Want a bit more power from the build in ELRS radio on your controller?

Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape, or form responsible for your actions. If you burn down your house or hurt yourself, don’t blame me. But anyway, happy modding.

What do you need?

• • RadioMaster TX12 Mark II or similar,
  • A WiFi enabled device,
  • Birds.

Step by Step:

• 1. Connect to the controller via WiFi (or make it connect to your home network)

If you’re unsure how to complete this step, it may be best to stick with the default power settings for safety.

• 2. Navigate to the hidden hardware.html page

ExpressLRS has a “hidden” hardware.html page.
Accessing it is as simple as going to: http://[controller-ip]/hardware.html
Now you can mess with values that you probably shouldn’t.

• 3. Change the power limit to 500mW

The default settings look something like this:

We are interested in the High Power and Max Power values.
Change them to 500mW. If you want, you can also change the Min power to 10mW.
You might be tempted to try 1000mW or higher, don’t. It doesn’t work (more in the tests below).
Don’t forget to save at the bottom of the page.

If you did everything correctly, you should see this banner on top of the hardware page:

That’s It, You’re Done!

And wola, MO POWA BABEH!
I don’t recommend running at 500mW continuously, as it can cause the radio chipset to heat up significantly. If used outside or with a bit of airflow, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Personally, I prefer using the dynamic power setting, which also takes advantage of the lower 10mW option.

Let’s look at the tests:

Here’s the test setup:
HackRF <-> 20dB attenuator <-> 30dB attenuator <-> RadioMaster TX12
Both amplifiers on the HackRF were set to 0dB.
While this isn’t the ideal method for testing, the goal was to observe relative changes.
10mW:
25mW:
50mW:
100mW:
250mW:
500mW:
1000mW:

All results graphed: