Foil Drive Antenna Extension Tutorial

I must give credit where credit is due. Glenn Pang discovered this. When I originally decided to make a Foil Drive board I knew of the limitations of the antenna in the box. If there was any water over the box it would lose signal with the remote. This was problematic since my box was inside my board and therefore constantly underwater. I contacted the guys at Foil Drive and the solution was a hard-wired antenna. They did not want to do this, but I convinced them to do it for me. This worked great but had a few flaws. First was that the permanent wire meant I had to tape it to the deck of my board. Second was that the length was set and if I changed board size and needed a different length I was out of luck. Third was that the wire sheath was prone to cracking from the bending while taking it off and on the board leading to corrosion and the wire going bad. The good thing that came of this is that I learned how to solder really well. The bad was that I went through a lot of frustration.

Less Than Ten Dollar Solution

So, when I was talking with Glenn about board design, he said he was just going to tape the wire to the top of the box and that should work. I was skeptical to say the least. I had tried to just tape a copper wire to the box, and it did not work. My flaw was that it was not a true antenna designed to receive and transmit the signal.

I tried Glenn’s board and his antenna design and it worked fantastic. This means that anyone with a Foil Drive unit can do this and make the placement of the unit easier. You could literally tape the unit to the bottom of the board, and it would still work! No alteration of the Foil Drive box needed!

Here is the simple steps to making the antenna.

  • Purchase two antennas on Amazon
    1. You should always have a spare with you
  • Cut the coaxial end off the antenna
  • Strip the outer sheath and copper layer of the tip of the wire
    1. Leave 1” to 1.5” of the internal wire exposed. Leave the clear sheath on that portion
  • Seal the tip of the wire with either rubber or resin.
  • Seal the proximal portion of the stripped wire so the copper sheath is not exposed to water
  • Seal the distal wire with either rubber or resin to keep water from getting to the metal at that end.
  • Tape the wire to the box lid with good duct tape to seal the water out.
    1. I use 1” wide black duct tape by Gorilla Grip which you can get at Ace Hardware.
  • Velcro the antenna to the nose of your board.
Original Antenna
This is the antenna that you would buy on Amazon or any other website
Cut wire
Cut the wire to length leaving some slack to get the Foil Drive Box out of the recess
Multiple Layers of cable
You want to remove the outer sheath and copper insulation leaving only the inner sheath and wire exposed.
Cut Wire outer sheath off exposing 1" to 1.5"
Trim outer insulation
Trim the outer copper wire as close as possible so that you can seal them from water exposure.
Trim wire
Trim as close as possible. I use a cuticle cutter to get close.
Waterproof tip
Dip in either plastic dip or epoxy resin to seal it.
Seal hole in antenna
Put some resin or liquid rubber in the end of the antenna at the hole where the wire inserts to further waterproof it.
Securing Antenna
This is the wire taped to the V2 version of the Double Agent
Tape Exposed End To Foil Drive Box
I use Gorilla Grip black 1" duct tape to seal it to the lid of the box right by the internal antenna.
Clean Instalation
Velcro antenna to deck for easy removal. Always carry a spare incase of any corrosion which will interfere with it working.
Clean Installation
Clean deck
This one is sealed with Epoxy resin
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Summary

This is an easy solution to being able to use a Foil Drive unit with almost any board. You can mount it where you like and run the antenna to the highest point. Always carry a spare with you. If there is any corrosion on the wire or the copper sheath, then the antenna may not work. Happy Foiling!