So I am reading all of this and have a question that is more real world. So while in the military I worked on Radar, Transmitters, Receivers, etc on H-3 and H-60 air-frames. I took a 12 month long course in advanced math to figure out specs on wave-guides, antennas, etc also. If you have a transmitter that has more power (good, bad, indifferent conditions) you will have more range. This is fact and through math this can be shown.
Seeing as you have some formal training I posted this below in the Inspire forum regarding another persons questions about the 600 bird vs the 601. Does it make any sense to you? I have minimal experience which is limited to being an electrical hobbyist but do my conclusions ring some validity?
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From everything I've learned after "EXTENSIVE" research, range is not going to change much if at all. The only advantage I can see with a higher powered 601 is you "might" be able to cut through noise ceilings in the 2.4ghz spectrum due to the higher powered transmitter. There are a lot of devices in the 2.4ghz spectrum. HAM radio operators are allowed to broadcast at over 60dBm which could (depending on channel) impact a 600 bird if in close proximity. FM radio, baby monitors, cordless phones, some blue tooth devices, wireless video transmitters, microwaves, wifi, VOIP base stations, etc, etc can all use the 2.4ghz spectrum to varying power degrees. Granted some of these dont compete with the power output of a 601 (FCC 1510) bird but a 600 bird falls closer to the max power output on a number of these devices in US controlled FCC areas.
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What say you?