Do you think I can make it?

[Surfrider]

Hello all,
I am on a hilltop in Santa Barbara that has a surrounding valley of about 200 degrees. There are a few homes, mostly small ranches and a college off to one end. I have been wanting to fly my Solo to a line of sight hilltop that has the remains of a famous, unoccupied spa that has some beautiful remaining structures. I would like to film one orbit and then return. According to Google Maps a straight line from here to there is 1.43 miles and the elevation increase is about 1000 ft. I start at 600 ft above seal level so will end up at 1600 ft at the destination. My bird came with a Rev. B board but I had lost GPS in some trees so have installed a MRO. I also have Alpha antennas. The college will be putting out some WiFi but I should be about 1000 ft above and a quarter mile away. I have both the Solo app and Solex. Will the Solex app make preflight calculations in the "from here to there" setup or should I just fly manually?

I have been putting this run off as we have had consistent high winds during the last couple of weeks but expect calmer conditions this week. The photo is with a telephoto.

Do you think I can make it?

 

[NightStorm]

As a mission you could do it (you'd have to first set the parameter to continue-mission even on signal loss). Not sure you've got the range with the alphas and the stock transmitters. I think the 800mw ones would do it given your clear line of sight.

 

[NightStorm]

Then again, maybe ...
Distance Tests Along Alligator Alley 5-15-17

 

[Surfrider]

Thanks for the feed back. That test along the Alligator Alley is most impressive. First, I had not thought about one each antennae but obviously using the two Alphas has a huge advantage. One big unknown is the amount of WiFi that will be coming from the college campus just to the right in my photo. If my Solo should fall I doubt I could find it in that terrain. There are a couple of other, closer objects around the canyon I will try first just to get a feel for the distance. I will post a video if I should finally accomplish the intended flight as it should be pretty cool climbing up the mountain.

 

[klineka]

Just a thought, could you hike closer to the spa/intended target, or are you unable to physically get any closer than where the picture is?

 

[Surfrider]

Just a thought, could you hike closer to the spa/intended target, or are you unable to physically get any closer than where the picture is?

I can get closer. There is actually a road in the valley below the target, but that is easy. I like reading about the challenges others have tried. That being said, I will probably try that closer route first just to test out the WiFi and other issues in the area before making the grand voyage across the valley. I think that is one of the reasons, at least in the back of our minds that we got Solos to begin with.