Finally flew out over 3 miles...

[Blessed77]

Last night was my first time out over 3 miles. Waiting now for my battery mod to go further. View attachment 86953

Are you running any beacons/strobes? How do you guys maintain visual line of sight at that range?

 

[MassGuy]

Are you running any beacons/strobes? How do you guys maintain visual line of sight at that range?

I look at the screen most of the time. Once in awhile I'll look in the direction where it is.

 

[Blessed77]

I look at the screen most of the time. Once in awhile I'll look in the direction where it is.

But looking at the screen does not satisfy visual line of sight. Visual line of sight requires you to be able to see your aircraft at all times with your naked eye.

 

[John Tarvin]

Ain't that visual line of sight stuff a real bummer?

 

[michaelshaw]

Good on you for pushing it that far. With an iPad mini 4 I've been getting too many video drop outs to feel comfortable pushing past a mile even in open conditions. It's too bad it hasn't gotten better/updated spec's as it's a great size with the P4P remote.

On another note, I think the video/images would have benefited from a combo ND/polarizing filter. The shutter speed is quite high for video which the ND could help with and the anti-reflective properties of the polarizing filter would make the water and vegetation look even better.

 

[Nick Mendocino]

Man, you guys have somr killer eye sight!! I am impressed.

You're alluding to keeping the bird in sight, right?

 

[Russ43Phantom]

The question is how you can see small, private aircraft in your air space, should that happen. Where I live, there are helicopters, ultra-lights, ski-planes, and light aircraft that show up unpredictably. The key word here is "unpredictaly". Thus the VLOS rule. Recreational or commercial licensed RPIC, I feel drone pilots should honor that FAA rules and precautions.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

Just keep pushing the rules, sooner or later the sky will fall.

 

[Alan Russel]

Nice flight Massguy....stunning shots.

 

[Erised]

Many phantom pilots just eat lots of carrots, that's all.

 

[John Locke]

I usually have better connections with the 5.8 and have not been able to break the 10,000 ft mark.

Try using 5.8 AUTO with a parabolic reflector. Easily get over 4mi if you're in the US. Just make sure you point the reflector at the craft when you're over a mile away.

 

[John Locke]

The question is how you can see small, private aircraft in your air space, should that happen. Where I live, there are helicopters, ultra-lights, ski-planes, and light aircraft that show up unpredictably. The key word here is "unpredictaly". Thus the VLOS rule. Recreational or commercial licensed RPIC, I feel drone pilots should honor that FAA rules and precautions.

In areas that have that kind of "below 500ft flying" craft, it's wise to keep the drone down around 100- or 150' AGL, just high enough to be above any power lines and trees, but low enough to minimize any conflict with those type craft. Generally speaking you can hear those craft from a distance, which should trigger you to take evasive action if it's in the direction of your FPV drone flight area.

 

[Acabral886]

Heyy nice too see another local flyer.. I live close by there.. I have some pics at Horseneck Beach also..

 

[Hawkwind]

Great flight.I went 16,251ft earlier this year with my p4 but have kept it closer the last few months. I had a range extender installed on it when I purchased the P4. I also have a P4P also with a range extender,but frankly have not really tested it to the limit.

 

[MassGuy]

I'm going to do another flight there in the near future. That one will be to see how far I can go before I lose signal. Now that I think about it, all of my long flights have been in that area.

I've been wanting to do an upgrade or two to provide better signal on long range flights. Not that I'm looking to go 5 miles but I'm sometimes in an area where I get interference and lose signal at less than 10,000'. The parabolic reflectors don't cost much, I might order a set to see how they work.

 

[MassGuy]

I did new longest flight this evening- 19162'. That's 3.62 miles. Signal was starting to get weak. I might have been able to push a little further but It was a new location to fly (by Taylor Swift's house) so I stopped to take a few photos on the way out.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

You're welcome

While impressive, that was a very foolish flight.
Landing with 0%, not good.

 

[John Locke]

I'm going to do another flight there in the near future. That one will be to see how far I can go before I lose signal. Now that I think about it, all of my long flights have been in that area.

I've been wanting to do an upgrade or two to provide better signal on long range flights. Not that I'm looking to go 5 miles but I'm sometimes in an area where I get interference and lose signal at less than 10,000'. The parabolic reflectors don't cost much, I might order a set to see how they work.

Windsurfers do help by focusing more signal to the craft, but also shielding 50% of the surrounding rogue interference from behind you, not to mention catching more video signal from the craft, like a catchers mitt.. Flying 5.8ghz AUTO will cut out a lot of interference also, since less people use that band for wifi. You can usually get over a 4mi range using 5.8Ghz, LOS, with windsurfer on P4P.

 

[Blessed77]

Well, considering that all dji drones come with indicator lights on each one they build and It being a clear night when I flew... I launched in an area that I could see those green flashing lights for prob half the flight. After that... well I just know the layout of the land in the route that I flew and played it safe. The vlos rule is the reason most guys make max range flights in WIDE OPEN spaces. Like the coast, mountains or desert. Or in my case, nearby cow pastures or local crops.

So basically half your flight was legal, the other half was illegal.

Gotcha, thanks.

 

[zx12r123]

Windsurfers do help by focusing more signal to the craft, but also shielding 50% of the surrounding rogue interference from behind you, not to mention catching more video signal from the craft, like a catchers mitt.. Flying 5.8ghz AUTO will cut out a lot of interference also, since less people use that band for wifi. You can usually get over a 4mi range using 5.8Ghz, LOS, with windsurfer on P4P.