Light for P3P

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I want to install an anti-collision light on the top of my P3P, but I’m concerned that it might block the gps antenna signal. Any thoughts?
 
The purpose of the strobe/requirement is for other aircraft to see your drone, not you see your own drone
Yes, I understand that, but the very few times I've flown at night, I've wanted to see the AC, so maybe put a strobe on top and one on the bottom. This topic of putting anything on top of the AC has been discussed in previous threads over the years. The conclusion is that it will disturb GPS reception.
 
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Yes, I understand that, but the very few times I've flown at night, I've wanted to see the AC, so maybe put a strobe on top and one on the bottom. This topic of putting anything on top of the AC has been discussed in previous threads over the years. The conclusion is that it will disturb GPS reception.
I've got two tiny strobes attached to the landing gear; one white and one red. It assists in line of sight direction.
 
This topic of putting anything on top of the AC has been discussed in previous threads over the years. The conclusion is that it will disturb GPS reception.
Hmmm, I've not seen this discussion. My experience is the opposite.

I just ran a test. Indoors with a P3S, which only does (AFAIK and specs say) USA GPS.

I have 7 sat's locked in. According to Live World Map of Satellite Positions - In-The-Sky.org, 7 sat's are in view above 20 deg. and 4 of those are above 50 deg. elevation. Signal bars are 5/5 80-90% of the time and sometimes drops to 4/5 .

Then I put a very powerful anti-collision light directly on top, where the GPS antenna is located. This strobe is using 6 LED's (3W, each powered to 1.25W) for the anti-collision strobe function and 3 for position lights. The strobes have a fixed intensity using pwm. They pulse either 4 x 50 ms pulses (50 ms spacing) every second or a bell curve shaped intensity profile like an incandescent anti-collision light on aircraft tails. The light has a 2.25" diameter circuit board with a LiPo battery in the middle, directly over the P3S patch antenna.

I perform these tests in 5 minute intervals: Bare (no strobe), Covered (strobe in place, turned off) and Active (strobe in place and functioning). I repeated the full regimen 5 times and see no significant difference in the number of sat's locked in nor the signal strength displayed.

With the strobe active I still have 7 sat's locked in. Maybe 10% of the time the number of sat's drops to 6. The signal strength is still 5/5 (80%-90% of the time) & may drop to 4/5 bars.

Sometimes the number of sat's would drop to 6 with the strobe active. I would then remove & de-activate the strobe. The number of sat's stayed at 6 for over a minute. Indicating to me that it was a change having nothing to do with the strobe.

Sometimes the number of sat's would drop to 6 when doing the strobe removed test ie off the P3S & inactive (Bare test mode). Again, this indicates to me that there are random signal changes.

Nothing moved between tests except the sat's. It's a bit of a drizzle, here's the METAR
"KONT 052318Z 27010KT 10SM FEW009 SCT026 OVC038 13/11 A2987 RMK AO2 RAE05 VCSH P0000 T01330111 "

Sometimes the number of sat's locked / signal strength seemed to change when cars / trucks pass on the street outside the house. Maybe. Again, randomness creeps in.

My conclusion is that having a strobe directly on top of the gps antenna does not affect the signal reception to any determinable degree. At least for the strobe I use.

As I finish writing this, now 10 sat's are being registered with the strobe active. One is directly overhead at 85 deg.. Signal strength is 5/5 bars. There is no difference in any of my 3 test scenarios.
 
Great responses, thanks. Looks like I’ll put the strobe/light (meets FAA 3sm requirement) on top and the little bright strobe on the bottom of the gimbal protector. Yup, I’ll put an observer at the 3 mile point at night and log the info. I’ll post the results.
 

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dranders: You are aware, of course, that to meet FAA specs the anti-collision light needs to be seen for the full 360 degrees around the drone, right? It is so that other aircraft can see your drone.

I neglected to mention that the one I used in my tests have the 6 led's in a circle facing outward. Using any light that has led(s) that face only one
direction would typically need at least 3 if not 4 or more units to cover the full circumference around the drone.

In any case i look forward to hearing what your tests show. And how they are performed.
 
The photo doesn’t show on the FoxFury D3060, because the lights are too bright, that one faces forward and the other is on top of the unit. They both can be put on strobe or either can have a steady beam. The write up in Rotor Drone Pro magazine shows promise for a unit that weighs 37 grams. I’ll post more when I test it.
 
I want to install an anti-collision light on the top of my P3P, but I’m concerned that it might block the gps antenna signal. Any thoughts?
on top of course will block gps just try to pick it up and the app gets mad at you because no gps. dont do it.
 
Each easy way for lights that dont block ur signal or gps is buying 100 pack of finger lights off amazon u can out them almost anywhere on ur drone they have their own battery supply they are weightless almost so yeah Finger lights.
 

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