P3A range question

[J&L]

So I'm waiting on my P3A to arrive tomorrow. I've been reading that it has a distance of up to 3.1 miles and I have seen on some sites that say 1.2 miles. I live out in a very rural area with patches of wooded areas. My question is, I have a cousin that lives 2.8 miles away as the crow flies what do you guys think is it possible and what are people seeing for distance out of the box? Thank you.

 

[eseckinger]

6k or so feet with an open line of sight. You can always set up a waypoint mission to pay your cousin a visit!

 

[J&L]

Hmmm. Here would be the flight path it was like 14k ft.

 

[Travis726]

6k or so feet with an open line of sight. You can always set up a waypoint mission to pay your cousin a visit!

I was wondering if you could set way-point missions outside of the range of your radio That is pretty sweet, not sure I'd have the balls to do it. Definitely not in a populated area.

 

[pyro]

Hi J&L from box my p3p got 1.2 miles only, but have added a antenna mod from "dbs mods" with this mod you will be able to get there.

 

[Rumbaar]

You'd have to set if via waypoints, and you'd have to have it land there.

 

[Meta4]

So I'm waiting on my P3A to arrive tomorrow. I've been reading that it has a distance of up to 3.1 miles and I have seen on some sites that say 1.2 miles. I live out in a very rural area with patches of wooded areas. My question is, I have a cousin that lives 2.8 miles away as the crow flies what do you guys think is it possible and what are people seeing for distance out of the box? Thank you.

It depends on a lot of variables so not everyone is getting the same numbers.
But out of the box the P3 is capable of great distances without any modification.
Going for big distances isn't something to try before you have a lot of experience though.
It takes experience to understand all the things that could go wrong and how to ensure they don't.

 

[Sinisalo]

I doubled my range from 8,000 feet in urban and residential areas to 16000 feet just by creating a 3-d printed windsurfer using the thingverse file here: I assume you would get at least as good if not better results. You have to make sure you point in the right direction though and watch the DJI video about antenna best practices. Giuseppe Finizia says you can use foil tape or for better results to use copper foil tape. I used 50mm copper foil tape since I couldnt find 100mm copper foil tape.

 

[J&L]

It depends on a lot of variables so not everyone is getting the same numbers.
But out of the box the P3 is capable of great distances without any modification.
Going for big distances isn't something to try before you have a lot of experience though.
It takes experience to understand all the things that could go wrong and how to ensure they don't.

I wasn't wanting to jump right into a long flight by any means. Was just curious if it was possible. Seems like people are doubling there distance with that windsurfer mod and it's cheap and simple

 

[Sinisalo]

I doubled my range from 8,000 feet in urban and residential areas to 16000 feet just by creating a 3-d printed windsurfer using the thingverse file here: I assume you would get at least as good if not better results. You have to make sure you point in the right direction though and watch the DJI video about antenna best practices. Giuseppe Finizia says you can use foil tape or for better results to use copper foil tape. I used 50mm copper foil tape since I couldnt find 100mm copper foil tape.

Giuseppe Finizia also sells them pre-made

 

[Meta4]

Seems like people are doubling there distance with that windsurfer mod and it's cheap and simple

In good environment with little interference the P3 Adv & Pro are capable of greater range than the battery can handle - out of the box with no modifications.

 

[J&L]

Tallest trees around me are between 60-80'. And it's open fields everywhere I should be fine on the range. More then enough for what I wanna do anyway.

 

[Gsujeff55]

Trees make a huge difference. For me, flying at 400ft over trees(nearest tree to me was about 300 ft in front of me) I could only achieve about 8k feet before losing video signal. Flying over marsh I achieved 18000 feet with perfect signal but came back because of battery life.

 

[Gsujeff55]

So to answer you, you could fly to your cousin's house without problem, but you'd likely have to be 1500ft high to maintain direct line of sight.

 

[J&L]

So to answer you, you could fly to your cousin's house without problem, but you'd likely have to be 1500ft high to maintain direct line of sight.

That's what I was thinking too lol.

 

[dirtybum]

Take off from highground w/ clear view and aim true

 

[J&L]

So the first pic is looking east torwards my cousins and I'm at about 380' alt and second pic is me looking down at my house in the same position. Third pic is me looking west.

 

[rene van der meer]

J&L
Good of you to prepare this first flight in advance.
If is this is your first flight with a P3 I would recommend to practice at closer ranges and in the open field before you try to fly so far.
Line of sight also depends on the wetter. If it is sunny and clear I have difficulty seeing my P3A beyond 750 m / 1500 ft.
You could try to start in the middle to familiarize yourself with the area.
Have fun!

 

[J&L]

Thank you. I have been flying the P3S since Christmas but decided the P3A will be better for me. Weather has been crappy here. It's been cloudy and today it's nice and sunny but very windy. I'm very filimar will the area as my neighbor is a pilot and we have flown the area few time in his Cessna. Would just like for my first long flight to be successful

 

[rene van der meer]

A successful flight does not have to be a far flight. I have now my forth P3A and a few of them had production failures, like transmission or RC signal loss.
It would be a shame to find this out during your maiden flight.
That is why I would make some test flights. You'll have plenty opportunity to fly further later.
Coming from a P3S you will certainly like the range of a P3A
Have fun with your new toy!