Switchblade antenna overview

Don't throw away those stock whips! The Switchblade can turn them into high performance antennas in seconds!
Vendors:
Ready Made RC: www.readymader...
Heli-Nation: www.heli-natio...

[@timeanspace]

Science wins and you are still a legend!

[@pablosiga6082]

Alex What a sustainable and green idea to reuse those antennas. I have at least 25 in a box, i dont want to waste plastic on to environment.

[@audiogek]

Dang!...forgot to hit the bell icon. But nice I can watch 5 new VAS videos in a row :)

[@Airguardian]

Question though... how does that modified stock antenna compare to an out of the box CP cloverleaf antenna in terms of reception and radiating pattern? Will the performance be any better? Otherwise I'd just prefer to stick to the cloverleafs.

[@CAGreve1231]

Far better. In fact, this is the same antenna as the Ion V2. It is an incredibly high performance product. It is very high gain and very high axial ratio. I just got lucky being able to make a novelty product from a common item.

[@b0bl00i]

Interesting! I'd like to see a comparison of all your antennas. Getting hard to know what to fly with 😉

[@CAGreve1231]

Coming soon. I am short on time these days.

[@HomeGrownCanadianFPV]

genius.... killed it on this one... can't wait to try

[@maceliusfpv370]

Think i'm going to pick a set of these up with my next order from VAS. Does it come with the standard rubber ducky and/or does it work with others that come with so many goggles? How important is the vertical alignment with the dipole inside, and how is it achieved?

[@mikestevens3570]

Always with the innovation man!!! Awesome job!!!

[@ADMDGLS69]

Would this work for a micro dipole? Or are you going to make a smaller one to fit on a micro dipole

[@KendallSmithFPV]

What a bonkers/genius idea!!! Well done Alex! Question... could I zip tie this to my small whip antennas like the ones that come on Unify Nanos or TinyWhoop sized VTx?

[@CAGreve1231]

You could... but I think you might find using a minion cap would be lighter. It is the same tech, but the Minion is smaller and lighter.

[@A_Bird]

Any chance we might see a switchblade concept in a ufl/mmcx minion-like form factor? I'd love to be able to easily switch between left/right polarization as is required at some races while still using just ufl or mmcx to drop the weight of the SMA.

[@lasersbee]

Very Interesting... Time to pick up a few.

[@fsarfino]

love it but what keeps it from flying off in a crash? do you tape it on after install or something

[@boosted740]

Frank Sarfino from what I’ve seen it’s a very tight fit.. like you have to use ‘force’ to get it off

[@3000gtwelder]

You know..."Force" lol.

[@0calvin]

Use the force, Frank.

[@CAGreve1231]

LOL! The "use the Force" comment is pure gold. These snap on really tight. The first 2-3 times you try to remove them is kind of difficult, but after that they fit perfectly. It takes ~6lbs of force to remove them.

[@Humboldt710]

Excellent work Alex! I need a Pepperbox Extreme though!

[@CAGreve1231]

Coming soon. I have it developed, but I need to start manufacturing it.

[@chrismillersrcfamily]

Awesome Alex! 👍🏼👍🏼👊🏼

[@RussellGilder]

Would this be acceptable for receiving? For our DVR race ground station specifically at races for pilots running different polorizations?

[@CAGreve1231]

Absolutely! That's typically what I use them for but the last flight I took with it as a transmitter I went 1.25miles on 25mW.

[@AndrewNewton]

Black magic!

[@DaynHolz]

...and voodoo!

[@cloudsplitter24]

Brilliant!!

[@pkvillager]

Well I definitely want to try that! Will just a single be available?

[@CAGreve1231]

Maybe. I haven't decided on whether or not I want to do individual caps or not. The whip isn't your standard stock whip. I modified them specifically for this. However, with some modification, the caps will work on other whips.

[@grownnotflown2]

U da man thanks.. keep em flying 😎

[@burgerlord1297]

He b crazy this is nuts

[@kira07]

and now google suggest me videos about switchblades, thanks

[@Jake-mm1cz]

Very Cool ..!

[@planesofpaper]

Couldn't count how many whips I have thrown in the bin

[@CAGreve1231]

And now you have a use for them ;)

[@jackdaniels7913]

Nice

[@charlesphillips1642]

Bought the vas dipole anttena mod from getfpv and the wire is 82mm total length not 84mm

[@jaraandres]

That is clever

[@0calvin]

Now I wish I hadn't tossed out all those stock antennas.

[@charlesphillips1642]

With the vas dipole anttena mod how come when I put a 5dbi on it the ras goes up to 16 is tht bad

[@CAGreve1231]

I assume this is the Taranis mod? The reason is that the Taranis doesn't actually measure SWR (SWR meters are very expensive). Thus, it is guessing and the impedance of our antennas is set on a $20,000 piece of equipment. The Taranis is set to a less than perfect antenna, so it is a programming issue on the part of FrSky.

[@charlesphillips1642]

Video Aerial Systems yes the taranis mod with ras of 16 is tht bad

[@charlesphillips1642]

@@CAGreve1231 so when cutting the wire for the mod how long should it be 84mm from bottom of sma or 84mm to the shielding with a little bit of the inner for soldering

[@CAGreve1231]

You want 84mm of shielded cable. That is, from the base of the SMA nut(where the cable goes into the fitting) to the end of the coaxial cable shield should be 84mm long.

[@charlesphillips1642]

@@CAGreve1231 with a little bit of the center wire showing to solder to rite

[@Xeophane]

nice, is this available for 2.4ghz?

[@CAGreve1231]

Unfortunately it is not. However, I can happily give you the calculations to do your own.

[@Xeophane]

​@@CAGreve1231 Thanks for the reply, that's so kind, i thank you in advance... this can work even in a whip/colinear or 3/4 antenna for FM band? or components will be too big for FM frecuency?

[@CAGreve1231]

@@Xeophane - Too big depends on your space allowed. The truth is that you can reduced the diameter by flattening the angle of the elements... at least to some extent. You can also manipulate the geometry... but again, this is limited. In general, the diameter is going to level out around 1/3 wavelength. Any smaller than that and you are running into problems.

[@Xeophane]

@@CAGreve1231 thats the diameter of the elements around the antenna right? and what about the diameter of the elements of the switchblade, need to be same thick as the antenna or doesnt matter? like if the antenna is 2 inch diameter, the elements need to be 2 inch?

[@CAGreve1231]

@@Xeophane I was referring to the width of the antenna. The minimum width is ~1/3 wavelength. The length of the elements also comes out to right about 1/3 wavelength. Element thickness will change the length slightly.

[@charlesphillips1642]

Will it work for 2.4 or 5.8gz

[@CAGreve1231]

5.8Ghz only! This will have zero effect on a 2.4Ghz antenna.

[@crossfpv781]

😱😱😱👏👏👏👏👏

[@charlesphillips1642]

So I got the vas folded dipole and the wire mod isn't 84mm it's 83mm