WiFi cards and Alfa Antennas installed. Need more range.

[Greg-J]

I've been lurking for a couple months, but this is my first post.

I used to get around 1200' normally with a 1700' max near my house. I did the WiFi card upgrade in drone as well as the controller, as well as installed those $20 Alfa Antennas. I currently get around 4400' to 5500' and while I'm not complaining, I want more. I'd like to at-least double my current distance and hit the 2 mile mark and I'm wondering what the most cost effective way to do that is.

 

[BigTulsa]

Over a mile and you want more? Why, may I ask? Just curious because at that point, you're definitely not LOS.

 

[Greg-J]

I live on a hill. My friend lives about 8000 feet away at the bottom of this hill. Between us are vinyards and orchards. His backyard is on the edge of a field. I want to be able to land in his back yard.

For me, my drone is a toy. I think this would be fun.

As for LOS, I have no problem seeing mine at 4000 feet. If I use my friend, in his back yard, as an observer, one of us would always have LOS. It sounds like BS as I type it, but let's just say for the sake of argument that it's not.

I'm considering starting with the 3DR Evo Solo Kit from Maxx UAV for $250 and seeing where that gets me.

Thoughts?

 

[Acroduster]

FYI, for the sake of argument:

From the Reform Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-95, section 336) dealing with our dear aircraft, item 2:

"flown within visual line of sight of the person operating the aircraft" (emphasis mine)

 

[Greg-J]

Thanks for that info. I guess I misunderstood that the regardless of observers, you must still maintain LOS.

 

[Greg-J]

That said, is there nobody using the 3DR Evo Solo Kit from Maxx UAV in conjunction with the wifi mod?

 

[andrew.baker.142]

Greg,
I just picked up an L-Com 11 dBi antenna with spatial diversity (two identical 2.4 GHz antennas in one enclosure).
2.4 GHz 11 dBi Dual Diversity Antenna - 3ft SMA Male Connector [RE11DS-SM] - $29.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond
Tried it out last night, works great. I have not tested it for max range (not enough airspace around me), but if the specs are accurate, should do much better than the Alfas.
The antenna is an 8" square, about 1/2" thick, so not small. You would need to make a mount for the controller, or just set it up on a pole or tripod.
For $30 (on sale) you have nothing to lose.
Oh, you will also need two SMA to RP-SMA connectors, which readymaderc also has for a couple of bucks.


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[Greg-J]

Thanks Andrew, appreciate the link. I'd love to see what kind of range increase you get.

Do you know what the FOV is for something like this?

If it works out for you, let me know. If I end up with one I'll model/print a mount and send you a copy.

 

[Sid nguyen]

You can use tower and have it fly it for you. Plot the mission set it off then drive down to your friend and watch it land.

 

[Greg-J]

I appreciate the response, but I'm not looking for ways around the desired solution; I'm looking for the desired solution.

 

[Rusty Jones]

I've been lurking for a couple months, but this is my first post.

I used to get around 1200' normally with a 1700' max near my house. I did the WiFi card upgrade in drone as well as the controller, as well as installed those $20 Alfa Antennas. I currently get around 4400' to 5500' and while I'm not complaining, I want more. I'd like to at-least double my current distance and hit the 2 mile mark and I'm wondering what the most cost effective way to do that is.

Hit the brakes for a minute....

you are on a hill, overlooking farmland (vineyards) and only get 1,700' (feet)?

I have flown from flat land, over a swamp, at 200' AGL, and got close to 5,000' (feet) with no RTL, bone stock. With Alphas and the WiFi cards you should be getting more.

What other WiFi sources are in your area??

 

[Greg-J]

I live in a densely populated suburban area. I have houses in a 2000' to 6000' radius (depending on direction) all around me, except for about a 15 degree pie slice that goes down the hill and is undeveloped. That runs up against orchards and vineyards. So while I'm perfectly situated to fly a drone over undeveloped land and fields, I'm also surrounded by wifi signals.

 

[Rusty Jones]

I live in a densely populated suburban area. I have houses in a 2000' to 6000' radius (depending on direction) all around me, except for about a 15 degree pie slice that goes down the hill and is undeveloped. That runs up against orchards and vineyards. So while I'm perfectly situated to fly a drone over undeveloped land and fields, I'm also surrounded by wifi signals.

OK, that is a better picture.

 

[Dogman1973]

Ok so sounds like noise is your biggest enemy here...
Both at the controller and the Solo.
There arent really many options at the Solo end, so best chance really is to go higher gain (narrower beamwidth) antenna(s) on the controller. The theory being that with narrow beamwidth, you reduce the inbound rx noise.
Andrew's suggestion above is probably the best 'cheap' option, beyond that you'll be going to Yagi's, but you'd need two mounted on some kind of mast that you can point at the Solo.

Also worth noting, because the atheros drivers for the controller (AP) use auto channel selection (where it does a quick scan to find the clearest channel), make sure you turn on the controller at the spot you intend to use it... give it the best chance to find a cleaner channel.

 

[Greg-J]

Ok so sounds like noise is your biggest enemy here...
Both at the controller and the Solo.
There arent really many options at the Solo end, so best chance really is to go higher gain (narrower beamwidth) antenna(s) on the controller. The theory being that with narrow beamwidth, you reduce the inbound rx noise.
Andrew's suggestion above is probably the best 'cheap' option, beyond that you'll be going to Yagi's, but you'd need two mounted on some kind of mast that you can point at the Solo.

Also worth noting, because the atheros drivers for the controller (AP) use auto channel selection (where it does a quick scan to find the clearest channel), make sure you turn on the controller at the spot you intend to use it... give it the best chance to find a cleaner channel.

Cheers for that!

 

[andrew.baker.142]

There is another option that may help but will be more expensive. The stock Solo uses (vertically) linearly polarized antennas (just like most/all of the WiFi routers in your area). If you convert both the aircraft and controller to circularly polarized antennas (all with same direction of rotation) you will see an improvement of 3dBi in the noise floor. Combine that with directional circularly polarized antennas on the controller and you should see huge range improvements. I have a post in the Antenna sticky with more details.
I have these antennas on order, and will let you know how it works. I am not planning on doing any long range testing with the setup since I am surrounded by restricted airspace except out over the water (which is pretty foolish thing to do). I have no desire to lose my 107 certificate.


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[andrew.baker.142]

Thanks Andrew, appreciate the link. I'd love to see what kind of range increase you get.

Do you know what the FOV is for something like this?

If it works out for you, let me know. If I end up with one I'll model/print a mount and send you a copy.

I mounted this antenna on an antenna tracker. Way overkill for most folk's needs but I had the fracker almost completed for some DIY projects.
Will try it out when I get the chance to fly again (Fri).



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[Dogman1973]

Circ polarisation isnt a bad idea, although the major drawback is size vs gain... a few dB probably wont be enough though. For something in the order of 15dB gain, a helical circ pol antenna would be around 3ft long (and would have to be hand made) :-(

@Greg-J , it'll also help to keep the Solo at relatively low-med altitude, to minimise it's noise exposure. I'm sorry to say it, but i think there'll be some experimentation required to get the result you want.

 

[Greg-J]

I've noticed that the sweet spot for me is about 100' from takeoff elevation. My distance drops pretty dramatically above 200' and especially in the 300'-400' range. I'm not sure if it's atmospheric conditions or what, but it seems like the lower the better.

When you're referring to a helical circ pol antenna, are you talking about on the Solo itself, or the controller?

 

[Dogman1973]

The higher altitude problem will be noise... The Solo will be 'hearing' more wifi noise from the ground across a wider area.

Re the circ polarisation, I think andrew was suggesting a small cloverleaf for on the Solo (which has low gain say 1-2 dB). Circ pol has merit for this kind of application, but to compensate (for the lack of gain on the Solo) you'll need high gain at the controller end.

Helicals are the easiest way to get high gain with circ polarisation (to match the cloverleaf). Helical antenna - Wikipedia
I've built many of these back in the day (for receiving video feeds from model rockets), but they were all large units we either held on our shoulders to aim, or on large tripods. Helicals are hard to find in a decent commercially made product

My gut is telling me some higher gain Yagi's are the best/cheapest way to go (keep in mind you'll be pushing the limits of the 4W EIRP max for 2.4GHz)