More powerfull repeater?
- Thread starter uncle fester
- Start date
FPV col said:
Great work!
There are always trade offs, but one thing that could be done to the drone (P2V) side is to add something like this: http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wirel ... ooster.php , I'd probably also add a separate battery to power the amp, something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TURNIGY-1000Mah ... 51addeb290 and this: http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/store/product ... s_id=18283. All of this extra weight will reduce the overall flight time by approx three to four minutes but should get out to over a mile (depending on antennas) and will improve the link quality.
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themosttoys said:
I like your shopping list
good specs on the booster and a reasonable size to. Looking at the mah draw I would recon about 1.5 hour run time on that battery, I use the same battery for powering a FY31 and Hornet OSD it runs for an afternoons flying. I'm looking forward to seeing your results, now this is getting interesting, now I wonder who will be the first one to hit the mile marker ? Game on themosttoys said:
What about powering this: http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wirel ... ooster.php off of the P2V battery? Stepdown needed of course and again, shorter flight time, but battery life would be reflected on the app and even though that 1000Mah battery only weighs 60g it would be a weight savings. That wifi booster consumes 500mA so you would need a battery for each flight anyway.
Getting to 1 mile might not be as hard as getting back....
mem_ny said:
I did flight tests today in two different locations using just th 5db omni and I'm getting appreciable and significant gains over stock and I don't even have to might antenna around hardly to maintain reception.
The gains I'm seeing so far are no less than a 60 to 75% increase in range over stock with the benifit of it being an omni directional. In one spot I couldn't push past around 1050 feet away at 400 foot altitude and now I pushed 1650 feet at 400 foot still holding reception. I can only imagine what the 9db directional will do for me. I'll keep y'all updated. Tho I highly reccomend trying the 5db or even the 9db tplink omni directional antenna out for those of you wanting a substantial range increase with out adding any bulk or weight to your setup.
MadMan said:
Yup, you could pull from the P2V battery. From a flight perspective, two miles round trip is no problem (as long as not too windy), I've seen videos of flights over 8 miles (P2V following boat or car). I'm less concerned with distance records and more interested in reliability. The P2V video is not reliable enough for real FPVing, especially at distance where once you lose video sometimes (too often) it does not gracefully recover even after flying back into range.
When the P2V is at a distance, considering the possibility that the antennas in the
camera point out the sides, and their radiation pattern might be best out the
side of the camera, would one get better WiFi communication with the P2V's side towards
the pilot, rather than nose in or nose out?
Fly out, perhaps using Home Lock, hold position, and slowly spin the
P2V and note any signal loss or improvement?
camera point out the sides, and their radiation pattern might be best out the
side of the camera, would one get better WiFi communication with the P2V's side towards
the pilot, rather than nose in or nose out?
Fly out, perhaps using Home Lock, hold position, and slowly spin the
P2V and note any signal loss or improvement?
It's a good point. I've seen a few people saying anecdotally it's likely to give better range being side on, but haven't seen anyone do the experiment. As you say, either use home lock or if you're not into NAZA mode use the radar screen to orient yourself perpendicular to the transmitter then just push right or left aileron (depending which way your nose is) until you lose video, note distance, push the opposite aileron to bring her back. Try the same thing nose forward, note loss distance, pull back.
I would do this now but it's a) nearly dark, and b) raining again <sigh>
I would do this now but it's a) nearly dark, and b) raining again <sigh>
garygid said:
Yes, absolutely. Flying straight away (tail towards me) I typically get 800 feet maximum (usually more like 500 feet) before I begin to lose video. If I fly sideways I can make it out to over 1200 feet (maximum of about 1500 feet) before losing video, telemetry can remain for over 2500 feet (the wifi stays connected, just not good enough for video.)
themosttoys said:
I tested this at 500 metres with stock set up. Side of PV to transmitter video was fine , rotate 90 degrees and it was gone. Rotate again and it came back. The patch panels are on the left and right ofthe PV camera. I have been using course lock when testing for distance. I have found that it is critical that the battery in the stock repeater is at top of charge for the best results.
Is it possible that one antenna is for video and the other for telemetry in both the PV and in the repeater? Or maybe just on the PV side?
shartlza said:
Nope, both antennas serve the exact same function, they are just pointed in opposite directions (to either side of the P2V.)
themosttoys said:
So in theory you only need to upgrade a single antenna with a good omni directional as with the wifi repeater to get a good 360 degree radius of wifi range regardless of nose position. Of course this mod would add a wee bit extra drag and weight.
BenDronePilot said:
In theory, yes. One thing I do not yet know for sure is exactly what configuration the antennas are in. Most likely it is a simple diversity setup (no MIMO) where only one antenna is active at a time. The main concern is by moving from a directional antenna (like the ones in the camera, albeit small) to an omni antenna, the loss in maximum range. Unless you plan on hanging a 14 inch antenna off the bottom (might make for interesting landings) or for (potentially) better results, adding an amplifier.
The reason they went with this setup seems 1) lowest power draw and hence best battery life. 2) better range than omni could provide (although really only when flying with one of the sides pointed at you.) Considering they really intended this to be VLOS only and FPV is not really FPV but more camera framing, this is a good compromise. Trying to fly try FPV at distance really is beyond the scope of this platform, but it's fun to figure out how to make it work.
I have been testing my pv with a tp-link 9db antena , I tryed first with the right connector on the extender and then with the left connector , what I noticed is that I got better results when connecting to the left connector but also I noticed that depending on the position where I connect on the extender (right or left) will give diferent ranges depending on where I fly. so im thinkink also as other users did that both antenas on the range extender are working as active. for now I only have 1 antenna (I have ordered a second one) , can anyone with a two antenna setup confirm/test that disconnecting one reduce range? or is it the same that having 1 antenna setup?
thanks
thanks
