3dr solo with ALFA

[EDGAR CUEVAS]

I was flying my solo for the first time with the new antennas. Everything was going good. I notice i lost a bar in signal so I adjusted the antennas and lost communication with solo. It hovered for about one minute and then returned home. While returning home I was unable to reconnect to solo .Once it land I have to reconnect controller and solo . I'm wondering if it was because I adjusted the antennas? Has any one had this issue before?

Sent from my SM-N930V using Tapatalk

 

[Toiletbowl]

its because alfa is directional always point the panel solos position

 

[EDGAR CUEVAS]

They where pointing at the solo, but i was adjusting them because i had them down and wanted to move them up just to see if it make a difference.
It just seem weird that as soon as i touch the antennas I lost connect between controller n solo

Sent from my SM-N930V using Tapatalk

 

[Joe Horn]

They where pointing at the solo, but i was adjusting them because i had them down and wanted to move them up just to see if it make a difference.

As you discovered, it does make a difference. It doesn't matter whether the ALFA is "down" or not; the only thing that matters is whether the line to Solo is perpendicular to the ALFA (which it should be).

It just seem weird that as soon as i touch the antennas I lost connect between controller n solo

Not weird at all; that's what "directional" means. Communications is strongest when the word "ALFA" is directly facing Solo. The connection can be lost when it's facing elsewhere. I personally use one ALFA antenna and one stock antenna, so that I only have to worry about precise aim when Solo is far away.

 

[EDGAR CUEVAS]

I seen people do that, so u still get the long distance that way? With one of each?

Sent from my SM-N930V using Tapatalk

 

[Joe Horn]

I seen people do that, so u still get the long distance that way? With one of each?

Yes, because only one antenna is actually used at any one moment anyhow. Whichever antenna "wins" gets paid attention to. When Solo is nearby, it communicates with the stock antenna because the ALFA is probably pointed elsewhere (because at that time I don't care where it's pointing). But as Solo gets farther away, I start pointing the ALFA at Solo, at which time it "wins". Best of both worlds.

EDIT: The previous paragraph is incorrect. See Pedals2Paddles' reply below for details.

If you're wondering, "Why have two ALFAs then?" The answer is: having two of them aimed slightly apart makes it less likely to lose connection, since aiming the controller needn't be as precise as when you only have one ALFA. So it's a tradeoff; do you prefer easier nearby flying or easier distance flying? I chose the former, since I'd rather be nervous 50% of the time than 100% of the time.

 

[EDGAR CUEVAS]

Thanks alot for the Info, I'll be using one of each for now and when i need more distance I'll use both alfa

Sent from my SM-N930V using Tapatalk

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

Yes, because only one antenna is actually used at any one moment anyhow. Whichever antenna "wins" gets paid attention to.

This is incorrect. What you're describing is plain old diversity. A few years ago, this would be the extent of it. But not today. The solo uses MiMo. Both antennas are actively used for transmit and receive. It uses both manipulating the signal in such a way to dramatically increase bandwidth.

If you compromise that by using two different antennas, and one had less signal (or no signal), you've cut the available bandwidth significantly. At best, the video feed can get crappy. At worst, it will compromise control link integrity and range.

That said, as long as you're staying nearby where at least one has a good strong signal, it will probably be fine. Pushing the distance or adding obstacles like trees or buildings would not be wise.

 

[Joe Horn]

This is incorrect. What you're describing is plain old diversity. A few years ago, this would be the extent of it. But not today. The solo uses MiMo. Both antennas are actively used for transmit and receive. It uses both manipulating the signal in such a way to dramatically increase bandwidth.

If you compromise that by using two different antennas, and one had less signal (or no signal), you've cut the available bandwidth significantly. At best, the video feed can get crappy. At worst, it will compromise control link integrity and range.

That said, as long as you're staying nearby where at least one has a good strong signal, it will probably be fine. Pushing the distance or adding obstacles like trees or buildings would not be wise.

Aha! Thanks for the correction! My misinformation about the antennas was "learned" here a while ago. Now I learn that that posting was wrong. Live and learn!

I'll experiment with (1) one ALFA and one stock antenna, and (2) two ALFA antennas, to verify that the latter provides better communication. (Not because I don't believe you, which I certainly do, but because I really, really love to experiment).

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

The concept isn't really described anywhere obvious. And until recently, diversity was the way everything worked. So it's certainly a reasonable bit of misinformation.

 

[Joe Horn]

I'll experiment with (1) one ALFA and one stock antenna, and (2) two ALFA antennas, to verify that the latter provides better communication. (Not because I don't believe you, which I certainly do, but because I really, really love to experiment).

Experiment conducted.

Results: One stock antenna with one ALFA antenna: 5950 feet before loss of connection. Two ALFA antennas: 8000 feet before loss of connection. Both flights were performed with extreme attention to aiming the controller antennas at Solo to maximize the number of connection bars shown by the app. As Solo reached its maximum distance, the bars oscillated between one and zero, then became zero, then the icon for the controller oscillated between white and red, then became solid red, then soon afterwards the connection was lost. Solo was facing directly away from the controller the whole time. Flight was into a radio-quiet canyon, uphill the whole way, ending roughly 1000 feet above takeoff level but never above a few hundred feet AGL.

Conclusion: Yes, two ALFA antennas get better range than one ALFA and one stock antenna, exactly as Pedals2Paddles said.

 

[EDGAR CUEVAS]

Going to give this a try next weekend hopefully

Sent from my SM-N930V using Tapatalk