FPV antenna gain and range explained

[@CrazyHeliDude]

As a PhD in Engineering Technology and RF, I can say I fully and thoroughly enjoyed this video. Love how you used the balloon to illustrate the main RF lobe/pattern and respective gain. Great work.

[@shobanagunasekaran6680]

+CrazyHeliDude : I totally agree with your second sentence!

[@dontreadmyprofilepicture7385]

CrazyHeliDude don't read my channel name

[@eamonnculliton100]

CrazyHeliDude hi, I was wondering what Antenna gain would have been used by the Apollo missions? Would you have any idea what they would have used?

[@servusservorumdei663]

I don't know how this man gets any thumbs down at all. He reminds me of my university/Academy professor....except professor RC Model is fun. He explains everything as elementary as he could, even my 6 year old daughter can learn from him. She likes him a lot actually.

[@daddi926]

Even me understand everything :)

[@MadDragon75]

One word answer. Haters.

[@deliciousfewd]

I greatly appreciate the fact that you included the actual, practical ranges with the antennas. Most reviews or explanations of antennas just go into the theoretical ranges compared to other antennas. not the actual distance that you should expect with it. Thank you so much for that!

[@johnwood4816]

Having been in Electronic and Rf for 40 yrs I find your teaching/illustration system excellent , well done.

[@drbun]

Man, your explanations are way better and easier to understand than my 1 semester of Applied Emag class. Thank you so much!

[@pfiltz]

I'm a new person trying to learn at FPV and I enjoy watching all your videos

[@warbirdflyer46]

Great Video for those of use who are getting into FPV. More information in 12 min than I could have gotten searching on the internet in 2 hrs. Thanks.

[@WEEBER13]

Can't believe this was 9 years ago. You were FPV before there was FPV! Good on ya, Bruce!

[@randallandrews120]

Greetings from Annapolis Maryland, U.S. of A. along the shores of The Chesapeake Bay. Been flying fixed wing War Birds for just over 1 yr.. Going FPV with one. Your vids and your channels have been a huge help and a lot of fun to view. Thank you for your time and efforts.

[@PhilofSouthport]

A good teacher can make even the most complex process seem simple and you've done that here. Thank You

[@labcopilot]

Fantastic explanation for those of us that are new to FPV. Eagerly awaiting the 4 channel diversity controller build!

[@jimsilloway8742]

This is a great explanation of antenna gain, propagation, polar patterns, etc. I learned this many years ago when I was a HAM radio dude and took 2 years of electronics. I used to build giant v beams and rhombic antennas. I am now getting into multi-rotor RC and this just came to me very clear. Thanks for jogging my memory on power versus gain of an antenna. You B da man. Jimdog in Minnesota.

[@JohnCuppi]

Learned a lot from this. Recently I put together a 350QX long FPV setup and it's been wonderful. A helical antenna is truly magical.

[@Naamis1]

What a great video. This kind of changes my battle plan an I'm now to switch from more power to more gain. Used your instructions and built myself two helicals. A patch I allready have. Now to tweak my eagletree setup for success! Can't wait for the diversity controller build!

[@raymondmaher7040]

after watching some of your videos I have a better understanding now of what is required to make a usable fpv system...I recently purchased a WiFi fpv (connects to phone) drone and the fpv was unusable even though the drone is brilliant..you've now got me thinking of making some kind of fpv for the drone in the configurations you show.thanks mate!

[@91zulu]

Bruce it would be nice if you could upgrade this video to explain the new long range antennas or systems being used now. Guys are going out 20 miles and as high as 10,000 feet. I see what looks like Sat stations being used. Could you explain these systems so we could better understand how they work.

[@gryfandjane]

Excellent illustrations! I'm trying to come to a better understanding of how antennas work, and you've helped a lot. I'm fascinated that a tiny little FPV transmitter that I can hold between two fingers can transmit as far as it can. Thanks!

[@pokies100]

barry has passed away sorry to hear. bruce you have a new opening now to stand. so will many others but if knowing is important to planning then keeping quiets is anti plannning. great video. welcome back. rip barrry H.

[@richardwallinger1683]

Three months to have my fpv aeroplane released by the Portuguese customs .. now two months waiting for a pusher propeller and lipo batteries .. at 70 years old .. I will probably peg it before I get the chance to try FPV.

[@redcurated4302]

Best instructional video over a complex subject.

[@SmilerBFC]

Great video. Fancy teaching at my university. You are much clearer and easier to understand. !

[@olajideoyekunle9044]

best explanation and practical analogy i've come by. Been following your videos and an ardent subscriber, you make things that seems "un-understandable" look so cheap to the brain to process. Thumbs up! Much appreciation. Looking up to more vidz.

[@cam_3d]

Finally a decent explanation of it all! And will keep a lot of us fly legal FPV in the UK!

[@bowser197]

I would like one of the 4ch diversity controllers but want to build my own. I will wait for the plans but willing to pay a reasonable price for you to produce them earlier than later. Thanks for all you do for the hobby and educating on various topics.

[@pornchaipokung8272]

Thank you very much for such in depth video on different kinds of FPV antennas. It was the unknown universe for me 😩, until your in depth info.

[@dagwood64]

Hi Bruce, I built the FPV back pack by following your build and it works wonderful. I can't seem to find your 4 channel diversity build. I'm really enjoying building my own electronics, I don't know if it is any cheaper building them but I get much more enjoyment and satisfaction out of them, knowing I built them myself. Thanks Jim from Maine, north eastern USA.

[@victoryfirst2878]

Your model explanation really made it easy for me to understand the subject matter at hand Sir. What I am wondering is how the Ukrainians are able to keep their drones from getting knocked out of the sky with JAMMERS. Could you be able to make a video explaining that technology for us to learn from on KZbin ? Thanks 😀😀😀

[@stevecowell2415]

Excellent video, really well explained. The balloon example really worked. Thank you for taking the time and effort to put this out.

[@TignMeg]

An Excellent instructional video Bruce. Its nice to have the old Bruce back :)

[@rbmwiv]

You have explained gain very well. Very good analogies. Thanks for the great video.

[@TracksideNW]

Appreciate you taking the time to explain this in detail. I have a much better understanding of how antennas and gain work. Its much appreciated.

[@TheRattleSnake3145]

I'm getting into FPV atm, I'm loving all the FPV vids your doing . Thanks for them!

[@goballistik1]

Thanks a million Bruce. It's always a good experience watching your vids. I am falling deeper and deeper into this rabbit hole of a hobby. Hello sky life! See you in the sky! Michael STONEWULFF

[@808GT]

Excellent and simple explanation, using the balloon is genius.

[@sergeantbilko7070]

Great information and explained so well that even a guy like me can understand. haha. I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much.

[@NormMonkey]

Brilliant explanation of antenna signals! I appreciate this video. Maybe this is a dumb question, but with three directional antennae as you described, you should be able to tell if the signal is stronger to one side or the other and re-orient the antenna accordingly, yes? I remember a video on your XJet channel where a diversity controller had LEDs to show which antenna received the strongest signal.

[@RICARDOJDS93]

Please do that video about the diversity board :D

[@FLYWDRAGHIL]

Thankyou soooooo much for solving my 80% confusion...ur videos are best to get info

[@sootydave1]

You are correct.. Radar is a radial beam. Also there is a computer between the radar dish and display that build's the Image. Giving the smooth look, other wise it would be very fuzzy when the beam is looking away from the object..

[@lumeah4]

Great vid - so much science simplified in just a few minutes.

[@orenbous]

Many thanks, you are simple and clear as in all your videos. If you get the chance and will I would love to hear more about "Fractal antennas" and if they can be used in rc ( for example: to improve video rx gain or mixing frequencies on single antenna )

[@nategoodwin3329]

Thank you for the layman's explanation. It was needed.

[@jbx907]

Bruce,diversity principle is using two or more rx using rssi signal strength to switch either rx for best uninterupted signal and feed, its main purpose is to eliminate dropouts/glitches and always pick the best reception between the two.Do you agree using different antennas with different coverage area, diversity will only be optimized with the area it overlaps, where they both help each other,outside that area, working alone is no longer diversity optimized, but just an antenna switcher.

[@WildCaptures]

That Circular Wireless 5 turn works great and is worth the money👍 Very helpful antenna theory thank you.

[@northwestfpv5506]

Suggestion: If you have a 4channel diversity controller, upgrade it to also a tracking device, use three directional antennas and one omni. Lign up the directional anennas horisontaly and put them on a 360 servo, use an arduino or simuar to read what reciever has the best signal(rssi) and program it to turn the "turret" so that the middle of the three directional antennas is in sentre, Then the senter antenna is directed to the plane at all times.

[@0917bobb]

Another excellent video Bruce, you should have been a science teacher.

[@jessebaker6032]

Youre like the obiwan of FPV

[@fraaggl]

Yoda would have been a little insulting...

[@wizwooky5877]

Very understandable... I love your videos. Thanks to you I have made my own Cloverleaf's 5.8Ghz and are having so much fun flying multis VIA FPV. THANK YOU!!!!

[@entomophile]

Great video. My 1.5W FPV system is only giving me about 430 meters. I definitely need an education on antennas!

[@thedragonfarm]

I'm such a nerd lol I love it 👍👍 the way you teach visually is how I learn the best. I'm subscribed and I'll be watching more thanks so much.

[@Drtool3]

Thank you great explanation. Maybe diversity controller set up next please. Great job

[@ridgewalkerflys]

Nice explanation video,thanks. Looking forward to the video assembly of the diversity vrx. Would be great if the board and components to complete the build could be sold as a kit to be assembled by the user following your videos as a guide. Keep up the great work Bruce,thank you!

[@N0AGI]

very well done - thanks for sharing. I was hoping to see your visual explanation of the vertical dimension of lobe+propagation +gain

[@coriscotupi]

@Pelle Wiersma - Some omnidirectional antennas have gain by "squeezing" the radiadtion pattern's vertical plane. Think of their pattern more as a donut than a sphere. They still radiate in all directions in azimuth, but don't radiate as far above or below the horizontal plane. So energy that would be wasted radiating to outer space (or in a sharp angle to the ground) is better used sending the signals in all directions.

[@MrEdinaldolaroque]

Thank you very much for your easy-to-understand explanation!

[@MegaWoodss]

Thumbs up - excellent video Bruce, I like your teaching style.

[@sn0wchyld]

really nice vid mate. really ineteresting to see the practical applications of antennas and their directivity having not long finished an electromagnetics course in uni. I would have thought a tracking system would be fairly easy to setup using 3 high gain antennas? essentially shift orientation left or right or keep it stationary depending on what antenna is receiving the strongest signal?

[@Frogs77]

Very nice video. Tons of info without getting confused. Thank you.

[@mauricegorissen1416]

Thank you for this clear and practical explanation. Really, the best i've seen!

[@juligrlee556]

I work with an RF tool to heat human or any animal tissue for micro surgical procedures. In other words, I transmit an RF signal from my device to an antenna outside of the antenna holder of 5-6 mm in length. This antenna (stainless steel or gold plated wire) is inserted into the tissues. Once in position for the treatment, the RF is applied. We. used to call this flash technology but we learned that high heat and short duration left a lot of progenitor cells in the treated area insufficiently heated. It is obviously a monopole as far as I can determine. I want to know about the characteristics of the RF signal being used to create heat in the tissues. My goal is to heat the tissues to electro-coagulate tissues at a temperature of approximately 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Further, I do not want to increase the pain of the patient so I want the heat to be least aggravating to the nerves near the heat. I need to know, but can't so far, know whether a slow heating over say the course of a second, or 10 seconds, or even a half second is best for that reduction of pain. I also do not want to overheat the tissues so that I create a scar in the tissues. It is my opinion that I do not need a receiver of the signal. But I need to precisely control the RF at 13.56 MHz or 17.12 MHz in order to control the heat. I also need to know how far away from the antenna is heat created. 0.5 mm heat range at 125 degrees F would likely be adequate in most cases. I want to experiment to determine what adjustments to the heat would be optimal in electro-coagulation but nothing hotter than that. Are there any devices where RF inside tissues could be measured for heat produced or does that remain a guessing game. As a practitioner, it would be helpful to know exactly how hot we are making treated tissues. We can estimate the temps by the results of our treatments but we have no way to measure temps objectively within the tissues. Additionally, am I to assume that the heat of the RF on the "probe" (antenna wire) is only generated from the tip. This is critical if I need to treat tissues throughout a range of approximately 0.5 mm to perhaps 5-6mm. In other words, is it necessary for me to move the probe(antenna) throughout that range for it to be effective. Knowing where the RF signal (heat) is being transmitted into the saline tissues is critical. I know of no research into this last concept of the location of heat sub-epidermal. In simplest terms, how hot is hot and where is it hot (125 degrees) in these tissues. There is research into cadaver tissues where a slice of tissue can be observed. But, living tissues act differently because the saline and the other bodily liquids are always circulating unlike cadaver tissues where there is no circulation. Your thoughts and suggestions about conducting this kind of research and finding a lab to work with me on this research would be helpful.

[@thorfoot1]

It would be great if you could show how to build a diversity controller, It would be greatly appreciated here in Canada

[@glassdogangle]

For you video tx in your aircraft you are going to want an omni-directional, like a skew-planar. If you put in a directional antenna, like a helical, you would have to find some way to point the antenna on your aircraft at your receiving antenna on the ground constantly in order to get a clear signal. The military can do this, but can you?

[@benthillerup]

Thanks for the video Bruce, you are a very good teacher! Good exampel with the balloon.

[@12co3dy21]

You could also use a gps on the plane and send back the information. With it you could track the plane on a computer and send the information to the antenna, by using one many various ways (motors, pneumatics, etc). You would need a gps in the receiver as well, since a computer would have to distinguish where you a transmitting from.

[@quadswithmods]

7 years later and still referring to your video 👍

[@RubenLensvelt]

I like this idea a lot! It makes perfect sense to switch between antennae. Also; there's this other video on this subject on Vimeo: first hit on a google video search on ---Antennas 101 - Polarization, Diversity & Gain Patterns ---

[@Billbobaker]

Nicely explained using good working props.

[@one4stevo]

Thanks Bruce that makes perfect sense, I hope you can get the diversity controller build up soon. Are the backpack modules on the market yet?

[@MrSabram07]

Very good video, you have a video explaining what DB means and how it scales.

[@akbarshoed]

Fantastic. Now this is what KZbin is all about!

[@jamesceastep8874]

Could you comment on the effectiveness of using a helical antennas with circular vs linear polarization from the transmitter? Are there helical antennas DESIGNED for circularly polarized clover leaf antennas? How do we tell this by looking at them? As usual, your explanations, diagrams, and balloon illustrations were excellent. Love your presentations! Jim

[@hammer883333]

Great video. Really looking forward to the DIY diversity controller video. I've been waiting patiently since you first teased us with it in that video a few months ago. Also very interested in the DIY 5.8Ghz Rx. I'm hoping we will be able to build a full 4 antenna diversity ground station (antennas, diversity controller, Rx's) for the same cost as a Commercial diversity controller alone. High hopes but if you build every thing yourself I think it's possible. Keep up the great work, thanks

[@N3krodamus]

Excelent explanation, very clear. Your videos are really instructives, thanks for sharing. Cheers!

[@AsteroidInc]

awesome videos. can't wait for the diy diversity controller video

[@Marinetechal55]

Sorry my apologises......you guys are the best.

[@robopony]

Great video Bruce -- glad to see some new stuff from you again! Would you consider being my honorary grandpa?

[@TeamBlindMouse]

I liked your video. Nice to be able to visualize the theorey. Yes do please make more.

[@52mrdan]

Great FPV info Bruce Thanks keep going!!! Like to see your repair on the Tx to.

[@DanMill84]

A very helpful excellent video as usual. Good luck with the flying wings drama mate

[@Soldier53flyer]

Great analysis, and demonstration of how varies antennas work! good video! thank you.

[@mikebussey2988]

Hi, good day. Could you please answer the following questions from an FPV Newbee. 1. If high gain Helical antennas have greater distance but narrower width why don't you make a 8 antenna diversity receiver and have each helical antenna at 45 degrees to the one next to it. Then you cover the full 360 degrees at a substantially greater distance? 2. If you use a antenna tracking device for your receiver surely if you had a antenna tracking device on you transmitter you could double the distance?

[@mscir]

Great video, thank you. Can you talk more about how the energy is shaped to become more directional? Can you design a circuit that will detect which direction the signal is coming from, which aims a directional antenna at the signal source?

[@twofortyrida]

What methods would you suggest to improve a surface receivers ability to catch a signal? I adore the FPVs diy and technicality aspects. There's hardly any such sentiment for the surface line of sight people. Specifically the ground/Speedrun types.

[@MadDragon75]

Between you and Mr. Bardwell.... We'll never have a question that doesn't have an answer. 😉

[@whereverimayroam74]

Great video. Do you have any additional information on actual dimensions of those patterns. How wide is the 6Db gain antenna at its widest point? Also, how did you build your 4 channel diversity controller?

[@ducpao]

great video! super informative! thanks for turning on the lights!

[@mnero83]

Great video. If you have 2 omni antennas...and one has higher gain than other....what happens withe the ballon when you take an omni antenna with higher gain? It just gets bigger? I think the omni with the higher gain will be better than the omni withe the lower gain.

[@Marinetechal55]

Excellent Bruce, a perfect explanation, thankyou.

[@mohamedelgamal6973]

thank you for this very instructive video unfortunatly i have bought my fpv equipement before i see that... i've bought a 900mhz 1500mw vtx so i hope it doesn't make too much noise on my 433mhz rc equipement...

[@harleyofdallas]

Thank you as that was a great explanation and I have a decent grasp on what I should do. Great job!!

[@kenstockton5837]

Thanks for such an informative video. Look forward to viewing more

[@tsviper]

Hei Bruce, nice video, love your work kep up the good work. Greetings from the other side of the world, Norway.

[@rusign]

Thanks for your explanation but for a newbie: how can I connect the omni and directional antenna's together?

[@jbx907]

diversity was first implemented on wireless mics, using two recievers have the same coverage area to eliminated deaspots bcause the two receiver were continuesly working together providing un interupted/unglitched clear vocals for singers on stage, nowdays its common on most wireless communictaion, and really need a minumum mo two monitoring the same aera! at the same time, for your 4 channel diversity, i would mount identical pairs so it would stay true diversity in omni and directional!

[@Rcschim]

Thanks a lot for this good video. I already knew the antenna stuff - but anyways it was nice to watch and it freshed out some of my fpv knowledge ;-) Nice to see the spain antennas are also used in NZ. They're great, aren't they?

[@arsitama]

very nice explanation. But how about the transmitter range. What is the maximum transmitter range. From the old days, I know it's only 1km.

[@RCHELIBUG]

Very well explained, ive learnt a lot from your video.

[@XxXAUTOXxX]

It's easier to use a lightbulb analogy. if you have a 100W light bulb suspended in the middle of a room you get even coverage of light. Put a reflector on one side of it and you get 200% light in half of the room. More reflector = more gain. A highly directional antenna is like a very narrow reflector, it will give you a very bright spot but only covering a few degrees in the direction it is pointed.

[@JCRC]

Thank you for your easy to understand explanation. Well done!!

[@einarthors]

Good explanation, Thanks, what about the range for the rc transmitter, for example a turnigy 9x, is there a cheap way to get longer range out of it?