Maxx VS Terminator. Long distance antenna shootout!

[Wyattroa]

Went as far as it would let me today, still had signal for the controller, but all video was gone. 13,308ft...Data was lost due to the data loss as the video recording showed me going further then what was on healthy drones.

This is about the max for me, I took the same path as I did above. I was also starting to worry about the battery as I landed with 29%..Still had some in the tank, but didn't want to push it and really couldn't since I had no video feed. I have no idea how people are getting over 3 miles on the stock setup as I have the itelite, am flying over water, and still getting under 3 miles.


Robert

 

[D'sAdvanced]

Went as far as it would let me today, still had signal for the controller, but all video was gone. 13,308ft...Data was lost due to the data loss as the video recording showed me going further then what was on healthy drones.

This is about the max for me, I took the same path as I did above. I was also starting to worry about the battery as I landed with 29%..Still had some in the tank, but didn't want to push it and really couldn't since I had no video feed. I have no idea how people are getting over 3 miles on the stock setup as I have the itelite, am flying over water, and still getting under 3 miles.


Robert

 

[D'sAdvanced]

Went as far as it would let me today, still had signal for the controller, but all video was gone. 13,308ft...Data was lost due to the data loss as the video recording showed me going further then what was on healthy drones.

This is about the max for me, I took the same path as I did above. I was also starting to worry about the battery as I landed with 29%..Still had some in the tank, but didn't want to push it and really couldn't since I had no video feed. I have no idea how people are getting over 3 miles on the stock setup as I have the itelite, am flying over water, and still getting under 3 miles.


Robert

I can attest to getting over 16k' stock - this was in March with no leaves on trees. Took off from a higher elevation - essentially the drone flew only 40-50" above me as the land drops about 200' from take off point.

 

[phxbird57]

Went as far as it would let me today, still had signal for the controller, but all video was gone. 13,308ft...Data was lost due to the data loss as the video recording showed me going further then what was on healthy drones.

This is about the max for me, I took the same path as I did above. I was also starting to worry about the battery as I landed with 29%..Still had some in the tank, but didn't want to push it and really couldn't since I had no video feed. I have no idea how people are getting over 3 miles on the stock setup as I have the itelite, am flying over water, and still getting under 3 miles.


Robert

Robert was this still going by the bridge you shown in the other picture.

 

[maxwell smart]

I went out one night and tried to film the Baytown bridge, I all most lost the P3P. At about 4500ft, I lost both signals and RTH kicked in. I stay away from bridges now.

 

[phxbird57]

I went out one night and tried to film the Baytown bridge, I all most lost the P3P. At about 4500ft, I lost both signals and RTH kicked in. I stay away from bridges now.

We don't have bridges over water just over dirt.

 

[Wyattroa]

Robert was this still going by the bridge you shown in the other picture.

Yeah it was thought the bridge again. The gulf coast is literally 3 blocks from me. So I will probably try to just fly out to sea. For some reason that is making me nervous flying out to sea, but does it really matter if I am over water the whole time flying on the intracoastal? I also don't want to bother people around the beach with the P3P. I know some people can get annoyed easily even though i wouldn't be flying over them. I already saw a inspire buzzing people here at the beach.
Robert

 

[maxwell smart]

Yeah it was thought the bridge again. The gulf coast is literally 3 blocks from me. So I will probably try to just fly out to sea. For some reason that is making me nervous flying out to sea, but does it really matter if I am over water the whole time flying on the intracoastal? I also don't want to bother people around the beach with the P3P. I know some people can get annoyed easily even though i wouldn't be flying over them. I already saw a inspire buzzing people here at the beach.
Robert

Flying over the beach is OK if there are girls in bekines. And we will need lots of pictures for proof.

 

[dirtybum]

Yeah it was thought the bridge again. The gulf coast is literally 3 blocks from me. So I will probably try to just fly out to sea. For some reason that is making me nervous flying out to sea, but does it really matter if I am over water the whole time flying on the intracoastal? I also don't want to bother people around the beach with the P3P. I know some people can get annoyed easily even though i wouldn't be flying over them. I already saw a inspire buzzing people here at the beach.
Robert

If you fly distance over water I would suggest at least a mile of land in your home stretch[emoji41]

 

[phxbird57]

Yeah it was thought the bridge again. The gulf coast is literally 3 blocks from me. So I will probably try to just fly out to sea. For some reason that is making me nervous flying out to sea, but does it really matter if I am over water the whole time flying on the intracoastal? I also don't want to bother people around the beach with the P3P. I know some people can get annoyed easily even though i wouldn't be flying over them. I already saw a inspire buzzing people here at the beach.
Robert

Robert it makes me nervous just reading about flying over large bodies of water. I understand not wanting to fly over people too. You seen my picture of where I fly. Only cactus and maybe a coyote . Point was flying past the bridge is like flying past a building . It's going to block some of your signal. So your not going to get maximum range.

 

[phxbird57]

If you fly distance over water I would suggest at least a mile of land in your home stretch[emoji41]

Or floaty

 

[phxbird57]

Flying over the beach is OK if there are girls in bekines. And we will need lots of pictures for proof.

Max I see you & I think alike
A lot of pictures. And I'm not talking beached whales either.

 

[maxwell smart]

Max I see you & I think alike
A lot of pictures. And I'm not talking beached whales either.

I LOL.

 

[Wyattroa]

Alright, update. Took it out to the beach and let the bird go. I got a max of 17,639ft before I had to turn around. The disappointing part is I got my first signal loss at 4500ft and then it really started to drop around 14,000ft with dropouts of 5-10 seconds. There was no way I really could have flown any farther anyways due to the battery, but the signal loss was horrible. I seen people going this far over the water with stock and windsurfers with no problem. I had nothing in my way, no people, boats, or anything and was standing at the edge of the water. Multiple times I had to try adjusting the controller, walking around, or moving to try and get signal back. I am using the Itelite panel non boosted. Really thought this had more in it and the picture would have been solid the whole way out. Here is a picture of the signal map the whole way. You can see at 10,000ft the signal drops to purple and a poor signal the rest of the way out until I get back to around 10,000ft. I even raised up to 400ft, but have seen others staying much lower and getting better reception.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

 

[ray rokni]

I had same issues with my unboosted itelite, I ended up changing the panel and the internal cables on the RC. Also, make sure you use the auto channel in the app, it does make a big difference!

Alright, update. Took it out to the beach and let the bird go. I got a max of 17,639ft before I had to turn around. The disappointing part is I got my first signal loss at 4500ft and then it really started to drop around 14,000ft with dropouts of 5-10 seconds. There was no way I really could have flown any farther anyways due to the battery, but the signal loss was horrible. I seen people going this far over the water with stock and windsurfers with no problem. I had nothing in my way, no people, boats, or anything and was standing at the edge of the water. Multiple times I had to try adjusting the controller, walking around, or moving to try and get signal back. I am using the Itelite panel non boosted. Really thought this had more in it and the picture would have been solid the whole way out. Here is a picture of the signal map the whole way. You can see at 10,000ft the signal drops to purple and a poor signal the rest of the way out until I get back to around 10,000ft. I even raised up to 400ft, but have seen others staying much lower and getting better reception.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[Wyattroa]

I had same issues with my unboosted itelite, I ended up changing the panel and the internal cables on the RC. Also, make sure you use the auto channel in the app, it does make a big difference!






Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

Thanks, what panel did you go with? I am using the auto channel currently too.
Robert

 

[phxbird57]

Robert with panels you have to make sure you are pointing it straight where the drone is. If your off by a few degrees it adds up out that far. After using it a few times your get the idea of where you need to be. I'm even finding that with the wind surfer on my P2 I have to stay straight. this morning I lost it at 6600 ft and picked it back up 7600 ft coming back from being out to 9100 ft. I drifted to far south. I found this out after looking at my data. That is why some are choosing to use a tripod.

 

[Wyattroa]

Robert with panels you have to make sure you are pointing it straight where the drone is. If your off by a few degrees it adds up out that far. After using it a few times your get the idea of where you need to be. I'm even finding that with the wind surfer on my P2 I have to stay straight. this morning I lost it at 6600 ft and picked it back up 7600 ft coming back from being out to 9100 ft. I drifted to far south. I found this out after looking at my data. That is why some are choosing to use a tripod.

Great suggestions there. I never really thought about if I was flying out straight or angled.. I just assumed it was in front of me. I thought it was according to the radar, but again, I could have been off. I will keep that in mind next time. I am just bummed out I didn't have a SD card in for the flight. It was the perfect night, no wind. ah well, maybe next time.

Robert

 

[ray rokni]

Thanks, what panel did you go with? I am using the auto channel currently too.
Robert

The maxx panel. Did you buy from Jake?
Did you get the internal cables with the new bigger washers and the new cables?
I would also put a dab of gorilla glue on the inside washers to make the connection tight. And hot glue on the internal connections.
Where you are flying, I would get maximum distance that the batteries would allow with stock RC, I would think there may be an issue either with the internal mod (the cables) or the panel.
I would open up the RC and double check both cables.
And aim is most important


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[fastfed]

I received my Maxx range antenna on Sat. installed it today, install went ok, except removing one of the antennas on the left side of the board


I got the clean install kit, which I think makes it look better, well clean

Fired it up and did a quick test, I live in a very very congested area and sadly never really got to test out in the open, so who knows if its better or worse, I did however do a high altitude run, and was able to get almost 2 miles before I brought it back, I still had full signal which was great, but I moved my remote I'd lose it, wish there was some sort of guide on how to aim this thing when you cannot see it, I usually do this at night so at least I can see the lights but when its that far lights wont even help. It was very windy tonight and when I reached that distance I had 50% battery and decided to come home, well I started to freak when all I could hit was 14-17mph I did make it back but there was a part of me that thought to just land it out there and drive to pick it up, lol

I made it back with about 24% battery left.
I might have to go boosted, because I realize that trees almost right away make me lose signal, how much really does going boosted help? is it just a little, or is it really night and day?

Side note, Jacob at the American location for MAXXUAV has been great with communication, I have over 20 emails from him from the very beginning, needing to add the clean install to my order after I already ordered, to him letting me know it wasn't in stock at first, I also bashed him when I received the package as the Clean install kit wasn't in there, yet after I already emailed him, sure enough it was hiding on the bottom I apologized but still embarrassing

I'm happy with it overall, still need to do some testing, and maybe look into getting it boosted, boosted gives you the penetration not necessarily more distance but should punch through trees/branches and leaves?