Cheap antenna boosters- work fine

[jephoto]

Hi all. Got one of these through Amazon for $8.98

Akwox Floding Aluminum Parabolic Antenna Range Booster for DJI Phantom 4 Phantom 3
Tested it out twice. And it works very well.
I'm usually not a long range guy but I wanted to get some shots of Navy Pier in Chicago with their fireworks from out in the lake looking back.
I knew I'd be having some signal issues
Got this shot last night. 6,614' away from my position. Amazing to me. Had to really keep the controller pointed right at it or I'd get weak signal alert. But moving it about to line up the controller with the directional arrow I got the strong Green signal strength.
1.25 miles for a $9 reflector is pretty **** good...

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[N017RW]

Best 'mod' for the buck and effort, no question.

 

[Suhail78]

Were you having issues getting out that far without the range extenders?

 

[Fifty7]

Mine just got delivered today, will hopefully try them soon. My furthest stock flight is has been about 5,500' and being a nervous newbie as soon as it flickered i turned around. I'm not looking to go much further because if i do, I'm out of the open area and back over houses & main roads but I'm looking to see if they will keep me at full strength where I do fly. I have yet to be that far out over the water where I assume i should get the best range but when i do i will be testing with & without these reflectors to see the difference. Hard to find other open areas in NYC

 

[Suhail78]

Mine just got delivered today, will hopefully try them soon. My furthest stock flight is has been about 5,500' and being a nervous newbie as soon as it flickered i turned around. I'm not looking to go much further because if i do, I'm out of the open area and back over houses & main roads but I'm looking to see if they will keep me at full strength where I do fly. I have yet to be that far out over the water where I assume i should get the best range but when i do i will be testing with & without these reflectors to see the difference. Hard to find other open areas in NYC

Let us know how your test go with and without the extenders!!!

 

[Fifty7]

Will do. I need to find a new takeoff spot. I've just been informed by the park I've been using that it's illegal to do so.


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[jephoto]

Were you having issues getting out that far without the range extenders?

Never tried. Longest I went before was 3300-3500. And that got iffy on signal. Sometimes even closer was a problem.

 

[Fifty7]

Let us know how your test go with and without the extenders!!!

So what did i learn today? I may not be the right guy to be testing out the extenders. That's right...No B**ls!!! I get just over a mile (without them) and chicken out when i see a flicker. I guess I'll get used to accelerated heart beat eventually. But seriously, the problem is my limited places to fly. Today i took off from a beach in Staten Island and headed towards New Jersey. Got to just over 5,900' without so much as a flicker (again..no extenders) but what I did get was...New Jersey!! Didn't realize land on the other side was so close and didn't want to fly over the populated area especially not being familiar with the area. So, I have yet to fly out of range for 2 reasons. My limited locations to fly & again No B**ls. Oh Well, Maybe next time. Will let you guys know.

 

[HoboDan]

Do you mind if I use that beautiful fireworks photo for my screen saver? One of the best pics I've seen coming from a drone...


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[jephoto]

Do you mind if I use that beautiful fireworks photo for my screen saver? One of the best pics I've seen coming from a drone...


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

Go ahead Dan. I'm honored. Just give me photo credit....


"Imagine Whirled Peas..."

2-P-3p's
6 batteries

 

[Trinimon]

Nice shot!

 

[HoboDan]

BTW Jeff... Bought the boosters cuz of your success with them.. And thanks for the use of your photo... Looks great on my iPad Pro...
But they are a couple bucks more.


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[Fifty7]

BTW Jeff... Bought the boosters cuz of your success with them.. And thanks for the use of your photo... Looks great on my iPad Pro...
But they are a couple bucks more.


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Please don't take this as a dig on anybody cause I'm a big chicken as you can see from my post (#8) above but you should get that distance and more without them, especially over water with no interference.

Now the picture on the other hand - Beautiful. What settings do you start off with at night to get that kind of clarity?

 

[Numone]

I got exactly the same one from Banggood for $2.80... delivered from China! Amazing value.... still not used it though. Incidentally, the longest distance I've got is is 10,592', so two miles. I tried to push it a bit further and absolutely kackked myself as the screen went blank for about 20 seconds. Thank gawd it did exactly as it was designed to do and it initiated RTH. I agree too; it's a beautiful shot.... Well done!

 

[Fifty7]

Thank gawd it did exactly as it was designed to do and it initiated RTH. I agree too; it's a beautiful shot.... Well done!

Thats the part that scares me - Making sure it does what it's supposed to and having no control over whether it does or not

 

[HoboDan]

I don't fly over water anymore as I lost my first P3p about a month after I purchased it back in 2015... Pilot error, but made a promise... No more water flights....
I bought the boosters cuz I don't like the glitches all the time. I hope that will help..

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[flyNfrank]

Most knows these and refer to them as the....WindSurfer.

 

[jephoto]

Please don't take this as a dig on anybody cause I'm a big chicken as you can see from my post (#8) above but you should get that distance and more without them, especially over water with no interference.

Now the picture on the other hand - Beautiful. What settings do you start off with at night to get that kind of clarity?

Yes- in theory- with No Interference- I should be able to get much farther without them. But I live in a major city and there's all kinds of interference. Even when I'm by the water, there's lots of stuff happening around or nearby.
So I normally can't get that far without help.
That said, it's still a bit tricky as it creates a pretty narrow focus on the signal. But it's another tool in the box...

As for my settings, that was either 1 second or .8 sec, / 100 iso, don't recall if I left the WB on 5600 or pulled it down closer to Tungsten- but I always shoot raw anyway.
Then it still doesn't come out of the camera like that. Lots of post. First in Lightroom, then Photoshop. Lots....

 

[Fifty7]

Yes- in theory- with No Interference- I should be able to get much farther without them. But I live in a major city and there's all kinds of interference. Even when I'm by the water, there's lots of stuff happening around or nearby.
So I normally can't get that far without help.
That said, it's still a bit tricky as it creates a pretty narrow focus on the signal. But it's another tool in the box...

As for my settings, that was either 1 second or .8 sec, / 100 iso, don't recall if I left the WB on 5600 or pulled it down closer to Tungsten- but I always shoot raw anyway.
Then it still doesn't come out of the camera like that. Lots of post. First in Lightroom, then Photoshop. Lots....

Got it - So basically I'm never gonna take a night shot light that. lol Raw is pointless if you don't know what to do with it I guess

 

[flyNfrank]

Yes- in theory- with No Interference- I should be able to get much farther without them. But I live in a major city and there's all kinds of interference. Even when I'm by the water, there's lots of stuff happening around or nearby.
So I normally can't get that far without help.
That said, it's still a bit tricky as it creates a pretty narrow focus on the signal. But it's another tool in the box...

As for my settings, that was either 1 second or .8 sec, / 100 iso, don't recall if I left the WB on 5600 or pulled it down closer to Tungsten- but I always shoot raw anyway.
Then it still doesn't come out of the camera like that. Lots of post. First in Lightroom, then Photoshop. Lots....

Here is a little tip that should help you, and/or maybe save you from a disaster some day.

With the either the P3-P4 always remember,.......the higher you fly, the further your flight distance will be.

The reason for this is, at ground level and just above, there is like a dome of noise, static, wifi interference, and more that are basically like a curtain of fog that sits between you and the aircraft. When you increase the aircraft altitude you get further away from all of it and it becomes clearer and clearer the higher you climb in altitude.

Because of this again with the P3 & P4, it makes for one of the best flying tips of all. And that is, when flying and reach a point with that you receive a No or Lost Signal do not panic. You should at that moment increase the aircraft altitude. In most cases you will regain connection giving you full control. Now should you climb up say an additional 125-150ft and not see the signal return, then it would be wise to not go any higher and either fly towards you, or as long as you still have enough gps connections you can RTH. Not enough gps? Do Not RTH! At this point select A-mode from the upper leftside of R/C and fly it to you and nowhere else.