more distance

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Hi all,i have a p3s,which is stock,no mods ,just wondering how to get more distance from it I only get about 900 ft at the moment any help please,many thanks.
 
Solutions after that will require opening the controller. Next one I would reccomend would be either an ARGtek Blue Proton range extender kit ($60 Amazon). Or fabricating a 5.8ghz 10db flat panel antenna made by Alfa specifically an APA-M25 combined with 2 2.4ghz 7db flat panel Alfa antennas ($40 Amazon) these will get you up to around 1 mile more or less. While the most expensive option is the DBS mod. Most will tell you the DBS mod is capable of best range although they are difficult to aim at long distances. The Alfa mod will be more forgiving and achieve similar distances as the DBS mod.
 
Remember your controls are transmitted by that small 5.8ghz omnidirectional antenna on the outside of your controller while your video and telemetry is transmitted to (2) 2.4ghz flat panel antennas inside your controller. While the parabolic reflector increases range of the 5.8ghz control signal by focusing it into a more beamlike signal it does nothing for your 2.4ghz video and telemetry reception. I was able to achieve up to 4,000ft with mine in Ideal conditions. Then I bought the ARGtek Blue Proton range extender. Some of which work well although this is really made even better by adding a 5.8ghz Alfa 10db flat panel antenna on the middle terminal and 2 Alfa 2.4ghz 7db flat panel antennas on the outer terminals of the Argtek base. This is the best setup in my opinion because it is more forgiving than a DBS mod at long distances and better than the Blue Proton antennas at achieving long distances. Also if you are not going for longest distance anymore after this point and a particular flight demands a few thousand feet of omnidirectional range you can screw back on your 3 argtek blue proton omnidirectional antennas and fly carefree without having to focus on aiming your remote. Then if you want +1mile distances quickly swap those for the Alfa antennas. These are the best antennas you can buy in my experience.
 
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Check out the videos on YouTube. If you buy the Argtek blue proton kit just follow the instructions and be sure you attach your connections securely. Then the Alfa antennas will easily screw onto the SMA connections on the argtek base.
 
Hi all,i have a p3s,which is stock,no mods ,just wondering how to get more distance from it I only get about 900 ft at the moment any help please,many thanks.
Something is wrong with it, have you ever seen it work better?
What happens when you loose signal?

@New Phantom Owner,
900 ft, he should be getting 2000 ft in clean air without mods.
I would guess a football kicker could get close to 900'

What did yours get before you did your mods?

Rod
 
Something is wrong with it, have you ever seen it work better?
What happens when you loose signal?

@New Phantom Owner,
900 ft, he should be getting 2000 ft in clean air without mods.
I would guess a football kicker could get close to 900'

What did yours get before you did your mods?

Rod
1,500-2,500ft in ideal conditions, although maybe 500-1000ft around concentrated electrical noise. With the parabolic reflector just over 4,000ft Ideal conditions, around 2,000ft in non ideal conditions. Before I opened up my controller to mess with aftermarket antennas the above stats were pretty consistent. Although everyone's statistics are subjective to their test environment. I've heard of people getting 1mile stock and I've heard 400ft. You could be right RodPad. Although I sure thought there was something wrong with my RC until I drove around on my days off work testing range from Lawrenceburg, Indiana to Hebron, Kentucky to Dayton, Ohio then back home in Anderson hills Cincinnati, Ohio where I live. Very first flight with my p3s around my home in the suburbs resulted in around 700-1000ft. I later learned all the several hundred wifi networks nearby interfered with my connection.
 
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Just over 1mile (>5,280ft ish) 5.8ghz control signal is lost. I typically maintain 2.4ghz video and telemetry signal throughout the entire control signal loss and rth process. This is of course with my Alfa panels on Argtek Blue proton base.
 
The one and only time something different happened was one day I flew from eden park Cincinnati Ohio across the river and over Bellevue Kentucky. Pushing the limits and not watching my screen when the drone disappeared from sight somewhere over Bellevue Kentucky. I looked down at my screen and no video, no telemetry, no nothing but a signal lost warning and that continued for the longest 45 seconds of my life until finally I see about 1mile telemetry and view of Cincinnati across the river from above Bellevue Kentucky appears on my screen along with the aircraft faithfully returning to home. When I review the GPS data on the app the flight out pauses and skips 45seconds to the point at which I spontaneously regained both signals during return to home. It was the only time I truly had no Idea if I would ever see my beloved phantom 3 again. DJI GPS software is absolutely amazing when failsafe rth parameters are properly set. Thank goodness!
 
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@New Phantom Owner,

This was the question.

"What did yours get before you did your mods?"

Rod
 
I am in quite a built up area,so on my day off tomorrow I will have a scout around for somewhere les populated and see how it is then.
 
@New Phantom Owner,

This was the question.

"What did yours get before you did your mods?"
From above post: My answer was,
1,500-2,500ft in ideal conditions, although maybe 500-1000ft around concentrated electrical noise. With the parabolic reflector just over 4,000ft Ideal conditions, around 2,000ft in non ideal conditions. Before I opened up my controller to mess with aftermarket antennas the above stats were pretty consistent. Although everyone's statistics are subjective to their test environment. I've heard of people getting 1mile stock and I've heard 400ft. You could be right RodPad. Although I sure thought there was something wrong with my RC until I drove around on my days off work testing range from Lawrenceburg, Indiana to Hebron, Kentucky to Dayton, Ohio then back home in Anderson hills Cincinnati, Ohio where I live. Very first flight with my p3s around my home in the suburbs resulted in around 700-1000ft. I later learned all the several hundred wifi networks nearby interfered with my connection.

Rod
 
Hi all,i have a p3s,which is stock,no mods ,just wondering how to get more distance from it I only get about 900 ft at the moment any help please,many thanks.

I didn't see a lot of detail mentioned in your posts about the type of area/conditions that you're flying in where you get only 900 feet other than it's a "built up area". Not sure what that's describing (city, suburbs, housing tracts in the Nevada desert?). There could well be some valid explanations for what you're experiencing.
 
How much more distance are you looking to get? You can either do some controller mods for a few hundred to 1000’ additional or you can modify the controler and the quad for miles of distance. The set up on my P3s gets more distance than I have battery life for.
 
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As for the Alfa vs DBS? It’s DBS all the way. Back when the Alfa’s were first discovered for use on the phantom transmitter I tested just about every configuration and combination and achieved distances no where near what the DBS gets. First thing I found out about the Alfa’s was the sensitivity towards direction. When I pointed my controller just a hair out of the line of site both signals would immediately drop out. Not fun.

Just my two cents...
 
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