sunhans ampli ?? (i am planing to buy one ^^)

Is there any tutorial or post about this ?

About the garrock mod, I have talked with him yesterday ^^ and I am going to order one wheel !

Hope I'll get better perf with this ^^

About my antenna you are right I am vertically polarized, just done like you on this pic :

rige28.jpg


so this week I am gonna go far away from Paris. I'll do some test with my antenna horizontally polarized and I'll post results.
 

b00mb00mchuck

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2012
416
317
Right here... Right now
That complete mod is posted HERE...

that's a pretty expensive booster I was using at $150 each... and they won't sell them to consumers... you have to have a business purchase for you... and you need to use two of them to get that type of range... one on the drone and one on the tablet... and then it has the drawback of being too powerfull at close range so you can't point the tablet antenna directly at the drone untill the drone is 15 or 20 meters away or it will drop the signal by oversaturation...

Also... a 1000mw booster connected to a 19dBi flat panel antenna is very illegal in populated areas... it will run over other peoples wifi signals and cause all kinds of interference... use at your own risk

1000mw booster and nexus 7 mounted to 19dBi flat panel ready for flight
picsay-1372418518_zps79567710.jpg


1000mw booster mounted in stripped down AR Drone 2.0
picsay-1362138363_zpsdfc10df7.jpg


Garrock's wheel mod hanging below clear bottom plate
picsay-1362854146_zps6eb98472.jpg



Last photo taken of "Brick GT" before she was lost ... that was one cool little drone
picsay-1363438462_zps8bc517c0.jpg
 
Last edited:

Makoto1

Member
Mar 5, 2014
14
5
Some insight needed!

Hi everyone,

I'm rather late to this game. I had stumbled across this thread and was so inspired by Chuck's work, I was hoping I could replicate the same success, however I am having some difficulties improving my wifi from my Nexus 7. Note that I don't have an AR Drone yet.

I soldered a coaxial cable to the wifi contacts (the gold ones) but cannot detect a noticeable increase in wifi strength with a 5dBi omni-directional antenna attached. (I have a second tablet to compare wifi strength to.) I have peeled off the existing wifi antenna as well. Compared to Chuck's small omni-directional 5db antenna, I was expecting something more with my 5dBi antenna, but it is roughly same strength as the stock antenna. I used the inexpensive SMA cable that Chuck suggested from eBay.

Now, here is the weird thing: I tested a 3dBi(not sure, but I took it off an old router) and a $15 9dBi Alfa omni-directional antenna and found that those strengths were also about the same as the stock antenna! Something doesn't seem right to me. Does anyone have some insight as to what might be the problem? Maybe I need to resolder? I really look forward to making this work. I have read the entire thread a few times now and can't seem to pinpoint why I am only reading the same amount of wifi strength as the stock antenna. Someone suggested removing the gold contacts and soldering to the motherboard, but I would like to avoid that unless that is really the issue. I don't think Chuck did that done to his Nexus 7.

Maybe I just need a more powerful antenna? I have a 14dBi antenna on the way to try. "Gain 14dbi Directional Panel Antenna kit for WiFi Router 14db+Stand holder+Cable" on Amazon. Is it detrimental having a kink in the coaxial cable? My mod looks exactly like post #66.

*Crossesfingerssomeonehelps* Thanks!
 
Last edited:

Makoto1

Member
Mar 5, 2014
14
5
Thnx m8! then i did it correctly:)
except i will do it again, i soldered it on the 2 metal clips, will remove them.
First i will test with my flat antenna next week, normal external antenna range is not that good but that can also be my antenna:) old 3com antenna.

Edit: i resoldered it, removed the pins and soldered it to the mainboard and my signal improved 20 dbi.
so for everyone else who wants to mod, remove the pins and solder to mainboard.

How did you remove the pins? Does one just yank them out? o_O Thanks!
 

Wicked50

Member
Mar 10, 2014
8
1
This is an amazing project. I am going to do something like this myself for GPS and the Wifi ant. I will be mounting mine in my car. Cant wait!!! Still trying to figure out why my DAC wont work....
 

rauldevil69

Member
Apr 11, 2007
12
1
This is an amazing project. I am going to do something like this myself for GPS and the Wifi ant. I will be mounting mine in my car. Cant wait!!! Still trying to figure out why my DAC wont work....

I am also working on mounting my nexus in card dash and want to get better wifi signal, please let me know if you made any progress on were you will put the antenna.
 

phantom92

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2009
66
1
Bumped for the girl I was just talking to on hangouts... This mod WILL work for your coffee shop idea for sure

the one I have left over is a 16GB so just make me an offer :cool:

Great work! it's been a while since anyone has posted a comment.. I just got my drone 2.0 this week .. I know it's not the newest but definitely seeing these mods make the drone better than even the new ones .. Chuck. Are u still improving ur drone? I really want this mod for my drone but need a detailed noobs guide for doin this.. Would this work using an iPad mini? And would you ever consider making this mod for noobs as a side job for money?
 

b00mb00mchuck

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2012
416
317
Right here... Right now
I still do this mod from time to time... definitely NOT on an iPad mini though... just the Nexus 7 and an old version of the Acer iconia... there's some Newer Samsung tablets that are doable also... I did a Samsung Galaxy Pro 8.4 that turned out nicely...

I don't have an AR Drone anymore but I still fly several Quadcopters ... Phantom 2 Vision Plus is my little beast right now... flew a 3.8 Mile record with this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHZF7hdorJY
 

phantom92

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2009
66
1
Bumped for the girl I was just talking to on hangouts... This mod WILL work for your coffee shop idea for sure

the one I have left over is a 16GB so just make me an offer :cool:

I still do this mod from time to time... definitely NOT on an iPad mini though... just the Nexus 7 and an old version of the Acer iconia... there's some Newer Samsung tablets that are doable also... I did a Samsung Galaxy Pro 8.4 that turned out nicely...

I don't have an AR Drone anymore but I still fly several Quadcopters ... Phantom 2 Vision Plus is my little beast right now... flew a 3.8 Mile record with this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHZF7hdorJY

Damm bro that is one heck of a distance!! Would you be willin to modify my drone if I sent it out to you
Of course I would pay for the job and supplies needed.. Just a question
I would def like to try to do this myself but i am a little afraid of not correctly understanding everything
Thx for reply by the way
I would think by now with all the sponsors n stuff u would be to busy to reply your fans lol
Jk
 

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  • 99
    UPDATE DECEMBER 16th 2012

    We did it!!! Made 1.4Miles (2.25Kilometers) this morning on an unboosted Nexus 7 tablet antenna mod!!! SWEET!!!




    UPDATE DECEMBER 8th 2012

    We've now taken the Nexus 7 WiFi range out to 4550ft (1372meters) closing in on one mile... Should be soon
    Here's the vid of the world record flight with AR.Drone/Nexus 7 and itElite PRA24014 on December 8th

    December 4th 2012 update
    we've taken a giant leap in range and set an all out world record for the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0... We even beat the record set by the manufacturer...
    Parrot teamed up with Alcatel-Lucent Technologies to create a drone controlled by 4G instead of WiFi and they set a mark of 1000meters...

    So I took a long hard look at those numbers and contacted some WiFi experts discussing range and connectivity... Did some new modifications to my drone and tablet and came out on top, beating the Parrot/Alcatel record by roughly 82meters and beating the previous WiFi-only record by over 600meters (set by a consumer flyer in Hong Kong at 470meters)

    My reason for posting here is to show the awesome Nexus 7 at it's best... None of this could have been done without the Nexus 7's unique features

    Easy to crack open and shut without damage
    Easy to tap into Nexus internal WiFi components
    Easy to flash new ROM's and kernels to achieve smooth running control software
    Perfect size and ample screen quality to fly outdoors and be able to see on screen controls

    Here's the video of the world record flight on December 4th 2012




    As of December 1st ... The Nexus 7 antenna mod holds the AR Drone 2.0 world distance record for WiFi controlled flight at 2,400ft (732 meters)



    Just thought I'd leave this here and maybe get some Nexii love

    I use my Nexus 7 to fly my WiFi Drone with onscreen HD video live feed...
    The drawback has been the range... with the drones weak signal and the Nexus 7 tiny antenna I was limited to 100/150ft at best

    So I came up with this... Ladies and gentlemen... the Nexus 7 FlightPad
    2012-09-19_17-27-32_178_zps27a1ba4e.jpg

    PremierTek 16dBi flat patch high gain directional WiFi antenna
    2012-09-19_17-27-43_197_zpse56c62eb.jpg


    This antenna setup increases my range by ten fold... now getting a thousand feet and more..

    OK... I know... that antenna is huge... how bout a little smaller
    picsay-1347383622.jpg

    Hawking 13dBi QuadPatch directional

    How bout antenna and PS3 controller for flight control
    picsay-1347384103.jpg


    Or just a simple multi polarized deal that will get full bars of WiFi internet anywhere in my house or yard from a cheap AT&T router
    2012-09-08_11-55-35_311.jpg


    I know there will be haters for this setup because it ruins the flat back of the tablet making it less compact... but all this stuff just pops right off leaving the back "almost" flat... except for the PS3 controller slot mount at 1/8" thick... plus... I can jack open WiFi signals from over a mile away!!

    Couple video examples of flight with the NexiiFlightPad


    So anyways... go easy on me XDA... I'm 45yrs old but my mom didn't buy me the cool toys when I was a kid... so I'm overcompensating :-/

    The external antenna is soldered to the motherboard antenna spring pins and the OEM WiFi antenna has been removed to eliminate interference... yes, I drilled holes in the back cover and even used epoxy and screws to attach the PS3 controller mount... but I have a spare back cover in case I want to return it to stock condition

    Antenna solder points:
    nexiiopen.jpg

    posneg.jpg
    4
    Nexus 7 WORLD RECORD

    UPDATE DECEMBER 1ST 2012

    As of December 1st ... The Nexus 7 antenna mod holds the AR Drone 2.0 world distance record for WiFi controlled flight at 2,400ft (732 meters)


    There's more to be done here but ain't nobody keepin up with the Nexus 7 HeliPad ......... Yet .... :-/
    2
    That complete mod is posted HERE...

    that's a pretty expensive booster I was using at $150 each... and they won't sell them to consumers... you have to have a business purchase for you... and you need to use two of them to get that type of range... one on the drone and one on the tablet... and then it has the drawback of being too powerfull at close range so you can't point the tablet antenna directly at the drone untill the drone is 15 or 20 meters away or it will drop the signal by oversaturation...

    Also... a 1000mw booster connected to a 19dBi flat panel antenna is very illegal in populated areas... it will run over other peoples wifi signals and cause all kinds of interference... use at your own risk

    1000mw booster and nexus 7 mounted to 19dBi flat panel ready for flight
    picsay-1372418518_zps79567710.jpg


    1000mw booster mounted in stripped down AR Drone 2.0
    picsay-1362138363_zpsdfc10df7.jpg


    Garrock's wheel mod hanging below clear bottom plate
    picsay-1362854146_zps6eb98472.jpg



    Last photo taken of "Brick GT" before she was lost ... that was one cool little drone
    picsay-1363438462_zps8bc517c0.jpg
    2
    Turns out they'll let your thread ride all day until you get a conversation going and send links to your friends and then some youngster makes a rude comment and closes your thread... So I had to come back and update this one

    Fifty thousand threads about protective covers and the 4.2.blah blah update..... but two threads about a WiFi antenna mod is too much I guess

    So anyway ... I updated the OP with the story and video and I'll put the video here also

    At least the members here are nice... I really appreciate all the awesome comments and feedback I've been getting from all around the world

    You guys are really cool