Took my P3S out over a lake today and successfully went past 5000 feet almost hit a mile. Running with zero mods only the cheap gold foil range extender. Although with some testing I haven't noticed to much difference with the "range extender".
First 5000ft plus flight!
- Thread starter lpmondo
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Congratulations! Based on the range typically reported by most P3S owners here, you're among a small minority who can make that claim without mods. Like you, I tried one of those gold foil range extenders but didn't notice any difference on my P3S. Although there's risk involved in flying a Standard at that distance over a large body of water, speaking from experience, you may be on to something by flying over that lake. I can tell you, it feels good to beat the odds and achieve that kind of distance without mods on a Standard. My personal best distance without any mods on my P3S was 9200'+ (over a lake), so the kind of range you got with your Standard is definitely possible.
Holy crap. I did not think they could go to 9000ft. I've seen YouTube videos of it doing 5600ft I thought that was about Max. How did you get it to go that far? Litchi? Programmed flight? I have only used the DJI app.
Nope, only used the Go app for all my flights. Like I said, I've seen a lot of P3S owners discuss their max range. While I've seen some owners report getting a mile or so of range, typically it's something much less than that, with many at a 1/2 mile or less. That's why I said, you're among a minority of Standard owners who have reported your kind of distance. And whIle my typical distance is less than 9200', I can routinely get over a mile of range when flying over rural unpopulated farm land without a lot of effort, or any mods. I'll admit, it's challenging to see it at that distance, but the strobe lights help. I don't know what there is about my particular Phantom that enables it get that kind of range, but I'm thankful I have it. It was a significant investment for me at the time I bought it and I'll be keeping it for a while. It survived a few crashes and I have no complaints whatsoever. Some common sense suggestions when flying long distances: NEVER take off with less than a fully charged battery, and always make sure you've got enough battery to get home; make sure your pre-flight checks show no issues, and your homepoint is confirmed BEFORE you lift off; know what the general wind conditions are at your flight altitude BEFORE lift-off; if your gut instinct tells you something, listen to it, it's usually right; and don't update the firmware unless you're forced to. I had to update mine when I first got my Phantom, but it performs far better than most P3S Phantoms, so I'm not going to screw that up. Good luck with your bird.
I'm going to try to find a more unpopulated area and see just how far I can really get it. If you can get 1.7 miles on a drone that can barely get 1 mile. I'm going for it. What was your altitude like on these flights. I do notice better signal at higher altitudes sweet spot for me is about 350-400 feet. And I have one update but I'm not being forced to do it so I'm not going to. It says it's only for the fly safe programming which I don't want to update being that I live in a 5mile radius of a airport.
Hi guys.
I was able to get 10k feet out of my P3S with just one of the parabolic reflectors. In a rural area and over a lake, straight line of sight. I still had full bars on the controller signal, but the video feed was weak and breaking up. I put the Argtek mod on and while I only got small boost on the control range the 2.4 and 5.8 ghz range are now are pretty much equal with a range of slightly over 2 miles. I only fly in rural areas, so interference has not been a issue.
AA5XA,
That's really outstanding distance for a P3S with simply a reflector added. Although it could be purely circumstantial, I'm seeing the same common factors in your flight, Ipmondo's flight, and my flight, which appear to provide conditions that support substantial distance from a modest P3S. Your video signal will typically deteriorate before your control signal will. I've been considering doing the Argtek mod although, with the range that I'm getting, I'm not sure how much more range I'd get for that much of an investment.
Ipmondo,
I do most of my flying at ~300' AGL, although I will take it up to 400' if conditions will support it. Even at 300', I'll still check wind conditions at flight altitude before I take off.
Yeah, the increase on the 5.8 ghz side was a bit of a disappointment, on the 2.4 ghz side it was much better. I use the panels on the 2.4 connectors and the 10db Omni on the controller side. One of the reasons I chose the Argtek was that it gives me an easy connection point for any additional antennas I may decide to try. My next experiment may be building a helical.
Good run! I've hit 4500' before with just the windsurfer also. I think it helps but haven't tried going that far without it...
That was the reason for my interest in the Argtek: a fairly easy and clean looking installation, and the ability to add other compatible antennas in the future. Thanks for the feedback.
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There's something about radio communication over water. It seems that all frequencies benefit from propagating over water. Maybe it provides a better ground? I'll leave the science to those much more qualified than me. I'm just reporting my empirical observations. Even if it's not a massive body of water RF signals do better. I noticed this going up and down a river.
FAA Drone Regulations say to keep the drone in eyesight at all times. I have trouble seeing mine at 500 feet let alone 5,000 feet. Does anyone follow the regulations any more?
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Finally, someone takes the queue from my post. Spoke to an FAA guy today and he said drone pilots giving regulations the finger is a BIG concern.
Agreed ... I can see, as said above ... if I don't blink, maybe 1000-1500 feet. VLOS is required for both recreational or FAA licensed pilots. With a little imagination, you can do great photography, cinematography, and just have fun flying within VLOS.
Those saying "the rules are not for me" will be the first to complain when DJI updates their software with distance constraints that can't be removed.
Those saying "the rules are not for me" will be the first to complain when DJI updates their software with distance constraints that can't be removed.
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