Recent content by RF Guy

The metal roof blocks microwaves completely. Be sure that your Phantom can "see" the antennas on the controller at all times. Once in the air, you should be fine. The roof will reflect a complex pattern of microwaves from the controller upwards. Bob

Nobody has said this yet: If you shoot in 4K and reduce it to 1080, the 1080 video is sharper than if you shoot it in 1080. Why? Because when the video is downscaled, the noise is reduced...among other things. You Want 4K...all the editing programs edit in 4K by making a low-res copy of the...

So, I'm hearing two things that make me think here. One is that the batteries are not as hot after flight - and that the motors are quieter. This can only mean that they changed the ESC motor controller firmware to make the motors more efficient. Noise indicates power loss..and vibration in the...

What you really want is professionally-made LMR-240 SMA patch cables. RG-58 is total crap on 2.4ghz. The blue coax cables seem to be degrading over time. There are plenty of cable makers on-line. You just have to get the SMA gender designations correct (elsewhere on the threads here). LMR-240 by...

OK, most of you don't live in the southern USA. You might not understand my reasoning. Ever since the "Drone Slayer" in Kentucky became a national hero for saving his daughters from a spying Phantom (at 275 ft)... everyone I've talked to is in favor of downing a drone if you see one near your...

Question: so do we want 4 inch long cables?

Wow, thousands of words to try and nail-down what is really the magic of RF. If we could visualize the RF coming out of the antenna - and it's path to the Quad...you'd see it is complex and interesting. Knowing the physics behind it enables you to "imagine/predict" it because you know what it...

2.4ghz RF is eaten by trees. (microwave radio signals as used by the Phantom) It's the water absorbing it. Clear and un-obstructed signal path will yield excellent distance (maybe 5000 ft)....but please know that beyond eyeball distances, you are running the risk of loosing your quad. It's not a...

I'm thinking you want to go many miles. Let me just warn you that running the phantom out long range is risky. The phantom itself isn't designed to operate in hostile RF environments. What I mean is that if you are far off and get in the path of a microwave data link or medium power RF signal...

Guys- We HAVE to do repair PR on our Drones. The media Hype has gotten Joe Average to want to shoot down anything they see in the sky near them. Usually, It's Little Timmy's Air Hogs helicopter from WalMart. The Phantom is what they see on all the TV reports about drones... the white one is what...

If the Phantom was a fixed antenna, yes, there would be less signal due to the antennas being "cross-pole"..but alas...not really so in this application - read my other reply. Bob

I stand corrected...I assumed that they implemented circular inside the white radome. I would have! Since the after-market antennas have gain, even if you have circular on the controller and linear polarization on the Phantom, you still improve the signal path between them. One reason is that...

Hi- Well, the smoke is the minor player here. It's the water that the smoke is carrying. No doubt, smoke increases the air's capacity for carrying moisture. It's something to cling onto. Might be that they are also fighting the fires and there is abundant water vapor. It's always the water! In...

Hey Ya'all- I'll bet like me, lots of you are looking to snag a 4K monitor to match the 4K coming out of our P3P's. Black Friday will provide lots of opportunities.... Personally, I want to use it as a computer workstation monitor mostly. Anyhow, Let's post any deals we find on this thread. I...

OK guys, here is what is happening: Both after-market antennas are circular polarization. They also exhibit "gain". So, they are concentrating the RF in the forward direction and splitting it between horizontal and vertical polarization. Because the Phantom is moving through 3D space, the...