KP Index or New Raptor XR

[abwRN]

What’s up guys...So, I installed the new Raptor XR which promised 3x-4x further distance above and beyond my standard controller.

Well, the first flight with the Raptor XR was less then thrilling and distance was about the same and believe it or not, the stock Omni’s signal was much more stable according healthy drones.

Here are a couple shares of the flight data and you can see the signal scores. Same area.

Stock Antenna:

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

Raptor XR:

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones


I thought something must be wrong so I went back into the remote and sure enough, one of the cables had popped its solder point. I let Jake @ Maxx know and he had one shipped in no time. I fixed that today and flew the mission below.

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones


This was just a quick flight and was ok but somethings up. I NEVER saw any of the bars drop. It seemed like the Raptor was putting out clear signal. That’s a good thing, except at around 1300 feet the video seemed to start getting flaky. Almost like it was charging channels on me. BARS WERE FULL STRENGTH and as you will see in the data, signal score was 100%. Tried both 2.4 and 5.8 and got the same result. Sure wasn’t acting like the bars were up at full..

Now, the KP index today was 6 here in Atlanta. That is very high and I am wondering if that was what was causing the drops of signal? According to the bars on dji 4, I should have been smooth sailing. Any ideas? I am no stranger to new antennas. I have a boosted Mavic setup and it’s unstoppable. I also just ordered the sunhuas dual band amp package for the P4P from Jake @ Maxx. These will be used to boost the Raptor XR. However, the literature on the Raptor XR is CLEAR about giving users more distance even without being boosted. So, it should! Am I missing something? Should I be leaving it on a certain channel? KP index of 6 screwing with the video? Does that really happen?


I am going to test again tomorrow In a spot where I know exactly how far my stock omni’s will go. So stay tuned..


1. The Link Below is a flight using the phantom, bone stock in this area.

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones


2. I will post the results of tomorrows flight using just the Raptor XR(unboosted) and we will compare apples to apples.

A. Well, It’s obviously a much superior antenna compared to stock. This Raptor XR blew the stock antennas-away..No question. The signal issues you see in this flight are when I tried to switch over to 5.8 g. The 5.8 was pretty pathetic so I will need to ask DBS Poland about that. The 2.4 however was stellar..Can’t wait to see it boosted..

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

 

[Meta4]

Now, the KP index today was 6 here in Atlanta. That is very high and I am wondering if that was what was causing the drops of signal? ...
KP index of 6 screwing with the video? Does that really happen?

Although it's often blamed for all kinds of things, no-one has ever been able to demonstrate any evidence of the K-index ever affecting anything related to Phantom flying.

Where you fly is the biggest influence of signal strength.
If there's a lot of interference it's like talking to a friend in a crowded room where everyone else is talking at the same time.

 

[abwRN]

Update..See the above comparison between the Raptor XR and P4P stock antenna.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Looks to me like they stole the antenna design from ITELITE and stole the page source from DJI.

4Hawks - Modify drone with range extender antenna

 

[abwRN]

I don’t know about that. Jake at Maxx UAV sells them and they are both made in Poland..What are the odds of that? I would venture to say that ITELITE and 4 Hawks are somehow collaborating or are one and the same..

 

[abwRN]

All I know is that I got a lot more range with it compared to the stock antennas. The 5.8 g was less than impressive but I will ask Jake about that.