Why I use CrossHair Antennas and Think They are Superior for Proximity Freestyle Drone Flying. 

I’ve flown that antenna - it’s baller. Preach! Love directionals. Not patches, but true directional antennas. Thanks a bunch for this big dawg! Antenna theory is one of the most important aspect of FPV that’s ALWAYS overlooked.

Back when I flew analog with two patches I was always amazed at how far behind myself I could fly.

Anxiously awaiting that sweet all in one antenna cover to become available :) even if it did degrade 'behind me' performance I typically don't fly far behind me at all, so no big deal. I love the idea of having it all together like that.

I like the idea of direct soldering, looking forward for info on this. Thanks for your time and dedication. More please

Keep up the good work Shawn! Love your vids

Dude real life experience beats data all day. Thanks for showing us your experience and for that I'm greatful 🙏🏻

Thank you for sharing this.

What a tough video to make. Great job.

You're ONLY as good as your best CLICKBAIT, that's what I always say 😃 Making generalized blanket statements is one of my favorite things to do as well!

Can confirm, done this on my EV200Ds, even running two on my EV300Os, one up high on an extension.

Thanks for the Ted talk!

I like your solution of making a box for the antennaes. The main reason i stick with stubbys is that they are easy to transport without having to take them off.

thank you for this. I love flying proximity through thick trees. Maybe its time to try some crosshairs on my goggles.

Hi, may we ask for some review/howto for this 3d print? Looks interesting 👍

I hope they release that mask soon, also for the goggle X

Really looking forward to be able to purchase this face plate. Or maybe print it ? I doubt it anyway.

Just installed this myself! It looks amazeballs but having some trouble with the range. Does it matter what orientation the trueX antennas are mounted? Iwe got them all with the writing horisontal. Went behind 1 small building 40 meters away and it dropped to 5mbit instantly. Btw, I was facing the drone while flying

You proved your point, Shawn! I am wondering what Antenna setup I should use, I have a rapidfire with a Lumenier axii 2 (very long antenna) and a Triple feed patch. What would you recommend?

Great video, can you do a video like this but with 4 omni antennas and then but it side by side? I might try 4 patches now lol i didn't expect it to be that good

I think you make a good point about pilots flying out in front most of the time and the signal usually being good enough for some flying behind but I do think the signal is better in front no matter what you run and have had a visual observer spin me around for some flights and think that improved the signal. See my PM on discord for what I think would be a good project for a RotorRiot video. Not necessarily something that would be practical for every day use.

Great video dude! I need that antenna box! Haha any idea on when you will be selling it😊

Good idea and when i was flying analog at the end the best combo for me was the 2 shield patch antena no more removing .... Could you please share to comunity the STL of the googles antenna plate it would be nice 😉.... HappyFlying .... ( i'm gona 3D scaning the original plate to redesigning it for 2 X-air , one on each side and at the end sharing it on Thingiverse ) ...

100% this. I get the best results with with my x-air / x-air2.

I thought the same about omni's. What good can they do behind you if your melon is in the way LOL Dig the faceplate design!

I think it's time to switch from the iflight crystal patch antennas with the stubbies and run this set up in the video. I've noticed 0 improvement with range and penetration with the iflight. Good quick video. Appreciate it.

If you weren't using Walksnail goggles but DJI v2s instead, how would you orient four Crosshairs on them to get the best performance?

Would LOVE to see this applied to my Walksnail VRX I should be getting in the next few weeks

How do you feel bout the x-air2 mkii running 2 crosshairs off one antenna output? I still have the mk1’s but bought a 50ohm splitter and was going to rig em up like the mk2’s. Just never got around to it.

Hi, Thanks for your sharing. I'm new to fpv. So is the faceplate coming soon to be sell on thingverse for 3d printing, and I should buy 4 x air antenna (x air vs x2 air which one better price/performance?) Then open my walksnail goggles and connect to the faceplate? Do you have the detail video guide for this? Thank you

Do you think the benefit came mostly from the cross hair or from the direct link to the antenna that you applied ?

I’m fairly new to the hobby and rc in general but would the pick up patter of an antenna be similar to the polar pattern of a microphone? Could we design antenna to better pick up in front of and behind the antenna?

Yo, where’s the mounting plate?

Stupid question, but wouldn't 4X of the X²Air MkII give you even better penetration?

Did you ever get your skyhunter mini vtol flying well?

I get that range on DJI V1 with stock antennas.......

When can we get this faceplate?

No when these are going to be available yet?

Sorry that it seems like my video was taken as a direct shot at you. It wasn't meant that way. My point is that directional antennas have reduced coverage to the side and back, and that should be taken into account when you decide whether to use them. Your argument is that you get enough range and penetration from your directional antennas for the places you fly. So we are really in agreement there. I have personally experienced sitting in a courtyard of an office park and flying all around myself, and being annoyed that my ImmersionRC LZR patch array gave such bad coverage behind me that I noticed the reduction in range compared to the previous time I flew there with omnis. It just depends on the situation. If we look at the specs for the X-Air Mk2, they list the "flight beam" as 120 degrees. That's the width of the beam where the X-Air has higher gain than a 2 dBi omni. Even if we assume that the fleshy head is 100% blocking the signal to the rear, that's still at least 60 degrees of arc where the omni is providing higher gain than the X-Air. Maybe somebody cares about that 60 degrees and maybe they don't. I also don't 100% agree with the conclusion of the "fleshy head" argument--that adding omnis doesn't provide any advantage because the head blocks their coverage. Let's assume that the person's head is absorbing some amount of signal to the rear. The omni has 2 dBi of gain all around; compare that to the -5 to -15 dB of gain that the X-Air has in the rear 180 degrees of its coverage. Because the head blocks signal to both the omni and the X-Air equally, the omni still provides better coverage to the rear.

Hmmm, he sounds like he knows what he talks about, 👍

It would have made more sense comparing with the Omni’s. In theory they’d do poorly behind you as well. But how much, I’d be curious.

Yep. I've gone to all patch 99% of the time. Way further out front, and enough behind. I also find value in facing away from WiFi so it has less interference.

Do cross hairs work on analog ?

I have cross hairs on my rifle :-). But i fly Getto equip. though.

What's your honest Feedback on Walksnail vs DJI?

"....these stubby antennas do not poke up high above our FAT WATER-FILLED HEADS!" HEY! HEY!!!!! [whisper] How did you know my head is fat? [/whisper] lol Great vid! 🙏

i drive fast cars. they start by inserting a key and turning it. the gas engine fires up. it's a v6. the car is blue. people like to drive cars. i'm not a car expert but it goes fast. i've tried a lot. just wanted to share with you. blue cars are the fastest.

I dont know if this relates to the discussion that you and bardwell have, but i think the cheapest Googles on the Market are best entry into fpv. The betafpv goggles v2 have just one 14dbi patch antenna and no diversity but great range in Front and back penetration just the sides Are a bit Weak. Because of the mirror Design and no external antenna are really compact. beause of just one antenna without diverity Module dirt cheap. love it more than the fiddly analog module on the goggles v2.

Why didn’t you do the same test with a set of omni’s? Your test was useless in proving your point on how directional is better for proximity flying, pretty sure you would of gotten the same results. 😂

Shut up and take my money!