4 km at 1080p

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Hi all. This is my ground rig. I have upgraded antennas to 2 x 9 DBI omnis, fed by 2 x 2000mW amps fed by lightbridge. All driven by 12 v 10000mAh li-ion battery. Standard wire omnis on the pv2. So far achieved 4 km at full 1080p resolution with near zero lag. Video feed goes to hdmi cable to 24 inch monitor inside, so no sun glare and no iOS limitations on video.
Important to note that the antenna spacing is around 7 inches to avoid distortion of 2.4 Ghz wave length between antennas. Can probably go further, just a matter of battery and nerves :D

Hope this is useful for distance chasers !
 

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Have you try to connect just the antennas without amplifiers to the ground unit?
 
gppms said:
Have you try to connect just the antennas without amplifiers to the ground unit?

Yes, got to 3 km but both control and video strength in the red, so very near the limit. With the amps just gives that extra boost and more reliability. Example at 1 km , 1080p, both signals are still 98 to 100 when using the amps.
 
Ok thank you for the reply.I will experiment also.
 
Highcloud said:
Hi all. This is my ground rig. I have upgraded antennas to 2 x 9 DBI omnis, fed by 2 x 2000mW amps fed by lightbridge. All driven by 12 v 10000mAh li-ion battery. Standard wire omnis on the pv2. So far achieved 4 km at full 1080p resolution with near zero lag. Video feed goes to hdmi cable to 24 inch monitor inside, so no sun glare and no iOS limitations on video.
Important to note that the antenna spacing is around 7 inches to avoid distortion of 2.4 Ghz wave length between antennas. Can probably go further, just a matter of battery and nerves :D

Hope this is useful for distance chasers !

u wanna give us a exact parts list? i would appreciate that. would love to spec it out and maybe get.
 
Haze said:
Highcloud said:
Hi all. This is my ground rig. I have upgraded antennas to 2 x 9 DBI omnis, fed by 2 x 2000mW amps fed by lightbridge. All driven by 12 v 10000mAh li-ion battery. Standard wire omnis on the pv2. So far achieved 4 km at full 1080p resolution with near zero lag. Video feed goes to hdmi cable to 24 inch monitor inside, so no sun glare and no iOS limitations on video.
Important to note that the antenna spacing is around 7 inches to avoid distortion of 2.4 Ghz wave length between antennas. Can probably go further, just a matter of battery and nerves :D

Hope this is useful for distance chasers !

u wanna give us a exact parts list? i would appreciate that. would love to spec it out and maybe get.

PARTS LIST

2 X Alfa 9 dbi Omni directional antennas. RP-SMA 2.4 Ghz
2 x Sunhans 2000mW 2.4 Ghz amplifiers
2 x SMA plug to SMA plug pigtail 150 mm long
1 x 1 or 2 way switch rated at 3 Amps or better
1 x 12V battery of your choice. I have now changed mine to 2200mAh 3 S Li-Po (Turnigy) This will give around 4 hours flying between charges.

HOW TO ASSEMBLE

Connect 2 x SMA to SMA cables between the antenna port on the Light Bridge and the radio side of the Sunhans amplifiers
Screw on the RP SMA Alfa Antennas to the Sunhans Amplifiers on the Antenna side.
Space the Amplifiers around 180 mm apart – this will avoid 2.4 Ghz signal distortion
Cut the Light Bridge power supply cable around 200 mm form the round connector
Cut the power supply cables for the Amplifiers around 200mm from the round connector end.
Splice all three power cables (2 x amplifiers and 1 x Light bridge) together – take care to connect centre pin positive for all connector
Connect spliced positive wires to one side of switch
Connect other side of switch to +ve of battery
Connect –ve side of power cables to –ve of battery.

The switch is a precaution against spiking when you connect and disconnect the battery. Always connect and disconnect with the switch in the off position


I used Makrolon as a base to mount everything and then mounted on a removable pole head.
As I have a mast that is 5 metres high outside and a monitor inside, I use 10 metres HDMI cable for video feed. 10 Metre USB extension (in case I want to edit settings in the Light Bridge App while flying). I used a standard 3.5mm phono extension for the transmitter control cable and finally I added 2 sense wires (0.5 mm csa or better will do) for battery measurement, so that I can monitor the power supply at the top of the tower while flying – anticipating in good time any likely loss of power. I used expandable cable netting to cover all the cables for the first 7 Metres and then let them loose for the rest of the way to the monitor, TX etc. This enables me to fly fpv inside – avoiding all daylight and sun glare but I still have enough control cable to step outside for landing and take off.


Hope this helps everyone.
 
Highcloud said:
Haze said:
Highcloud said:
Hi all. This is my ground rig. I have upgraded antennas to 2 x 9 DBI omnis, fed by 2 x 2000mW amps fed by lightbridge. All driven by 12 v 10000mAh li-ion battery. Standard wire omnis on the pv2. So far achieved 4 km at full 1080p resolution with near zero lag. Video feed goes to hdmi cable to 24 inch monitor inside, so no sun glare and no iOS limitations on video.
Important to note that the antenna spacing is around 7 inches to avoid distortion of 2.4 Ghz wave length between antennas. Can probably go further, just a matter of battery and nerves :D

Hope this is useful for distance chasers !

u wanna give us a exact parts list? i would appreciate that. would love to spec it out and maybe get.

PARTS LIST

2 X Alfa 9 dbi Omni directional antennas. RP-SMA 2.4 Ghz
2 x Sunhans 2000mW 2.4 Ghz amplifiers
2 x SMA plug to SMA plug pigtail 150 mm long
1 x 1 or 2 way switch rated at 3 Amps or better
1 x 12V battery of your choice. I have now changed mine to 2200mAh 3 S Li-Po (Turnigy) This will give around 4 hours flying between charges.

HOW TO ASSEMBLE

Connect 2 x SMA to SMA cables between the antenna port on the Light Bridge and the radio side of the Sunhans amplifiers
Screw on the RP SMA Alfa Antennas to the Sunhans Amplifiers on the Antenna side.
Space the Amplifiers around 180 mm apart – this will avoid 2.4 Ghz signal distortion
Cut the Light Bridge power supply cable around 200 mm form the round connector
Cut the power supply cables for the Amplifiers around 200mm from the round connector end.
Splice all three power cables (2 x amplifiers and 1 x Light bridge) together – take care to connect centre pin positive for all connector
Connect spliced positive wires to one side of switch
Connect other side of switch to +ve of battery
Connect –ve side of power cables to –ve of battery.

The switch is a precaution against spiking when you connect and disconnect the battery. Always connect and disconnect with the switch in the off position


I used Makrolon as a base to mount everything and then mounted on a removable pole head.
As I have a mast that is 5 metres high outside and a monitor inside, I use 10 metres HDMI cable for video feed. 10 Metre USB extension (in case I want to edit settings in the Light Bridge App while flying). I used a standard 3.5mm phono extension for the transmitter control cable and finally I added 2 sense wires (0.5 mm csa or better will do) for battery measurement, so that I can monitor the power supply at the top of the tower while flying – anticipating in good time any likely loss of power. I used expandable cable netting to cover all the cables for the first 7 Metres and then let them loose for the rest of the way to the monitor, TX etc. This enables me to fly fpv inside – avoiding all daylight and sun glare but I still have enough control cable to step outside for landing and take off.


Hope this helps everyone.

With the sunhans are you reaching max. range at 4km? also what is the environment you're flying in?
 
omegaman1965 said:
Awesome Setup. What model Sunhans Amp are you using?
Thanks.


It is Sunhans SH-2500. Technically a 2.5 Watt Amp but sold as 2W. Actually measured 1200mW at output, but it works well enough.
 
Worth noting that if you are flying in a very noisey environment it is well worth swapping the omni antennas for directional antennas. This has the affect of "blocking" some of the unwanted noise that would otherwise be amplified. Image of my directional antennas below. This is a bit overkill and probably good for 10Km + but eliminates any noise even in the most challenging environments. The overall effect is a significant improvement in signal to noise ratio.
 

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Yea I am not looking to go to the moon. I just want to see video the whole time. Ideally in HD ;-) I have an area of say 1000 meters I want to be able to roam in and I want to have good clear video the whole time. Not sure what I am dropping the picture. I guess the lightbridge has a way to go. I like your style. Where are you located? Thanks again for all the details and info.
 
omegaman1965 said:
Yea I am not looking to go to the moon. I just want to see video the whole time. Ideally in HD ;-) I have an area of say 1000 meters I want to be able to roam in and I want to have good clear video the whole time. Not sure what I am dropping the picture. I guess the lightbridge has a way to go. I like your style. Where are you located? Thanks again for all the details and info.


If you only need 1 km then 2 patch antennas without amplifiers will do the job and give full hd feed consistently to the light bridge. If you want to fly "through" trees and stuff then add the amps for extra punch.

I am in the uk.
 
Ok order all my goodies and got everything but the sunhans amps ordered them from amazon and its going to take 7-15 days before I get them :cry: so now I just wait Tom
 
Can you tell us which patch antennas you are using? I see Netgear in the photos, just wondering which models specifically.
 
jtw29 said:
Can you tell us which patch antennas you are using? I see Netgear in the photos, just wondering which models specifically.

I use netgear 18 DBI patch antennas. With these you do not need the amps, but you limit the azimuth to 60 degrees which is still huge at 3 km +
 
tomrink550 said:
Ok order all my goodies and got everything but the sunhans amps ordered them from amazon and its going to take 7-15 days before I get them :cry: so now I just wait Tom

Still waiting on my amps :cry: 10/14/14
 
Highcloud said:
Hi all. This is my ground rig. I have upgraded antennas to 2 x 9 DBI omnis, fed by 2 x 2000mW amps fed by lightbridge. All driven by 12 v 10000mAh li-ion battery. Standard wire omnis on the pv2. So far achieved 4 km at full 1080p resolution with near zero lag. Video feed goes to hdmi cable to 24 inch monitor inside, so no sun glare and no iOS limitations on video.
Important to note that the antenna spacing is around 7 inches to avoid distortion of 2.4 Ghz wave length between antennas. Can probably go further, just a matter of battery and nerves :D

Hope this is useful for distance chasers !

Highcloud I have a qusntion about my set up I have everything set up just like you do what I need to no is can I just leave everything hook up but just power up my Lightbridge ground and use it with out having to also power up my Amps if I don't need the extra range thank you Tom
 
tomrink550 said:
Highcloud said:
Hi all. This is my ground rig. I have upgraded antennas to 2 x 9 DBI omnis, fed by 2 x 2000mW amps fed by lightbridge. All driven by 12 v 10000mAh li-ion battery. Standard wire omnis on the pv2. So far achieved 4 km at full 1080p resolution with near zero lag. Video feed goes to hdmi cable to 24 inch monitor inside, so no sun glare and no iOS limitations on video.
Important to note that the antenna spacing is around 7 inches to avoid distortion of 2.4 Ghz wave length between antennas. Can probably go further, just a matter of battery and nerves :D

Hope this is useful for distance chasers !

Highcloud I have a qusntion about my set up I have everything set up just like you do what I need to no is can I just leave everything hook up but just power up my Lightbridge ground and use it with out having to also power up my Amps if I don't need the extra range thank you Tom

You need to run the amps else you will have a very weak signal indeed. Either take the amps out of the circuit, i.e. just antennas or use the amps but they miust be powered up.
 

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