Amateur Radio drone nerd question - Aerial repeater?

[AMann]

Just curious if there’s any ham radio enthusiasts flying drones here that are interested in combining both hobbies together (I’ve seen a few of you here). Curious, has anyone ever put an HT up in a drone to act as a relay? I have a old RS mini Simplex repeater controller and a very lightweight credit card sized 2m HT, and was thinking it might be fun to try putting it up there 400 feet. It would be great if you’re in a remote area I need to send a signal over a mountain, may be very useful for emergency communications, such as for SAR missions.

Also, has anyone tried aerial ATV yet?

 

[raven swe]

I think strapping my TH-d74 might be a bit heavy for my M2z,
, it would end up being horizontal polarization if I did, not much good for vhf-uhf but you never know

 

[pfgrimm]

Just curious if there’s any ham radio enthusiasts flying drones here that are interested in combining both hobbies together (I’ve seen a few of you here). Curious, has anyone ever put an HT up in a drone to act as a relay? I have a old RS mini Simplex repeater controller and a very lightweight credit card sized 2m HT, and was thinking it might be fun to try putting it up there 400 feet. It would be great if you’re in a remote area I need to send a signal over a mountain, may be very useful for emergency communications, such as for SAR missions.

Also, has anyone tried aerial ATV yet?

I haven't touched a ham radio in almost 40 years (RF is my career) but your idea makes some sense as long as you follow the FAA and FCC rules. Look carefully in the FAA rules about drones and emergency workers (very strict).

 

[AMann]

I haven't touched a ham radio in almost 40 years (RF is my career) but your idea makes some sense as long as you follow the FAA and FCC rules. Look carefully in the FAA rules about drones and emergency workers (very strict).

I dabble with ham radio now and then, And use APRS a lot. I have been more interested in it lately with students at school with our robotics club- We played with using it for controlling a rover project on campus (under my technicians license).

Regarding drones, you have a good point; the emergency work using a drone is under a FAA waiver and for our sheriffs department search and rescue team.

 

[Searunner]

I've put up a few wire antennas in the tops of trees with my drone. I tie monofilament fishing line to the drone and have had no problem running it out of a fishing reel hundreds of feet. Then use the fishing line to pull in a stronger cord like throwing line and then finally the antenna wire.

 

[MurMan]

I also have used my Mavic Pro to run a line for a long wire antenna. I find that using a nylon mason's line tied to a 8 or 10" Cresecent wrench and then to a wire tie that is attached to the rear rubber pads on the drone. Use a 'Highwayman's Hitch to attach to the tie and when the drone is over the correct limb or whatever, I simply tug on the hitch line and it releases the weighted line and all is in place very quickly! Then just use the Mason's line to haul up the 550 paracord. Great for onsite antenna placement.

 

[AMann]

I also have used my Mavic Pro to run a line for a long wire antenna. I find that using a nylon mason's line tied to a 8 or 10" Cresecent wrench and then to a wire tie that is attached to the rear rubber pads on the drone. Use a 'Highwayman's Hitch to attach to the tie and when the drone is over the correct limb or whatever, I simply tug on the hitch line and it releases the weighted line and all is in place very quickly! Then just use the Mason's line to haul up the 550 paracord. Great for onsite antenna placement.

Can you illustrate that?

 

[MurMan]

I knew that would be clear as Mud I don't think I had a free hand to take any pictures and I was trying to enlist the xyl to help. Hashtag fail! I'll look and see if I did in fact take a pic. I know I tried several variations to find what worked the best and this did!

 

[AMann]

Back when I used to be a commercial whitewater rafting guide, I took a whitewater rescue tech certification class where we used a line cannon loaded with powder to shoot rescue lines across rivers. Using a drone with filament line to precisely set a rescue line would be a great improvement over trying to be on target and shooting a line over.

@BigAl07 @RCdancer @Thunderdrones - MurMan’s post above #6 may be something you could use for SAR too.

 

[AMann]

I always carry rope and a PFD in my truck for rescues, especially since we have washes out here in the desert that fill with floodwaters whenever it rains heavily, Getting a cheaper “disposable” drone along with a filament line would be a great addition for a rescue bag.

 

[MurMan]

Ham's use an air cannon a lot to shoot lines.. but rather than build that, I thought I'd try to use the Mavic. I'll try and be a little more descriptive as I don't see any pictures on my phone. I used the slots in the rear rubber "feet" of the Mavic (at the rear underside of the body) and looped an 8" wire tie through them. Next I attached the nylon line to a weight, in this case, a Crescent wrench..likely a 10" as I had tried lighter ones earlier attached directly to paracord but there was too much friction to to haul it up and drop through the branches too. (it was a tight spot with a hardwood ever SOOO close). So, with the wrench attached firmly, I let it hang about 12" below Miss Mavic, and attached the the nylon line to the Wire Tie with the Highwayman's HItch. (Did you find that?). That creates a weighted line (wrench side) and a loose (non weighted) line back to the spool, which I had slid over a piece of dowel, allowing for one to hold with two hands, one on each end and very little friction. Once the drone is in position, you can actually put the Mavic controller down and a tug on the loose line at the spool, will release that knot and it's "Bomb's Away".. then it's simply a matter of hauling up the final line and using the remaining battery to play! Hope that helps.

 

[joeruby]

Just curious if there’s any ham radio enthusiasts flying drones here that are interested in combining both hobbies together (I’ve seen a few of you here). Curious, has anyone ever put an HT up in a drone to act as a relay? I have a old RS mini Simplex repeater controller and a very lightweight credit card sized 2m HT, and was thinking it might be fun to try putting it up there 400 feet. It would be great if you’re in a remote area I need to send a signal over a mountain, may be very useful for emergency communications, such as for SAR missions.

Also, has anyone tried aerial ATV yet?

The first step might be to figure out how to run two (small, light) wires up to the drone to power the drone battery, and the HT cross-band battery so the repeater can stay up all day/night long. Then you will be able to enjoy many QSO's while camped out in a remote location.

Good luck.
Joe
KC7GHT

 

[AMann]

The first step might be to figure out how to run two (small, light) wires up to the drone to power the drone battery, and the HT cross-band battery so the repeater can stay up all day/night long. Then you will be able to enjoy many QSO's while camped out in a remote location.

Good luck.
Joe
KC7GHT

Yeah, a tethered ground powered drone would be very useful for that. There are similar commercial tethered drones marketed for all sorts of other things like that, including lighting drones (movie production use them), surveillance/security, and communications.

 

[AMann]

I’m still thinking about this project, has anyone tried anything new? I haven’t put a radio up on the drone yet, my little quarter watt HT is definitely light enough to do it.

 

[Keule]

has anyone tried anything new?

Actually it's an old technique where we used an S1000 airframe to relay video signal from a remote location to a distant IC.

 

[AMann]

Actually it's an old technique where we used an S1000 airframe to relay video signal from a remote location to a distant IC.

View attachment 85731

Great idea! Using a inexpensive airframe and a hard case with batteries and UHF radio would be a great way to set up a emergency radio or internet and cellular communications system. Satellite phones could take the place of this, however the cost differences would still be a big deal for some.

 

[Tom7020]

Great idea! Using a inexpensive airframe and a hard case with batteries and UHF radio would be a great way to set up a emergency radio or internet and cellular communications system. Satellite phones could take the place of this, however the cost differences would still be a big deal for some.

I used UHF, Overall this is a good, solid, fairly simple radio with no additional digital bells and whistles. The one glaring deficiency for me is switching channels. You CAN NOT use the microphone keypad to directly enter a memory channel number and go to that channel. The ONLY way to switch between channels is to use the panel knob or the microphone button to scroll through the channels until you reach your desired channel. Otherwise, it seems like a fine radio.

 

[Tom7020]

Great idea! Using a inexpensive airframe and a hard case with batteries and UHF radio would be a great way to set up a emergency radio or internet and cellular communications system. Satellite phones could take the place of this, however the cost differences would still be a big deal for some.

Owning a UHF radio can respond to your requirements of transceiving ability, and suitable for long distances.

 

[mig25]

I haven’t but thought s

Just curious if there’s any ham radio enthusiasts flying drones here that are interested in combining both hobbies together (I’ve seen a few of you here). Curious, has anyone ever put an HT up in a drone to act as a relay? I have a old RS mini Simplex repeater controller and a very lightweight credit card sized 2m HT, and was thinking it might be fun to try putting it up there 400 feet. It would be great if you’re in a remote area I need to send a signal over a mountain, may be very useful for emergency communications, such as for SAR missions.

Also, has anyone tried aerial ATV yet?

I thought about it
The Mavic had a video of a guy pulling a scale on YouTube. I think it pulled two pounds
I use floats on mine and it’s affected by wind

 

[mig25]

I haven’t but thought s

I thought about it
The Mavic had a video of a guy pulling a scale on YouTube. I think it pulled two pounds
I use floats on mine and it’s affected by wind

I think it has the weight capabilities
You could do a test at 400 feet on the ground to see if you get any transmission issues. I think it’s a great idea