yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 7 General] Makoto1:
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!
[Nexus 7 General] Makoto1:
How did you remove the pins? Does one just yank them out? O_o Thanks!
[Nexus 7 General] Wicked50:
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....
[Nexus 7 General] rauldevil69:
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.
[Nexus 7 General] sebacolom:
Very very interesting

Enviado desde mi Nexus 7 mediante Tapatalk
[Nexus 7 General] phantom92:
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?
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
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
[Nexus 7 General] phantom92:
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
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
"FANS" ... Hahaaaaaaa ... Jeezzzz man... I just choked on my cheetos :)

But yeah... I can do whatever mods you need ... We can move this to email... Mine is dbsmods@gmail.com
[Nexus 7 General] jaycustom:
Dude...just ridiculous! Awesome setup man. Where were you when I had the Asus Transformer Prime with a weak ass WiFi antenna?

Good stuff, and nice one on the FB page.
[Nexus 7 General] wizardknight:
Damn, I knew I was doing something wrong when I tried to wear my Nexus 7 as an ear ring.

Op - very cool. Keep modding! :)
[Nexus 7 General] kench33:
That's so awesome!

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Nexus 7 General] rebel1699:
I have absolutely no need for this kind of thing. But DAMN, that is an awesome mod. I love seeing all the different ways folks mod to suit their needs. Beautiful work op! So creative.

Skyrocket on AOKP by R4ins
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
Hahaaaaa... thankyou for the awesome comments... feels good to hear from people with similar interests and devices... I'll be posting a cleaner version of this same mod in a few days... this is all a learning experience for me and I realize a couple mistakes I've made (wrong type of coax wire and fragile "kickstand" mount)... next version will be smaller and cleaner looking... more "factory made" :D
[Nexus 7 General] nooomoto:
That's bad ass dude. I've always wanted an ar drone, but I'm pretty sure my dog would attack and break it (my primary use would be harassing my dog with it) so I haven't been able to justify the purchase.

awesome mod though!
[Nexus 7 General] zlewe:
Hyper Badass Toy! But is it necessary to solder it? Use tape can? :p
[Nexus 7 General] kkl0wn:
Now I really want one of these AR Drones..... and then I'm sure like yourself I'd want more range.... definitely following this thread.
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
I dunno about the tape idea... the whole idea behind WiFi antenna mods is to reduce signal loss... that would be kinda sketchy

I'll definitely post a cleaner version of this soon... parts show that they shipped already so won't be long now :)
[Nexus 7 General] kkl0wn:
I purchased a broken screen Nexus 7 on eBay recently......wondering if I can hook up a PS3 controller via Bluetooth using adb since the screen doesn't work. Then use it and the nexus as a controller like yours.

Wouldn't really mind adding the external wifi antenna since its already broken.
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
When you say "screen is broken" can you still see a picture? Just the touch isn't working? Because you will have to enter pilot and settings modes each time you fly that would be impossible if you can't see the screen... if you can see the screen, you could use a Bluetooth mouse to set everything up and the Sixaxis app to run the PS3 controller ... you would be all good after the first pain in the a$$ setup stuff
[Nexus 7 General] kkl0wn:
I can't say for sure until it arrives but I believe the screen still works but the digitizer/touch is unresponsive. I believe the crack is near the top of the device near the front facing camera and should not impair the display at all. I have already seen a thread where they used adb commands to connect a keyboard and mouse. Should be smooth sailing from there!

Then just wait for the replacement screens to come down in price and repair it.
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
Sounds like you got the deal all worked out... this antenna mod is awesome stuff... and I haven't even found the limits yet... today I lost sight of the damn thing before I lost WiFi link to it!! It was a tiny speck off in the distance.....

[YOUTUBE]hPW4128qqZg[/YOUTUBE]
[Nexus 7 General] kkl0wn:
That's a lot more clever than all the 2.4Ghz mods... I like this one much better! Do you happen to have links for all the stuff you used to make this happen? This is all just a thought at this point gotta make sure the Nexus 7 works and I actually buy an AR drone.
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
links

The flat panel antenna from premiertek here

Some type of RP-SMA pigtail you can hack up for the connectors you will need here (maybe longer than this so you got extra wire?)

The Motorola car dock (dash mount cell phone cradle) was something I had lying around and was hacked up extensively to fit the Nexus 7... you can find these mounts all over the place

You need some basic hobby electronic skills for this stuff though... the antenna isn't ready to use the way it is... it needs to be stripped down and the huge N style connector removed... then your homemade SMA connector soldered straight to the antenna connection points and shield grounded properly...

So yeah... I got links for ya but if you haven't done some basic fabrication this could be quite a project... if you got some decent MacGuyver skills this whole thing is fairly simple with the right components... I could definitely post way more detailed pictures if you need... I'm re-modding my whole SMA connector setup tomorrow anyway so I'll update that ... should look a lot cleaner than what I got now
[Nexus 7 General] kieso:
Question for b00mb00mchuck. How does the nexus 7 do without Modding the wifi? I think my wife will get me this for a bday present. How high and far will it go without Modding?
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
I was getting about a hundred foot radius and altitude... then I figured out my left hand was covering the WiFi antenna when in landscape mode .... of course ... exactly where you're hand needs to be to operate the drone... so with some experimenting and holding the tablet awkwardly I could get 130 maybe 150 feet at times... 150ft is what is advertised for the drone but I couldn't stand it because it wasn't reliable at those distances... that's what inspired me to get that damn antenna out of the case and out in the open... then one thing led to another and I ended up with all this crap hanging off the back of my tablet.... I really enjoy it now though... just modified the mount a little better so it's cleaner and smaller and stronger so I think I'm done now
[Nexus 7 General] tntgdh:
I envy you dude. Nice toy !!!
[Nexus 7 General] Erusman:
Awesome mod b00mb00mchuck! I should have mounted one of those Hawking 13dBi directional on my old Optimus prime mod. ;)

/deepbow
[Nexus 7 General] kieso:
That's it I'm getting one! I'll worry about the mod when the time comes
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
Damn dude... I just googled that... I had no idea somebody had done something like this before... cool setup

What was the third antenna for? I figured you did WiFi and GPS... and?
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
Oops... I got it with more reading... your tablet has two internal WiFi antennas :p

I should've seen that the first time around :eek:
[Nexus 7 General] Turbotab:
Sweet mod, now you just need a couple of mini hellfire missiles and you're ready for the Zombie apocalypse:laugh:

BTW, don't know if you saw this in the tech news recently, but 4G LTE managed to boost the range to over 3000 thousand feet.

http://hexus.net/business/news/enterprise/46249-ardrone-20-flown-1km-4g-lte/
[Nexus 7 General] commonsense.:
A bit much since it's not generally needed, but great to see people experimenting.

When I had my transformer prime people were doing this kind of stuff too, and it was just pathetic since it was done in a desperate attempt to make a horrible device usable instead of returning it.

All in all great job.
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
I was following that whole 4G thing when they did it... but if you look at the $70,000 worth of equipment the had to bring in two vans along with 12 engineers and 6 hours of setup... jeeeezzzzz ... it kinda gets outta hand ...

I'm getting a third of their distance with one little tablet and one little antenna , setup by just one guy , in less than 3 minutes , spending 150 times less money , with a quarter of their brains........... I'm good :good:

You said "sweet mod"... totally worth it hearing stuff like that from XDA members
[Nexus 7 General] mustbepbs:
This is epic. Brings out the little boy in me to see this. Great job man. Keep up the videos too!
[Nexus 7 General] pokey9000:
Congrats for having the balls it takes to do this...

If you're squeamish, the quick-and-dirty way would be to get a router with an external antenna connection and set up the drone to use managed mode: http://www.ardrone-flyers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=807 . Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 might be a good choice because it has one RP-SMA external antenna and one internal for diversity, giving your Nexus a good connection locally while providing high power output to your patch antenna.

Now if you wanted to go for badassery, build a gimbal mount, slap a GPS on the AR, and use the telemetry to steer the antenna. Then you could get a tighter directional antenna for more gain.
[Nexus 7 General] Adelaide Pete:
Want WireLESS Solution

Very cool set of hardware solutions however most people would prefer a less intrusive scheme - preferably totally without wires hanging off the tablet.

The drone Wi-Fi router is airborne on the drone itself so a black box range extender like many people have in a big house, albeit portable for field use, would have more appeal to people like me even if not as technically powerful as some of your rather impressive solutions.:cool:
[Nexus 7 General] Adelaide Pete:
Cool but Prefer Totally WireLESS Solution

Very impressed, but given the Wi-Fi network originates on the quadro-copter itself, why not a totally wireless solution?

Can configure a range extender in a large home wirelessly so why not a black box outdoor equivalent? I am uncomfortable, as no doubt would be most parrot 2 owners, with breaking open the hardware unnecessarily.
[Nexus 7 General] veeman:
This is epic! Awesome job.

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
extender questions... let me argue the point

Not sure what you mean by totally wireless solution... my tablet doesn't have to be wired to anything for this to work... but anyways :silly:

I used a repeater for a couple months... even went out and bought a very high powered one... but the answer to this problem is in your post... the drone is the WiFi source... so all that range extender power is being wasted just sending the signal to my tablet ... what it comes down to is receive sensitivity... the repeaters only work better because they have better antenna than the average tablet or phone... and they tie you down... you need a battery setup to run them... they only come with omni directional antennas which limit the range severely... and if you want to switch to a directional antenna you are confined to fly inside the antennas beam width (or wave your repeater around pointing it at the drone all the time)... then it happens... you lose signal to the drone at 100ft up in the air and it just stops and hovers... so you have to run over to the repeater and grab it and try to get closer to the drone to reconnect... and the reconnect process on a repeater is painfully slow... but you get it and you're reconnected... now your app doesn't work because the repeater killed the data stream and you have to exit the app and restart.. as soon as you restart your drone goes into it's auto-land function and comes down in your neighbors pool!!

And the last problem... the WiFi strength indicator in the flight program doesn't show the signal strength from the repeater to drone... it shows the signal from tablet to repeater... so you never know when you are about to fly out of range on a weak signal

So yeah... this antenna mod was to solve all these problems

Super directional long range sensitivity that can be pointed at the source real time

No additional batteries/hardware/antennas to lug around setup and connect to.. just plug in battery and go

Reliable signal information on screen while in flight

Fast reconnect procedure in case something goes wrong

*(the ability to steal any free WiFi Internet in a 1 mile radius)* bonus
[Nexus 7 General] Pedro_Itelite:
free wifi Itelite antenna if interested

Hi b00mb00mchuck

I have enjoyed your videos very much. I represent a manufacturer of WiFi antennas from Poland: Itelite Antennas, Inc. We have a warehouse in Los Angeles. If you are interested and my boss agrees we would like to offer you a free sample of any of our antenna models to see if you can increase your flying range as much as possible. In return we would like to show a video of you using our antenna on our web page, facebook & twitter. And maybe even rent or buy your equipment for a future trade show. Check our full line of antennas at our webpage.

Best Regards,

Pedro Ramirez

Itelite Antennas, Inc
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
wow... how's that for timing?

I think I was just looking at the Itelite website on Saturday or Sunday... more specifically, this antenna here

I've been toying around with the idea of going a little farther ... pushing the limit a little more ... but can't justify the idea (with my wife) as I've already spent quite a bit messing around with this gadget and I'm passed the limits of my normal day to day flying range anyway (but I can't help thinking "what if I did this....?)

So anyway... yes, I'd be interested in working with you guys on an ultra long range flight video showing your antenna doing the work... might be a good idea to wrangle up some company stickers and logos that can be applied to the drone and antenna to make things really look like a sponsored project flight

This whole deal might kill my wife's idea that I'm just out there playing with toys :p

Let me know what you hear from the boss man... the antenna mod work can be completed within a day of receiving the hardware... the video can be done within two or three days (or next available windless morning)
[Nexus 7 General] Pedro_Itelite:
Itelite PAT24019

Great,

Send me your information so we can send our PAT24019 to you today. My boss likes the idea very much. You can use the contact email on our webpage.

Pedro

Itelite Antennas, Inc
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
done

Emailed my info to the "salesusa" address

Would really wanna stress stickers or logos if you have them so we can get your brand all over this completed video..

Looking forward to trying this thing out and show what it can do :good:
[Nexus 7 General] kieso:
You're a WiFi god dude! Im impressed a company has contacted you. I guess you wouldn't know how the drones do in cold weather? My wife is getting me one for my bday but its in december and I live in PA.
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
If it can work at the 8500ft level in the swiss alps... I'm sure it will be fine in the PA winter weather

[YOUTUBE]4R01wLrbwz0[/YOUTUBE]

The only thing you have to watch out for is the lipo battery... they don't work well when starting out cold... they get better as they warm up... so if you can start with a warm battery from indoors ... the beginning of the flight will be stronger... if you start out cold ... the first couple minutes will be sluggish until the battery builds it's own internal heat
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
Antenna has arrived and mocked up to mount on the Nexus 7 (or maybe the Nexus is mounted on the antenna?)... looks like we'll get a nice long test flight this morning if the wind stays down... this antenna looks HUGE
[Nexus 7 General] kkl0wn:
Wow that is a huge antenna! Can't wait for the YouTube video and to see what kinda range you can get with that thing.
[Nexus 7 General] demandarin:
Wow...I wish we had you when transformer prime first released. It was plagued with weaker wifi signal due to all metal backing. We had guy, Erusman, who did a similar mod and got great results.

Way to go man. Ingenious! Love it. Very cool in my book ;)

Edit: just watched videos. Man, too cool. You got me very interested in this.

Do you have a link to where you can get that helicopter from? Can any android device run it? Like my SG3 or Note 10.1(which has great wifi reception). I want to do some recon..lol

After I finish eating I will read this whole thread and watch other videos. This is one of the coolest mods I've seen in a while up here(since prime antennae Modding thread)
[Nexus 7 General] wesmagyar:
You can get it on Amazon. Here is a link to it...

Parrot AR Drone 2.0
[Nexus 7 General] 3oudreaux:
This thread has my imagination running wild. Love to see people finding ways to have more fun with cool toys and then sharing. :) BTW the box of kools as a kickstand was a nice touch.
[Nexus 7 General] Wilks3y:
That is epic ! Wow ! Would love that !
[Nexus 7 General] toidimaet:
I have never been a christmassy guy, but this year Santa might be bringing me a big present. Always wanted a saxophone to learn, however I am getting torn between that and ar drone. Gotta love this thread.
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
That guy actually posted in this thread and I looked up his mod... just shows necessity is the mother of invention :cool:

Thanks to everybody for all the cool comments... I actually sold one of these the other day because of this thread... and the lady I sold it to is totally thrilled... she works in a small gas station cashier booth and can now get wifi signal from 3 different choices in her area providing free internet... helps kill her boredom and stop going over on her phone data plan... cool story :cool:
[Nexus 7 General] superchilpil:
I just bought a AR drone off eBay, and an a external WiFi antenna

Couldn't wait and went ahead and nodded my nexus 7 to attach the antenna

Used the placed holder for the camera so it could sit as flush as possible.

A little odd to hold but I'll be using a ps3 controller :P
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
Sweetness!! I came very close to doing that same mount... but I wanted the ability to get the antenna vertical while the tablet was at my control angle... like this here

Or this

But yours looks clean bro... I hope you come back to this thread and post some more pics and maybe some links to video from your drone :good: :good: :good: :good:
[Nexus 7 General] superchilpil:
I'll post more when everything comes :) hopefully I don't mess anything up :P this will be my first hardware mod
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
So you did the panel mount but haven't hooked in yet??

The thinner the coax the better.... ain't much room in there for a fat RG174 type of cable
[Nexus 7 General] superchilpil:
Yea I wanted to get it ready ahead of time so I could just plug in the antenna and go :P

I tried to do another mod before but come to find out there just wasn't enough room under that back plate. Speaking of them where did you get your spare?
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
Got it HERE... shows 6 in stock right now, which is unusual... they are not new parts.. but mine arrived in mint condition

And now they're 10 bucks cheaper... figures :silly:
[Nexus 7 General] blott:
Mount

What sort of mount is holding the antenna? Would like to do something similar ish, if i can get the parts
[Nexus 7 General] Haizum74:
Nice mod, enjoyed the videos too. Saw one of these drones a few weeks back on a youtube vid. How high have you had her and can you increase flight time with bigger batteries?
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
That swivel mount holding the antenna is an old suction cup, windshield mount (car dock) from my original Motorola Droid
[Nexus 7 General] b00mb00mchuck:
I've had mine up to about 150ft... I could go a lot higher with this antenna but I always chicken out (it looks so small way up there)

Normal flight time is about 10 minutes on the stock 1000mAh battery

You can get 15 minutes from a 1300mAh battery

You can get 18 minutes from a 1550mAh battery

When the batteries get bigger and heavier than that the drone starts flying poorly

I have a 2300 mAh battery that'll last 27 minutes but I don't like the way it flies so I never use it... feels like it's just abusing the drone... motors get pretty hot and you can see the props flex with the extra load... just doesn't feel right
[Nexus 7 General] superchilpil:
Still haven't gotten my at drone, I'm thinking about mounting my thunderbolt on there for a better resolution camera and audio

I'll take most of the body off and the screen and use a remote program to trigger the camera

What is the most amount of weight you can add to this bad boy before it won't fly

Sent from my HTC One XL