RF power versus antenna gain (the results may shock you)

Today I talk about RF power versus antenna gain for FPV systems on RC planes and drones -- the results may shock you. Another whiteboard video with some "in the field" footage to prove the point.
Here is an earlier video which explains how antenna gain works:
• FPV antenna gain and r...

[@mrmcflunday2164]

Almost to the limits of visual line of sight.. lol love it.

[@MarcAntoine01]

That cracked me up ahah

[@blackmennewstyle]

Bruce, can i adopt you to be my grandfather

[@agentbertram4769]

Get in there Bruce! Your audience loves you and speaking as an electrical engineer, your videos are the best and most informative video's on youtube.

[@AdrianoCasemiro]

I'm not an engineer, but I couldn't agree with you more. Invaluable knowledge for free. How no to love it?

[@snickers.mcflurry]

This vid is exactly what I needed to clearly understand how this works. Thanks for the detailed but not overly complex tutorial!

[@brendonclarke4647]

The use of balloons in this video is genius.

[@CaveyMoth]

I wish he used balloons filled with hydrogen, though.

[@rivrunner1]

I agree, using balloons to explain the inverse square law is a stroke of genius!

[@mscir]

@@rivrunner1 I agree, it was an excellent demonstration. I did wonder what the balloon resistance to being inflated did as it was increasingly pressurized, I imagine it went up, but I don't think the results would have been much different if it had been linear.

[@SimRacer101]

Bruce, this may be the best side by side comparison I have seen. So many things we do make just little differences. Like the antenna test I just did. But your test here very clearly shows the difference. Would love to seen done with some more antenna.

[@CaveyMoth]

HELLO, DoneRacer101!

[@raytron1138]

Bruce, you're the professor I wish I had in college. What a great job. Thank you.

[@fernandoschuindt1665]

I'm not a RC person (yet), but I'm learning to get my HAM license, so these videos help me a lot, thanks professor!

[@diomedes39]

That’s why I’m here and his instruction is invaluable!

[@DC-iy6hi]

I don't have an RC plane/drone, but still found this really helpful for general RF theory. Thank you for uploading

[@BOYDELL2013]

This is the moment i've been waiting for bruce to explain between power and gain... nice one bruce!

[@tthtlc]

thank you...i learned something: isotropic antenna and why u need it. And your presentation is very addictive, the more I listen the more question I have, and leading to me listening more of it.

[@Hamm3rJack]

This guy should be teaching classes! Great energy and inspiring way to teach.

[@lestergillis8171]

I am a short wave DXer. So I find your dissertation on RF propagation to be informative. Please continue.

[@lasersbee]

Waiting in anticipation for the DIY Helical antenna build Video.

[@tabdougherty8549]

Thank you Bruce! Once again. This hobby would not be the same without you and all you do for the community

[@qs138v3]

Bruce you are an incredible teacher

[@MrJr298]

Bruce you are the best.Better then the rest.No matter what they say.Thank you!I think we need to educate ourselves on the subject of frequencies in order to keep the hobbyist of FPV alive.Thank you!

[@mktwatcher]

Excellent demonstration of the distribution of transmitter power when using omni directional anntennas.

[@jabawarescienartistry6261]

Mate thanks for all this information! Fellow NZ fpv'er here 🖖😌👌 may the force be with you! Always

[@akmtl]

This is such a great video! I can't believe there are dingbats out there who disliked it. What is there to dislike? Someone is taking their time to educate and explain (really well!) a fairly complex area of RF communications. Well done mate and thank you. Looking forward to more videos!

[@briankoch7041]

The fcc is after hobbyking for selling transmitters that produce power levels beyond 1w (1000mw) and can broadcast on non approved frequencies. The majority of us purchase and use products with in the the fcc limits. It is a thing but not the end of the world thing for most of us. Bruce, you're awesome.

[@Not_So_Weird_in_Austin]

Thanks some of the best explanation of antenna theory and practice also applicable outside of the RC hobby

[@mindslyder404]

Thank you for your explanation. I've been trying to understand this for awhile in been looking at videos that do not explain it the way you do.

[@shiretook]

Videos like this are what have kept me watching your channel. Learning physics and electronics in such a practical application way is inspiring. Thank you.

[@Lundev_]

Great video as always ! Keep up the good work.

[@srinaths.bhaumik5000]

I am able to understand your concepts since I am a licensed aeronautical radiotelephone (restricted) user and I have studied various concepts related to radios. I also have a lot of interest in networking.

[@uavpilot6715]

Theory is always good, I've learned something new today. Thanks Bruce!

[@DerHeizmeister]

Thank you for sharing this valuable knowledge with us, Bruce! Now this is exactly why I like your channel so much!

[@nated1971]

I’m about to start my junior year for Electrical Engineering with a focus on RF. These are great videos, thanks!

[@GroundControlRC]

Great information! I typically use a 50mw SP Antenna on the transmitter an receiver and fly close proximity (within 200m) and very rarely get video drop-outs. Yes, I would much rather use a better antenna and save that battery power for flight. Thanks for the video and Happy Flying!

[@TheVapingFPV]

Bruce is a genius! Best educational videos on the tubes

[@samcollins6394]

As always Bruce another amazingly informative video. Thank you so much for everything you do for this hobby and in sharing all your knowledge and experience. Long may it continue xx

[@benavitchvonsurfalotte3940]

Bring on the antenna build video!! Also, can you do a vid on the ways in which objects between the vtx and rx affect the video reception and how best to overcome them?

[@JaydenLawson]

10:47 “almost to the limits of visual line of sight” 🤣🤣🤣

[@navigator902]

LOVE a good white board video in the morning.....All right.... got my tea... ready.....Got it Bruce.... Thanks Mate...

[@alderfield8682]

Great to have you back looking forward to the build video.

[@stelic9515]

This so true I changed my quad vtx because become defective. So I decided to buy one that is 500mw( the old one was 100 mw) and I don't feel any real gain ( only more heat ) Antenna is most important Thanks for great information

[@duckslave]

Great video Bruce! Glad you made it back to the whiteboard - I’m using two five-turn helicals on my diversity goggles - pointed about 60 degrees away from each other. Marvelous range and coverage!!!

[@stubanshuberi8793]

Yes yes yes!!! I understand now what to look for when buying/making antennas and it wasn’t that hard to understand....now I’m off to your other video on how to make and antenna

[@sebastiansombra]

Great video, perfect balance between technical information and practical explanations. Now I understand much better about antennas!

[@PlasmaBurns]

A 360 swivel mount on the bottom of the craft to hold a directional antenna that was controlled to always point at home.

[@VinsPol247]

You just taught me a lot of important things that I never heard of, but really needed to know. Thank you!

[@echobeefpv8530]

Great timing. My group is currently trying to get our best signals and powers so we can fly together. As one of the guys tasked with understanding this stuff, your videos lay it out in a way I can understand. Thanks Bruce !!

[@torritoist]

Brilliant discussion, Bruce! Thank you!

[@danielhowsare778]

This is great Bruce. I admit I was power hungry, this really puts it into perspective.

[@iitra]

Bruce without you we would be sheep following the crowd thank you for this fantastic video again you make this hobby so much easier to get a fantastic result 👍🏻👍🏻and you 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@owen7185]

Excellent demonstration.

[@analog56x]

the antenna was the problem the whole time! dang... i could never get far with my 200mw setup, but i was running an omni on my rx... if/when i get back into rc flight, ill have to get a helical and see (haha) what difference it makes :) cheers Bruce! thanks for the video!

[@AvivMakesRobots]

I seriously need to design you a housing for those antennas... Great video!

[@franciswong26]

Oh my god! I learn something today. Your explanation is simple and neat. I see you got a lot of explanation video and I'm going to watch one by one definitely. Thank you for your effort!

[@horstknatter9823]

Best teacher ever! Greetz from Germany 🙂

[@lilgeico7113]

Thanks for everything you do Bruce your the reason I got into this hobby. Keep on kicking

[@AlexGoldMTB]

That's the best lecture in my life! Wish you were my teacher at the university!

[@damienkrohse3374]

I'll be waiting for that antenna build video. Great video and explanation.

[@GiffysChannel]

This channel is everything I was looking for and more.

[@speedseeder]

other way to think is that the transmitter is a dot, and it's power is distributed on a surface of a sphere. that is 4πr², so here comes that for a double radius (distance) , the surface is quadrupled

[@theolm]

Wow I really missed your videos. Very informative and easy to understand. Good job! Ps. Every time a friend ask me about pid I sent your video.

[@fpvdave]

Great Video Bruce, now looking forward to your build video of those two antennae.

[@hansleatherby1032]

Great video Bruce - white board power! Cant wait to build the helical antenna

[@AchimStein-SEO]

Cool! I understand more and more what I really need. Thank you very much!

[@BMSWEB]

Love the balloon analogy!!

[@chucksandos8939]

Hi Bruce again! I can added to your theoretical issue with a practical recommendations... Very reasonable change the 'clever' antenna as VTX for FPV quad) to this 'moderm' antenna: 'Realacc UXII 5.8G 1.6dBi RHCP/LHCP TX/RX FPV Antenna' or 'Realacc RHCP Super mini UXII Stubby 5.8GHz 1.6dBi FPV Antenna' (see on banggood, for example). I think cost = $7 is reasonable for... /This antenna are 'Archimedean spiral' for cause 3D of geometry. It's best!/ Good luck

[@Vousie]

8:15 "...so long as the antenna is pointed at your model" And THAT is the big problem with antenna gain. You have to point it very accurately to get good performance. I know, from having flown with just patches on my goggles for the past few months. I end up spending so much concentration keeping my goggles pointed at the quad that I struggle to focus on actually flying the quad. And every now and then I forget and drop my head a few degrees and suddenly I've lost video - and that's the thing too - his diagram is a 2D top-down drawing. But vertical is harder to keep stable. This is why the DJI FPV system has omni antennas and transmits 700mW of power.

[@ivangutowski]

Hi Bruce, Its been about a year since I was watching your videos but got back into quads this summer. Another great video and glad to see you are busy flying as always. Thanks again ! Also I love that you have a 'head tracking head' 10:40

[@kiliclimber2001]

Bruce...from North Carolina/Puerto Rico....thank you.!! amazing video.

[@rohansully584]

Excellent video Bruce. You deserve a subscription. I'm keen for that helical build video!

[@raincoast_earthlab8796]

This is great! New to the hobby, and I was wondering if people made home-brew antennas, like in the ham HF world. I'd love to build one. Been stringing wire in trees for 35 plus years. Love it. Thanks!

[@schugabe]

Yes I have been building some of my fpv antennas for some years. The circular polariced antennas are not that easy to build but it's fun to do 😀 there are very good build guides written by ibcrazy on the fpvlab forum (e.g. Cloverleaf build tutorial)

[@ebonyslender7002]

Hi, Did you finally manage to build a good antenna and did it work?

[@slembcke]

Thanks for another great whiteboard video! Even though I was already aware of the content this time, it was still amusing as always.

[@DoubleA_AMAfpv]

I am excited to learn more and build. Can't wait. Thanks Bruce!

[@gs-mt8zd]

Another awesome white board lesson. Thanks Bruce.

[@_BangDroid_]

This was really easy to understand

[@MrDoneboy]

I fly model rockets, but your info is grand, Bruce!

[@NOVAENGINS9252]

VERY informative I really like this type of videos you make

[@dronealone5651]

I love the white board ! ...& Bruce is likeable as well.

[@eightfivezerobraxton5509]

Great videos! helped me understand the remote control system used on the locomotives I work on as I am an electrician with no RF background knowledge !

[@timwsac]

That was a very educational video Bruce I look forward's to the antenna build thanks

[@donjohnson2639]

Looking forward to the antenna build!👍🛩🛠

[@rong4248]

Looking forward to the build video! Great job as always and thank you

[@shaneg5353]

Very informative, thanks for the video. Looking forward to the DIY helical antenna video.

[@jeffvenable3845]

Im looking forward to making my own! Thanks Bruce!

[@adolfoecs]

Just because of you I will give a try to to this anntena, as you said before I might end up looking weird but worth it

[@fistedfpv2922]

Thankyou for being in this hobby

[@davep6977]

All very good. One point tat wasn't touched on with higher power transmitters is the USE more power and effect battery life. Last thing you'd want is getting that long range (out of sight) and have your battery die. I'd have the controls and video on separate batteries, weight permitting

[@lowtus7]

Camera image is looking really good today. And as always a great vid!

[@SuperBradley79]

Did you do something different with your hair Bruce? You are a legend, you make everything straightforward. I've tried to watch Justin Bardwell. I haven't a clue what he's on about most of the time.

[@frenchy3532]

Great as usual ! Can't wait to make my own helical antenna !

[@therealmikief1]

Love learning from you Bruce. Can't wait to build a helical with you!

[@JuanOrtiz-hj6ei]

Hello from California! Great information and video. Thank you so much.

[@furonwarrior]

I love the video, but really, we’re adding more power to punch through solid objects since 5.8GHz is a very high frequency. More power means more energy punching through something. It’s not really for range, but rather for effectiveness at getting from point A to point B. You don’t want a lot of power when you’re out in the open air, but let’s say you’re flying around a building at the same range, in this case, you need more power since most of it will be absorbed by that building. And raising the gain increases power, but loses Omni-directional... the building will just reflect the focused energy in other directions instead of saturating that area with higher power for the few chance of hitting your receiving antenna. Basically, it’s risky to fly with low power and high gain because of the chance of too many black-outs causing crashes... unless you have an antenna tracker or an observer to adjust your antenna base to move your antenna towards the aircraft. I wouldn’t use goggles without a visual observer when flying low power/high gain because you’re going to experience constant black-outs in busy areas.

[@RandomlySelectedUserName]

Love the way you explain. Thanks

[@cookie4524]

dont forget, there are other directional antennas besides helicals and patches, VAS crosshair comes to mind, and the true rc canada x-air

[@MrCaptainnemo]

I would use this as an example of the differences between using high power transmission versus high gain directional antennas to my fellow students if I was still studying my radio theory. Still an excellent example to show a layperson or an engineer. I should say nobody stops learning 😉

[@rephlex]

You sir deserve an Oscar

[@M77nick]

Bruce, How about considering a video on the theory (magnetic/electric field attenuation) behind twisting or braiding wire leads and when it is appropriate? For example, battery to ESCs, servo leads to servos, servo leads to ESCs, brushless motor leads, video/audio power and signal, telemetry leads, Rx to flight controller (various protocols). Also, usefulness of shielding, etc. There is a lot of conflicting information out there (and,I suspect, mythology). I would respect your opinion as authoritative.

[@scooterpie1143]

Cant wait for the how to video! I would like build one today. Thank you..

[@eg5160]

Excellent video. I've heard plenty on helical's, but never explained as well as you have! I'm just getting into fpv and I probably have one of those HK vtx's in question, although I do believe it can be set to a lower power to keep things "under the radar"

[@rickjames8897]

Cant wait for the antenna build!

[@Conta_Google]

What a very good job you did here!!!

[@lestergillis8171]

As a short wave DXer, those "waves" are called "nodes".

[@neojeets]

Thanks, Bruce. Love the dry erase lessons! 👍