Digging deeper in finding better signals on Walksnail Goggles X

[@kandredfpv]

FWIW, an easier option is now available in the 38.43.8 FW, in the form of a 'Avatar_cfg_wifi_off.txt' files on the goggles SD card which will disable the Wifi functionality, which should be fine for most if you don't need to do wireless streaming of your FPV feed. That said, at 1:44 I can see you're getting an G-SNR of 25.49 on your Goggles-X but even after re-routing my WIfi coax as suggested, mine is stuck around between 19 and 20. That said, I also have a VRX which better matches your G-SNR without any mod needed. So looking for an explanation I've noticed your STP - Sky Transmit Power is reading 9, -1 whereas mine is reading 10 (i.e. lower power mode). Does this mean you've done a VTX calibrations by adding -1 to the 'Avatar_cal' file on your VTX? If so, out-of-curiosity, did this improve your G-SNR?

[@fabiogruarin5856]

Many thanks again for sharing this invaluable information with the community.. Great work as always!

[@windfpv]

glad you appreciate it

[@DidiWebster-n9b]

Hi there, Very interesting what you have found out. Have you measured how hot the heat shield gets during operation? Is it possible to replace the heat shield with a thin plastic cover? Regards Didi

[@ericschellenberger612]

I rerouted the cable as shown and tried literally dozens of different antenna type combinations both LHCP and RHCP with mixed and inconclusive results. Except maybe that 3 orange bars across the channel spectrum is the norm.

[@tomshaa391]

Have got a all green channel on your GX, Now ? My Gx is all orange channel, and I found a little crush Tx cable, when I use a small antenna (little chipest monopole use on whoop vtx) on Tx channel, I have all green channel.

[@OscarPerez-sz8ku]

Thank you very much for the information. I am a newbie and I have a question. I found the "Foxeer-Micro Lollipop RP-SMA RHCP" antennas on the Internet for purchase... Do I need any additional adapter?. Thanks again!

[@windfpv]

No need since goggles X is rpsma. However, if you decide to go with rhcp on the goggles,you will need to change antenna too on all your vtx units to RHCP

[@OscarPerez-sz8ku]

​@@windfpv Thanks. Then I understand there are 2 options. Change the antennas on goggles and VTX to RHCP , or look for "RP-SMA" LHCP antennas, correct?

[@windfpv]

Yeah, it might be less costly to change antenna on goggles X to a better LHCP instead. I only went for rhcp since I already got those high gaon rhcp before I went with Walksnail, so might as well use it

[@ChrisHarmon1]

That poor VTX, 116C! I'm scared to let mine hit over 90C for more than a brief second.

[@windfpv]

Haha! No worries, the vtx has cutoff when it reaches a certain threshold

[@dynashot1]

great! btw. do I need wifi cable connected? or may wifi module get damaged then? actually i dont need the wifi...

[@windfpv]

That wifi module is just capped to 50mW anyway,I guess it won't get damaged.

[@windfpv]

Just a follow up, someone said in the WS FB group that goggles won't start up without the wifi UFL plugged in, just check if the same goes for you 😉

[@dynashot1]

thx!@@windfpv

[@dynashot1]

it starts normal and connects to the vtx... just ripped the ufl port on the wifi module ... grrr@@windfpv

[@fpvcihla]

Great work with the heatsink. What I see with the wifi cable is that it leaks some power from wifi and it goes to amp. So theese RSSI bars look better but SNR should be worse. It SNR goes higher with wifi coax than I dont know what kind of black magic is going on. :D

[@windfpv]

nope, It's more like the existing routing of the wifi coax is problematic, with the wifi coax crossing over the other coax, or maybe causing some noise near that area. But when routed near the amp, it's more free, the wifi coax can be routed to avoid crossing other coax lines. the SNR is not worse too, i have checked the GSNR while doing the test, value is still good where the wifi coax moved, near the amp.

[@I77AGIC]

definitely wouldn't cut off part of your heat sink since overheating has been an issue. also wtf is up with the fast forwarding??? how can anyone read what it says??? why???

[@windfpv]

Nope, no issues on my goggles even with the stock Tin heat spreader, even before I installed the big heatsink. The reduced heatsink also went well, tested under 37C outdoors without overheating on Led1 and Led2, summer here goes 40C, peaks at 42 to 43C sometimes, i am confident it will hold perfectly.

[@Fly4Effect]

I know what to work on this weekend 👍🏽👍🏽

[@windfpv]

@@Fly4Effect have fun buddy

[@fenuaenata]

Cool mean if u move the cable a bit it s getting better with good antenna ?

[@windfpv]

you would want to route that wifi coax such that it does not cross those goggles antenna coax, thus, run that wifi coax near the power amp. Unless you are not using stock omnis. Balanced antenna are not susceptible to such issues. Otherwise, don't let the wifi coax touch the other coax

[@dmitriy_fpv]

Hello, what app do you use to connect your goggles to your phone?

[@windfpv]

USB Camera pro

[@dmitriy_fpv]

@@windfpv thanks 😉

[@FPV420.]

I used to have a Caddx Orca and the stock antennas were fine however, the new Goggles X comes with mediocre antennas. I already upgraded the stock antennas of my Moonlight VTX so I should do the same for the goggles. Thank you for your video.

[@kk29101]

Thanks bro, I also re-route the Wifi cable, seem it get little better, let me try to change the stock antenna and see what will happen.

[@EndyMuhardin]

What cable do you use for HDMI output? Mine stuck at the goggle-x case, it won't plug all the way. I can't comprehend what the designer is thinking :D

[@windfpv]

let me get back to you. But i used 2 different hdmi cables that i found in my stash, both plugged in perfectly..

[@rid3withthewindvaj131]

WS should’ve known this and fixed it. Hope WS is watching this.

[@windfpv]

CADDX has already addressed the heatsink-rf issue with the slimmer heatsinks, they have been sending out that slimmer heatsink to replace the big one. As for the wifi coax noise issue, it's more like the a stock antenna issue. If you use better antenna that coax won't be a problem. The stock antenna is unbalanced. We can't expect caddx to make a significantly better version of it as it will also significantly increase the costs.

[@onclefly8450]

How do you get this on your phone ?

[@windfpv]

I used a mini HDMI (from goggles) to HDMI cable, then connected that to a HDMI to USB capture device (plugged on my phone). I am using the USB Camera app by the way

[@onclefly8450]

@@windfpv Great I want to do that.

[@fenuaenata]

U using a iphone or android?

[@windfpv]

Android,, Samsung S23

[@LZ129Hindenburg]

My goggles worked fine until recently, some time ago I noticed that it was exactly the same. channel 3 is ok, the rest is orange.

[@kentrasmussen9545]

Try and aim your Googles X directly at your Crossfire transmitter antenna while your radio transmit. Come close enough and the googles jams, with lose of video and crashes...

[@windfpv]

The thing is, I don't use crossfire.

[@ugpfpv361]

Seems like everything os got to do except the lhcp and rhcp, they should be the same as the transmitter, itay be working in thos case on the bench, but once in the real world you'll have a weaker signal that's jist the way it works.

[@windfpv]

It doesn't matter whether it's lhcp or rhcp. It just points out that stock antenna are not good.

[@wattage2007]

I love my Walksnail stuff but the GogglesX has been an utter shambles so far.

[@windfpv]

Yeah, that's quite true for the first batches indeed.. newer batches are good. The wifi coax issue though is related to the poor stock omnis. So an easy fix is to change them to better ones.

[@derelictfpv]

So you are saying to run RHCP on top and LHCP on the bottom? How can that work better?@@windfpv

[@windfpv]

no. Im saying to use better antenna, not the stock omnis as they are unbalanced. I have written on the description of this video what using unbalanced antenna implies. I have placed a "better" antenna on top ports (one is Rx, one is tx port) to illustrate how better antennas work well, or how stock omnis are poorly performing

[@mrmoon_fpv]

this is a great start, but I need to see real life use after the fact. I can get green bars and then when I connect and fly it goes to hell shortly after. So another test with flying after the changes would be a better idea

[@windfpv]

I'm going to see if cleaning it from the ground side will have an impact in real flight, if I can break my 22km record with the goggles X on my next LR attempt then it's a win. Note, the same antenna setup got me 35km with the good old vrx, let's see how it goes

[@philk4532]

@@windfpv LOL mine dies after 120m max on open field (with stock omnis and the revisioned heatsink, not the slim one). Also Im getting really high temps, thought of maybe replacing the thermal paste with some high grade CPU stuff, would you think this could help as well? Anyway Ill reroute the cable as you suggested and maybe try some signal cable shielding I have lying around from stripping cat wires. Not quite confident cutting the heatsink apart, Im afraid :D Also would you suggest mounting patch antennas on the TX port of the goggles or would you advise for using better, non-stock omni-solutions? Thanks for doing your tests and sharing your findings with us! Really helpful for the community!

[@windfpv]

@philk4532 I would first clean the stock thermal paste, there has been reports of having issues due to the excessive amount of thermal paste (a little disappointing Q.C. on Walksnail but we already gave feedback to them, recent batches have good reports). If you are to redo it, clean the area (also the pins of the components that had excessive paste, then apply the paste as sparingly as possible, thin layer is much better than thick paste. Regarding the patches, put it on the tx port, then omnis on the bottom ports. Get those from truerc or VAS, as these are tuned really well.

[@robjackson2731]

10/10 shit goggles. I'll never waste my money on a caddx product again

[@windfpv]

Thanks for your feedback. Though recent batches doesn't seem to have issues, as per poll on the Official Walksnail fb group.