A word about SWR from an Extra Class ham. Any changes this makes in SWR are minor. I'm not doing anything to the radiating element. Putting a reflector behind the radiating element may lower the resonant frequency by a hair, but not enough to notice, and certainly not enough to affect the transmitter.. And this doesn't have anything to do with flyaways. It gives you greater control range for practically free.
But to show how outside factors can affect things, I tried to fly the same path again tonight with the stage 2 kit from FPVLR. I only got out to 3500 feet before losing signal. This, after going 4800 feet in the same spot over the weekend. The reason?
Water vapor. Something close to 100% humidity after rain today. You can see the mist coming up. And it absorbs microwave frequencies.
So, something to keep in mind about any distance test.
But to show how outside factors can affect things, I tried to fly the same path again tonight with the stage 2 kit from FPVLR. I only got out to 3500 feet before losing signal. This, after going 4800 feet in the same spot over the weekend. The reason?
Water vapor. Something close to 100% humidity after rain today. You can see the mist coming up. And it absorbs microwave frequencies.
So, something to keep in mind about any distance test.