Droning in the Mountains?

[realdonaldtrump]

Howdy all!

First time posting around here, so pardon the nonchalantness of this post

I am currently the proud owner of a DJI Phantom 3 Standard - my first drone, ever. I got it as soon as they began accepting orders - before any reviews, etc. of the connectivity of the drone started coming out. I paid the hefty $800 price tag for it, only to be disappointed by maximum flight distances of about 500m max away from takeoff point.

I live in Colorado, way up in the mountains, and hence, the majority of my filming takes place in the mountains where the wifi connectivity of the phantom 3 standard seldom works.

I am looking to upgrade. My budget can afford anything in the Phantom 4 series and lower. (say anything below $2,000 - yes, I am ready for an upgrade!) I'm just looking for something that will *hopefully* allow me to fly the drone more than a couple hundred meters away from me before getting the annoying return to home beeping, even while flying in mountainous terrain.

I suppose the overall question to this is - Which DJI drone should I look into getting to produce the most dependable and consistent range for my flying throughout the beautiful Colorado scenery?

Thanks so much for your help and suggestions!

 

[blackcrusader]

I live in the mountains in Taiwan and often fly my P3S at altitudes of 8000 - 11000 feet. To give myself extended range I bought an Argtek Antenna and now get near 3 miles distance. However what I needed was to maintain signal through thick clouds that I may need to fly 1200 feet height to clear the cloud base. Argtek Antenna for the P3S costs about US$60. The mountain range behind peaks at 14000 feet.

 

[blackcrusader]

Argtek Antenna is your best option and for the cost turns the P3S into a wonderful long range quad copter.

 

[realdonaldtrump]

Wow, I hadn't even thought about getting an extender! I thought they all cost several hundred dollars, so this is a game changer.

I've done some searching, but can't find any results for extenders for the Mavic. Any idea if there are reputable extenders for either the Mavic Pro or the Phantom 4 Pro?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[blackcrusader]

The Mavic and the Pro 4 already have long distance as they use a different connection the P3S uses Wifi which does not have a very long range best I got was around 2000 feet without the Argtek.

As you already have the P3S continue to use that and really learn about flying it before spending $$$ on an expensive drone. That's why I bought mine, to use it for a year or two then wait and see what my next drone might be. I was thinking of the Matrice 200

You have a good drone just get the Argtek and then go fly long distances you can be comfortable with near 15000 feet distance is a long long way and you have to allow for time to fly, take video and photo's and return. Also fly into a headwind in the mountains never into a tailwind or you may find your drone does not make it back. I've had mine come back at 50mph with a tail wind in GPS mode.

 

[blackcrusader]

I get the max out of my drone

 

[BigAl07]

The P3Advance, P3Pro, P4 and Mavic are leaps and bounds ahead of the P3S (I've got one too).

For the money the Mavic is really hard to beat and it's got insane range right out of the box coupled with a great camera and it's just FUN TO FLY!!

You can boost the P3S all you want and it's still a P3S. I'm not knocking it (I own one too) but if you want to get a lot of bang (aka WOW) for your buck look into the Mavic and get some a nice case and spare batteries.

Also Command Case makes a SWEET systems for the Mavic... it's the Antennae booster, protective case, and 3 battery+ Tx chargers all in one awesome package.

Tactical Ground Station

 

[blackcrusader]

My next drone might be the Matrice 200 not the Mavic.

 

[jlrsn]

I just watched the DJI Matrice 200 Commercial and it is an impressive machine!

 

[BigAl07]

I just watched the DJI Matrice 200 Commercial and it is an impressive machine!

It's a WAY cool machine but go into it knowing.. it's an Industrial Inspection grade machine not merely an Aerial Imaging solution. Just the cost of operation is double and Inspire 1 and you're not getting any increase in picture/video quality at all.

 

[53-63-6f-74-74]

Wow, I hadn't even thought about getting an extender! I thought they all cost several hundred dollars, so this is a game changer."

Look into the ALFA antenna mod. It's only about $35 and just as good, if not better, than the ArgTek. There are a few threads here on this. I have just done the install but have not fully tested my range yet, just flew out about 1600 ft to make sure everything was connected properly. Some are getting in excess of 15,000 feet. If I was going to be pushing the limits of my aircraft I'd much rather do it with a $300 one than a $1000 one.