Distance testing

[darwin-t]

I did some tests on the maximum distances with various equipment today.I have an FC40 quad.

I mounted the FC40 camera and the Boscam 500 mw 2.4 Ghz transmitter on the inside of the windshield of my car (with GoPro camera), then walked away with NO obstacles of any kind. I think this is pretty much the best possible scenario, because when you are using a quad with it, parts of the quad block the signal at times and the orientation of the antenna changes as you gain altitude.

I measured distances with Google Earth

I was surprised with the results.

FC40 camera

iPhone 5 175 yards
Kindle Fire (original, not HD) 370 yards
Samsung Android tablet 370 yards

Once I lost the signal, even though I reconnected to the wifi of the camera, the app would NOT reconnect. I had to turn the camera off and back on before it would work again.

Boscam 500 mw 2.4 Ghz transmitter and receiver. Stock antenna and a better antenna I got off of an old router.

Picture started to break up, and intermittently went blank but came back 175 yard
Complete loss of signal - standard antenna 300 yards
Complete loss of signal - router antenna 370 yards

The Boscam setup is better for two reasons. I can see exactly what the GoPro sees, including when I tilt the gimbal and when I lose the signal, the picture comes back immediately when I get back within range. The first one will allow me to set up photos exactly the way I want and not just hope for the best.

When I flew my FC40 a few days ago, I got out to 335 yards with some static in the picture, but no total loss of picture at all.

 

[battman2036]

does the 335 yards include the added altitude or simply the linear distance from the start point? I think you might be shorting your measurement a bit. I'm remembering my early math and if you have the altitude and the distance away you can get the total distance (hypotenuse). Just don't want you to short change your achievement.

 

[darwin-t]

does the 335 yards include the added altitude or simply the linear distance from the start point? I think you might be shorting your measurement a bit. I'm remembering my early math and if you have the altitude and the distance away you can get the total distance (hypotenuse). Just don't want you to short change your achievement.

You are right! 335 yards distant and altitude of 100 yards. Rounded up to a whole number, that is 350 yards!

 

[Ohary]

Wow, I was hoping to go fpv, but after those test results I may reconsider. To be honest, I was hoping to get a setup providing a half mile. Am I out of luck?

 

[darwin-t]

Hopefully, others will chime in. I think my results are not typical. I'll do further testing as soon as wind conditions allow. I have another field that lets me fly further.

And I haven't tried cloverleaf antennas yet.

Personally, I'm not that worried about going too far. I tend to get up, take video for the photos I want and get back down. I want to see what the capabilities are, though.

Also, would you be using 2.4 Ghz or 5.8 Ghz for video? That would surely make a difference, but I don't know which way it would go.

 

[Ohary]

I had an FC40 before I lost it in the woods, but I think I had similar results, a little less here in the city, but a little more out in the country. I could usually get about 1000' vertical which is about what you show, but not as much horizontal

 

[Suwaneeguy]

I once had a connection with a standard PC wifi dongle that was around 5 miles.
Only because there was a rain cloud in just the right spot.
Once the cloud was gone,so was the signal.

 

[darwin-t]

I'm using a higher gain antenna from a router on the receiver, standard antenna on the transmitter.

100 feet altitude, 550 yards with a perfect picture the entire time.

I will try going further tomorrow.

 

[Ohary]

I installed a 1500 mW transmitter and circular polarized antenna, got about 500m high before I started to lose picture and that's here in the city. I expect I'll close in on a 1/2 mile range out in the woods.

 

[darwin-t]

I did a test today using this antenna on the receiver - stock antenna on the transmitter. 790.6667 yards, 2,372 feet. No loss of picture. No obstructions. I mounted the transmitter on front leg of extended landing gear - the one with no antenna wire. The antenna points down alongside the leg.

I didn't hit the distance limit on my FC40 transmitter - I just ran out of room. I would have gotten too close to high voltage power lines if I went any further.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UBUE2O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm done testing. It sees further than I ever fly normally.