so this has been bugging me for a while and i cant figure out if its an antenna problem or a vtx problem or just something dumb im missing. running a 600mw vtx on my 5inch, have it set to 600mw in betaflight, using a stock linear whip that came with the vtx on the quad side and on the goggle side im using the stock antennas that came with my goggles (skyzone 04x).

the dropout isnt total signal loss, its more like rolling static that comes and goes and it starts happening way sooner than i'd expect for that power level. i used to run a 200mw setup with a lollipop on a different quad and it felt like it had better range which makes no sense to me unless something is actually wrong here. flew it yesterday and at maybe 150-200m it started getting sketchy, clear line of sight, no obstacles, not near any wifi or towers that i know of.

im wondering if the vtx is actually outputting what it claims or if its a frequency issue or what. dont have any equipment to test it properly. also open to antenna suggestions if thats the problem, been told to look at pagoda or TrueRC stuff but genuinely dont know where to start.

few things to check ? first, is your vtx getting adequate power? if its on a dirty power line or brownouts during throttle the output power can drop a lot in practice even if its rated for 600mw. some people run a dedicated filtered line to the vtx or at least put a capacitor on it. second thing id suspect is heat, some cheaper vtxs will thermal throttle and drop output power after a minute or two of flying, so if your first 30 seconds are fine and then it gets worse thats probably your answer.

on antennas, swapping out the linear whip on the quad to even a basic lollipop or pagoda would probably help more than anything else you could do right now. linear antennas have a dead zone directly above and below them and depending on how you have it mounted and how you fly you might be hitting that null pattern more than you think. circular polarized on both ends is basically the standard for a reason.

honestly the vtx claiming 600mw and actually doing 600mw are two pretty different things with some of the cheaper units. there was a whole thing a while back where some popular budget vtxs were measured at like half their rated output. if you can borrow a spectrum analyzer from someone in your local group thats the only real way to know. otherwise just assume its less than rated and plan around that.

TrueRC stuff is good, ive used their singularity antennas for a while and they do make a noticeable difference but honestly fixing your power situation first makes more sense before spending on antennas. putting a great antenna on an undertpowered vtx is still going to underperform