Syma X5 WiFi Antenna Adapter

Get better range on your Syma X5 series quadcopter by swapping out the decorative fake plastic antenna for a 2.4 GHz wifi antenna.

The Syma X5 is a great starter quad, but the antenna on the transmitter is pretty bad. The short plastic antenna looking thing sticking up on the top is just for looks and the actual antenna is a short piece of wire flopping about, not quite reaching the dummy antenna nub. A common mod is to grab a 2.4GHz antenna from a WiFi router (like this one) and solder it to the antenna board. This adapter lets you replace the plastic dummy antenna with an RP-SMA connector so you can easily mount any of a number of removable WiFi antennas.

Due to the sizes of the parts involved, I couldn't mount it in exactly the same slot as the dummy without modifying the transmitter. Check out the pictures to see where it needs to be installed.

Depending on which model transmitter you have, it may fit better or worse. I designed this for a revision 5 transmitter, and it fit nice and snug. I, unfortunately, ruined my transmitter with some sloppy soldering (learn from my mistakes!!) and ordered a replacement. This new one is a rev 2, and the adapter fits in a little loosely. Once the antenna is tightened on, it fits fine, but there may be more variation out there.