When I fly long distances (i.e. Over 1 mile) I lose video feed when I turn the drone around to come back. I am thinks my of putting an external antenna on it. Has anyone done this or have an ideas?
losing video feed at long distances
- Thread starter Mullins_mm4
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That is fairly typical for video feed, especially with a Standard. You practically always lose video feed before control signal on any Phantom. You can try several different antenna mods on the RC that "might" help a bit.
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Also install MagicPower. Set it to FCC (USA) and 27dbm and forget it.
How to Update Tx-Power with Magic Power v5.0
That and the antenna mod 2.0 and you'll lose control signal far before you lose video feed.
How to Update Tx-Power with Magic Power v5.0
That and the antenna mod 2.0 and you'll lose control signal far before you lose video feed.
thats interesting. im in fcc and i loose both signals simultaneously , control comes back after a very short rth flight, but video only comes back when the bird is not much more than a 100 m out.
What good is that? Unless you are specifically referring to an autonomous mission, that IMO is bad news. I would much prefer to lose video feed before control in FPV. Not a real good idea.
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I don't get why you are saying that this isn't a good idea? Any loss of control and the bird is going to automatically RTH. Wouldn't you like to be able to see it actually turning around and coming home (or see why it didn't)? I sure would.
I was referring to an "autonomous" mission where there is no RTH. In that fact, the AC will complete the programmed mission regardless of video feed and/or signal loss. Signal loss in FPV is an entirely different animal. If you lose video feed in FPV, you still have manual control to bring it home. You almost always lose video feed first before signal. If that is reversed, what good is the video signal, if you have no control? It does nothing for you,smart RTH or not.
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I guess I'm still confused about what you're explaining.... I'm just assuming the OP is talking about regular manual flying, since he didn't mention anything about Litchi or autonomous missions or anything.
Yes, im sure he was speaking of FPV, and I threw the "autonomous" part in for reference. My point being that flying FPV and loosing video feed is no big deal. You still have full AC control and can bring her back in without it. If you lose control signal first and RTH kicks in, what good is the video feed without control? First, the gimbal could be at any position and you can't change it. Suppose it is looking straight down? Visual reference would do nothing for you in that instance and you can't change it, nor can you cancel RTH without control. Or, suppose in RTH, you see a large tree in the way. Nothing you can do about it but watch it hit the tree. That's more what I was getting at.
If you're flying FPV and you lose the "V", then... you're not flying FPV anymore, but VLOS. And if this happens when the AC is 1 mile away, like the OP said, I challenge you to do anything but engaging RTH to bring it back.
I think this debate is a bit pointless, as to fly long distance you need both control AND video feed, period. You lose video, you're blind and can only RTH. You lose control, RTH will engage automatically and you can't do anything but watch. On the P3S specifically, we generally seem to lose video feed before we lose control, and this is why there are simple mods to address this issue.
One final point and we'll let this ride. That statement is completely false. With control, you still have maps and compass direction, just no video from the camera. You can still "see" VLOS or not where you are and the direction you need to fly to return. Agreed?
Wrong. Maps and Compass direction display rely on 2.4 Video / Telemetry link.
VLOS .. is Visual Line of Sight ... so why you quote when its talked about BVLOS ... ?
Nigel
And I can personally verify that as an owner that has pushed the limits of the P3S further than most ... how many others regularly flew a P3S over 4km's ... with numerous 4.8km distance from Home point ?
Nigel
I stand corrected, however as my disclaimer, I will state that quite a knowledgeable individual led me to understand ( Evidently wrongly so) that Lightbridge only utilized 2.4ghz for the Video Downlink only. Control and telemetry were above that frequency. So I apologize for any misleading information, in that regard and will verify my own numbers in the future. Also I do realize that a standard does not use lightbridge before anyone asks.
No worries ... as I have found in the time I have been on this forum and others - some 'experts' have never been held to account and have promulgated some awful information that is just plain wrong.
I've weathered a lot of stick from some of them because I correct .. I don't intend to insult or demean - but my intention is to where possible help New owners have good information to work with.
I certainly do not know all the answers and if I am wrong - then I hope someone will correct me.
Dawg ... you have prompted a Lightbridge response even though you say P3S doesn't use it ...
Lightbridge is a DJI proprietary format of 2.4Ghz and communicates ALL commands, video and telemetry via. It has no separations. Lightbridge is only used on Advanced and Pro versions of the P3 and has no relevance to P3S at all.
Nigel
Just to clarify a bit, and what was explained to me, although I grant you a proprietary format is just that and it will just be a "guess" as to the exact way the system operates. But, as you mentioned, there are always those who are misinformed, and I suppose one was myself. I won't go in to all the "sub-carrier" details that I was given, and to be frank, Lightbridge is why I got the P3A in the first place, per the explanation of the operation that I was given and for the frequency separation I mentioned between Video, Telemetry and Control. Even with this misinformation I am still happier that I chose the P3A in lieu of a Standard.
The funny thing is - when I installed ARGTEK to my standard - I exceeded ranges of Adv and Pro machines in same locations. I was getting over 2km when they barely reached 2km.
When I fitted boosters - I blew the ranges so much that people started to question what I had done to the AC as well ... The AC was bog-standard with no modifications other than ICARUS 27db. I was getting just under 5km.
Nigel
When I fitted boosters - I blew the ranges so much that people started to question what I had done to the AC as well ... The AC was bog-standard with no modifications other than ICARUS 27db. I was getting just under 5km.
Nigel
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