Limitless Radio for SpeedRuns? (and Noble NB4 discussions)

[arrma only fans]

i want a futaba 7pxr

 

[rotauq]

Absolutely, going from 100 mW up to 2W is going to make a massive difference.
I have not been impressed with aftermarket signal booster solutions, it is nice to see an OEM provide one like this.

Does the Noble NB4 have a designated mounting spot for this like the Air TX do?

Unfortunately it has not have a docking for it. I will initially hook it up to my Jumper T16 radio which does have the JR external mounting bay for this formfactor. I do want to be sure the range gain is close to my expectation to make it worthwhile making it work on the noble.
I hated the aftermarket boosters i tried before too, reliability was rather questionable...

The Noble NB4 does has a huge powerbank at the bottom with usb out and the the FRM302 does run on 5V so i can feed it without an external battery. I will likely design and print a docking at the front, mounted like the picture below. I should be able keep it esthetically pleasing. I do want it removable as i want to use it for air too.

 

[Notorious J]

Absolutely, going from 100 mW up to 2W is going to make a massive difference.
I have not been impressed with aftermarket signal booster solutions, it is nice to see an OEM provide one like this.

Does the Noble NB4 have a designated mounting spot for this like the Air TX do?



I do not have a full write up and don't use much of the settings myself, but a good YT video is probably your best bet.

This is one for example. I believe he is on this forum:

Big question to you and all who use the RC6GS. I just got mine and installed receivers in three vehicles. How do you route your antennas? Also, is it a necessity for them to exit the body work? Right now, mine are installed with one antenna facing forward and the other facing the rear. The forward facing is straight towards the front at the center. Rear facing is curved around the rear of the receiver box and then follows the outside of the battery box. Tips and suggestions welcome. All my bodies are Gorilla taped, so I'm not sure if this has an adverse affect of reception. My two bashers probably don't need tons of distance, but my Typhon speed runner is the one I'm most concerned about.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Big question to you and all who use the RC6GS. I just got mine and installed receivers in three vehicles. How do you route your antennas? Also, is it a necessity for them to exit the body work? Right now, mine are installed with one antenna facing forward and the other facing the rear. The forward facing is straight towards the front at the center. Rear facing is curved around the rear of the receiver box and then follows the outside of the battery box. Tips and suggestions welcome. All my bodies are Gorilla taped, so I'm not sure if this has an adverse affect of reception. My two bashers probably don't need tons of distance, but my Typhon speed runner is the one I'm most concerned about.

I would imagine for anything under 1000 ft range running the antennas inside the body will be fine. (general use)
For speed runners it is best to have at least one above the body.

I show my antenna setup in this video pretty well.

 

[rotauq]

Big question to you and all who use the RC6GS. I just got mine and installed receivers in three vehicles. How do you route your antennas? Also, is it a necessity for them to exit the body work? Right now, mine are installed with one antenna facing forward and the other facing the rear. The forward facing is straight towards the front at the center. Rear facing is curved around the rear of the receiver box and then follows the outside of the battery box. Tips and suggestions welcome. All my bodies are Gorilla taped, so I'm not sure if this has an adverse affect of reception. My two bashers probably don't need tons of distance, but my Typhon speed runner is the one I'm most concerned about.

One should be vertical, other horizontal for the best reception. On drones there are these kind of designs:

But that's only because they move 360deg on 3 axis's with a carbon frame in the middle. Preferable the antenna's should be as high as possible, but mostly because you don't want a shock tower in between the angle of the antenna and the radio. 10cm higher or lower without interference wont make much difference.

As for the body, Lexan and gorilla tape won't interfere much with the signal. Shocktowers do, metal and carbon are signal blockers

 

[Notorious J]

I would imagine for anything under 1000 ft range running the antennas inside the body will be fine. (general use)
For speed runners it is best to have at least one above the body.

I show my antenna setup in this video pretty well.

One should be vertical, other horizontal for the best reception. On drones there are these kind of designs:
View attachment 128681
But that's only because they move 360deg on 3 axis's with a carbon frame in the middle. Preferable the antenna's should be as high as possible, but mostly because you don't want a shock tower in between the angle of the antenna and the radio. 10cm higher or lower without interference wont make much difference.

As for the body, Lexan and gorilla tape won't interfere much with the signal. Shocktowers do, metal and carbon are signal blockers

Thanks to you both for the great info. In the Typhon, I'll run one inside down the center with a curved tube like @LibertyMKiii did. The other will go out the body in it's normal place. This will give it the opposing directions needed and hopefully increase the range. As for the bashers, I'll test my current set up to make sure there's no issues, and adjust if necessary. The tip about the towers is timely, as I had considered running one of the basher's wires forward through the tower. Appreciate the input gentlemen.

 

[rotauq]

Do note that only the top 3.3cm is the actual antenna, rest is just extension wire

 

[Notorious J]

Do note that only the top 3.3cm is the actual antenna, rest is just extension wire

I noticed that in the @LibertyMKiii video.

 

[1coopgt]

Do note that only the top 3.3cm is the actual antenna, rest is just extension wire

Did you receive your FTr10 yet? . I ordered one from Banggood and received it last week. I Got it bound to my NB4 but my Limitless build isn't done and its still winter here for at least 2 more months. I need to figure out where I'm going to mount the RX its a Little bit bigger than the 4 channel RX's.

 

[Hammer Down]

Did you receive your FTr10 yet? . I ordered one from Banggood and received it last week. I Got it bound to my NB4 but my Limitless build isn't done and its still winter here for at least 2 more months. I need to figure out where I'm going to mount the RX its a Little bit bigger than the 4 channel RX's.
View attachment 129539

It’s kinda hard to see in this pic from last season, but this is how I had mine mounted.

It’s half torn apart now.. (winter here also) but here’s a better shot from today.

I’ll probably have to find a new spot for it tho, as I’m going to squeeze an xlx2 in there somewhere instead of the MMX8s it had. All while retaining both battery trays and keeping the motor in stock orientation, under the stock shell.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

It’s kinda hard to see in this pic from last season, but this is how I had mine mounted.
View attachment 129545

It’s half torn apart now.. (winter here also) but here’s a better shot from today.
View attachment 129548View attachment 129549

I’ll probably have to find a new spot for it tho, as I’m going to squeeze an xlx2 in there somewhere instead of the MMX8s it had. All while retaining both battery trays and keeping the motor in stock orientation, under the stock shell.

Thanks for sharing the picture. It really helps to see it physically in the Limitless for size/placement reference.
I agree that will be a challenge to retain both battery trays and mount the XLX2 there. That aftermarket center brace with ESC mount may be your best option.

 

[Hammer Down]

That aftermarket center brace with ESC mount may be your best option.

That’s basically the plan, I’ll post more pics after I shoehorn it alll in there.

 

[rotauq]

Did you receive your FTr10 yet?

Tracking says i should receive it any day now, it's in the country since saterday

 

[1coopgt]

It’s kinda hard to see in this pic from last season, but this is how I had mine mounted.
View attachment 129545

It’s half torn apart now.. (winter here also) but here’s a better shot from today.
View attachment 129548View attachment 129549

I’ll probably have to find a new spot for it tho, as I’m going to squeeze an xlx2 in there somewhere instead of the MMX8s it had. All while retaining both battery trays and keeping the motor in stock orientation, under the stock shell.

I was thinking of mounting it like you have it . Wondering if my CF Chassis brace will interfer with the antennas if I have them ty-wrapped to the brace where yours are. I know CF will block the signal if the antenna were under it. Might be a good Idea to poke a hole through the body and find a grommet that will fit snug around the antennas and put one through the body sticking up and keep one inside the body.

 

[Hammer Down]

I was thinking of mounting it like you have it . Wondering if my CF Chassis brace will interfer with the antennas if I have them ty-wrapped to the brace where yours are. I know CF will block the signal if the antenna were under it. Might be a good Idea to poke a hole through the body and find a grommet that will fit snug around the antennas and put one through the body sticking up and keep one inside the body.

I might move it into the stock esc location as it won’t have an esc there anymore and make a small bracket to hold the antenna’s.

 

[rotauq]

I didn't receive the receivers yet, but i did get the FRM302 in.
I hooked it up to my jumper T16 and with a tiny software update i got the FGr4S and FtR8B connected. The limitess is a beat and not east to tame on an air radio. I will test the module in air first with a drone once the FTr16S receiver arrives.

Hooking the module up to my Noble Nb4 will be a challenge on it's own. It's not a range extender, it's a transmitter module. So'll have to hijack the uarts of the radio and hope the software can deal with it.

To get a better idea of the internals of the noble i decided to open it up. It opens up easily, other than the flatcable between the main/display pcb and pdb/potboard, it's all simple and easy. I probably spend most time on removing the rear grip rubber.

Their being 4 antenna slots and 2 fitted with a connector and one unused, made me realize the easy to add a regular range extender whiles maintaining the regular antenna. So i hooked up a SMA cable.

Added cables to the uart7 Tx/Rx pads and drilled a hole in the housing to get the cables outside:

routed a powercable from top to bottom:

Attached my 'crappy' 2W range extender on the second antenna and did a range test:

427m / 1400ft with ease, way beyond my eyesight capability. And that's not even with the FTr10. I might just chose this route. Make a nice casing for the extender and leave it like that. With the dual antenna the regular antenna remains in tact as well. I'll just dedicate the FRM302 to drones.

 

[rotauq]

My prototype booster casing:

A black antenna and black PLA will probably make it look better

 

[Notoriousone]

Very nice work. Does the white power cable fit in there once the handle is screwed back on without binding or touching anything it shouldn't? My OCD ass would worry about it knocking a connector off, or damaging a tiny solder joint somewhere in there. I just might do this to my Noble, if I could get 1400 ft out of it I would rather use it than the Radiolink RC6

 

[rotauq]

Very nice work. Does the white power cable fit in there once the handle is screwed back on without binding or touching anything it shouldn't? My OCD ass would worry about it knocking a connector off, or damaging a tiny solder joint somewhere in there. I just might do this to my Noble, if I could get 1400 ft out of it I would rather use it than the Radiolink RC6

FYI The FTr10 is still stuck in transit, but i expect it to go way beyond that 1400ft.

The casing has a very tight fit on the noble top part, it's locked in there, solid as a rock. As you can see on this picture. I can pick it up on the casing (in any angle, without any wiggle)

Top of the white cable goes into the casing right next to the rotation joint of the steering wheel. To make it this solid i can no longer switch it to left handed without removing the casing.(which is still possible, but due to the tight fit it's not a 3 second job) Inside the casing it's attached to the power button and a ubec(5v) with some extra cable. Removing the casing won't jerk the cables.

I did not hook it up to the grip or bottom battery (yet), still using an 650Mah 3S external battery for now. the two 18650's inside are in parallel
For now the white cable goes outside next to the front grip rubber (no holes made there is a gap on one side of the casing), once i hook it up internally it will be OCD proof once again

 

[IWANTBLUE]

My prototype booster casing:

View attachment 131231View attachment 131232

A black antenna and black PLA will probably make it look better

No Need for the Black PLA... Just skin the controller

Are you using the same mount that the phone/holder adapter uses for your addon @rotauq

On a More serious Note, and with the NB4 side of the OP in mind,
Can you guys throw any light on the differences to signal strength and quality/length of range between the 3 or 4 variations of the FGR4 receiver? so the FGR4, FGR4P, FGR4S and finally the micro mini-z small package version?

I'd also read that receivers with more channels might suffer with increased latency, through the fact that there are more channels to poll, but I gather from the discussions so far on this thread, that the antenna improvements on the 8/10 channel receivers outway this increase??

It’s kinda hard to see in this pic from last season, but this is how I had mine mounted.


It’s half torn apart now.. (winter here also) but here’s a better shot from today.


I’ll probably have to find a new spot for it tho, as I’m going to squeeze an xlx2 in there somewhere instead of the MMX8s it had. All while retaining both battery trays and keeping the motor in stock orientation, under the stock shell.

what distances have you covered with your existing set-up @Hammer Down


Cheers.