Flying through narrow canyons or over tall hills.

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I envision flying through canyons in the southwest USA (as permitted, of course). Most of these are twisty and I certainly would not be able to maintain VLOS, navigating through the lens which I'm OK with. Same for my desire to fly over hills or cliffs to see what's on the other side. Would I lose radio connection if I remained within a half mile (or more) of my controller? Same situation if I were flying a circle around a tall structure or natural element where my AC were to be out of sight for a while on the other side. I use a P4P V. 2.0.
 
You would lose signal pretty quick. Living in the mountains I will not fly behind a rock unless it will RTH higher than the rock and not hit something above it. No way it will get a half a mile stock.
 
Would I lose radio connection if I remained within a half mile (or more) of my controller?
Behind hills, most likely yes. Just like flying behind a building that is 1/4 mile or less away. I can go in my back yard behind my house with the aircraft in the front yard and barely have signal at 200 ft. Once above the house it is 100%.
 
Thanks Guys. Looks like I'm going to have to plan much more carefully. A decent elevation set for RTH would be in order. I may have to personally accompany the AC through canyons then and be happy just to have a higher perspective but shorter distances. Perhaps I'll be OK with being on the edge of a canyon and flying down into it while having VLOS. Are there any issues with the controller being much higher than the drone?
 
An antenna range booster could help some, but at half a mile, it won’t do much. Best bet is to close that distance.
 
I envision flying through canyons in the southwest USA (as permitted, of course). Most of these are twisty and I certainly would not be able to maintain VLOS, navigating through the lens which I'm OK with.
If your view of the Phantom is blocked by rock, you won't have live view or control signal.
You mention narrow canyons which may introduce another issue.
If the Phantom has a restricted sky view, you will only be able to receive signals from just a few GPS satellites and you would probably lose GPS position holding ability.
The number of sats visible to the drone depends on how much of the sky it can see.
 
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If your view of the Phantom is blocked by rock, you won't have live view or control signal.
You mention narrow canyons which may introduce another issue.
If the Phantom has a restricted sky view, you will only be able to receive signals from just a few GPS satellites and you would probably lose GPS position holding ability.
The number of sats visible to the drone depends on how much of the sky it can see.
I didn’t think of that. GPS factor is a definite no fly in a canyon. I was in a steep valley and couldn’t get GPS fix. I had to fly in atti to get up high enough to get GPS. Once I got it it marked home and I was ready to go. What you described I can’t see it happening.
 
Where are these canyons and narrow areas you speak of?? I’m in the SW too and would love to know where you’re headed
 
Living in New Mexico and flying in canyons, I can tell you the biggest problem is GPS and sometimes wind. A deep canyon only gives you a small window to the sky which will seldom yield enough satellites for the P-GPS mode. This forces you to fly ATTI mode, for which your skill level should be fairly good. If windy, you can also get some strong updrafts by the canyon walls. Of course, you need to maintain VLOS and ensure your RTH height is much higher than the canyon walls. Given all that, it can make for some impressive video.
 
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What you described I can’t see it happening.
Really? And how can you not see the obvious? Just curious...as to what you meant by that.
 
Where are these canyons and narrow areas you speak of?? I’m in the SW too and would love to know where you’re headed

I really enjoy the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and off the mesa at Miley Point n the Cedar Mesa area of Utah. There are endless possibilities there.
 
Dawg, I think he meant my original desire, and that it is not likely to happen.
He quoted Meta4 not me. See Post#7 and #8. I was answering that.
 
Living in New Mexico and flying in canyons, I can tell you the biggest problem is GPS and sometimes wind. A deep canyon only gives you a small window to the sky which will seldom yield enough satellites for the P-GPS mode. This forces you to fly ATTI mode, for which your skill level should be fairly good. If windy, you can also get some strong updrafts by the canyon walls. Of course, you need to maintain VLOS and ensure your RTH height is much higher than the canyon walls. Given all that, it can make for some impressive video.

I’m assuming you’re in Abq???
 
You can't fly in a canyon a half mile without losing signal and beyond VLOS. Canyons aren't straight. RTH can be a big problem. Much of what he stated in his first post.

Well... that’s not completely true...

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You can't fly in a canyon a half mile without losing signal and beyond VLOS. Canyons aren't straight. RTH can be a big problem. Much of what he stated in his first post.
This is true, however you were contradicting what Meta4 said in his post #7, which was correct. This is what I was asking.
 
There is a persistent misunderstanding frequently on this forum. Frequently it manifests itself around what users feel are hardware problems. In reality, what is being experienced are real radio frequency signal problems. They, almost always, are a function of the physical situation, and not drone hardware.

Most all drones require multiple signal links to function properly.

1. A bi-directional control radio frequency link between the remote controller and the aircraft. This works only when there is a clear air straight line path between them. Metal objects rock, dirt, and water reduce or kill this transmission. Water is in trees and most other above ground greenery.

2. A uni-directional radio frequency download link for the video feed from the drone.

3. 6 or more uni-directional downlinks from the GPS satellites.

All of these signal paths are effected by the conditions defined in point 1. Clear air direct line paths are required for all. Since each path has different radio frequencies used, and different signal strengths, the impacts vary.

In addition, these signals are impacted by other radio frequency signals hitting either the remote controller or the aircraft, or both.

The physics of all these radio frequency signals makes them weaken by a ratio of the distance between the source and reciever. If you go 2x as far the signal weakens by a factor of 4, a 75% loss. Add this to the problems caused by various physical objects.

Parabolic antennas and signal boosters help on this problem, but can’t help the signals attempting to penetrate objects in the straight line signal paths.

These drones are very complex systems, and without some understanding of these control systems, the pilot jeapordizes his drone’s safe flight. Settling the proper RTH altitude taking into account all the RTH issues (RTH reference altitude, terrain altitude changes, trees and other structures) is the only fail safe precaution available. Note that it will NOT help with a loss of GPS signals. GPS signal loss can only be resolved if you have enough control to get the drone into some kind of GPS signal clearing, usually a climb above whatever obstacle you have encountered.
 
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