Marco Polo Tracker Mounting Suggestions

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I should be receiving my Marco Polo next week for my P3P and I am looking for suggestions & photos of what others have found to be good mounting options. Any help in the area would be most appreciated.
 
I have a Trackimo, It's tiny, I mounted it with 15lb velcro and zip ties to my gimbal guard (that I purchased separate)..... goes right under the camera line and with multiple low-level tests, I haven't noticed any interference with the VPS.
 
Toolguy, you could mount it using one of the "tracker mounts" here:
https://www.phantomhelp.com/#TrackersP3

They are not really tracker mounts, but they work well for that purpose (like Deadlift suggested).
 
I should be receiving my Marco Polo next week for my P3P and I am looking for suggestions & photos of what others have found to be good mounting options. Any help in the area would be most appreciated.
If you got the RC version, you can Velcro the transmitter anywhere. Just keep it out of the prop arc like in this photo. I normally install it turned around.
IMG_20150607_093623253_HDR.jpg
 
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I have a Trackimo, It's tiny, I mounted it with 15lb velcro and zip ties to my gimbal guard (that I purchased separate)..... goes right under the camera line and with multiple low-level tests, I haven't noticed any interference with the VPS.
And if you don't have cell service, how will it work?
 
Thanks for sharing. That is exactly where I plan to attach. Just trying to find a plastic right angle piece ( which I have not found yet). Thought it would be better to use than any metals.
Just go to your local hardware store and get a strip of plastic corner or edge molding, it is right angle and comes in different sizes, I used it to mount external antennas to my P2 across the landing gear.
 
With verizon we have blanket coverage, my issue with the Marco Polo is only with the range, with the P3 you could easily fly out of range. I suppose you could just head in the direction of the last known position and hope to pick up the signal.
Good point with the Marco Polo. But it's better than nothing if an operator and bird is not in a cell service area. I would estimate that about 50% of Oregon does not have cell service, from any company, no matter what their colored maps show. And I suppose there are a lot of other states with the same situation. Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Wyoming, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, Utah come to mind. Mountain type states. Of course having both types of trackers at hand would be the best.
 
Good point with the Marco Polo. But it's better than nothing if an operator and bird is not in a cell service area. I would estimate that about 50% of Oregon does not have cell service, from any company, no matter what their colored maps show. And I suppose there are a lot of other states with the same situation. Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Wyoming, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, Utah come to mind. Mountain type states. Of course having both types of trackers at hand would be the best.
Good point, my brother lives in Eugene and I go see him, surprised if you get away from the main road you lose signal.
 
I have been running Marco Polo on my UAVs for a while now. I have had to use them too :(

Few thoughts.

  • First don't worry about flying out of range. Just start driving that direction and you will get a signal. As long as you can move around within a mile of by driving you should be OK.
  • The battery last a long time. So you can track for days if for some reason you need to. Compare that to other options.
  • It uses old fashioned (for lack of a better term) RF and does not require connection to something like cellular. I tried the Flytrex Live and had no coverage part of the time. No coverage means no tracking.
  • Finally, I would not worry to much about how you mount it. As stated above the antenna vertical would be ideal from a RF standpoint as the max signal is off the side of the 1/4 wave dipole Marco Polo uses. But you don't track it when its flying. If you crash it you have no idea how the antenna is going be orientated. I would mount it in whatever manner works. Keep it clear from anything conductive.
Marco Polo is a great company. I wont fly without them.
 

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