3.6 Kilometers one way distance with Phantom 2 FPV

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Flew this morning and pretty much found the max one way distance with my set up... 3.6km or 2.2 miles one way out into Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. I'll try to post a video soon (gopro video had a few glitches as my H3-3D is having some stuborn issues.) I flew out to 65% battery or 4 minutes, which ever came first.

Tony's FPVLR video antennas are freaking amazing. Really clear video all the way there, when it started to get a little fuzzy I would add altitude and it would come back to perfect video.

Stock Phantom Remote controller transmitter and antenna. Boscam TS353 400mw TX, Boscam RX-LCD5802, IOSDminn, and FPVLR Phantom 2 Antenna set. The all white looks pretty sweet.

Absolutely recommend this set up. With the money saved buying Boscam, you can get the FPVLR antennas. Thanks to QYV for the Boscam info and suggestions.
 

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that's impressive distance, and I kinda like where your Tx is mounted. kudos on the white RX-LCD5802 :)

Based on where the lobe of your transmit antenna is, you may have a few tiny "blind spots" for signal but still overall that's really great and obviously it works well. I can't speak highly enough about the FPVLR's... and you just have the pinwheel transmit antenna from the bundle, yes? I upgraded to the pentalobe :)

So you went out to where your iOSD Mini was reporting 3600m from home point, and then came back, yes? what battery level did you have when you got back to home point? I personally did something similar a month ago and I only went 1700m (little over 1 mile) out and back but still was at 60% battery. I was figuring that double that (3400m = 2.1 mile) would have me getting home with only 20% left, which makes me nervous about the unit going into auto-land or whatever
 
FPVLR said:
Looking real nice there, obviously the video setup is good for at least double that, I'd figure 7-10km given the correct altitude and aiming....

We now also have those neat 3d printed monitor mounts, snap-on real sturdy!.

I'm sure those antennas could handle the range, but our Phantom 2's sure can't :)

I just took a browse around your site, can't spot any display mounts... which section is it in? I even searched for "mount" and nothing like that came up.
direct link? I'll put it in the stickythread.
 
I'm using the half-dome 2.4 antenna on the controller side and the 2.4 pinwheels on my Vision+ and I can get out to 2.9 miles in flat terrain with no trees blocking LOS. But I'm also using the Sunhans 2.4GHz 2500mW booster amp which makes a big difference. I dont see any amps in your photos.

So yes, you can be jealous. It's understandable because most people drool at the range I can get.

:D
 
MadMitch88 said:
I dont see any amps in your photos.

non-Vision series don't need all that amp junk you guys do to boost wifi signal. our FPV is a 5.8ghz direct transmission so all we need are good antennas. :) honestly we (Vision and non-Vision alike) are really more limited by the battery power and flight time of the Phantom itself than our FPV systems.
 
What is this mad science I am looking at???

How directional is this antenna? Does it drop off very quickly or can you be standing in the general direction and it's OK? I don't have a diversity receiver so I have a patch that is fairly wide.

file.php
 
ianwood said:
What is this mad science I am looking at???

How directional is this antenna?

it's science but it's not exceptionally crazy :) that's the FPVLR 5.8Ghz RCHP 4.25 turn helix, and of course the other is the pinwheel, both of which come in the bundle along with a transmit pinwheel.
*side note: I recently suggested to FPVLR that he make a bundle with the pentalobe transmit antenna instead of the pinwheel, and he seemed amenable so there may be a new bundle soon.

anyway that's a tough question "how directional is it" ... it depends how far away the Phantom is there's a little more flexibility at short range, but even when I had my Phantom a mile away it's not like I had to hold it on point like a laser, there's a decent amount of leeway. basically I just have to keep it pointed in the general direction of the Phantom to maintain rock solid signal. if I start getting snow, I move it around a bit until it's perfect.
 
QYV said:
Non-Vision series don't need all that amp junk you guys do to boost wifi signal. our FPV is a 5.8ghz direct transmission so all we need are good antennas. :) honestly we (Vision and non-Vision alike) are really more limited by the battery power and flight time of the Phantom itself than our FPV systems.

Probably explains why non-Vision owners watch me fly my Vision+ out to 2.9 miles and DROOL. :D

No better feeling in this world than watching rock-solid FPV at 640x480 when your bird is in the next county. :p

I love my Sunhans amps! :cool: :cool: :cool:
 
MadMitch88 said:
fly my Vision+ out to 2.9 miles

so, same question I asked the other guy - what sort of battery do you return with after a 5+ mile round trip? My video system could reach that far sure, my main concern is getting the Phantom back.
 
QYV said:
so, same question I asked the other guy - what sort of battery do you return with after a 5+ mile round trip? My video system could reach that far sure, my main concern is getting the Phantom back.

On a calm day, my Vision+ can fly up to 30 MPH in GPS mode. So that means I can chug along at 0.5 miles every minute. A roundtrip of 2.9 miles out and back is 5.8 miles, which equates to around 12 minutes total flight time. Easily achievable. You can do it a little quicker in ATTI mode.

Of course, bringing it back against a 25 MPH headwind makes things "interesting". I've had a few nail-biter moments like this during long distance flights when I get back with only 15% left on the battery and red lights flashing all over the place. I don't recommend it if you have a heart condition or some kind of anxiety disorder. :shock:
 
Hey guys... it was pretty exciting flying out there. So started out with 95% battery. Aat 3.6km battery was 65%, took a few pictures, then headad back. On the way back there was more of a head wind than I thougt 5-10mph and used up 45% batt. Made it back with 22%. It was too close for comfort, the wind on way back almost became a problem.

So used 30% batt to fly out, 45% batt to fly back. Using a new Limefuel 5400 battery. On the way there was moving at about 17m/s, on way back more like 11m/s. Flew there and back mostly in atti mode.

Out on the lake there were zero obstructions, wide open space (the lake is 26 miles across.)

I was getting crappy 500meters with the stock rubber stick antennas, haha.

The 2.4ghz signal from remote controller was solid the whole time, never lost control, never went into RTH. So I'm not going to upgrade controll antennas.

I feel that the video signal could absolutely go double the distance, the issue now is the battery. I ordered a Limefuel 6000 battery, I may try to reach out to 4 kilometers if there is no wind on a perfect day.

In a few months, I'm thinking of getting a starter with a delta wing for long FPV. Flying planes looks pretty fun, plus crahes are more affordable.
 
Enjoyed reading this thread. QYV, did you see any significant improvement in distance or signal clarity using the pentalobe as your transmitter antenna? I will go out about 1500 meters but hard to see much on the return back because the camera blocks my pinwheel. I end up returning in reverse so I can see. Open to suggestions. I have the phantom 2 non-vision
 
Terrylowe... This is my current vtx antenna placement. Good video there and back.

I was thinking of putting antenna out on arm under back motor, but could be higher risk of antenna damage if dropped etc. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=32552

I put a bit of heat shrink over antennas connection, it does not move now.
 

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Mendezl, I really like that side setup. I am using my stock avl58 transmitter with a Boscam monitor/receiver. Looks like your Boscam TS353 is really pushing out a video signal there. Jealous! Did you install it? BTW, we're neighbors. I'm in Hattiesburg.
 
Here is what I was working on last week but decided to cancel the mod for now viewtopic.php?f=4&t=32552

Yeah terrylowe, I just watched your Hattiesburg water tower video, really smooth turning around it. We should meet up, maybe when it is a little more green and warmer outside.
 
mendezl said:
Here is the Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2x3VzMi4Zg -Crappy video because my gimbal is doing this crazy thing were up looks up and down randomly, thats the next project.

I can understand flying over a big lake because of the ability to maintain LOS long distance at low altitude --- but you dudes have huge chunks of brass in your sacks compared to me! :shock:

I feel a lot safer flying over a big cornfield in Ohio because if my Vision+ goes down at the very least I can go retrieve the busted up birdie and take it home and look at it and cry. With you guys, you get nothing back if it goes down. You simply let the tears drip down your cheeks as your Phantom "sleeps with the fishes". :oops:
 

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