No Limit Dronez 2.5W Signal Booster Board

The NLD 2.4GHz 5.8GHz dual-band bi-directional signal booster with automatic switching is a highly efficient and compact circuit board designed to increase the performance and range of transceivers working in the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz ISM bands.

You can use the booster kit with DJI drones or any device that uses these frequency ranges, including but not limited to drones produced by companies other than DJI.

The documentation has two sections. The NoLimitDronez team created the first section containing generic installation instructions. If you are familiar with electronics work, this should be sufficient to allow you to install your board in your aircraft and remote. The other section contains community and customer contributions for specific devices. This additional data is provided for your convenience to assist with installation.

Click this link to go to the community supplied hardware-specific deep dives.

While there are community provided videos published in the above link, No Limit Dronez has not confirmed the accuracy or correctness of this content. The generic details below were created by No Limit Dronez, and should be followed. Failing to follow these instructions will invalidate your product warranty.

All of our boards are tested at the factory as part of the production process by automated machines. In addition, we do a quick power up test on the bench in our distribution center, to confirm a signal light comes on for both 2.4 and 5.8 before dispatch.

We have had multiple users who have cooked their boards, through bad installation. We list below the most common mistakes.

1. Heat: Leaving a board connected to power for long periods before mounting using an appropriate exoxy compound or using a cooling fan can cause damage to the board. If powering up without permanent mounting, make it a brief momentary operation for the test you are performing, or if you want to do a longer test you MUST use a fan.
2. Voltage: If the input voltage to a board is too high, this may damage the board. Test supply voltages before connecting to a booster board.
3. Bad Antenna Connection: If the output antenna line is poorly connected, this can cause the output signal to be reflected. Make sure the antenna connection is secured before use.
4. CE board with FCC aircraft: The CE boards should be used in CE locations, and FCC boards in FCC locations. If you have previously installed a FCC software mod, this MUST be removed before powering on your aircraft with the booster boards. Do NOT use an FCC board with the modded GO4 app.
5. Skipping a voltage regulator: Some of the community supplied videos do not use step up or step down boards. While the voltage may be stable on the ground, you cannot guarantee the supply voltage while in the air will be the same. We provide step up and step down boards for a reason. They provide stable dependable power to your booster board. But more importantly, if there is a problem with power, they provide protection to the booster boards.

Each of these errors can be detected upon examination. Warranty claims due to the above installation errors will be rejected.

Before getting excited and taking your first flight, remember that your equipment is not a superhero. While your bird can leap tall buildings in a single bound, its batteries don't last forever. Below, we include a story from one customer who was so excited about the superpowers of extended range that he forgot about fuel. We have edited the text for readability, but you will quickly understand the message.

Guys!! You are not going to believe this!! I just flew my inspire 2 10.6 miles away! (17 km). I used one of your booster modules on the inspire and my r/c. I did not lose the video feed at all!! So freakin amazing, dude!!!! But now I have to find my bird because I ran out of battery juice and crash-landed about a mile away, coming back home. But it was still freakin awesome!!“

Fxxx man, I shouldn't have flown it that far; it's that I got super excited when I passed the 7-mile mark without losing video feed, not even once!!!! I was so happy, and I got so excited I got sidetracked and stopped paying attention to my batteries.

BUT I KNEW IT!! I kept telling everyone that you can put tons of power to your r/c, but when you're that far, you have to have added power to your video feed and transmit power back to your r/c.

YOU GUYS CRACKED THE CODE!! THESE LITTLE MODULES ARE FxxxING AMAZING!!!! Sorry, please excuse my French. I'M SO FxxxING HAPPY!!!!

If I can salvage the video, I'll shoot it to you guys so the world can see these little things REALLY WORK!!!!

Now I need to work on an auxiliary battery and buy another bird. (I just hope my wife doesn't read this. She would hunt me down, have me executed, and cut my bxxxs off on the spot!!)

I don't know what she would do with them; I'll leave that to your imagination, bro! You and your company have a blessed day!!!

Now to our customer who shared that story, we wish you the best of luck as you protect your next aircraft from loss of power, and your other assets from your wife!

UPDATE: Our customer sent one more update after reading our documentation update using the information he provided to us. We just had to do one more update, so here it is.

Oh my f$#@ing god man! I laughed so hard I farted in front of my mother-in-law's face! That is sooooo cool, dude. I'm still a happy man. You guys don't understand. It's like climbing a mountain that you never thought possible!

I have tried so many boosters. I've even tried routers and repeaters with patch antennas. I hate patch antennas because you have to be pointing the thing straight at your drone. And every time that I got to 6 miles, I would start losing my video feed, and by the time I got to 7 miles, I would go dark.

So what do you think I felt when I got to 6 1/2 MILES with a super rock-solid video feed using your boosters? But wait! There's more!!!! I got to 7 miles……….. 8 miles……….. 9 miles!!………… 10 MOTHER FxxxING MILES!!!! I was blown the fuck away, man!! And then I remembered, MY BATTERIES!! My monitor kept telling me to return, and I kept ignoring it until I completely forgot. Never have I flown my bird so far that I don't have enough juice to get back.

Thanks, guys. You didn't make my day. YOU MADE MY MOTHERFxxxING YEAR BRO!!!! I hope my wife doesn't get too nosey and notices that I'm missing one of my birds. I need to find a replacement ASAP!

So. While it is humerous to read the story, let me add one final note. Dont make that mistake. We are including this warning here, to help save you from the same fate. Fuel is an important factor that should be remembered at all times. Always have a backup landing location in mind, in case you need an emergency landing.

The components in your package will differ depending on your selections during the order process. If you requested a pre-assembled kit, you could skip the pre-assembly instructions later in this document. You will find the following components in your package ready to be assembled for everyone else.

The booster board (Figure 1) is the meat and potatoes of your order. Your kit includes two identical modules. The input power supply required is 5 Volts, at 1.2A. However, the voltage supply within your aircraft or remote control may differ. That's why we also supply power modules that will provide the correct voltage to the Booster board. Note: You must match your booster boards to the power source in your equipment, and failing to do so will result in poor performance or component damage.

If your aircraft or remote has a 2S battery or higher, you will need to use a stepdown Power Module to reduce the voltage to 5 Volts, the required input voltage for the booster board. Our step-down module (Figure 2 and Figure 3) is suitable for 2S, 3S, 4S, 5S, or 6S power sources. You may have two of these modules supplied if the remote control for the aircraft listed on your order does not use a 1S power source. The board dimensions are shown in Figure 4.

If your aircraft or remote control uses a 1S power source, you will require a step-up power module to increase the voltage to 5 Volts, the required input voltage for the booster board. Our step-up power module (Figure 5 and Figure 6) accepts input between 1-5 volts, with a stable output of 5 volts. This module is suitable for a 1S power source only. We will not include this module if the remote control for the aircraft listed on your order does not use a 1S power source. The board dimensions are shown in Figure 7.

Intelligent flight batteries in DJI equipment act as the master power switch for the aircraft and the booster board. The remote control is different because the battery is non-removable, and some of the power circuitry for the battery is on the circuit board for the remote control. Because of this difference, you have two options. You can either install a power switch (Figure 8), or a relay (Figure 9) . If you choose the power switch option, you need to drill or cut a hole in the enclosure for your remote control to allow you to activate the switch.

Specifications

The existing antenna lead will be disconnected from the RF board within your drone and your remote control and connected instead to the booster board. The connectors on the booster-board are all Ipex-1 connectors. The wires provided (Figure 11, 12, 13) will be selected based on the aircraft identified on your order.

If you did not order pre-assembly, we include hookup wire (Figure 14) to allow you to tap into suitable power sources. If you requested pre-assembly, we will solder some of these wires to your boards and leave a few extra ones in the package in case they're needed.

Before doing anything, you should check your kit has everything required from the list provided above. Make sure you have the correct antenna wires to match your aircraft. You will also need a few tools. A basic set would require:

1. Screwdrivers suitable for your aircraft
2. Pliers, cutters for stripping wires etc
3. Soldering iron
4. Solder
5. Heat-resistant two-part epoxy glue for mounting the booster and power modules securely.
6. Heatshrink to insulate your relay, step-up, and step-down boards.
7. A basic multimeter.

We have soldered the hookup wire, booster boards, power modules, and the relay if you requested pre-assembly for your order. If you did not ask for pre-assembly, you need to do this before commencing the teardown of your equipment.

Note: You might prefer to do this later to optimise your cable routing inside the enclosure in some aircraft. Feel free to look ahead at community supplied videos for your equipment.

The first part of the process is to connect the booster board to your power modules. The power modules we included in your kit depends on the aircraft identified when you placed your order. If your remote or aircraft has a 1S power source, this will require a step-up power module. If your remote control or drone has a 2S, 3S, 4S, 5S, or 6S battery, you need a step-down power module.

For use with a 1S power source, we will use a step-up power module (Figure 5) with the booster board (Figure 1). You will need to:

1. Connect a Black wire between the Vo- pad on the power module to the GND pad on the booster board.
2. Connect a Red wire between the Vo+ pad on the power module to the 5V pad on the booster board.
3. Connect a Black wire to the Vi- pad on the power module.
4. Connect a Red wire to the Vi+ pad on the power module.

For use with a 2S, 3S, 4S, 5S, or 6S power sources, we will use a step down power module (Figure 2) with the booster board (Figure 1). You will need to:

1. Connect a Red wire between the Out+ pad on the power module to the 5V pad on the booster board
2. Connect a Black wire between the Out- pad on the power module to the GND pad on the booster board
3. Connect a Red wire to the In+ pad on the power module
4. Connect a Black wire to the In- pad on the power module

Power in the aircraft is managed by turning off the power directly in the intelligent flight battery. There are two possible solutions to turn off the power to your booster board in the remote. Before we continue, identify which of the two booster boards and power modules that we prepared above you will use with your remote. If you've got a 1S power source in your remote, this will be the booster board connected to a red coloured step-up board.

Now that you have identified the correct module you will install in the remote; you need to decide if you wish to either

1. Mount a hard-wired switch in your remote by cutting an opening and mounting the switch in the hole, or
2. Use the supplied relay to control power to the booster board, which means you will not need to cut a hole in your remote.

If you are using a hard-wired switch (Figure 8), you will need to:

1. Connect the free end of the Red wire on the power module to one of the pads on the switch.
2. Connect a Red wire to the other pad on the switch.

Instead of the switch above, you can use the relay (Figure 9) to control power for the booster board (Figure 1) in your remote. As you look at the diagrams below, take note of the orientation mark on the relay that matches the pinout diagram.

You will need to:

1. Connect the free end of the red wire on the power module to pin 5 on the relay.
2. Connect a Black wire to Pin 1 on the relay.
3. Connect a Red wire to pin 8 on the relay.
4. Connect a Red wire to pin 6 on the relay.

The diagram below summaries all of the above to make this child's play. The first version shows a StepUp board.

And this version is identical, but shows a StepDown board in use.

Before installing your equipment, you should use heatshrink to insulate the relay and the power module connections. Review aircraft specific instructions for details of your wire routing before applying heatshrink.

Before you start a teardown of your equipment, it is essential to plan and make sure you have everything you need. Check that you have the tools mentioned previously. Also, check if you have answers to the following questions:

1. Where will I tap into a power source on the aircraft?
2. Where will I tap into a power source on the remote?
3. If using a relay, where will I get relay voltage from inside the remote?
4. Where will I mount the boards in the aircraft?
5. Where will I mount the boards in the remote?
6. What antenna connection do I need to tap into in the remote?
7. What antenna connection do I need to tap into in the aircraft?

On our installation page below, we will be providing a table with links to aircraft-specific instructions. Before you do anything, ensure you answer all of these questions while reviewing the aircraft specific details. Or, if your equipment is not yet listed, consult the community on forums for further advice.

Now, it's time to install the board in your aircraft. If you have an available 5-volt power supply, you can use this to power the board and plug in the antenna leads to your equipment and test connectivity. As part of the process, there may be opportunities to test the operation of your booster board before making any physical changes to your aircraft.

The instructions below provide generic tasks required for installation. You should also review community supplied aircraft specific instructions before commencing installation in your equipment.

Assuming you have completed pre-assembly, there are two tasks required. Connect the antenna signal wires, and connect power to the boards. Of course, you will need to teardown your aircraft to a state where you can access the power circuit and the antenna connection. Check our aircraft specific pages to review aircraft-specific guides. If nothing is available, check youtube for teardown videos for your equipment.

Some aircraft have more than one antenna path. For example, the Phantom 4 Pro has one antenna for video signals and another for the C2 link (Command and control). But, we only have one booster board in our aircraft. Does that mean we will get a crap video feed and a tremendous C2 link? No. The good news is that DJI aircraft allows failover of the C2 connection to be embedded in the video feed if the reception is better. Once you have identified the antenna you intend to intercept; the task ahead is simple:

1. Disconnect the chosen antenna connector from your aircraft mainboard, and connect it to the booster board to the socket marked ANT.
   • NOTE: If your aircraft listed on your order does not use an IPEX1 connection, we have included an adaptor wire. One end of the adaptor cable will connect to the existing antenna lead in your drone, and the other end will connect to the IPEX1 connection on the booster board. TIP: Using heatshrink to shield the adaptor wire connection will help prevent a short to other items in your aircraft.
2. Using the provided antenna link wire, connect one end to the other available IPEX1 socket on the booster board, and plug in the other end to your aircraft mainboard to the location where you disconnected the cable in the previous step.

As mentioned above, testing is essential. Before you connect aircraft power to the booster power module, you could use a bench power supply as an input for testing purposes. Turn on both the aircraft and booster power modules, and verify the connection. However, depending on your aircraft, you may not be able to use your flight battery while the aircraft is partially disassembled. Only proceed with this testing if you can power your aircraft before re-assembly. BUT:

• Please make sure your bench power supply meets the requirements of the power module before testing.
• Use commonsense. Do not test with props on your aircraft.
• Do not turn on power unless your antenna wires are securely connected.
• During testing, isolate the components to prevent short circuits.
• Test quickly. The aircraft components and the booster board are designed to operate in the air. Without airflow, they may heat up and cause damage if left powered up for too long.

If your antenna signal path is connected correctly, you will be able to see your aircraft connection status on your remote control or connected display. However, you need to test from at least 30 meters away from the aircraft for this test to be valid. Even if your antenna wire is not connected correctly, you will still have localised signals radiated from the boards and leads. However, please return to power down the equipment as soon as possible after a successful test.

The booster board requires power. We provide a red and black wire connected to the power module during pre-assembly. You need to connect these wires to a power source inside your aircraft. The connection point will differ from aircraft to aircraft, but in broad terms, it should be connected as close as possible to where the power from the flight battery comes into the circuit board in your aircraft. Before connection, use a multimeter to verify the voltage meets the input requirements for the power module in use.

It's time to mount the new booster circuit board inside your aircraft. We highly recommend using a two-part epoxy glue designed for thermal bonding, and this will ensure that heat from the boards will be dissipated appropriately. One glue that would be appropriate is available via this link.

• Decide where to mount: Review other sections of our documentation to confirm if a recommended mounting location is suggested for your aircraft. If not, you should try to identify an area with enough room to allow airflow around the board while in flight.
• Glue it down: Follow the directions with your provided thermal epoxy glue for mounting.
• Insulate: Ensure all wires are insulated appropriately, and there is no risk of a short circuit during flight. Use heat-shrink if required - particularly if you are using an antenna adaptor.
• Secure the cables: Glue the cables in place if desired to prevent movement in flight.

After you complete the above, you will need to reassemble your aircraft. Check for community supplied documentation specific to your model. If nothing is available, search on youtube for teardown videos for your aircraft model for details on how to reassemble. Finally, you should test. The best indication at this stage is that video signal quality - particularly at longer distances will be improved. However, you may still observe issues until you install the board in the remote. The remote control needs to acknowledge receipt of data packets from the drone. You will not get full range until you install the booster in the remote control because any loss of those acknowledgement packets will cause retransmission.

Just like the aircraft, you have two tasks ahead. Connect the antenna signal wires and the power wires. If you decide to use the relay, you need to connect to two power sources: one for the relay coil and one to supply the power module.

Of course, you will need to teardown your remote control to a state where you can access the power circuit and the antenna connection. Check our aircraft specific pages to see if there is a guide for your equipment. If nothing is available, check youtube for teardown videos for your device.

Like your aircraft, you need to identify the existing antenna connection. Use equipment specific documentation if available, or do some research before proceeding. The task ahead is simple:

1. Disconnect the chosen antenna connector from your device mainboard, and connect it to the booster board to the socket marked ANT.
   • NOTE: If your device does not use an IPEX1 connection, you need to use adaptor wires. One end of the adaptor cable will connect to the existing antenna lead in your device, and the other end will connect to the IPEX1 connection on the booster board. TIP: Using heatshrink to shield the adaptor wire connection will help prevent a short to other items in your aircraft.
2. Using the provided antenna link wire, connect one end to the other available IPEX1 socket on the booster board, and plug in the other end to your aircraft mainboard to the location where you disconnected the cable in the previous step.

Before you connect device power to the booster power module, you could use a bench power supply for testing purposes. However, this may not be possible depending on the state of your equipment. If you can still power up your device, turn on both your aircraft and the RC to verify the connection. Only proceed with this testing if you can power your remote before re-assembly. BUT:

• Please make sure your bench power supply meets the requirements of the power module before testing.
• Use commonsense. Do not have any props on your aircraft during testing for safety reasons.
• Do not turn on power unless your antenna wires are securely connected.
• During testing, isolate components to prevent a short circuit to other components.
• Test quickly. We do not recommend powering the board for extended periods before the board is permanently mounted using a thermally conductive epoxy.
• You should test from at least 30 meters away from the aircraft for this test to be valid. Even if your antenna wire is not connected correctly, you will still have localised signals radiated from the boards and leads.

If your antenna signal path is connected correctly, you will be able to see your aircraft connection status on your remote control or connected display. Please remember to power down the equipment as soon as possible after a successful test.

The following steps will differ depending on your decision to use a switch or a relay.

If you intend to use a switch, this will be simple. You have a red and black wire with a free end from the pre-installation build. Connect those wires to your battery source. Connect the red to the positive and black to the negative. Please note: You are responsible for turning off the power switch when not in use to prevent battery drain.

As part of pre-assembly, we have four wires ready to be connected.

Control power: The two wires from pin 1 and 8 on the relay need to connect to a power source that will only be active when the remote is powered up, such as a cooling fan. Check community supplied aircraft specific documentation for details of a suitable power source. If no details are available for your equipment, you can test using a multimeter to assist in locating an appropriate supply. This connection is only used to power the relay coil, drawing minimal 21.1 milliamps when your remote is turned on to power the relay. This is insignificant, and will not have any noticeable impact on battery life.

Main power: The other two available red and black power wires need to connect to the main battery power supply. The intent here is to get as close as possible to the raw power coming from the battery cells.

• Connect the free end of the black wire from the power module to the negative terminal from your battery.
• Connect the free end of the red wire from pin 6 on the relay to the positive terminal from your battery.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We have heard that some installations have connected the relay coil to a power source that is active even when the remote control is off. Make sure you use a multimeter to check the voltage going to the power modules to confirm zero volts when the remote control is turned off.

Please take not of the following warnings:

• Turn off the power supply before removing or replacing the antenna. Powering the board without an antenna may cause damage to the booster board.
• The amplifier generates heat. Please be sure to provide sufficient heat dissipation. Ensure that the amplifier is in full contact with thermal conduction or cooled by a fan.
• Improper installation may cause damage to the amplifier or the host device!
• Please observe the local electromagnetic radiation regulations. Proper use of these amplifiers is your responsibility.

You can do anything you like, but does it make sense? Probably not.

Data protocols require bi-directional communication. For example, After the remote sends a packet to the aircraft to descend, the aircraft acknowledges the packet. If you only amplify at the remote control end, your remote won't receive the acknowledgement and think the aircraft is out of range.

You CAN try one end and test it when you get your kit, but we recommend installing it on both ends.

We would love to, but we do not have the scale to do this work. However, we are in the process of building a partner network - so if you are interested, send a support ticket with your country and state, and we will try to find someone near you.

The booster boards are designed to work with the default signal level for your country. In broad terms, FCC is suited for USA and Canada only, and CE is suitable for the rest of the world. Contact support to remove the FCC mods if you are in a CE country and have an FCC mod active.

Why is it essential to have the correct board? Isn't FCC better? Imagine an audio amplifier. If the input volume is too loud, it will sound distorted when you hear it. Or, if you have a low audio input, you need to turn up the volume to listen, but you get a lot of background pop and static noise. It is the same with the boosters, and you need to match them to your equipment output signal level.

And what about the FCC mod? Why can't you leave that turned on? There are a few reasons. Firstly, a future update to your firmware might not work with our mod. We do not want you to have an aircraft stuck on an incompatible firmware version unable to fly because you have un-matched boosters. But even if you did not have that issue, there is one other factor. During the boot-up sequence, the FCC mod is enabled by one of our mod scripts. We have not tested the impact of any comms that might happen before that script is executed on the booster board performance. For the sake of simplicity, we recommend using the boards to match your geo country in all circumstances.

Why is my remote control battery draining so fast? The aircraft batteries are intelligent, and once you turn them off, there is no power drain caused by custom mods like the booster boards. The remote control is different. The relay output contacts get power directly from the battery, and the relay coil is powered from a switched source elsewhere in the remote. The relay coil power should only be active after turning on the remote control. To prevent mistakes, use a multimeter to check the voltage going to the power modules is zero volts when the remote control is not turned on.

Some have commented that their RC batteries are getting drained even with the RC turned off. Let us analyse this myth.

If we look at the wiring diagram in section 3.2.2 Relay Switched Power, the output voltage from the relay to the boosters is not connected when the relay coil is not powered. The instructions in section 5.2.3.2 Remote power connection - Relay - Generic ask you to connect the relay coil input to a power source that will only be active when you turn on the RC. In other words, when the RC is off, this connection point should not provide any power.

If you correctly connect as per the instructions, this will draw ZERO power when your RC is off.

MYTH BUSTED.

There has been a lot of unfounded speculation that the relay is the cause of all problems, including world hunger. (Well, maybe not world hunger, but let's get to the facts).

The Mavic 2 RC battery has a rated capacity of 2970mah. The battery capacity for other devices will be different, but it is not a significant factor when looking at the other numbers.

The specifications for the relay indicate it draws 21.1 ma on the coil at 5 volts.

Doing a simple division, 21.1 tells us that if we only power the relay, it will last for 140 hours on a fully charged remote control battery. But don't forget, that is ONLY if the RC is on. When you turn the RC off, the relay will not draw any current at all.

MYTH BUSTED

Some people think it is good to bypass the step up or step down modules to reduce power drain and increase battery life. The power modules consume a small amount of power during the voltage conversion, but it is insignificant compared to the booster boards.

We recommend pulling raw battery voltage as a power source. If you pull 5 volts from elsewhere in your aircraft or RC, it may draw more power than that part of the circuit is rated to provide. You could damage other parts of your device, all to bypass a power module. You should only use an alternate direct 5 volt supply in your equipment if you are confident that you can draw sufficient power at the point you are connecting to, and the voltage will remain constant as the aircraft battery drains.

PLAUSIBLE, but NOT RECOMMENDED.

There has also been criticism that the booster boards will flatten your RC battery during normal operation. Let's find out how long a booster can last on a regular battery.

The rated power supply current is 1200 mA. If this is the only device connected to your RC battery, it will drain a fully charged battery in 2.475 hours. So yes, it will reduce battery life, but not unrealistically. That is the price to pay for the extra range.

BUSTED

There has been criticism that the boosters will reduce flight time excessively.

The capacity of a Mavic 2 battery is 3850 mAh. For a flight time of 30 minutes, the aircraft is therefore consuming 7700 mA on average. Assuming 1200 mA, the introduction of the booster board will reduce flight time by an estimated 15%

BUSTED

One user has reported “cooking” multiple booster boards because they get too hot.

A radio amplifier will convert power into amplified RF. One of the byproducts of the process is heat. The specifications of the booster boards refer to requirements for passive cooling. What does this mean? It is mandatory to mount the board to allow heat dissipation. During testing (before permanent installation), you must use a heatsink or cooling fan for temporary testing. We found videos of this user testing the board suspended in mid-air without active or passive cooling, which would be the electronic equivalent of running a car engine without oil. Yes, you can cook your booster boards if you don't use cooling.

BUSTED