Another range extender question

[frankgf321]

I have been reading the questions and replies to all the threads/discussions I can find relating to range extenders. I have a Phantom 4 standard and have actually flown it almost exactly 3 miles in line of sight without difficulty. This was a straight out and back flight with no obstructions in between. What I need to be able to do, however, is fly up to about a (1) mile in forested areas and then drop the aircraft down to about 25 feet or so and be able to see as clearly as possible the details in these clearings. I only fly about 150 ft in altitude just enough to be comfortably clear of the trees. My experience with this thus far has been to lose video transmission after only about a quarter (1/4) mile when dropping down below about 50 feet when fairly thick forest is between the controller and drone.

Itelite, Drone World, Titan Drones and others all sell extended range antennas that claim to accomplish this type of task. I am looking at one on the Drone World website store that says for Phantom 4 Standard only. It seems that some antennas work with the Phantom 4 Standard and the Phantom 3 Standard but not others in the Phantom 4 family. Is this because of the camera, the drone or both. I am under the impression that the difference in the Phantom 4 series is the camera is a better/faster quality as you go up from the standard but the aircraft itself is the same basically. Is this the case???

The other question, which I mentioned briefly in another post a few months back, is concerning elevation of the antenna. When I was in the army in field communications we learned very quickly that even minor elevation, 15 to 20 feet, would make a significant improvement in quality signal transmission. Based on that I would think that putting an antenna on an elevated pole (found a 25 ft telescoping one on ebay) and running co-ax cables to the controller would greatly improve the signal transmission. I would think with quality cables very low signal loss would occur compared with the signal gain from the elevation.

Someone please give me the low-down on these two issues. I know someone on the forum could answer this one in their sleep.

Thanks!!!

 

[LarBear360]

I have been reading the questions and replies to all the threads/discussions I can find relating to range extenders. I have a Phantom 4 standard and have actually flown it almost exactly 3 miles in line of sight without difficulty. This was a straight out and back flight with no obstructions in between. What I need to be able to do, however, is fly up to about a (1) mile in forested areas and then drop the aircraft down to about 25 feet or so and be able to see as clearly as possible the details in these clearings. I only fly about 150 ft in altitude just enough to be comfortably clear of the trees. My experience with this thus far has been to lose video transmission after only about a quarter (1/4) mile when dropping down below about 50 feet when fairly thick forest is between the controller and drone.

Itelite, Drone World, Titan Drones and others all sell extended range antennas that claim to accomplish this type of task. I am looking at one on the Drone World website store that says for Phantom 4 Standard only. It seems that some antennas work with the Phantom 4 Standard and the Phantom 3 Standard but not others in the Phantom 4 family. Is this because of the camera, the drone or both. I am under the impression that the difference in the Phantom 4 series is the camera is a better/faster quality as you go up from the standard but the aircraft itself is the same basically. Is this the case???

The other question, which I mentioned briefly in another post a few months back, is concerning elevation of the antenna. When I was in the army in field communications we learned very quickly that even minor elevation, 15 to 20 feet, would make a significant improvement in quality signal transmission. Based on that I would think that putting an antenna on an elevated pole (found a 25 ft telescoping one on ebay) and running co-ax cables to the controller would greatly improve the signal transmission. I would think with quality cables very low signal loss would occur compared with the signal gain from the elevation.

Someone please give me the low-down on these two issues. I know someone on the forum could answer this one in their sleep.

Thanks!!!

No range extender I know of can "see" through the trees. In fact, my guess is your connection would worsen. Range extenders merely focus the signal. You could liken it to a garden hose nozzle. I also don't believe mounting an antenna on the telescoping pole would make much difference.

To answer your second question, the main difference between the P3 and P4 is the signal. The P3S uses wi-fi for the video. The P4 uses lightbridge which combines the radio and video into one signal. Lightbridge is also used on the P3P.

 

[frankgf321]

I'm still curious as to why the people that have used these powered antennas claim they have extended their range even through heavy tree cover. The Titan brand pretty much guaranteed this to be the case. If they were charging $25 or $50 I could see them getting away with it but it seems that an awful lot of pilots are purchasing them and are pleased with the results. I understand that parabolic reflectors focus (I have a pair of these) but radio signals can be boosted electronically as we did in the military and it wasn't that complicated to do even back then.

Also, the radios we used in the military were the same type signal these aircraft use. These are simply a transmitter and receiver just like any other radio. If elevating the antenna for those radios worked what is the difference between those transmitters and these transmitters. In case I wasn't clear, the higher we elevated our antennas the less foliage the signal had to penetrate.

What am I missing???

 

[LarBear360]

I'm still curious as to why the people that have used these powered antennas claim they have extended their range even through heavy tree cover. The Titan brand pretty much guaranteed this to be the case. If they were charging $25 or $50 I could see them getting away with it but it seems that an awful lot of pilots are purchasing them and are pleased with the results. I understand that parabolic reflectors focus (I have a pair of these) but radio signals can be boosted electronically as we did in the military and it wasn't that complicated to do even back then.

Also, the radios we used in the military were the same type signal these aircraft use. These are simply a transmitter and receiver just like any other radio. If elevating the antenna for those radios worked what is the difference between those transmitters and these transmitters. In case I wasn't clear, the higher we elevated our antennas the less foliage the signal had to penetrate.

What am I missing???

There are no powered electronics in the range extenders. They are nothing more than antennas that replace your stock antenna.

I have no doubt that a raised antenna would work with the right equipment. I see the news vans often out on remote with the dish extended 25 feet in the air. I think the big difference is power. A GL300C radio controller puts out about .33Mw. Running that another 25 feet to your antenna is going to be a challenge, I think.

If these sellers are telling you their product will shoot through trees, ask them about their return policy. My guess is they will back off a bit on their claims. And just for the record, I have an Itelite DBS for my P3S and am pleased with it. However, I'm not trying to lower the AC down behind the tree line, out of sight from my view, to just 25 feet above ground. It goes up and out.

One other thing to consider is the quality of the camera. These things are pretty impressive and can capture quite a bit of detail in photos and especially video at 2.7K on the P3S or 4K on the P3P. The detail I can see when zoomed in exceeded my expectations.

 

[frankgf321]

Thanks, good info!! When I referred to electronics I simply meant powered antennas, such as 3 watts, etc. I agree that elevating an antenna causes issues such as the heavy unflexable cable that one of the others replied about. That may work on a permanent set up at home (I live in the middle of about 5 square miles of uninhabited area) but not practical every time I need to go to the field and don't have the time to do an involved set up.

Thanks again!