Titan drones cyclone antenna reviews

Mannsp3a · Sep 26, 2017

I searched this a couple times and not much came up. Called and spoke with Scott I believe at Titan Drones. Considering purchasing the cyclone system for an advanced. Anyone have any experience? Is it worth it?
I live in a somewhat rural area. Some wooded areas around but I don't normally fly in heavy wooded areas. Don't really fly that often period but when I do would like to have a little more range. Have flew over some smaller city areas locally and it does fairly well stock but I do start losing video signal under two miles of its over a populated area. Sometimes I don't of course but more signal is always a plus. But not seeing many reviews especially related to the phantoms.
And I don't really fly that often because I'm either doing something else needs done or that I've already flown in the surrounding area multiple times.... Need to take some trips find new territory. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

LarBear360 · Sep 26, 2017

I don't own it but it appears the difference between this and other range extenders is it comes with a powered amplifier. But if you're like me and don't really fly that much, do you need to spend $250? Maybe.

I just spent $75 for a spare RC and another $109 for a DBS just so I could have a bit more sense of security at 600 feet. Someday I may just fly out that far. And when I do I'll feel more confident I won't lose connection.

Mannsp3a · Sep 27, 2017

Thank you for the input, Ya that was part of my consideration for sure... Not flying it that often but if there was one aspect of the whole process that I would be willing to spend more money on, that would be it.
And another RC? Im missing the benefit of that I guess. So you have both RC paired to the aircraft? I hadn't heard of that before. Of course it's been months since I was on here not sure if it's a common thing now.
And you picked up the dbs antenna mod how do you like it?

LarBear360 · Sep 27, 2017

Mannsp3a said:
Thank you for the input, Ya that was part of my consideration for sure... Not flying it that often but if there was one aspect of the whole process that I would be willing to spend more money on, that would be it.
And another RC? Im missing the benefit of that I guess. So you have both RC paired to the aircraft? I hadn't heard of that before. Of course it's been months since I was on here not sure if it's a common thing now.
And you picked up the dbs antenna mod how do you like it?

I purchased the second RC as a back-up. In the event my modification went wrong and I ruin it, I still would have the original RC.

So far the DBS is working fine. I did learn you do have to keep it aimed at the AC. I am too timid to send it out of line of sight, so about 520 feet my maximum range so far. Eventually I'll get the nerve to go further but it's going to take some time.

Only one RC at a time will pair at a time, so my original is on the shelf.

Mannsp3a · Sep 27, 2017

I got ya. Ya it didnt take me long to start venturing out. Seem to start losing video signal before you lose the control signal. They are really good completly stock pretty amazing actually how good the range is.
The first time I had an issue I'll never forget, I hadn't had it long and flew over toward my sisters house about a half a mile away or little less. And I live down the hill somewhat as far as elevation. I called her and she came out with her younger boys on her deck to check it out and were waving etc. I got down to about 15 feet off the ground and was watching my signal as I knew I might lose line of sight with the signal to the aircraft and it was doing OK even tho there were a few things may have been obstructing the signal some. Then the app crashes. I couldn't see anything but the home screen of my iPad. I knew enough that the aircraft would probably maintain position even if the video signal drops or similar situation, so I didn't touch the controls at all and made sure I didn't bump the sticks. I was trying to restart the app and gain connection. Took me a minute or two what seemed like an eternity. When the app opened back up the video came back up they were still standing there waving at it. Lol
Don't think I ever told her what happened.
Once I did take it out to the country over farm land and seen how far it would reach and it was close to 2.5 to 3 miles you just have to remember to have a little elevation to keep signal line of sight. Farther out you go more elevation is required. Too much though and it's just adding to the distance from the RC of course because it's distance in a straight line including elevation.

lannes · Nov 4, 2017

I have just modded all my spark, mavic and p4p controllers for the Titan Cylcone and have the Atlas on order as well. Flying the cyclone you definitely have the signal strength for a long way, battery power is exceeded before the signal wanes. As noted by previous poster, the angle of flight is important to maintain the signal for super long distances, but I have pointed the antenna panel down and have stood facing away from the AC and have still got a full bar connection when it's closer in.

The super performance , clean and simple mounting bracket and the self contained antenna unit have made me a Titan fan

The spark and mavic controller form factor

bLaStErAiD · Nov 8, 2017

lannes I'm interested in these antennas, my interest lays in penetration first then range, how would you rate the penetration capabilities of these setups? if you have had a chance to test them

lannes · Nov 8, 2017

bLaStErAiD said:
lannes I'm interested in these antennas, my interest lays in penetration first then range, how would you rate the penetration capabilities of these setups? if you have had a chance to test them

I haven't unfortunately tested them in heavily forested areas, in Australia we have VLOS flight rules so I'm always on the coast, I haven't had a single disconnect or interference event with the Titan Cyclone despite trying to get it to happen, e.g facing the antenna down and in the opposite direction to the AC, controlling the AC from an internal location several stories below the AC location etc.

The DJI Go4 app is always showing 5 bars of RC connection and 5 bars of HD connection, I haven't tested the distance limits yet

You might want to look at the Titan Atlas if ultimate range is not a goal, they also have 5.8ghz versions of all their antennas which are design for urban situation with a lot of 2.4ghz interference.

I've read that 2.4ghz wavelength has a better penetration than 5.8ghz

5.8 GHz or 2.4GHz

bLaStErAiD · Nov 11, 2017

Thanks for tge input lannes, my last question is, how good is this antenna with the spark?, share details

lannes · Nov 11, 2017

bLaStErAiD said:
Thanks for tge input lannes, my last question is, how good is this antenna with the spark?, share details

The cyclone antenna performance far exceeds the range of the Spark batteries, so it's a bit of overkill on the spark, I only tried the Titan Cyclone on the spark because I had bought it for the P4P and Mavic , which could make use of the extra signal range.

An un-amplified circular polarised system would probably be enough on the spark.

Something like a https://www.amazon.com/Controller-T...e=165953&creativeASIN=B074K2C326&btn=imglarge

From a modification perspective the spark controller was the more difficult it has a multi tiered circuit boards with some very short ribbon cable that needs to be reconnected, in order to to change the antenna mount points

bLaStErAiD · Nov 11, 2017

Thanks lannes, I appreciate your input

iflyskyhigh · Nov 28, 2017

lannes said:
I have just modded all my spark, mavic and p4p controllers for the Titan Cylcone and have the Atlas on order as well. Flying the cyclone you definitely have the signal strength for a long way, battery power is exceeded before the signal wanes. As noted by previous poster, the angle of flight is important to maintain the signal for super long distances, but I have pointed the antenna panel down and have stood facing away from the AC and have still got a full bar connection when it's closer in.

The super performance , clean and simple mounting bracket and the self contained antenna unit have made me a Titan fan

View attachment 90370 View attachment 90371 View attachment 90372

The spark and mavic controller form factor

View attachment 90373

Just wondered if you had tried the Atlas yet? I'm thinking about this for my P3P

lannes · Nov 28, 2017

iflyskyhigh said:
Just wondered if you had tried the Atlas yet? I'm thinking about this for my P3P

Yes, I have tried the Atlas out in the open, can't really fly in the built up areas. It works to spec on the phantom P4P, some teething issues with the spark, but I am not sure if that is the crystalsky causing interefence.

The condurum is what frequency to choose, my Atlas is 2.4ghz, chose that for more range, but the 5.8ghz should have better signal in congested areas where there is a lot of 2.4ghz networks e.g the neighbourhood.

Bad Brad · Nov 29, 2017

iflyskyhigh said:
Just wondered if you had tried the Atlas yet? I'm thinking about this for my P3P

I’m very impressed with my Atlas set up

trickys · Nov 29, 2017

I have the p4p+ does anyone else have the built in screen and fitted the atlas or the cyclone? How easy is it to fit please. ? And do the really give enough range benefits? I get a good video feed up to 3 miles max..

lannes · Nov 29, 2017

trickys said:
I have the p4p+ does anyone else have the built in screen and fitted the atlas or the cyclone? How easy is it to fit please. ? And do the really give enough range benefits? I get a good video feed up to 3 miles max..

With the normal P4P controller the modification is easy to do if you follow the instructions, there are installation videos on their site