Cell Tower / WiFi antenna

[rockhoundrob]

I am reading all the cautions about where to fly.

I am going to a camp that is about 10 miles from the nearest Cell-tower. My concern is...

There is a small WiFi antenna mounted on the side of a building that is about 1-2 feet tall. It is just for the people that need to use their cell phone or laptops at the camp. However, when I go up there.. no one else will be there and I will not be using the laptop, etc while flying the phantom. This wifi antenna covers an area about the size of 1 or 2 football fields. if no one is using the wifi, can the wifi antenna interfere with the controls?

Is it safe to fly the phantom here? I want to get an aerial video of the camp and surrounding areas.

If I do lose the signal or control, the phantom should go Home .. correct?

Any input is appreciated!

 

[Hughie]

I am reading all the cautions about where to fly.

I am going to a camp that is about 10 miles from the nearest Cell-tower. My concern is...

There is a small WiFi antenna mounted on the side of a building that is about 1-2 feet tall. It is just for the people that need to use their cell phone or laptops at the camp. However, when I go up there.. no one else will be there and I will not be using the laptop, etc while flying the phantom. This wifi antenna covers an area about the size of 1 or 2 football fields. if no one is using the wifi, can the wifi antenna interfere with the controls?

Is it safe to fly the phantom here? I want to get an aerial video of the camp and surrounding areas.

If I do lose the signal or control, the phantom should go Home .. correct?

Any input is appreciated!

If the quad loses signal it should go home.

However, if something interfers with the signal which is stronger than the signal and tells the quad to do something different from what you are telling it, it will not go home it will do what it is being told (for a fixed period if the input does not change).

 

[PhantomFanatic]

Strange... I gave the first reply here and now,it is gone. This was before the big event!

 

[Hughie]

Strange... I gave the first reply here and now,it is gone. This was before the big event!

Please repost.

 

[rockhoundrob]

yea, this is my 2nd post... the first one was lost because of a server problem and this forum had to use the back up which did not contain the latest posts, replies, etc...

 

[Suwaneeguy]

The control signal is 5.8ghz. Wifi is 8.2ghz. There should be no problem.

 

[unclebob]

There are 3G antennaes everywhere in the city. I don't see any problems except losing range.

 

[Hughie]

The control signal is 5.8ghz. Wifi is 8.2ghz. There should be no problem.

There are a few exceptiond but 802.11 defines 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz for WiFi.
The control signal can be either 2.4ghz or 5.8ghz depending on the model of Phantom.

 

[rockhoundrob]

Thanks guys!... i will just play it safe and stay about 50 ft away just to be on the safe side... or maybe tie a fishing line to the phantom ?? LOL

 

[SteveMann]

Short answer - no problem.
Long answer - no problem from WiFi extenders or other wiFi gear in the proximity of your flight area. Wifi is designed to handle many devices in the same area without interference. The problem arises when you have a WiFi camera like the GoPro on the Phantom and your GoPro and Phantom both use the 2.4GHz band. As you get further from your controller the signal from the GoPro is so much stronger than the signal from your controller that the Phantom receiver just can't "hear" the controller. (The technical term is receiver desensitization, or desense, if you want to Google the math).

 

[rockhoundrob]

uhoh... so if I have a GoPro camera, but it is not being controlled by a controller (just on a gimble), I am ok?

I just want to fly it around the camp, but not have a FPV or any controller to move the camera.

 

[Hughie]

uhoh... so if I have a GoPro camera, but it is not being controlled by a controller (just on a gimble), I am ok?

I just want to fly it around the camp, but not have a FPV or any controller to move the camera.

Yes. Just make sure the wifi on the camera is turned off.

 

[justin00]

Alot of the cell towers have other antennas running 2.4, 5.8 and a range of others...
I would be careful flying near any cell tower with a bunch of those antenna's, espeacilly the ones that look like drums and are round.. (best way to describe)

I have flown close to some and no problems.. but then I fly directly into one of them and lost all R/C inputs... could not control it and it kept flying by without me doing anything :/ luckily RTH by its self..
the wierd thing was even when it was back on the ground it would not respond to RC at alll... I had to reboot phantom and then perfect again... never had the issue..

I actually still fly at that same spot but not near that tower anymore.. have flown like 100 times in the same park and no problems...

not sure if interferance or the phantom just crapped its self... never really heard of it ever happening to anyone else.... and phanotm has not done again in 150+ flights, so think it was interferance and phantom just got upset.... till the reboot.

 

[lake_flyer]

As long as there still are spots where my cel phone suddenly completely reboots or even shuts down, I don't trust any hot spot or Wifi antenna and stay as clear from them as I can.