Longest range??

I downloaded and used the LItchi app a couple days ago. With it I was able to get out to about 5000 feet. I have decided I don't need to go that far again. But, while I was there I decided to play around a bit. All of a sudden I realized I was below 50% and knew I needed to get home quick There was a slight bit of head wind coming home and I thought for sure my battery wasn't going to make it. I landed with 22% left. I will not do that again.
 
I downloaded and used the LItchi app a couple days ago. With it I was able to get out to about 5000 feet. I have decided I don't need to go that far again. But, while I was there I decided to play around a bit. All of a sudden I realized I was below 50% and knew I needed to get home quick There was a slight bit of head wind coming home and I thought for sure my battery wasn't going to make it. I landed with 22% left. I will not do that again.

You was very lucky... if the wind was over 30mph... you will be unable to see your investment anymore. She will get wipe away from the strong winds.
 
Kinda on and off the subject but... One way trip... how far could a phantom fly? If I set the home position on my drone, then(leaving drone/remote/phone device on) drive it 7 miles away(or just below whatever we agree the max distance is) and start the RTH function... would it fly back to home? (In theory)
 
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This is in theory, right...?

If you have a good battery, and it didn't discharge itself too much during the seven mile drive out there, and you have a very nice tail wind, it should fly home and it might even make it. Remember the RTH speed is very slow, but it will be a bit faster with a tailwind. It would be close I think. I've never heard of anybody trying this. Don't clip any cell towers...

Edit: I was sitting here watching a drone video and suddenly it occurred to me that you also have to be sure that your max range is over 7 miles. Otherwise, if it's at something less, say 5 miles, you start up the drone and let it mark the home point, then pick it up, with motors remaining off, and walk to your car, get in your car and start driving, the Phantom reaches 5 miles distance, assuming it has GPS reception,it will start its motors in the car and try to fly to its min RTH height in an effort to fly home. It won't allow itself to fly past or be moved past the max distance limit.
 
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You were very lucky... if the wind was over 30mph... you would be unable to see your investment anymore. She will get wiped away from the strong winds.

Reminds me of the first time I went sailing.. was a small 10' boat, never had a lesson, knew how sailing/tacking worked in theory, but where I was smart.. I started heading into the wind, knowing if I had trouble the wind would push me home.

My point being... start your flight into the wind...
 
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Best distance so far with the PS3 was 9222' before RTH kicked in while visiting friends in the Adirondacks (NY) in August. No mods, no attachments, no boosters, no windsurfer, bone stock. Back at home, I routinely get 4500 - 5500' flying in rural wooded areas with the same setup.
 
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I'm consistently seeing 2800-3200 feet with my P3S unmodded, as long as I'm up around 200-250 feet (to be above trees and such once out that far). The windsurfer really didn't seem to increase my control distance, and that's all it can do to start with (no fpv boost since its only on the control antenna). I'm actually thinking a windsurfer could hinder fpv range, since its kinda in the way of the 2 internal flat panel antennas. I just ordered the monster antenna upgrade kit which claims to boost range up to 4x stock, so we'll see in a few days.

On a side note of sorts, I can't find any threads involving antenna mods for the aircraft itself. Look for a new thread to sort this out... if we can mod the x-mitter side, we *need* to mod the aircraft side as well. I'm just not seeing options out there for this so far...

Happy flyin' all, and keep em LOS (wink, nudge)
 
I'm consistently seeing 2800-3200 feet with my P3S unmodded, as long as I'm up around 200-250 feet (to be above trees and such once out that far). The windsurfer really didn't seem to increase my control distance, and that's all it can do to start with (no fpv boost since its only on the control antenna). I'm actually thinking a windsurfer could hinder fpv range, since its kinda in the way of the 2 internal flat panel antennas. I just ordered the monster antenna upgrade kit which claims to boost range up to 4x stock, so we'll see in a few days.

On a side note of sorts, I can't find any threads involving antenna mods for the aircraft itself. Look for a new thread to sort this out... if we can mod the x-mitter side, we *need* to mod the aircraft side as well. I'm just not seeing options out there for this so far...

Happy flyin' all, and keep em LOS (wink, nudge)

I would agree that some antenna mod to the bird is probably warranted. I've seen some posts that talk about mods for the bird itself, but they're not as frequent as mods for the transmitter.
 
The thing is, DJI did a really superb job upgrading the antennas on the ACs starting with the P3s. So from what I've read, if your staying with linear vertical polarity, it's probably a waste of time and energy to try to improve the bird side antennas on the P3S. That's my assessment from what I've read, but if you're not convinced, read through the thread linked above. It's loaded with great info. It's around 56 pages I think. I confess I haven't read it all.
 
I would tend to agree. From what I've read in the posts about bird side antenna mods, antenna mods to the controller appear to be easier, more straightforward, and more "bang for the buck", as they say.
 
What are your thoughts on this unit?

Researched the crap out of both... this and the Argtek. For all intents and purposes, it seems that while both get positive reviews, this one seems to get them more consistently, so I decided on and bought the same.

But... having gotten over 7,000’ bone stock, I haven’t installed it yet!

Well, that and I need to send it in for a warranty repair and because I bought the extended warranty, I didn’t want to mod it until that’s done (which is soon).

So I will probably let be asking YOU what you think before I’ve even installed my own!
 
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What are your thoughts on this unit?

Researched the crap out of both... this and the Argtek. For all intents and purposes, it seems that while both get positive reviews, this one seems to get them more consistently, so I decided on and bought the same.

But... having gotten over 7,000’ bone stock, I haven’t installed it yet!

Well, that and I need to send it in for a warranty repair and because I bought the extended warranty, I didn’t want to mod it until that’s done (which is soon).

So I will probably let be asking YOU what you think before I’ve even installed my own!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Newbieguy
Researched the crap out of both... this and the Argtek. For all intents and purposes, it seems that while both get positive reviews, this one seems to get them more consistently, so I decided on and bought the same.

But... having gotten over 7,000’ bone stock, I haven’t installed it yet!

Well, that and I need to send it in for a warranty repair and because I bought the extended warranty, I didn’t want to mod it until that’s done (which is soon).

So I will probably let be asking YOU what you think before I’ve even installed my own!

Thinking of going BACK to standard ant after using ARG; bugger all range increase and SAME sig losses!! (despite the area I fly in)
 

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