Easy DIY 5.8ghz Helical Antenna for FPV Drones. Improve Long range signal, flights & penetration

This quick, and dirty DIY video demonstrates how to build an amazing helical antenna out of trash in 10 easy steps!

Using this antenna, I've flown (Range Tests Shown in Video):
Over 2.5km (2 miles) @ 25mw and
Over 6.27km (4 miles) @ 800mw, at which point the limitation becomes battery life! (Though check out my 4200mAh Li-Ion battery DIY, simply an amazing addition to your FPV kit!    • DIY Long-Range FPV Battery, using Li-Ion b...  )

Basic Materials are:
A piece of thick Copper Wire
Metal lid, tin can, or other piece of metal
A plastic tube or dowel about 15mm in diameter
An old antenna, or piece of coax/SMA connector

Basic Tools are:
Soldering Iron and Solder (with flux core ideally)
Pair of pliers
Ruler or Tape Measure
Optional: 3D printer

You can also buy parts like:
35mm of Solid Copper Wire, thicker is better
RG405 Coax Cable with SMA connectors
º I ordered "Uxcell SMA Male to SMA Male RG405 Coax Cable" which was $10 and enough to make 4 antennas
Copper Plate, or Blank Circuit Board
º I ordered "Copperlab 2-5/8 Inch Round Circle Disc Copper" fir $15 and it's enough to make 12 antennas

Helical Antennas are very simple, but extremely effective for broadcasting and receiving radio signals, so much so that NASA uses them to reach the Mars Rover!

The purpose of this video is to show that you don't need to be a skilled engineer with specialized tools, in fact, you can be pretty sloppy, use random pieces of trash, and still make an unbelievable long-range antenna.

If you have a 3d Printer here are some links to useful parts:
This is the STL I use now (2022) https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:367500

This is what I used: (https://farvew.com/content/9-7-turn)

Download all the files needed, I didn't use the base for this project. If you want to make LHCP like mine then you just need to flip the Center Frame.

There are many other alternatives depending on what your goal is, I think the solid printed ones would be stronger/nicer than the one I used here, but will probably take longer to print of course: https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=...

Check out these related Videos:
Helical/Battery Range Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80LLH...
Li-Ion Battery DIY:    • DIY Long-Range FPV Battery, using Li-Ion b...  

6" Drone Setup Details (Changed from 5" to 6" props as I do a bit of long-range)
Flight Controller: Matek F405-CTR
VTX: Matek Mini 800mw
GPS Module: iFlight GPS Modul
Motors: XING-E 2306 2450KV
ESC: Aikon AK32 35A 2-4S BlHeli32
Propellers: HQ Ethix S5 5x4x3
FPV Camera: Some old Eachine; need to upgrade this... Currently running a Caddx Ratel and love it, just ordered a Foxeer Toothless for comparison.
Radio Receiver: TBS Crossfire Nano RX
Receiver Antenna: TBS Crossfire Immortal T V2 Antenna
VTX Antenna: Current - TrueRC OCP, Previously - SpiroNET Omni – 5.8GHz CP Antenna
ViFly Finder 2 Buzzer, highly recommend

Googles/Antennas
Fatshark HDO with Rapidfire Receiver
Foxeer Micro Lollipop 3 CP
SpiroNET 5.8GHz 13dB Patch
DIY 5 Turn Helical Antenna, Amazing!
DIY 7 Turn Helical Antenna, Even Better!

Controller/Transmitter
FRSKY Taranis X9D Plus with TBS Crossfire Micro TX V2

Cameras, Footage, and Software
GoPro Hero 8 Black, shot in 2.7k and 4k
Various iPhones
Final Cut Pro X (FCPX) editing software

If you have any questions or comments about my setup please leave a comment.

Note: All equipment and flight plans were in accordance with current local laws. Special thanks to my spotters who hiked hard terrain with me in order to achieve this flight footage.

Keywords: FPV, drone, VTX, Transmitter, RX, Antenna, Fatshark, DJI, Freestyle, Race, Mountain, Forest, Norway, Norge, quad, kwad, taranis, frsky, matek, Foxeer, 21700, 16850, li-ion, tbs, team black sheep, immersion RC, x-ing, xing, motor, brushless, ethix, GoPro, GPS, iFlight, Matek, failsafe, range, test, cinewhoop, cinematic, FCPX, CP, Circular Polarized, Patch, 13dbi, dbi, helical, DIY, build, solder, carbon fiber, diatone, dal props, bheli, esc, runcam, crash, RTH, long range, flow, RCgroups, intofpv, RCIndia, how to, first person view, Hero, ND Filters
Lithium Ion, #LiIon #Longrange #FPV #Flighttime #helical #Antenna