Sunday 21 February 2016

CX-10 - Extending the flight range

Extending the Cheerson / Sanlianhuan CX-10 C flight range

Disclaimer:
This mod is not my original idea. I've found it here and here. Unfortunately I could not find any information about the additional range gained by the antenna mod. We can fix that.

Also see my video about the same topic here.

The antenna mod

The antenna mod cound hardly be simpler. The transmitter comes apart easily:



  •  remove the screws at the bottom and the handles. Also pry out the on/off switch
  • The transmitter can then be carefully be pulled apart. Take care of the battery cables


  • The antenna wire can easily be located on the transceiver module

  • Drill a small hole through the top cover just above the tranceiver module and stick the antenna wire through it.

  • Put it all back together. Done


What's the range gain?

Now for the part I was most interested in:
I did my range tests in the woods where I was sure not to have any 2,4GHz interference from WiFi or other LPD appliances. The results are pretty clear.

Setup Range (m) Range (ft)
Original 10C controller (orange)26m 85ft
Modified 10C controller (orange) 35m 115ft
Original 10A controller (black) 25m 82ft
Modified 10A controller (black) 36m 118ft
All distances are measured on a horizontal path. The drone's flight level was about 2 meters. The range indicates the distance between the remote control and the spot where the CX-10 crashed because it lost the connection.
Still extracted from video.

The attainable height has also increased to the point that I find it hard to see the craft in the air. But I haven't found a reliable way to measure heights.

Bottom line

Yes, it is totally worth it. The mod is easy and safe for beginners and the nearly extra 10 Meters make quite a difference. I had lost control of the drone a couple of times and had to climb my garage roof to recover it, This hasn't happened since.


PS: Banggood has the CX-10C on sale for under 20€ now.

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