New Solo firmware available now 1.0.5

[Dirby]

Rich What do you think about this?
most of the free flight guys use theese.
the little tx in the middle of the picture is mounted to aircraft.
it puts a beep every few seconds.
the closer you get to it the louder the beep.
reception is 30 miles in the air and 3 miles on the ground.
tx weight with battery is 8 grams.

 

[rrmccabe]

I think they are really cool but receiver is pretty bulky for me. That Yagi 3 element beam they have on the receiver is going to great for range though.

I question how long the battery last on that tracker tag. Looks small. I really don't I don't want it to be on my charger as often as I have the quad.

 

[Dirby]

Rich the tx Battery is a small button type about half invh long and half inch in dia.
rx battery is a 9 volt square battery.
rx holds two of theese so you can switch from one to the other when the first one goes out.
the tx will beep once when you turn it on and when it gets low it will start making two beeps at a time.
tx battery is supposed to run steady for about three weeks.
note picture next to quarter.
thx Don.

 

[rrmccabe]

3 weeks. That is amazing. So not rechargeable then.

Looks good. The in the air distance doesn't really matter with a drone. Its the on the ground one that does. I have not met anyone yet that had to find a drone while it was in the air.

I really like the looks of that TX

 

[Sarah B]

Is there a wrong or right place to mount a tracker?

 

[rrmccabe]

Works best on the aircraft. I tried it on the controller but I kept running in circles

Are you talking the Solo @Sarah B

 

[Sarah B]

If I had feelings, that might have hurt them.

Yes, for a Solo. Isn't this the Solo forum, or did I take a wrong turn, somewhere?

 

[rrmccabe]

Well I had to play with you a little

• Just keep antenna on tracker away from metallic objects.
• Keep tracker away from Solo antennas in the landing gear legs.
• And of course make sure charging ports and power buttons/power LEDs are in a good spot.

When you need a tracker the bird as usually crashed and no telling what direction the bird is. Upside down, right side up, etc. So I don't worry much about antenna direction.

This is attached with velcro with a zip tie to hold it. The little dome thing on the back/bottom of Solo has slots that make a zip tie easy.

I mounted mine here (see below). Not really critical.

 

[Sarah B]

Give me your best shot. I can take it. Probably.

Thanks for the info, as always. I'm gonna order a Marco Polo tonight.

 

[rrmccabe]

They work well.

Found my Phantom 3 times. Two times well over a mile away in the woods.

 

[Sarah B]

Right on. Thanks, again. It's a plastic gizmo that flies, and is made in China. Having a tracker seems like a prudent move.

 

[Dirby]

Rich.
took mt solo out for a flight tonight.
sats came up in less than a minute.
took off and flew around for a bit than climbed to 375 feet and went out over 1000 feet.
everything went fine.
even tried out my new sunshade.
worked pretty good.
when the solo is over 1000 feet away from you it can't be seen with the naked eye.

 

[rrmccabe]

I think if the sky is right you can see it Don. I can see mine at 4000'

Nice sunshade

 

[Dirby]

I think if the sky is right you can see it Don. I can see mine at 4000'

Nice sunshade

you may be right.
i have timed free flight models that have travel alnost a mile away from me.
one thing is for sure you do not take your eyes off of it at that distance otherwise you will loose sight of it.
this is why they allowed binoculars in timeing freeflight models.

 

[Dirby]

Rich could you please send me a link to where you got your Marco Polo tracker.
thx Don.

 

[rrmccabe]

Don,

Its http://eurekaproducts.com/

If you ever need anything Tim Crabtree is the guy to talk to. Just email support and he will respond back. I don't think the man ever sleeps !

 

[RyanG]

Rich: Is it the RC one that you have?

 

[David Weston]

Amazon has them also. Your P3??? Didn't you just get it?? Lost 3 times already?

 

[Jubalr]

I think Amazon just has the pet version. There is a special lighter version he developed for RC/ Best to use the site Rich gave you and go direct.

 

[rrmccabe]

David, have not lost P3. Lost the Vision plus 3 times in over 500 miles of flight. All pilot error.

Yes they have a dog version and a RC version. The weight difference on the Solo is insignificant.

The range on RC version is better but the battery life is shorter. I have one hybrid that Eureka converted from a dog version to RC for me so it has the bigger battery and straight/long antenna. I wish Tim would start building these as stock items.