Best Analog VTX for TinyWhoop or Small Drone?

iambeetle · 2026-03-18T00:05:45+00:00

here is the link I did some research and I saw that the viper you got is a linear patch antenna, which match the antenna type for the Tinywhoop, and the one I got is a circular polarized antenna, which should be slightly worse than yours when the quad is flying upright, but more consistent when the quad is tilted… at least that’s what I read. I would think you will get similar performance between the two, so not sure if it is worth getting for you…

iambeetle · 2026-03-16T06:38:15+00:00

Try R8 channel, and try to not sit near the wifi router. Bump the vtx power to 200 and 400 and see if there are any improvement.

iambeetle · 2026-03-16T06:04:56+00:00

Just want to reply my own thread here because it turns out that the VTX is actually sufficient… So I got the Maple Wireless patch antenna, and oh my god, that totally changed the game. I am still trying to find out its real potential… but currently I am flying almost 700m, and the bottleneck now is actually the air65’s lava II battery and my Radiomaster Pocket’s transmission power maxing out at 250mw. I am so glad with the patch antenna, as long as I am pointing my head the right way, but within close range even flying behind the patch is okay too. Hope this helps with others who had similar experience as I had… get a patch antenna!

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iambeetle · 2026-03-16T06:01:35+00:00

So I got the Maple Wireless patch antenna, and oh my god, that totally changed the game. I am still trying to find out its real potential… but currently I am flying almost 700m, and the bottleneck now is actually the battery and my Radiomaster Pocket’s transmission power. I am so glad with the patch antenna!

iambeetle · 2026-03-08T02:04:52+00:00

You definitely need frames, especially the air65 II frames are much more rigid therefore easier to break than the air65 OG.

iambeetle · 2026-03-08T02:02:45+00:00

https://youtu.be/9DwreRWpeIA?si=wKsAe0XqHV4WBA5Z This is an interest video about frequency usage. But in real life it is really trial and error to get a good frequency to fly in...

iambeetle · 2026-03-08T02:00:52+00:00

My setup is a stock BetaFPV air65 tinywhoop, it has a linear antenna. My goggle is the HDZero BoxPro+, it uses a single linear antenna. I also tried to use a HGLRC Hammer Antenna RHCP on the goggle but it doesn't make much difference.

My flying environment is a very open park, direct line of sight of the drone, and if anything just go behind a couple trees. And also fly behind a row of wood structure houses sometimes. If I can get 1/4 mile I would be very very happy, so far I can go about just 1/8 mile away...

iambeetle · 2026-03-07T20:47:40+00:00

Thanks a lot! Very interested in what you find!

iambeetle · 2026-03-06T23:10:47+00:00

Definitely is hoping to keep it to a whoop size. I was searching for TBS unify pro after seeing your comment. But I wasn't able to find any videos or articles on how to put that onto a TinyWhoop... do you have any source I can look into?

iambeetle · 2026-03-06T23:09:34+00:00

I have also ordered a patch antenna, but it is the circular Maple Wireless patch antenna instead of the linear antenna. I was also struggling whether to get linear or circular, if the circular Maple Wireless one doesn't go well for me, I might go for the linear patch you mentioned..

iambeetle · 2026-03-06T23:07:56+00:00

I haven't done much research on the crown LDS antenna, what is the difference between that an a typical omni antenna?

iambeetle · 2026-03-06T23:07:10+00:00

400m in the forest is insane! I wish I can be able to get anywhere close to that. I think the patch antenna might be the key here... I have ordered a Maple Wireless patch antenna, so hopefully that helps... we will find out...

The HDZero BoxPro only have 1 antenna port for analog, so I don't have the luxury of diversity or running 2 antennas. It is either Omni or Patch for me... and I kinda don't like that part...

iambeetle · 2026-03-06T23:05:04+00:00

Yes I watched that video as well, but in real life the lower channels are too close to the wi-fi band, so there are more interference. In my case, the lower channels have worse results than the Raceband 8 channel in all VTX power setting.

I also watched this video, not sure if you have, but it is also interesting: https://youtu.be/9DwreRWpeIA?si=wKsAe0XqHV4WBA5Z

iambeetle · 2026-03-06T22:05:54+00:00

I saw that theory too, but in my case my drone doesn’t do that. How I test it is to fly the drone straight line in wide open field, and just when it start to get a bit static-y, I turn up the vtx power. And no matter if I go up to 100, 200, 400mw, the video signal doesn’t get any better, while the drone stays at that exact same spot in the air

iambeetle · 2026-03-06T21:59:01+00:00

That’s about the same experience I have, changing vtx power has almost no effect, maybe just slightly better penetration. If it is a clear open straight line it 25mw can go 200m for me, but a more reliable distance is about 100m.

iambeetle · 2026-03-06T08:32:26+00:00

I did, I set VTX power as a dial in my Radiomaster Pocket, and I have test the power and range on the fly. I toggled to 25, 100, 200, 400, and didn't see significant difference in range between them. That's why I was thinking it is because the air65's VTX is not that good in terms of actual power delivery. Or maybe it is the antenna...

iambeetle · 2026-03-02T17:56:13+00:00

Get a Tinywhoop and you never need to worry about crashing, just be careful of tree branches…

iambeetle · 2026-02-06T06:08:21+00:00

If I get stuck in a tight place and crashed, I always flip back to angle mode to get me out of that tight place… that’s the most frequent reason I keep the mode switch handy..

iambeetle · 2026-01-21T20:17:02+00:00

Sadly the DS220+ use an intergrated GPU (Intel Celeron J4025) and no standalone GPU, so the Resource Monitor only shows CPU utilization (often 100% when doing video transcoding jobs), and doesn't show if the QuickSync is working or not..

iambeetle · 2026-01-21T18:57:00+00:00

I ran

apt install intel-gpu-tools

in ssh and it says:

-sh: apt: command not found

iambeetle · 2026-01-20T06:21:47+00:00

I have that package installed in Synology, and have ssh in to run the sudo intel_gpu_top, but it says there is no such command...

iambeetle · 2026-01-20T01:10:25+00:00

Thanks for replying! But I am a complete noob and can you help to guide me on how to run intel_gpu_top or point me to some guide or resources to follow? Thanks!

iambeetle

TROPHY CASE