Anyone do long range testing with FPVLR antennas yet ??
- Thread starter MadMitch88
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.. However, If at any point along thw way to that distance you start dropping HD or get down to only one bar, turn around and go home.
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YOU ALL WILL WANT TO WATCH THIS LIGHT-BRIDGE RANGE TEST I JUST DID WITH A STOCK INSPIRE1 VS A PHANTOM3 PRO.......... YOU ARE ALL GOING TO BE SHOCKED I THINK!!!
There's no need to post this everywhere. You've already created a thread here - http://www.inspirepilots.com/posts/34539/
Thanks!
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Guys, it's important to use the 2.5W version of th amps, as we are using. The 3W amps need too high an input and the HD output is very little and used only for receiving.
Guys I got the tradecraft case to fit the remote with the antenna mods and its simply massive. Honestly way too large in my opinion. Since Im not using this strictly for professional usage the case is impractical for me if im taking it around. Going to have to return it....
You got it to fit but you're returning it? What exactly are you returning?
Can we please see photos of how you got it to fit?
Thanks.
Im not exaggerating when im saying its massive. It makes the stock case look like a briefcase. I cut up the stock case and put the remote in sideways but its not safe for travel as the antenna bracket touches the case slightly.
You are right about it not fitting. I've got the GPC landing mode version and I too can no longer can fit the RC into the case. I now carry the RC on it's own and I still use the case for everything else. Keep in mind that if you're to check your bird into a plane then it won't hurt your set up if you pull it apart. You just don't want to be pulling it apart to frequently.
I understand that it defeats the purpose of buying the case but man, these antennas are sooooo worth it!
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Curious have you tried cutting up the foam in the GPC to see if there is anyway to fit the remote with antenna's in there? Like I said I cut up the stock and can get it to close but its just not safe enough for travel and long term usage. I want to find a hard case (wheeled) that i can cut up and fit with antenna's (single remote setup only)!
Also Im a huge fan of the HPRC cases (I have one for my Phantom 2). Wondering if I buy one I can cut it up and make it work (remote fits sideways anyways in this case)...
http://www.amazon.com/HPRC-HPRC2730WINS-Wheeled-Resin-Inspire/dp/B00TXCBTQ0
http://www.amazon.com/HPRC-HPRC2730WINS-Wheeled-Resin-Inspire/dp/B00TXCBTQ0
From what I can see, I could cut out the bottom of where the RC slot is but I really don't want to. I'll probably do it when I take her to Greece.
Hey guys, I have an inspire 1 and recently purchased the advanced antenna kit from FPVLR and installed it myself. Installation went smoothly and was pretty easy. I followed the instructions and photos very closely to make sure everything was done properly.
I've only had time to fly it a couple times since installation, but I am getting extremely poor results when I do. I have done range tests that I've done with the stock remote and I'm getting a fraction of the range with the new setup.
Today I took it out and was not able to get 100' with the new antenna and amps before the video stream got so poor it was unusable.
I bypassed the amps and went straight to the new antennas and got even worse results. Poor image at 10'-20'.
I connected my 2nd remote and was able to get twice the range in that location before image breakup started.
All the lights are on and I'm 98% confident that it's wired correctly. Can anyone help with some troubleshooting steps to help isolate the specific problem?
Thanks!
I've only had time to fly it a couple times since installation, but I am getting extremely poor results when I do. I have done range tests that I've done with the stock remote and I'm getting a fraction of the range with the new setup.
Today I took it out and was not able to get 100' with the new antenna and amps before the video stream got so poor it was unusable.
I bypassed the amps and went straight to the new antennas and got even worse results. Poor image at 10'-20'.
I connected my 2nd remote and was able to get twice the range in that location before image breakup started.
All the lights are on and I'm 98% confident that it's wired correctly. Can anyone help with some troubleshooting steps to help isolate the specific problem?
Thanks!
I've got that kit, and I've had very good results, can't remember the exact number off the top of my head but it was in excess of 15000 ft with the amps and in excess of 10000 ft with the amps bypassed.
100 feet sounds like maybe something didn't stay plugged in as you reassembled the back of the transmitter. Tony always picked up the phone when I had a question, and when I decided to send my transmitter to him to do the install he turned it around the afternoon he got it. Try calling him.
100 feet sounds like maybe something didn't stay plugged in as you reassembled the back of the transmitter. Tony always picked up the phone when I had a question, and when I decided to send my transmitter to him to do the install he turned it around the afternoon he got it. Try calling him.
I have been emailing Tony trying to sort it out. Just figured I'd tap into the collective brain power. I know everything is plugged in just fine, cause I did a flight this afternoon using the Antennas that came in the Amplifier boxes plugged directly into the remote without any amps. I flew in a different area this time to avoid possible interference I may have been experienceing. I was able to get roughly 4,000ft before it started breaking up. Standing in the exact same spot, I connected the Amps and FPVLR antenna and was only able to get 700' before break up and 1,239ft before it was so bad I had to turn back.
If I connected something wrong, I shouldn't be able to get 4,000 feet using anything.
I attached a screen capture of my image transmission settings with amp and antenna plugged in and the inspire about 10 feet from me. you can see that all the channels are very unstable. When the other antennas are plugged in directly, all the channels are stable.
Attachments
I didn't try and quantify it with the signal graph, I just flew out. I have noticed some locations that seem to cause a signal break up but once I fly beyond them the signal clears up again.
It would be interesting to see your results in one more location. It sounds like the interference that you have at the initial spot greatly affected the system giving you only 100'. The second location gave you an
increase of 40X, so that is a good start. Are both the locations in an urban environment? I live int he San Francisco Bay area, so I can test over the mud flats and water, I have to fly over some high tension lines, but the system seems to punch through it fine.
Weird that the stock system gave you better results. There has to be a clue in that piece of information, but I'm not a radio guy, so I'm blind to what that might mean.
It would be interesting to see your results in one more location. It sounds like the interference that you have at the initial spot greatly affected the system giving you only 100'. The second location gave you an
increase of 40X, so that is a good start. Are both the locations in an urban environment? I live int he San Francisco Bay area, so I can test over the mud flats and water, I have to fly over some high tension lines, but the system seems to punch through it fine.
Weird that the stock system gave you better results. There has to be a clue in that piece of information, but I'm not a radio guy, so I'm blind to what that might mean.
Yah, the first location was more urban in the suburbs, so I chalked that test up to poor location choice... though 100' should never be an issue in the suburbs.
The second location was at my house Where I have flown dozens of times... also suburbs, but closer to the desert, so less dense.
To be clear, the 40x gain was not because of location, but because of antenna choice. I got that distance by connecting the extra antennas that came with the amp kit...not the FPVLR antennas. the FPVLR antennas only achieved 700' at my house, where I have been able to get a mile with the stock antennas in the past.
Unfortunately its too hot to take it out to a rural area and fly right now, or I'd test away from the city.
Ive found that no matter what I do, if I plug anything into the amps, I instantly get lower quality signal.
So, just as a bench test, I tried every combination with the antennas and here's what I found.
Photo #1 is the remote with the antennas that came with the amps... 1 foot away from the inspire, all channels are pretty stable.
Photo #2 is the remote connected directly to FPVLR antennas, no Amps.
1 foot away, significantly less stable channels.
Photo #3 is FPVLR antenna connected through the amps 1 foot away, all lights are on as you can see... and again even less stable than without the amps on all the channels.
Lastly, Photo #4. I took the more stable antennas and connected them through the Amps, and that made the signal much less stable. It seems that the Amps degrade my signal.
I also reopened the controller to confirm everything was wired correctly and snug. As you can see by the photos, it looks how it should inside. and all connections are tight.
Photo #1 is the remote with the antennas that came with the amps... 1 foot away from the inspire, all channels are pretty stable.
Photo #2 is the remote connected directly to FPVLR antennas, no Amps.
1 foot away, significantly less stable channels.
Photo #3 is FPVLR antenna connected through the amps 1 foot away, all lights are on as you can see... and again even less stable than without the amps on all the channels.
Lastly, Photo #4. I took the more stable antennas and connected them through the Amps, and that made the signal much less stable. It seems that the Amps degrade my signal.
I also reopened the controller to confirm everything was wired correctly and snug. As you can see by the photos, it looks how it should inside. and all connections are tight.
I think the channel table you are looking at is signal levels on the various channels, so at a given ambient environmental signal level a more sensitive antenna, and an amplified sensitive antenna will read higher levels of ambient signal because the more efficient signal gathering brings more into the sensor.
So I look more at the actual signal strength as depicted on my iPad as fly away from the transmitter.
I think you might be using the wrong parameter to test things. But as I said earlier, I am not a radio guy, I just know mine works.
Another thing I just thought of: Are you in airplane mode with your phone and tablets? Having a signal source a few inches from these high performance antennas is bound to give you a dirty reading.
Also, on one of the photos you posted earlier, the map in the bottom right showed the footprints of what looked like apartment buildings. Are you testing your range out in the open somewhere or in among a lot of buildings and narrow streets?
So I look more at the actual signal strength as depicted on my iPad as fly away from the transmitter.
I think you might be using the wrong parameter to test things. But as I said earlier, I am not a radio guy, I just know mine works.
Another thing I just thought of: Are you in airplane mode with your phone and tablets? Having a signal source a few inches from these high performance antennas is bound to give you a dirty reading.
Also, on one of the photos you posted earlier, the map in the bottom right showed the footprints of what looked like apartment buildings. Are you testing your range out in the open somewhere or in among a lot of buildings and narrow streets?
Yah, totally get what you're saying with the signal level and what they're reading... but I would thing that since we are to select the channel with the least amount of noise, if a more sensitive antenna pics up so much more and only reads high level of noise, then it'd impossible for it to work well.
When i use the black antennas, and the signal levels are all green, I get great quality video stream. when I plug in the other antenna and get high red signal levels, the video is extremely unuseable.
So, it seems that its related enough for the bench test to mean something.
But like you, I'm definitely no expert, but seems to make sense that its related to my issues.
I'd be curious, since yours works, what your levels are like when you're in your house with everything turned on and connected..
As for the location, that image is from a small housing development thats completely surrounded by desert for the most part. so, though it looks like dense apartments, its really not that dense other than the small area you're seeing in that pip. Those are all houses, so there is a lot less of a population of wifi networks than you'd get if it were apartments. Still, not idea for tests... but again, stock antennas work just fine in this same location. so upgraded antennas should kick ***.
When i use the black antennas, and the signal levels are all green, I get great quality video stream. when I plug in the other antenna and get high red signal levels, the video is extremely unuseable.
So, it seems that its related enough for the bench test to mean something.
But like you, I'm definitely no expert, but seems to make sense that its related to my issues.
I'd be curious, since yours works, what your levels are like when you're in your house with everything turned on and connected..
As for the location, that image is from a small housing development thats completely surrounded by desert for the most part. so, though it looks like dense apartments, its really not that dense other than the small area you're seeing in that pip. Those are all houses, so there is a lot less of a population of wifi networks than you'd get if it were apartments. Still, not idea for tests... but again, stock antennas work just fine in this same location. so upgraded antennas should kick ***.
