Hi guys !! Like many of you , I'm using an home-made internal antenna in my tanks ...<div>But no matter how good that antenna can be ; it's never as good as the original antenna ....</div><div>There's also the fact that I have a box full of unused receiver boards ( every time I have to replace an RX-18 board ; it comes with a new receiver board ...)</div><div>So I decided to use an extra receiver board as a pre-amp for the internal antenna ...
</div><div>In a normal receiver board , the antenna signal is amplified by Q1 and filtered by a network of coils and capacitors ; and fed to the mixer input : ( pin 16 of IC1 , ( MC3361 BP )) ...</div><div>I intercept that amplified &amp; filtered signal and feed it to the antenna input of the main receiver board ....
</div><div>Here's a bunch of self explaining pictures ...
</div><div>Since I'm driving my tank in an apartment ; It's a bit hard for me to measure how much I extended my range ...</div><div>The only improvment I noticed is that without the booster , I have to fully extend the transmitter antenna to get a good reception ...With the booster , I have the same results with the transmitter's antenna extended only half way ...
</div><div>Some of you guys have been using an internal antenna outside and would be able to quantify in feet if there's any improvment in range should you decide to try the modification ...</div><div>I'd be gratefull for any feedbacks ....</div>

You should take into account that the length of the transmitters antenna is also a factor in the range. The AM radios that HL uses should always have the antenna fully extended any way. <div>The confines of your apartment really are no accurate test of the range.</div><div> You should try everything outside with as little electronic interference as possible. TV's Radios, Microwave ovens. All these types of equipment can affect the signal to the receiver from the transmitter. Within your apartment the receiver should be able to pick up the signal regardless ,It may not have full control of the tank but still get a signal.</div><div> Your idea I think is a sound one that deserves some added experimentation , so get it out side and see what happens, Then you will have a more accurate reading of any changes you made.</div>

Hi<div></div><div>Would it be better to put the booster into the transmitter? too boost the signal range.</div><div></div><div>Jon</div>

Heng Long use FM crystals not AM, but regardless the antenna should always be extended.

[quote]ORIGINAL: starskey

Hi<div></div><div>Would it be better to put the booster into the transmitter? too boost the signal range.</div><div></div><div>Jon</div>
<div>No ...The booster is made of a spare receiver board ...To boost the transmitter signal , you need to send more power to the transmitter antenna witch would drain your " AA " batteries faster anyhow ...You would probably also have to use a power transistor to acheive that ....</div><div>The main idea behind this thread is to recycle some unused receiver boards if you have any ...</div><div></div><div>As for testing the system with the transmitter antenna deployed half way inside my apartment ; it was another way to check if the booster was working or not ....</div><div></div><div>As for testing outside ; I would have first : to test the range with the booster ; second : redo the same test without the booster ....</div><div></div><div>So if one of you guys who knows the range of his tank outside ; has a spare receiver board and is willing to give it a try ; the feedback would be appreciated and would save me some time ....</div><div></div><div>As for me right now ; it's not that I became lazy ; but I 'm confined to my apartment for a while since I had a heart attact 3 weeks ago .... </div><div></div><div>But the mind is working just fine ....L.O.L.</div>

I will have to try this as my range has decreased quite a bit after installing my DBC and I have a few spare TK101 boards doing nothing but helping to fill a box  Probably wont be right away as I have to help reflow a PS3 for a friend and I just got a new Tablet PC I want try to Root and create a custom restore image, so far its being rather uncoperative. I will be sure to pass on my results once I try this and thanks for posting as its definitely something I can benefit from. </p>

Yeah your correct YHR I keep mking that mistake. They are FM channels but they are in the 27 Mhz range I beleive.
You still need to really stretch out your area to get a better idea of range with the antenna mods.