OrangeRX JR Module antenna relocation

thingiverse

Updated on 21st January 2015: HobbyKing seems to have revamped their orange Tx module by eliminating the micro coax from its internal design. This move reportedly puts an end to a hack that users were following. However, you can still buy a 70mm micro coax and a matching 2.4GHz antenna from Aloft Hobbies.com and solder it directly to the board (signal and shield). Remember to remove the current connector for maintaining proper signal characteristics. After setting everything up, test the range and use hot glue to fix the coax in place. Failure to do this properly may result in your transmitter module burning out mid-flight, causing loss of control over your aircraft. It's advisable to move on to the Spek Module hack instead. The author currently doesn't have a new module and thus cannot verify or update the model if the LED and switches have changed positions that no longer align with the lid. The writer has switched from DX7s to FrSky Taranis X9D but still needs to support existing equipment and BNF aircraft. As a solution, he tried an OrangeRX version of JR-style Transmitter module that supports DSM2 protocol. Out of the box, this module had the antenna at the lower front, which casted a shadow on the transmitter antenna. To solve this, he moved the antenna to the top of the module, which also made it fit in Taranis's transmitter case. The antenna connector is on a short cable, making repositioning easy. A word of caution: handle the antenna wire with care, not bending or creasing it abruptly as this could affect its transmission power and characteristics. Stay tuned for the next update that will involve printing a custom case for a DSM2/DSMX module using parts from a DX4e transmitter, offering enhanced features like full range transmission strength and model match capability using genuine Spektrum components. However, this upgrade is only compatible with Taranis running the latest OpenTx software version as it requires specific software functionality to work. Other custom firmwares might work but are not guaranteed (author's note). Detailed build instructions will be provided in the next post.