Antenna Modification
The antenna that comes with the transmitter is not the correct wavelength. I used a soldering iron to remove the stock antenna and replace it with a 12.5cm wire (a full wave length at 2.4 ghz). I tested the antenna both before and afterward by having someone hold the quadcopter while I walked away from it. The antenna mod easily doubled the range.

The Syma X5C-1 stock transmitter antenna is less than a quarter wave

My new antenna is 12.5cm, a full 2.4 ghz wavelength

I tucked the new antenna up into the handle of the transmitter

Flotation Modification
I saw a sad YouTube video of someone’s new Syma X5C-1 quadcopter sinking into a body of water. I took my quadcopter apart and installed 6 styrofoam packing peanuts. I haven’t crashed into the water to try it out (I hope I never do), but this is cheap/easy insurance that will helpfully keep my investment afloat.

Adding styrofoam packing peanuts to help the Syma X5C-1 quadcopter float

The following is based entirely on personal experiences

What to do after your house is broken into

• If your house has been broken into, call the police immediately and don’t touch anything. Doorknobs were the first thing I grabbed, and you don’t want to erase any useful fingerprints, blood drops, or other useful evidence. If a burglar breaks a window to get in, they might cut themselves and leave blood.
• Burglars are not always masked men that come in the night that are afraid of your dogs – sometimes burglars can be nicely dressed women that come during the day and make friends with your dog.
• Small safes are not safe because they can be easily carried off. A safe tells a burglar, “Everything you want is right here. I even put it in a box for you.”
• When the police officer asks you the value of what was stolen, guess high. The higher the value of what was stolen, the higher the priority for the police. In addition, the burglar will be charged with a more serious crime.
• Do your own detective work. The detective assigned to your case has many cases to work on, and many of them are more important than yours. In contrast, you have only one case, and it is your highest priority.
• The fingerprint dust the crime investigator uses goes everywhere. Household cleaner and paper towels work OK to clean it up. The washing machine got most but not all of it out of fabric.
• Look around for nearby houses and buildings with surveillance cameras that might have seen the burglar coming and going. Tell the owner about your burglary and ask to see their footage. Chances are they were robbed, possibly by the same burglar. That’s why they have a camera system now.
• Carry a USB thumb drive so you can save a copy of the security camera footage.
• Review the footage on your computer immediately to see if it plays properly (we had problems with saving footage from several security camera systems).
• Check the current time stamp on the camera system against the current time on your cell phone. People almost never change the time on their camera system for daylight saving time. One camera system I got evidence from was an hour and four minutes off. In addition, if you know the real time then you can correlate between different camera systems and build an accurate time line.

What to do for next time you are burglarized
(hopefully there won’t be a next time, but it pays to be prepared)

• Take pictures of everything valuable and record serial numbers and keep them online (like Google Docs). I have had stolen goods returned to me by the police because I had given them serial numbers.
• Make sure your computer requires a password when it is turned on or after the screen saver comes on. That way burglars won’t have access to your personal information.
• Your underwear drawer is not a safe place to hide valuables. Neither is your closet. Our burglar carefully searched all drawers and closets.
• Install a camera system on your house. If any cameras are looking into your neighbors’ backyards or windows, get their permission first. In addition to having cameras pointed at your house, make sure the cameras can see any alleys or streets that burglars might use for coming and going. You need to be able to see when it happened, who did it, and which way they went. 
• The higher the resolution of your camera system, the better. A poor quality camera will only show you when your house was broken into. A high quality camera will show you who did it and what they stole. I looked at footage from at least five different camera systems and I would recommend a minimum of 720p resolution.
• While fake cameras might deter crime, real cameras solve crime.
• Show any pictures or footage of the burglar to your neighbors. Several of my neighbors recognized the burglars who broke into our house, and said it looked like the burglar who had previously broken into their house (based on their camera footage).
• Put all evidence onto a CD, DVD, or USB drive to give to the police. Write your case number on the files.
• Be persistent. Solving crimes and getting criminals to face justice takes time, persistence, and gentle pressure on the detectives and court system.