My wife offered to be my Spotter today! I flew out 6980 feet

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The weather was great today. My wife even offered to be my Spotter so I can fly further out. I just about reached my goal..before I did an RTL. If you watched my previous videos you will see I did get out 30% further. Today, I flew out until the Solo App displayed 0 bars for signal. Wow..
Now it's time to create a few Tower missions.. now that I know a distance I feel comfortable with.

Here's today's flight:
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The weather was great today. My wife even offered to be my Spotter so I can fly further out. I just about reached my goal..before I did an RTL. If you watched my previous videos you will see I did get out 30% further. Today, I flew out until the Solo App displayed 0 bars for signal. Wow..
Now it's time to create a few Tower missions.. now that I know a distance I feel comfortable with.

Here's today's flight:
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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Nice flight and video, what's your setup for this flight?
 
Am I to understand that this range was acquired WITHOUT a Mikro TIK card mod?
And that the only range enhancer was the FPVLR antenna?
I presume their was no physical objects whatsoever blocking the signal. What altitude were you at?
Given the fact that the stock range on Solo is PATHETIC, this is a very impressive distance.
I wonder what the range would be with a Mikro TIK card AND the FPVLR antenna?
 
The range was achieved with just the FPVLR antenna. I flew over the cornfield at 290ft, over the estuary at @ 320ft.. over the river at 400ft.
Entire RTL flight was at 400ft. I wouldn't replace the Controller WifiCard. At 2.4Ghz , 800mw.. close to the eyeballs.. nope. Swapping the Mikro TIK on the bird is going to reduce the flight time. For my purposes the antenna upgrade gets the job done. I fly with the PID speed settings at mid.. yaw at slow. It take about 4:50 minutes to reach my furthest distance right now. That gives me a minute or two to take some shots, orbit around, and RTL safely on one charge. I like to hit the RTL entry point (400ft above landing waypoint) when I still have at least 30% charge left. The field that I fly out of can have strong gusts due to thermals.. I want to be sure I have plenty of power to deal with it while landing.
 
I always launch from a wide open area. I always have a clean line of sight... At 1.5 miles out you can barely see the Solo with your eyes anyway.
More r/f power is going to consume more power shortening flight time and 800mw @ 2.4ghz near the eyeballs is not healthy.

So the wifi upgrade isn't worth it to me.
 
I always launch from a wide open area. I always have a clean line of sight... At 1.5 miles out you can barely see the Solo with your eyes anyway.
More r/f power is going to consume more power shortening flight time and 800mw @ 2.4ghz near the eyeballs is not healthy.

So the wifi upgrade isn't worth it to me.
"At 1.5 miles out you can barely see the Solo with your eyes anyway"
Barely? At one thousand feet away mine is a speck.

How crucial (it has to be) is pointing the antenna in the direction of the craft?
I would presume RTL due to signal loss would be invoked by turning antenna away from Solo.
Have you tried that as a range test?

Does the RSSI's fluctuation allow you to determine where to point the antenna?
Trees seem to be a big problem with Solo losing signal.

Even WITH an ALFA antenna (and stock card) RTL is invoked at 500ft if a tree is in the way.
(Not so much now though with a Mikro mod though)

Does this antenna solve the problem of signal loss due to obstacles?

There seem to be some knock off antennas that look like these.
Where did you buy your antenna from? how much?
 
I live in a rural area. The radio club I belong to has a large airfield on a farm. I do use signal strength to help keep the antenna pointed in the right direction.

Now you understand why when I fly long distance I have at least one spotter.
Fasten a small reflector on the aircraft.. when sunlight bounces off of it you can see the solo for miles. It also helps you spot that little spec in the sky, even if the reflection only lasts for a few seconds at a time.

Watch my long distance for flight videos. When I hover... Then increase altitude... I am checking rssi and increasing altitude / moving the controller to optimize rssi.

Also I don't fly where trees or buildings are between me and line of sight of my Solo.
 
I live in a rural area. The radio club I belong to has a large airfield on a farm. I do use signal strength to help keep the antenna pointed in the right direction.

Now you understand why when I fly long distance I have at least one spotter.
Fasten a small reflector on the aircraft.. when sunlight bounces off of it you can see the solo for miles. It also helps you spot that little spec in the sky, even if the reflection only lasts for a few seconds at a time.

Watch my long distance for flight videos. When I hover... Then increase altitude... I am checking rssi and increasing altitude / moving the controller to optimize rssi.

Also I don't fly where trees or buildings are between me and line of sight of my Solo.
Very good
.
Hmm...a reflector; that's a brilliant idea. :) I had considered mounting high power leds to the front of Solo but they suck power and don't act as long range lighting (without a focus lens) so I abandoned that idea.

I have subsequently read and youtubed vids; guys are very impressed by the performance AND build quality of the FPVLR.com group. I am hoping that this antenna will help with penetration as I live amongst big trees. The Mikro cards i installed helped immensely with "punching through" the tree obstacles. Even at 300 ft away, with the stock cards, flying around a tree would cause controller loss. So I am really happy with the Mikro mod. Current consumption, IMO, is negligible.

I don't hold the controller close to my eyes (i hold at waist level) and am using goggles half of the time. If I can see Solo in the sky then I fly LOS ( i just love looking at Solo traverse the sky)

I am not sure about the health risk of a high power Mikro card as you mentioned. What is your concern?

My order will be placed by tomorrow. (I like high performance gear and mods)
 
I fly FPV but with a tablet with a sunshade around it that way I can fly FPV and have a visual of a location of the Solo.

High frequencies get attenuated by trees, moisture in the air, rain, snow. That's why I fly where I do.

My concern over having a 800mw 2.4ghz r/f source transmitting near my head or scrotum is the risk of cancer.

I believe once potential cause of brain cancer is excessive cell phone use. Think about it.. the cases that have been made public on the news have all been Politicians. I am willing to bet that it's a known fact but they don't admit to it because of the money that will be lost.
So I treat r/f, especially high frequency high power r/f, like fire.

I think you will be impressed with the results you will achieve with the FPVLR antenna.
 
I fly FPV but with a tablet with a sunshade around it that way I can fly FPV and have a visual of a location of the Solo.

High frequencies get attenuated by trees, moisture in the air, rain, snow. That's why I fly where I do.

My concern over having a 800mw 2.4ghz r/f source transmitting near my head or scrotum is the risk of cancer.

I believe once potential cause of brain cancer is excessive cell phone use. Think about it.. the cases that have been made public on the news have all been Politicians. I am willing to bet that it's a known fact but they don't admit to it because of the money that will be lost.
So I treat r/f, especially high frequency high power r/f, like fire.

I think you will be impressed with the results you will achieve with the FPVLR antenna.
Yes, I agree, prolonged exposure to radio waves is not healthy. Interesting note: It is being reported that mens sperm count is DOWN 60%. Why? GMO's? Vaccines? Roundup? Aerial spraying? Cell phone towers? The honey bees are being eviscerated by ???? But we are too busy being force fed horse$hit like pronouns and bathroom usage to concern ourselves with real issues that concern ALL of us. Screwy.

If you think it's bad now, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
The 5G cell phone network is being built fast and furious with virtually NO testing as to human safety. I read somewhere that the 5G frequency operates on a frequency similar to OUR brains frequency. I have not confirmed that, however, that could be another reason why the deep state wants it. Could this be a backdoor into peoples brains to cause them to act in strange ways?

Yes we are NOT being informed about the real issues; in fact we are lied to by omission. But hey, we know alot about Caitlyn and THOSE issues that we could really give a shit about. (he'll always be Bruce to me. lol)
(How can an issue that affects 2% of the population be at the center of our focus???????????) The tyranny of the minority is rampant. I digress

The fact is that even our history that we were taught growing up is mostly false narrative. The NDAA that was recently passed now makes it LEGAL for the USA government to propagandize us. It used to be illegal-now it IS legal. I digress again. Why does ANYONE vote for a Democrat OR a Republican EVER??????? Ignorance or apathy? I suggest BOTH! I continue to digress

At least I have the "freedom" (lol) to choose an antenna though. That is until the governments tyranny outlaws the private use of UAV's as a "weapon of terrorist's." It's only a matter of time!
 
I've also gone around 4,000 feet with the only upgrade being the FPVLR antennas. The key for me was to take off in a very open space and get high enough so that no trees come between the controller and the Solo. 2.4 GHz signals are just not great at going through obstacles.
 
Yes, I agree, prolonged exposure to radio waves is not healthy. Interesting note: It is being reported that mens sperm count is DOWN 60%. Why? GMO's? Vaccines? Roundup? Aerial spraying? Cell phone towers? The honey bees are being eviscerated by ???? But we are too busy being force fed horse$hit like pronouns and bathroom usage to concern ourselves with real issues that concern ALL of us. Screwy.

If you think it's bad now, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
The 5G cell phone network is being built fast and furious with virtually NO testing as to human safety. I read somewhere that the 5G frequency operates on a frequency similar to OUR brains frequency. I have not confirmed that, however, that could be another reason why the deep state wants it. Could this be a backdoor into peoples brains to cause them to act in strange ways?

Yes we are NOT being informed about the real issues; in fact we are lied to by omission. But hey, we know alot about Caitlyn and THOSE issues that we could really give a shit about. (he'll always be Bruce to me. lol)
(How can an issue that affects 2% of the population be at the center of our focus???????????) The tyranny of the minority is rampant. I digress

The fact is that even our history that we were taught growing up is mostly false narrative. The NDAA that was recently passed now makes it LEGAL for the USA government to propagandize us. It used to be illegal-now it IS legal. I digress again. Why does ANYONE vote for a Democrat OR a Republican EVER??????? Ignorance or apathy? I suggest BOTH! I continue to digress

At least I have the "freedom" (lol) to choose an antenna though. That is until the governments tyranny outlaws the private use of UAV's as a "weapon of terrorist's." It's only a matter of time!
It's not the frequency affecting thought patterns.. it's the fact that higher the frequency requires less power to penetrate the skull and tissue. The real hazard is near field high frequency electromagnetic radiation exposure. Read up on the Motorola engineer that spear headed cell phone research. Just Google search for it. I knew someone who was a development engineer that worked on a MRI prototype. Much lower frequency 2.5mhz to 85mhz but at high magnetic field strengths .05 to 2 Tesla. The engineer I knew died from cancer. At the time I was a r&d engineer at lasertron. I worked on high frequency stuff but treated it like fire. I still do.
 
I've also gone around 4,000 feet with the only upgrade being the FPVLR antennas. The key for me was to take off in a very open space and get high enough so that no trees come between the controller and the Solo. 2.4 GHz signals are just not great at going through obstacles.
Good old 75mhz r/c days. I still have my nfm futuba transmitter and receiver.

High frequency by nature is line of sight. More than likely the reason why frequencies in the 2.4ghz band we're allocated for R/C. It enforces line of sight control.

I am getting ideas though... When Open Solo is available and ready for the Solo and Solo controller I would like to reconfigure the architecture. Instead of the controller providing a hotspot.. the hotspot will be carried on a balloon secured by a tether or mounted in a remote tower. The remote wifi hotspot.
The controller and solo will connect as clients. It's just an idea but I am sure it will increase range big time.
 
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Good old 75mhz r/c days. I still have my nfm futuba transmitter and receiver.

High frequency by nature is line of sight. More than likely the reason why frequencies in the 2.4ghz band we're allocated for R/C. It enforces line of sight control.

I am getting ideas though... When Open Solo is available and ready for the Solo and Solo controller I would like to reconfigure the architecture. Instead of the controller providing a hotspot.. the hotspot will be carried on a balloon secured by a tether or mounted in a remote tower. The remote wifi hotspot.
The controller and solo will connect as clients. It's just an idea but I am sure it will increase range big time.
I have thought of this myself send up a tethered drone to provide the signal to another drone whether it be a copter or plane I'm sure its been tested before, cool stuff man....
 
when can LINE OF SIGHT be compromised - or what criteria can be obtained to fly outside those supposed limitations ?!!
 
Early in my career I knew some engineering techs that led from cancer. Cause was microwave radiation from a device they were supporting. 2 watts at 4ghz
So I treat RF energy like fire.
I never put my phone near my head. Always speaker phone at least a foot and a half away. When using the the phone or tablet for flight monitoring the same.
Never near the eyes , head, or in a pocket nearthe groin.
Do you honestly trust a company to inform you of the danger with billions of dollars at stake ? Not me.

In the usa the mikro mod is not legal. I am lucky I have a great field to fly out of because we are running out of locations
 

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