RANGE? Immersion 600mw tx, with Spironets

I'm not a long-ranger, but I thought you guys could help me problem solve a short-range problem.

P2nV. IRC600 to BP monitor (with OSD).

When I first started using this FPV, I got 300-350m before losing some video and seeing static.

I changed to channel 3 (5780 I think) and it was a little better. Could go 400-500m.

Now. Even though this is just fine with me--I like to keep my eye on my investment--I bought the IB crazy Bluebeams (these: http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index. ... ef6b143098) and installed them today for a first flight.

Unfortunately, I was breaking up now at 200-250m.

Today's flight was in the same location, same time of day as yesterday's with the stock antennae taking me out over 400m for sure.

Any thoughts as to what I might've done wrong.

Did put the right-hand connector one on the Tx and the straight on one of my BP receiver posts, leaving the stock one on the other.

Thanks for your help.
 
ghinson said:
I'm not a long-ranger, but I thought you guys could help me problem solve a short-range problem.

P2nV. IRC600 to BP monitor (with OSD).

When I first started using this FPV, I got 300-350m before losing some video and seeing static.

I changed to channel 3 (5780 I think) and it was a little better. Could go 400-500m.

Now. Even though this is just fine with me--I like to keep my eye on my investment--I bought the IB crazy Bluebeams (these: http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index. ... ef6b143098) and installed them today for a first flight.

Unfortunately, I was breaking up now at 200-250m.

Today's flight was in the same location, same time of day as yesterday's with the stock antennae taking me out over 400m for sure.

Any thoughts as to what I might've done wrong.

Did put the right-hand connector one on the Tx and the straight on one of my BP receiver posts, leaving the stock one on the other.

Thanks for your help.

Do you have the correct sma, rp-sma combination?
 
Looking at the package (from Video Aerial Systems), says 5.8 GHz, Blue Beam Antenna Set. (Ultra).

"Contains 1 transmitter antenna, 1 receiver antenna. Foxtech, Boscam ... [etc] ... will require an RP-SMA female to SMA female adapter."

That's all it says.

The two antenna came as a matched pair, so I assume it's the right ones.

How can I know?
 
ghinson said:
Looking at the package (from Video Aerial Systems), says 5.8 GHz, Blue Beam Antenna Set. (Ultra).

"Contains 1 transmitter antenna, 1 receiver antenna. Foxtech, Boscam ... [etc] ... will require an RP-SMA female to SMA female adapter."

That's all it says.

The two antenna came as a matched pair, so I assume it's the right ones.

How can I know?
The SMA Male ends will have pins sticking out of them(on the antenna connectors themselves). If you look into the antenna and see a hole, that's RP-SMA.
Now, your receiver, we know is SMA(the antenna connector on the receiver has a hole). However, if your transmitter has a pin sticking out of it-it would be RP-SMA, and there would be no way for you to screw on the antenna.

So, what I would try is this-try a higher frequency number-more towards 5800ghz. Try a few different frequencies, and if your results are still half what you got with your stock antenna's-send them back for a refund.
It's possible you got a bad set.....
 
Both antenna are male.

And the IRC600 Tx and the BP monitor both have holes.

Is that not how it should be?

Does it matter which stock antenna (of the two) I replace on the BP monitor? Does it matter than the two are now different?

I can experiment with different channels and placement and see if it makes a difference.
 
ghinson said:
Both antenna are male.

And the IRC600 Tx and the BP monitor both have holes.

Is that not how it should be?

Does it matter which stock antenna (of the two) I replace on the BP monitor? Does it matter than the two are now different?

I can experiment with different channels and placement and see if it makes a difference.
Yep-it means both are SMA, so you're fine. You wouldn't even be able to screw on the antenna, if it was RP-SMA.
Yes, it matters which one is on the transmitter and receiver. BUT, at this point-you might want to try swapping them, and put the long straight one, out to the side of the aircraft(if it's the type you can bend-try bending the end of it down).
Basically you have a Planar Skew, and a Polarized antenna-they should pay very well together. I'm surprised your distance is so low.
Look at the higher frequency numbers-as these antenna's may be more suitable for frequencies starting at 5,8ghz, Vs. 5.7Ghz.

If all that doesn't work-I'd just return them, and we can scratch the Blue Beam off our list.
 
The online page says put the 3 mushroom 90 deg one on the transmitter and the 5 mushroom straight one on the receiver. But I can switch as a trial.

Wondering about the two antenna that come with the BP receiver. Right and left. I only have one of these IBCrazys for the receiver, so I left the stock antenna on the other one. Can't imagine it would matter if it was on the right or left plug. Right?

I got these because a friend uses them locally and has had good luck flying them (with goggles instead of the Black Pearl) to 1500M.

I'll try different frequencies this afternoon. THANKS.
 
ghinson said:
The online page says put the 3 mushroom 90 deg one on the transmitter and the 5 mushroom straight one on the receiver. But I can switch as a trial.

Wondering about the two antenna that come with the BP receiver. Right and left. I only have one of these IBCrazys for the receiver, so I left the stock antenna on the other one. Can't imagine it would matter if it was on the right or left plug. Right?

I got these because a friend uses them locally and has had good luck flying them (with goggles instead of the Black Pearl) to 1500M.

I'll try different frequencies this afternoon. THANKS.
Doesn't matter if the antenna is on #1 or #2 on the receiver. You should see the light on the bottom that tells you which antenna the receiver is using.
I would try changing to higher frequencies first. If that doesn't do the trick....I'd just return them.
These may be "chinese knock-off's" of IBCrazy's Blue Beam antenna.......
Here's his page, BTW, from another Forum. You might want to contact him-as he supposedly makes these, and see what he says; http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=103113

And, I believe this is the thread where he started making these antenna's-so you might want to join that forum, and start posting there, to see if anyone can help you further-because I'm all out of idea's.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1388264

I have someone in Canada making me a set like you have.....so when they get here, we'll see if they pass my previous distance record of 1113 feet, with video.
 
The absolute distance thing is interesting but really its all about 1 to 2K max which allows you some loitering time to film the intended subject.

https://vimeo.com/89261570[/quote]

Great video shrimpy. How many batteries have you got? I have two but I will love to have four!
I got about 15mins each flight, how about yours?
 
leekawey said:
The absolute distance thing is interesting but really its all about 1 to 2K max which allows you some loitering time to film the intended subject.

https://vimeo.com/89261570

Great video shrimpy. How many batteries have you got? I have two but I will love to have four!
I got about 15mins each flight, how about yours?[/quote]

Six but I only fly them to about 35 - 40%
 
Six but I only fly them to about 35 - 40%[/quote]

Why only 35-40%? Shouldn't they be fine to 20% safely? I try to be good about battery maintenance, still am skeptical about the DJI 8% thing though!

Bit off topic there; as for antennas, the spironet cloverleaves & patch gets me out to 2800-3000m with the IRC600 & BP. This is with minimal ground clutter and repeated efforts to test them out. I fully recommend these for anyone looking to upgrade from stock. Are they the best? Well probably not, but they definitely do the job and how often will you really need range beyond that anyways. If the Lightbridge ever goes on sale for 50% off I'll be sure to buy one of those, I've been seeing more and more posts of mounting a LB to a phantom, looks encouraging!
 
soo..... after making my own CP antenna, I decided to make a homebrew 7 turn helical... and results... I will never buy a premade one again. The furthest I flew was about 1400m at 250m, with a little breakup on the turnaround--this was in my suburb. Would have like to gone further but would have taken me too far out into the city. When I have a chance to fly in a nice open countryside, I'll have more results.

I definitely encourage everyone to try to build your own, if you have a soldering iron. Plenty of tutorials to be found on youtube. :D
 
thongbong said:
soo..... after making my own CP antenna, I decided to make a homebrew 7 turn helical... and results... I will never buy a premade one again. The furthest I flew was about 1400m at 250m, with a little breakup on the turnaround--this was in my suburb. Would have like to gone further but would have taken me too far out into the city. When I have a chance to fly in a nice open countryside, I'll have more results.

I definitely encourage everyone to try to build your own, if you have a soldering iron. Plenty of tutorials to be found on youtube. :D

got pics?
would love to see it!
 
thongbong said:
I definitely encourage everyone to try to build your own, if you have a soldering iron. Plenty of tutorials to be found on youtube. :D

Can you also link to the video that inspired your build, it obviously worked. :D
 
I got mine as far as 1.5 km. At about 100+ m high.

New antenna coming soon but IMO 1 km is more than enough for me.
 
Did a short 3 flights Today. Fairly dense area, never lost video, but entered F/S at around 685M @75M, during the turn around to come back. I held the remote up, and it exited F/S.....go figure.
Also-don't forget to fill out the form so we can keep track of your distance and heights; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuC1rwaqupIYdDlDeVAtcHZaZEJnbmZFM2VwOU1acVE&usp=sharing

Noticed something Today with my Fatshark Base Goggles-they get hot. I'm thinking because I run them off a 2200 Mah battery at 12.5 volts, that might have something to do with it. So, I ordered the much smaller Fatshark Battery. I'm hoping the lower voltage will keep the lenses cooler. It wasn't really hot out today, but the lenses get warm, and even with anti-fog, they start to fog up.
So, when I get the battery I'll report back if it made any difference.
 
Images of my homebrew antennas. Trial and error. All credit due to IBCrazy for bringing the relevance of these antennas back into the FPV community. Again I did 1400m @ 250m today in the suburb with little static on turnaround. Could have gone further but didnt want to take it into the city.

video tutorial I used for making these antennas. Try it, once you make one, its easy and quite relaxing to make more... kind of like my mother in law with her knitting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ODAOEFq7tA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMLRhLYsv28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yohKRzMAJAg
 

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It was easier for me just to pay a guy $30 in Canada to make mine. They should be here, when they get here.
But, there isn't anything proprietary in antenna's. So, once they're bent, and the correct gauge and length, they should all perform the same.
I've seen some pretty ugly antenna's being advertised on another forum. Guy's are making them and selling them. That's why I would never spend $80 on a Helical Antenna. There are people that will make the exact same antenna-at least in function, for $30, or so.
 
I have a situation and was wondering what others experience has been; I will be flying my quad from 100 to 300 feet, almost directly below where I will be standing-up on a mountain, and down into a canyon.
Has anyone tried this? Was wondering if the body of the aircraft will block the radio or VTX signals, and how far down I can safely go?

I'm assuming if the aircraft enters Fail Safe, it will climb to 60 feet above my take-off position, which will be fine, as it will clear the terrain??
 

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