DIY Antenna Booster for Phantom 3
- Thread starter PVFlyer
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Hello flyNfrank,
I can't produce details about a direct comparison between the two types of Range Boosters, just because a single battery doesn't last enough to pilot the Phantom 3 so distant to see which one allows the reaching of a longer distance.
Anyway, I feel that the control of the aircraft is better and more reliable using the copper layer in many places where there are a lot of disturbing sources of electromagnetic waves, such as mobile phone repeaters or high voltage lines.
The copper layer protects the RC antennas very efficiently against these disturbing noises, so you can get a better general performance during the flight of your Phantom 3.
Moreover, as you certainly know, copper is much more expensive than aluminium, so the cost of the Range Booster that is provided with the copper layer is higher.
Of course everyone can freely choose the type of Booster he likes, but there are a lot of people who asked me to make a Range Booster with a copper coating and so I did it, that's all.
N017RW
Premium Pilot
Copper, aluminum, steel, silver, etc., all have their pros and cons.
They are all equally effective when applied correctly.
With so many other variables at play it will be impossible to claim one is better than the other in THIS application without controlled testing.
By all means give the people what they want, but to say that one provides "extreme performances" and you 'feel' [it] is better is dubious.
They are all equally effective when applied correctly.
With so many other variables at play it will be impossible to claim one is better than the other in THIS application without controlled testing.
By all means give the people what they want, but to say that one provides "extreme performances" and you 'feel' [it] is better is dubious.
Hello David...
My "split" P3 antenna booster arrived yesterday. Thanks for the quick order turn around.
Beautiful quality.
I plan on doing some empirical testing this weekend to compare your original design with the split version and will report my results.
I do think that I might just have room in my Chinese eBay P3 backpack to hold the
split boosters in an accessory cut out in the backpack foam.
FYI...be sure to check the bubble wrap for the included antenna clips or you risk throwing them out in the trash like I almost did
:harry
Im glad to hear someone is going to do this. I may wait to hear the results of your test before I order.
David,
I have been so impressed with your P3P range extender that, as I live in the UK, I have just ordered one through eBay. I take aerial photos of national heritage monuments such as Stonehenge and ancient burial mounds and sacred places dating back thousands of years. Many of these are difficult to get to on foot and best accessed from afar. So your range extender that doesn't involve tampering with the controller should be a godsend. Wishing you all the best with your business. Will post a video when I have taken some footage with it!
I have been so impressed with your P3P range extender that, as I live in the UK, I have just ordered one through eBay. I take aerial photos of national heritage monuments such as Stonehenge and ancient burial mounds and sacred places dating back thousands of years. Many of these are difficult to get to on foot and best accessed from afar. So your range extender that doesn't involve tampering with the controller should be a godsend. Wishing you all the best with your business. Will post a video when I have taken some footage with it!
ok, made it out past 2 miles today. I was really worried I wouldn't make it back on the single battery but I knew I had a tail wind behind me. Made it home with about 12% on the battery. Yikes! But it went almost 12,000 feet! Wow! Maybe time for the battery mod next! haha
oh ya, Dave. Those little pieces of plastic that join the 2 antennas together, the piece that sticks into the hole broke off. Seems pretty fragile. Where do you buy those if I want to buy another one?
oh ya, Dave. Those little pieces of plastic that join the 2 antennas together, the piece that sticks into the hole broke off. Seems pretty fragile. Where do you buy those if I want to buy another one?
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NICE !!
I did 2.1 miles the other day and that just blew me away
http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/diy-antenna-booster-for-phantom-3.47516/page-24#post-488785
Congrats
I did 2.1 miles the other day and that just blew me away
http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/diy-antenna-booster-for-phantom-3.47516/page-24#post-488785
Congrats
Cool! I don't have the mountains in my background. Very flat here in Nebraska. Funny thing is, I could've kept going. Notice no signal loss but I was worried about getting back. Perhaps I'll try it where I sit the bird down and make it a one way flight.
Dave, I'm curios. What's the farthest distance that you've travelled or that you heard of?
Dave, I'm curios. What's the farthest distance that you've travelled or that you heard of?
With extra batteries and the DBS antenna (or others), the out and back distances being flown with P3s are huge. Flytrex right now has a record of 6.1 miles on their P3P distance board: http://www.flytrex.com/challenges/distance/phantom-3-professional/
My furthest stock was just over 3 miles and with Dave's booster, 3.6 miles. That was landing with 26% battery, but the site wasn't great and I was losing contact. Could go further in a better place.
Here's what can be done if you want to push it further: http://www.flytrex.com/mission/quadcopter-dark-matter-s--awakening-awake-Vh9f89lQ/
There is something about flying over water. All the people flying extreme distances seem to do it over water. Nothing to get in the way of the signal and I think the water actually reflects the signal.
I fly my P3P over water always. The max distance I can do is 1 km (0.62 mile) with stock P3P. After it it says signal lost and it starts to return home. So water is not effect that much at my flights.
You are pointing your antennas wrong or there's something wrong with your Phantom 3 if that's all you can do over water assuming the location you're flying at has no strong sources of RF near you.
I will investigate it then. I wil try to record my screen during a flight over sea. Than share it here to ask. Thank you.
I can get almost 21000 and back, not a big deal.
Do you have a battery mod or something? Cause you could see I was at 43% battery at my furthest distance and I was worried about running out of battery before I returned. What happens when you get to 0% battery anyway? Does the bird just fall from the sky and I go pick up the pieces? lol
If you are careful and know what you're doing the system works well out to 20,000' and beyond. My second to last flight this morning went to 20,242', stock except for David's booster (the original one). I should've then tried a flight without it - but didn't think to. This site was great, no interference at all. The wind was medium, 9.4mph I measured on a previous flight but I flew at right angles to it. Wind increased a little on the last flight and I only made it to 19,500'. Landed at 17% and 20% respectively. Given a good place to fly, range is certainly limited by battery more than lightbridge's reception. And this is flying at 200', maybe 280' above sea level as I was up on a bluff.
Here are the 2 flights on Flytrex and on HealthyDrones.com:
http://www.flytrex.com/mission/quadcopter-phantom-3-pro-nathan-hoover-MysIjOsd/
http://healthydrones.com/main?flight=340bc458547991af3a9a4d201d48a9d7&page_id=GENERALOverview
It was an overcast not beautiful day so I was flying by map rather than video. Here's a screenshot from the recorded screen video at the start of the return showing 5 bars (and the shoreline 3.8 miles away):
Here are the 2 flights on Flytrex and on HealthyDrones.com:
http://www.flytrex.com/mission/quadcopter-phantom-3-pro-nathan-hoover-MysIjOsd/
http://healthydrones.com/main?flight=340bc458547991af3a9a4d201d48a9d7&page_id=GENERALOverview
It was an overcast not beautiful day so I was flying by map rather than video. Here's a screenshot from the recorded screen video at the start of the return showing 5 bars (and the shoreline 3.8 miles away):
See that's what I don't get. If you look at my picture, at 11,000 feet I was already at 43% battery and thought it wise to turn around but you're at 20,000 feet and still 60% battery. What can I do to make the battery last longer?
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