Maxx VS Terminator. Long distance antenna shootout!

dirtybum · May 10, 2016

Phattaildeuce said:
Ed209 and DB get serious props for all of the great info they provide on the antennas. Thanks guys. I'm still trying to figure out why I am not getting any range even with the MaxxUAV modified ELite range booster. Does anyone know the approximate distance from an international airport at which it would create major signal interference? 3 miles, 5 miles, 10 miles out?

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

I have flown, I mean, I know someone who has flow within 2 miles of our airport with no probs

dirtybum · May 10, 2016

How close are you talking shock? Because I've noticed it if I placed it like 5 feet in front of me and that I'd move it out a little further 15 or so. But my controllers about 4 foot 6 feet off the ground on a tripod so I just assumed but it wasn't necessarily the boosters but that it was just too close to get a good signal. There was an issue with boosted FPVLR V-2 set ups where somewhere between 1000 and 3000 feet it was saying low signal, but once you got past that it was strong as could be. I didn't notice it that much with mine but it was a big enough issue that Tony even put it on his website

phxbird57 · May 11, 2016

Phattaildeuce said:
Ed209 and DB get serious props for all of the great info they provide on the antennas. Thanks guys. I'm still trying to figure out why I am not getting any range even with the MaxxUAV modified ELite range booster. Does anyone know the approximate distance from an international airport at which it would create major signal interference? 3 miles, 5 miles, 10 miles out?

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

Phat I'm about 8.5 miles from Phx international Airport. I don't have any problems, I have a friend that is 7.5 with no problem either. He's in the main flight path for Sky Harbor.

shockwave199 · May 11, 2016

dirtybum said:
How close are you talking shock? Because I've noticed it if I placed it like 5 feet in front of me and that I'd move it out a little further 15 or so. But my controllers about 4 foot 6 feet off the ground on a tripod so I just assumed but it wasn't necessarily the boosters but that it was just too close to get a good signal.

I never have an initial connection issue with a stock remote and P3A even when the bird is close to me on the ground. Just to confirm now, with this antenna mod unboosted, do you have a situation where it takes longer to connect and get video feed if the bird is close to you on the ground? Does it happen when booster are in line? Has there ever been a situation where you thought huh, it's taking longer to connect and maybe even moved back away from the bird a little more? Along the way I had come to understand that with boosters in line, the signal is actually over driven and can cause problems if the bird is too close to the tx upon start up. With my Q500, I actually had to stand a good 20' back to improve the situation. With a stock phantom tx, I have been as close as 4' inside without taking off. I'm asking if the mod squad has seen anything similar with boosted tx mods causing connection issues to the phantom at short distances from one another. Hope I'm being clear. Thanks.

Ed209 · May 11, 2016

I've never had any issues with both FPVLR v2 and the Maxxrange boosted or unboosted. I actually wait until I'm ready to take off before I turn on the amps. Even at close range with amps off I get signal. I've found that both antennas are not super directional at close range. Also, the only time I've heard of signal cutting out st close range and then coning back once you get further out is with a bird side antenna mod/amp.

dirtybum · May 11, 2016

Nope, not a real issue with boosters that I've experienced!

shockwave199 · May 11, 2016

Thanks guys!

shockwave199 · May 11, 2016

Ed209 said:
I actually wait until I'm ready to take off before I turn on the amps.

So with the amps off it'll still be like antennas connected and not fry anything until you turn them on?

Ed209 · May 11, 2016

Yes but very short range. You will only fry your rc if you dont have antennas connected.

dirtybum · May 11, 2016

Ed209 said:
I've never had any issues with both FPVLR v2 and the Maxxrange boosted or unboosted. I actually wait until I'm ready to take off before I turn on the amps. Even at close range with amps off I get signal. I've found that both antennas are not super directional at close range. Also, the only time I've heard of signal cutting out st close range and then coning back once you get further out is with a bird side antenna mod/amp.

So, you turn your amps on a possible 1-3mins. AFTER you turn your controller on Ed?

Ed209 · May 11, 2016

dirtybum said:
So, you turn your amps on a possible 1-3mins. AFTER you turn your controller on Ed?

Sometimes yes. If I plan 2 or more flights that outing. I'll leave the amps off while powering up the P3.

dirtybum · May 11, 2016

Ed209 said:
Yes but very short range. You will only fry your rc if you dont have antennas connected.

If thats worked for you then thats great! But from what I've read ( and believe me, you really have to sort thru fact vs opinion) I couldn't trust running the controller THRU amps with them NOT powered on for any real length of time.

Ed209 · May 11, 2016

dirtybum said:
If thats worked for you then thats great! But from what I've read ( and believe me, you really have to sort thru fact vs opinion) I couldn't trust running the controller THRU amps with them NOT powered on for any real length of time.

Yeah you may be right (or wrong). I guess better safe than sorry. I have read that most modern transmitters have circuitry built to allow for this. Also, my thought is that the amps are allowing signal to pass through but they are not being amplified nor are they acting as a full pass-thru as if running without boosters. So the power must be getting absorbed somewhere??? I guess to be safe, just never turn on the rc unless amps are on. But I haven't noticed any issues.

shockwave199 · May 11, 2016

It's about a routine when you're running a boosted setup, so you learn it and you do it every time so you don't forget anything. I turn the booster battery on, confirm both boosters are on, then the tx, then the bird. And it's really easy to forget to turn the **** booster battery off when you're done, so it's a whole power down procedure too. I'll have quite the chore to power up when running a boosted setup with a battery mod, that's for sure.

- Booster battery on
- Confirm boosters are on
- TX on
- Bird on
- Polar pro lights on (night flights)
- Plug in extra batteries
- Confirm they are not making the main battery go into charging mode in error
- Open app and confirm all is well
- uh....finally fly!

This routine has to be learned cold because there will be times I'm under pressure to get airborne as quickly as I can safely do. I can't afford screw ups. This is the biggest drawback of a boosted setup. Add other stuff into the routine like a battery mod, and you have to get it right. But, that's the deal.

Mark The Droner · May 11, 2016

Ed209 said:
...Also, my thought is that the amps are allowing signal to pass through but they are not being amplified nor are they acting as a full pass-thru as if running without boosters. So the power must be getting absorbed somewhere??? I guess to be safe, just never turn on the rc unless amps are on. But I haven't noticed any issues.

My thinking is that there's a switch that behaves like a gate. If the amp is off, the gate is open or the connection is broken and the RF energy would go no further within the amp at that point. Maybe that's not correct. Maybe it does pass through somehow? But if it doesn't, it seems to me the RF energy would then begin radiating out into the air. And perhaps it has moved up the line enough at that point that the transmitter doesn't overheat. Because we all know what happens when we turn on a transmitter with no antenna lead attached.

shockwave199 said:
It's about a routine when you're running a boosted setup, so you learn it and you do it every time so you don't forget anything. I turn the booster battery on, confirm both boosters are on, then the tx, then the bird. And it's really easy to forget to turn the **** booster battery off when you're done, so it's a whole power down procedure too. I'll have quite the chore to power up when running a boosted setup with a battery mod, that's for sure.

- Booster battery on
- Confirm boosters are on
- TX on
- Bird on
- Polar pro lights on (night flights)
- Plug in extra batteries
- Confirm they are not making the main battery go into charging mode in error
- Open app and confirm all is well
- uh....finally fly!

This routine has to be learned cold because there will be times I'm under pressure to get airborne as quickly as I can safely do. I can't afford screw ups. This is the biggest drawback of a boosted setup. Add other stuff into the routine like a battery mod, and you have to get it right. But, that's the deal.

See - I do the opposite. I turn on the transmitter first. Then I turn on the booster. I do this because I've read there may be a spike issue when turning on the transmitter - the initial split second output spike of the controller exceeds the maximum input allowance of the amp. Tony of FPVLR suggested an inline antennuator. However, this was about a year ago and the thread I read this in was a P2V thread.

Now a year later we have a lot more experience. Maybe none of these fears are legitimate. Maybe it actually doesn't matter what you turn on first. That seems to be the case since we're not reading a lot about transmitters or amps burning out in either examples.

dirtybum · May 11, 2016

shockwave199 said:
It's about a routine when you're running a boosted setup, so you learn it and you do it every time so you don't forget anything. I turn the booster battery on, confirm both boosters are on, then the tx, then the bird. And it's really easy to forget to turn the **** booster battery off when you're done, so it's a whole power down procedure too. I'll have quite the chore to power up when running a boosted setup with a battery mod, that's for sure.

- Booster battery on
- Confirm boosters are on
- TX on
- Bird on
- Polar pro lights on (night flights)
- Plug in extra batteries
- Confirm they are not making the main battery go into charging mode in error
- Open app and confirm all is well
- uh....finally fly!

This routine has to be learned cold because there will be times I'm under pressure to get airborne as quickly as I can safely do. I can't afford screw ups. This is the biggest drawback of a boosted setup. Add other stuff into the routine like a battery mod, and you have to get it right. But, that's the deal.

That's why these new antennas are so great at 90% of my flying areas I don't even need the boosters now

shockwave199 · May 11, 2016

90% of what I fly shouldn't need anything but stock. But, when I need it I need it, lol. Not much choice if you need to be ready for anything. Once I do the mod I'm sure I'll grab the bigger panel too.

dirtybum · May 11, 2016

shockwave199 said:
So with the amps off it'll still be like antennas connected and not fry anything until you turn them on?

Ed209 said:
Yes but very short range. You will only fry your rc if you dont have antennas connected.

dirtybum said:
So, you turn your amps on a possible 1-3mins. AFTER you turn your controller on Ed?

Here's a quote from a personal email I got from Will at Horizon antennas
"Note , when all connected and rf amps are not powered the RX signal path and the transmit path is broken , no signals pass through the rf amps when not powered up , since the cables are still connected the RC controller still has a load ( acting as a dummy load ), this is still enough to work close in to the pilot, when moving out away from the pilot you can switch the amps on . Having them off when next to the plot stops overloading the UAV receive system . nothing will happen as long as all the connections are intact , so you won’t burn out the RC as some think ,the RC controller is only running around 20 mW so will hardly burn out !."