(2 Mile Flight) First of many distance tests.

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Hey all,

I decided to take the P3 out for a spin to try and see some distance.

Everything completely stock, I made it out 2 miles with no sign of the signal wavering at all. Full bars the entire way. Even though I had 75% battery after making it out, I decided to fly back as I wasn't used to the feeling of distance flying.

Definitely excited to push the machine and see what can be accomplished, and I plan on purchasing FPVLR Tony's advanced P3 setup for longer range once I can think of an effective and secure way to store the controller with the upgrades.

Here is a picture of the flight log:

View media item 297
And a video (although pretty dang boring)

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Awesome.

Do you have your controller channel settings set to Auto or Custom?

Auto as far as I know.

I've never messed with the controller settings
 
What is the software you are using to superimpose the gauges and graph please?
 
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Out of sheer interest for all the distance envelope pushers can I ask what the allure is?
I've gone about 1.3km simply because the location called for it. My first 'There is nooo way I can see this quad' experience.
Is it range for taking long single video shoots? Range to get to a specific spot? Range for the fun of living on the edge? Range as a competition against others?

Not trolling here by the way, I'm rather interested in the different things that drive pilots and the different uses of the platform. Mine is more around capturing the places that I'm at but the possibilities are many.
 
Out of sheer interest for all the distance envelope pushers can I ask what the allure is?
I've gone about 1.3km simply because the location called for it. My first 'There is nooo way I can see this quad' experience.
Is it range for taking long single video shoots? Range to get to a specific spot? Range for the fun of living on the edge? Range as a competition against others?

Not trolling here by the way, I'm rather interested in the different things that drive pilots and the different uses of the platform. Mine is more around capturing the places that I'm at but the possibilities are many.

For me, it's a few things.

1) I just like seeing what the quadcopter is capable of doing. Going from a Phantom 2 where I barely got 300m, to a P3 and getting 3200m is amazing.
2) I don't like flying with other people nearby, so if I can stand in a more remote location a mile away and still get good shots, I would prefer to do so rather than stand next to people that could turn volatile at any moment.
 
For me, it's a few things.

1) I just like seeing what the quadcopter is capable of doing. Going from a Phantom 2 where I barely got 300m, to a P3 and getting 3200m is amazing.
2) I don't like flying with other people nearby, so if I can stand in a more remote location a mile away and still get good shots, I would prefer to do so rather than stand next to people that could turn volatile at any moment.
Man... I will open one secret for you. Phantom 3 - is not a quadcopter - it is a flying camera with 4 propellers. It is capable of doing orbit mode and some pans. It is not CIA drone. Somebody on this forum with years of experience strongly recommends that you see your flying camera all the time, and immediately return it to home when you can not see it.
 
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Man... I will open one secret for you. Phantom 3 - is not a quadcopter - it is a flying camera with 4 propellers. It is capable of doing orbit mode and some pans. It is not CIA drone. Somebody on this forum with years of experience strongly recommends that you see your flying camera all the time, and immediately return it to home when you can not see it.

The Phantom 3 is most definitely a quadcopter by the very definition of the word.

Thanks for the recommendation I guess, but I have no intent to start flying only in LoS anytime soon.
 
Out of sheer interest for all the distance envelope pushers can I ask what the allure is?
I've gone about 1.3km simply because the location called for it. My first 'There is nooo way I can see this quad' experience.
Is it range for taking long single video shoots? Range to get to a specific spot? Range for the fun of living on the edge? Range as a competition against others?

Not trolling here by the way, I'm rather interested in the different things that drive pilots and the different uses of the platform. Mine is more around capturing the places that I'm at but the possibilities are many.
Good post, we might all be interested in seeing how far we can safely go, but it's obvious that in ideal conditions the P3 is mainly limited by the battery rather than transmission range.
Pushing it a little more each time seems kind of pointless and the most likely final consequence is losing it on the way home!
 
Good post, we might all be interested in seeing how far we can safely go, but it's obvious that in ideal conditions the P3 is mainly limited by the battery rather than transmission range.
Pushing it a little more each time seems kind of pointless and the most likely final consequence is losing it on the way home!

I make no judgements on how people want to enjoy their P3, provided they do it safely and with some common sense.

One of the things that does intrigue me is exactly that, battery tends to limit before signal it seems so I'm surprised I don't see more 'One way'distance flights from those so inclined. Just sending it out as far as it can go and then landing it when the battery is nearly done (provided of course that is somewhere accessible)
 
I personally like to see long distance flight results from other owners because it helps to know how much range you will get in more urban conditions such as when there is a tree between you and the quad or the likelihood of signal interference while flying in city environments. When you own a quad that gets 2miles in ideal conditions, 300M in terrible conditions isn't an unreasonable request vs. the quad that gets 300M in perfect conditions.

When I see posts like these it lets me know that when I do finally pull the trigger on the P3 that I will have no problems in areas where my P2 has major FPV signal issues.

And yes, I did send my P2 almost 1.2KM over water once because it was the only possible way to get the footage I needed so at times range is important. There was another time I had to send my P2 almost 1KM to film an entire island that would not have let me take off or land with the drone from their island. Many times without that kind of range I would not have been able to capture the footage I wanted to create.

Another good reason to need the range that your quad can offer is when there just isn't a good take off location that is closer. You would be surprised at how many times there were simply too many tall buildings, or people around, or something like nowhere to park that necessitated me getting farther away for a better line of sight or parking space.
 
In residential neighborhoods with lots of trees, i'm only getting about 1500-2000 ft of distance before video breakups and weak RC signal warnings start occurring. Does this sound normal for most? I'm talking about flying out of my backyard.
 
I can tell you my P2 with a Black Pearl FPV setup and long range antennas from FPVLR will typically get between 200M-300M when trees are involved. I've learned to actually get farther away from trees and fly higher (around 80M up) than to try standing right next to a tree. If I am right next to a tree I'll lose my FPV the minute a few branches are between me and the P2.

And this is with a setup that will fly around 2KM with a clear LOS over water.
 
In residential neighborhoods with lots of trees, i'm only getting about 1500-2000 ft of distance before video breakups and weak RC signal warnings start occurring. Does this sound normal for most? I'm talking about flying out of my backyard.
Absolutely. Same here. Same conditions as yourself and getting that same distance. If u link RC before going out, u should be able to push her a little further depending on the conditions for that day. I have pushed her out a mile, but she was up high for that. I'm on a preorder for the DBS Itelite antenna. I should be able to push a lot further. Does anyone know if this antenna is able to push through objects better or do I still need a fair line of sight?
 
Absolutely. Same here. Same conditions as yourself and getting that same distance. If u link RC before going out, u should be able to push her a little further depending on the conditions for that day. I have pushed her out a mile, but she was up high for that. I'm on a preorder for the DBS Itelite antenna. I should be able to push a lot further. Does anyone know if this antenna is able to push through objects better or do I still need a fair line of sight?
What do you mean by "link RC to go further"?
 
Absolutely. Same here. Same conditions as yourself and getting that same distance. If u link RC before going out, u should be able to push her a little further depending on the conditions for that day. I have pushed her out a mile, but she was up high for that. I'm on a preorder for the DBS Itelite antenna. I should be able to push a lot further. Does anyone know if this antenna is able to push through objects better or do I still need a fair line of sight?
If it's not amplified, you'll still have the same issue w/ obstructions. The itelite ones are more for straight shots out and back, you'd want one of the FPVLR rigs for penetration.
 
What do you mean by "link RC to go further"?
I read on this forum somewhere, someone posted that they relinked their RC and was able go further. My brother and I tried the same and double our distance. We also did a firmware update that day. I ruled that out cause he did the FU and link RC. I only did link RC and we both got double the distance. I Still can't fully prove it was link RC or just less interference on that day.
 
Out of sheer interest for all the distance envelope pushers can I ask what the allure is?
I've gone about 1.3km simply because the location called for it. My first 'There is nooo way I can see this quad' experience.
Is it range for taking long single video shoots? Range to get to a specific spot? Range for the fun of living on the edge? Range as a competition against others?

Not trolling here by the way, I'm rather interested in the different things that drive pilots and the different uses of the platform. Mine is more around capturing the places that I'm at but the possibilities are many.

Not trolling at all. One of the use cases that might be really useful for my family is to be able to go out long distances at 400' and scan the ranch for issues. The ranch is roughly 5 miles by 2 miles with what should be optimal signal conditions.

I have another friend that owns several radio stations; he is not interested in distance, but the ability to perform a tower inspection with video recording without having to have someone climb the entire tower. The 4K resolution will help him stay farther back and still get the detail he needs.

My personal interest is more in remote backcountry areas where I can stop at a hilltop and investigate what behind the next pass, or scout the best route down into the valley.
 

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