ok so i have a lhcp cloverleaf on my quad right now and then on my goggles im running the stock linear dipoles that came with my skyzone 04x. someone at the field told me i should at minimum match polarization and get circular on both ends but then another guy said it doesnt matter as much as people think as long as the vtx is putting out decent power. i fly a 400mw vtx mostly, 5.8ghz obviously.

i dont have crazy range requirements, just flying a soccer field maybe 200-300m max. is it worth buying a set of pagodas or speedy bee antennas or whatever to put on the goggle side, or is the stock stuff genuinely good enough for that kind of range. honestly a bit confused because theres like a million opinions on this and half the youtube videos i find are from 2018

the polarization mismatch is real and does cost you signal, roughly 3db which isnt nothing but at 200-300m with 400mw you probably wont notice it in any practical sense. that said a decent pair of circular antennas on the goggle side is like $15-20 and the improvement is measurable, so i'd just do it to do it right. pagodas are fine, lollipop style antennas are fine, just make sure theyre actually LHCP if your quad is running LHCP. people get that wrong constantly and end up worse off than before.

tbh for that range the stock skyzone antennas are probably fine and the people telling you its critical are the same people who obsess over 0.1db differences in bench tests. not saying antenna choice doesnt matter at all but ive flown way farther than 300m on mismatched stuff without a single breakup. if you want to improve something at your power level id look at vtx placement and keeping the antenna away from carbon fiber before spending money on fancy goggle antennas