HereLink Ground Station - Antenna extension cable?

Has anyone mounted their HereLink Ground Station antennas separately from the handset? For example, by using a cable to put the antenna on a tripod or mast?


Example motivations:

  • To separate antenna orientation and positioning from handset (e.g. antennas elevated on a mast)
  • Change to a different antennas (e.g. directional, higher gain, etc)

Downsides:

Challenges:

  • The ground station antenna connectors are recessed. This makes access tight, and possibly prevents 90-degree connectors.

Specs:

Antenna connector: mini BNC

Frequency: 2.4GHz (so wifi antennas will work)

The Ground Station treats antenna inputs with true diversity.


Questions:

  • Spec of OEM antennas? (i.e. gain, manufacturer, pn)
  • What antenna / cable have you tried?
  • What range have you achieved?
1 Like

I am curious about this setup as well, but add in a tracking motor base. When I’m running a long range autonomous mission (pushing the edge of my VLOS) it’s more than a bit annoying to aim the antenna where the aircraft is since this they are typically 30-40 minute missions.

It gets very hot in the sun where I fly missions so it would be nice to take refuge in a shade tent with the GCS and RC and not have to babysit the antenna. I am planning to expand missions to BVLOS (with FCC authorization) in the future with +60 minute missions and a tracking antenna on a mast would fit the requirement nicely along with the Herelink RC.

I’ve seen an external antenna with tracking setup with a 3DR Solo remote. Maybe it can be somewhat replicated. I think the main concern is that adding components can and typically do have a negative effect on signal, specifically the connections. I’ve learned this with GPS survey modules in practice, so the fewer the connections the better.

Interested to see if anyone has been trying anything yet.

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I would like to try this but finding BNC mini antenna extension cables or adapters (e.g. BNC mini to sma) seems impossible. Are there any suppliers?

If not, I guess the only alternative is to crimp or solder the connectors to a custom cable. I assume this one is the jack: Mini-BNC Straight Crimp Jack RG-174 RG-188 RG-316 Times LMR-100A 75 Ohm | 031-70331. What would be the best plug to use?
Mini-BNC Connectors - RF Connectors | Amphenol RF

Thanks for any feedback.