Antennae Boosters, ... Are They Worth It ???

[HugoStiglitz]

Anyone using a clip type of booster setup? I've seen some with parabolic type dishes. I'll be using a regular and Smart Controller for my M2Z when it arrives.

Any particular brand that is superior to others?

Also likely interested in a superior extended landing gear set-up.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I suggest that you get the M2 first and see how far you can fly it, which should be a) well out of sight (not recommended) and/or b) beyond the capability of the battery to return to the Home Point (not recommended).

I had parabolic dishes for my Phantom controller. I thought I might need them for the M2 in case I fly in areas of severe interference, but in practice never have had an issue.

Chris

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

As with Not a speck of cereal's post, try the standard set up before you look into modifications. For the record, over open sea and a one time range test I have had a Mavic 2 out to 4km+ and the signal was, from memory, perfect. I think concerns about battery level caused me to turn back.
Besides, modified antennae may be much more alignment sensitive, i.e. much more likely to lose the connection if they are not aimed at the drone.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

THANKS for the input! I don't plan on any purchases that aren't really warranted. I'm just trying to educate myself about options to fine-tune the platform for the type of usage I envision. I have no actual drone experience, and will not even see the unit for another 1-3 days.

Reading my previous posts will explain what I hope to accomplish. Reliable, long-range performance is my goal. Losing a drone that is a generation or 2 obsolete is not world shattering, ... just something I'd like to be stacking all the odds in my favor to prevent.

 

[Saladshooter]

THANKS for the input! I don't plan on any purchases that aren't really warranted. I'm just trying to educate myself about options to fine-tune the platform for the type of usage I envision. I have no actual drone experience, and will not even see the unit for another 1-3 days.

Reading my previous posts will explain what I hope to accomplish. Reliable, long-range performance is my goal. Losing a drone that is a generation or 2 obsolete is not world shattering, ... just something I'd like to be stacking all the odds in my favor to prevent.

The Yagi and Parabolic boosters are cheap and do work.... I have tested them extensively. But they come with a caveat; they are highly directional so you have to point them directly at the drone to get the intended effect. In the end they are just a nuisance most of the time.

The expensive powered boosters from Alientech and others work much better and will give you leaps in range but they are bulky and inconvenient to use so I can only really recommend them if you have a real need. The current crop of DJI offerings will fly under control further than they can be seen in the air and flown legally so these types of antennas are really for pushing the limits.

 

[JoelP]

I had one of these for my old M1 which lost connection far too easily. I put it on a few times when I lost connect, but couldn’t reconnect. The M1 initiated a RTH and I recovered thanks to that more than due to the antenna booster.