Final Word On Range Extenders?

[voip10]

I've been doing a bit of research (both here and elsewhere) for range extension options. I've been pretty dissatisfied on the range with this Mavic 2 Zoom that I bought second hand, and can't seem to get the drone anywhere near its maximum flight range as per DJI official data. Also important to add that I fly in mostly urban environments.

First flight on Dual Band I achieved 1333m (before black screen and return home).

Second flight on 5.8GHz I achieved 1718m (before black screen and return home).

Not sure if either were just flukes, but regardless this is nowhere near 11mi (tested on friends Mavic 2 Pro and it probably went about 700m before black screen and return home).

In my research I've come across three things:

First: The Alientech Duo II as per this post: Upgrade to the ALIENTECH DUO II: Leave Beginner Mode Behind.
This seems like a good option, and gets some good feedback, but is pretty expensive and I'd like to weigh some options before dropping on this.

Second: I've found is this thread: What is the BEST range extender right now for Mavic 2 Zoom?
This particular thread discusses three options as far as I can tell:

- Titan drones "command case"
- 4 Hawks "retrofit kit"
- Dual SunHans 5.8GHz signal booster with Raptor XR passive antenna system.

Quite a lot of information here that, as a novice, I'm trying to get straight.

This thread is also 4 years old, so I would guess there would be quite a few updates since then.
I would appreciate any clarity on that stuff if it's still relevant.

Third: I found these little things on Amazon that go for $12.00: Amazon.com

No idea what to think about these. If they gave you 10% more range for $12.00 I would guess that would be worth it for a lot of folks.


Conclusion:

I'd like a solid solution and don't mind spending a bit of money ($400 is probably the top of my range here, but open to anything if it's great). I would be happy if I could even get to 5 out of the 11 miles that DJI describes.

Any information is appreciated and welcomed, thanks.

 

[GFields]

Third: I found these little things on Amazon that go for $12.00: Amazon.com

I haven't flown my M2Z in a long time, but I have these and they do add to the distance.

 

[sarahb]

Can you see the drone that far?

 

[Cafguy]

those little 12 dollar range extenders WORK!! Alientech is nice if you are going long distances all the time. BUT as said unless you have a waiver the 12 dollar ones are the best.

 

[voip10]

I haven't flown my M2Z in a long time, but I have these and they do add to the distance.

Pleasantly surprised to hear this. User @Cafguy says the same! Was thinking about grabbing them for myself and a friend anyway.

Still would like to find something that doubles or triples the range though.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

If your going to be flying from inside your car or a Boat , than you really want the alien duo setup as I have.
One of the test I did was to fly with no attena up on the Smart Controller and got 2300 ft before I lost signal , than when I turned on the Alien got that Signal back full Strength but again I was flying from inside my house.

That stronger signal pays offs well in many situations where as the other might extend your range some but no where near the Signal Strength of the Duo. .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the Water and fly from inside the Car.

 

[sarahb]

flying from inside your car

How far away can you see the drone while setting in a car?

 

[Droning on and on...]

I haven't flown my M2Z in a long time, but I have these and they do add to the distance.

And they're legal.

 

[DARKSeifer]

The best option is to hack the drone so both the drone and the controller emit in FCC. If you boost the controller antennas, you just have that, a controller that shouts more, but the drone will still emit at default power.

My Autel Evo Lite + didn't have a FCC hack available, so I modded the controller with a 4W Sunhans amplifier and put an omnidirectional antenna at the top of my roof. It improved a bit, but as said, the drone was still emitting in CE, so didn't gain much.

Both the RC Pro and the Mavic 3 working on FCC emit at 2W, so there's no point in amplifying that any further IMO. Alientech are overkill basically, just finding a better spot with better line of sight is the way to go.

In resume, the best practice is to hack the drone to emit in FCC and just search a high spot with good line of sight (the top of a 100-250 m hill for example, or the top of the highest building around) and you'll have perfect connection at any distance/altitude.

With any DJI drone in FCC mode the bottleneck is not the signal, but the battery. My record with the M3 is 9040 m and back (with the RC-N1, wasn't even using the RC Pro), but just did it for testing purposes, my usual sweet spot is around 2.5 Km and the M3 with the RC Pro work perfectly at that range, you don't even have to point the controller at all under 500 m.

 

[hiflyer201]

How far away can you see the drone while setting in a car?

Click bait?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

How far away can you see the drone while setting in a car?

Just as far as I can off my house deck, especially since I see no point in flying much higher than 100 ft since I want the best shots of the storms.

I wrote a entire article On why everyone should enjoy flying from inside there car , and to the increased focus on Flying your drone and being extra aware of you whats happening with your drone and the controller



Phantomrain.org
Gear to Fly in the Rain , land on the water.

 

[AMann]

Would testing it be better away from town as urban environments are rife with interference? I’d try testing in open spaces.

 

[voip10]

The best option is to hack the drone so both the drone and the controller emit in FCC. If you boost the controller antennas, you just have that, a controller that shouts more, but the drone will still emit at default power.

My Autel Evo Lite + didn't have a FCC hack available, so I modded the controller with a 4W Sunhans amplifier and put an omnidirectional antenna at the top of my roof. It improved a bit, but as said, the drone was still emitting in CE, so didn't gain much.

Both the RC Pro and the Mavic 3 working on FCC emit at 2W, so there's no point in amplifying that any further IMO. Alientech are overkill basically, just finding a better spot with better line of sight is the way to go.

In resume, the best practice is to hack the drone to emit in FCC and just search a high spot with good line of sight (the top of a 100-250 m hill for example, or the top of the highest building around) and you'll have perfect connection at any distance/altitude.

With any DJI drone in FCC mode the bottleneck is not the signal, but the battery. My record with the M3 is 9040 m and back (with the RC-N1, wasn't even using the RC Pro), but just did it for testing purposes, my usual sweet spot is around 2.5 Km and the M3 with the RC Pro work perfectly at that range, you don't even have to point the controller at all under 500 m.

Any good tutorials on this?

Also I'm in the USA, would you guess my drone is already in FCC mode?

 

[Felix le Chat]

I've been doing a bit of research (both here and elsewhere) for range extension options. I've been pretty dissatisfied on the range with this Mavic 2 Zoom that I bought second hand, and can't seem to get the drone anywhere near its maximum flight range as per DJI official data. Also important to add that I fly in mostly urban environments.

First flight on Dual Band I achieved 1333m (before black screen and return home).

Second flight on 5.8GHz I achieved 1718m (before black screen and return home).

Not sure if either were just flukes, but regardless this is nowhere near 11mi (tested on friends Mavic 2 Pro and it probably went about 700m before black screen and return home).

In my research I've come across three things:

First: The Alientech Duo II as per this post: Upgrade to the ALIENTECH DUO II: Leave Beginner Mode Behind.
This seems like a good option, and gets some good feedback, but is pretty expensive and I'd like to weigh some options before dropping on this.

Second: I've found is this thread: What is the BEST range extender right now for Mavic 2 Zoom?
This particular thread discusses three options as far as I can tell:

- Titan drones "command case"
- 4 Hawks "retrofit kit"
- Dual SunHans 5.8GHz signal booster with Raptor XR passive antenna system.

Quite a lot of information here that, as a novice, I'm trying to get straight.

This thread is also 4 years old, so I would guess there would be quite a few updates since then.
I would appreciate any clarity on that stuff if it's still relevant.

Third: I found these little things on Amazon that go for $12.00: Amazon.com

No idea what to think about these. If they gave you 10% more range for $12.00 I would guess that would be worth it for a lot of folks.


Conclusion:

I'd like a solid solution and don't mind spending a bit of money ($400 is probably the top of my range here, but open to anything if it's great). I would be happy if I could even get to 5 out of the 11 miles that DJI describes.

Any information is appreciated and welcomed, thanks.

Two practical, low cost options. One active: the other passive.

Active: Drone-hacks have an 'FCC BOOST' option, this takes the transmitter up to the legal maximum in the USA (+30db).

Passive: Yagi-Uda slip-on antennas which shape the signal and reflect most of the backwash in the direction it should be going... towards the drone not backwards through you.

Parabolic dish reflectors may also contribute, but as with the Yagi-Uda antennas, the benefits will only be noticed if the controller is pointed directly towards the drone.

 

[Meta4]

If your going to be flying from inside your car or a Boat , than you really want the alien duo setup as I have.

It's hard to see how flying from inside a car would make any difference from flying out of the car.

How far away can you see the drone while setting in a car?

Being in or out of the car should make no difference to how far you can see.

 

[voip10]

Two practical, low cost options. One active: the other passive.

Active: Drone-hacks have an 'FCC BOOST' option, this takes the transmitter up to the legal maximum in the USA (+30db).

Passive: Yagi-Uda slip-on antennas which shape the signal and reflect most of the backwash in the direction it should be going... towards the drone not backwards through you.

Parabolic dish reflectors may also contribute, but as with the Yagi-Uda antennas, the benefits will only be noticed if the controller is pointed directly towards the drone.

Appreciate this, and I've ordered the Yagi-Uda antennae.

Could you direct me to proper information on the 'FCC BOOST' option. Would just like to get instructions from a good source on this since it involves downloading third party software and so on. Is there a go-to spot for this that's respected in the community?

 

[kentdavidge]

Appreciate this, and I've ordered the Yagi-Udi antennae.

Could you direct me to proper information on the 'FCC BOOST' option. Would just like to get instructions from a good source on this since it involves downloading third party software and so on. Is there a go-to spot for this that's respected in the community?

So I think I'm in a position to weigh in on the FCC boost. I bought a license/app from Drone-Hacks two days ago, however I requested a refund the same day because I found their App does not work with the latest Android version (and my phone is among the newest), and the devs do not have a date when it will be available. So if that is also your case, the App won't work.

By the way, Drone-Hacks is a good reputable team... I have no complaints about them (except they should inform people on their website that the App doesn't work with all phone models).

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I've been doing a bit of research (both here and elsewhere) for range extension options. I've been pretty dissatisfied on the range with this Mavic 2 Zoom that I bought second hand, and can't seem to get the drone anywhere near its maximum flight range as per DJI official data. Also important to add that I fly in mostly urban environments.

The purpose of this post is not to berate the OP, it is to hopefully help them avoid "uncomfortable conersations with the FAA" and or "a deep and possibly VERY deep cesspit"

Jeepers. Truthfully I am surprised that anyone would be dissatified with the contol range of either form of Mavic 2.
Qu 1) How far away do you want to send the drone?
Qu 2) Are you aware that DJI's testing is done in ideal conditiions?

The really important question is.
Qu 3) Are you aware that there are legal constraints on how far away you can send the drone? In the USA I think these are that you or your spottter MUST
1) be able to see the drone without the use of binoculars or a telescope etc. AND
2) determine its orientation.
Before anyone responds that the latter question is click bait, it is not.
Given RID in the USA, if the OP is discovered to be BVLOS they are opening themselves to an uncomfortable conersation with the FAA if not the possibility of prosecution.
God forbid that anything should happen during BVLOS but if it does and there are consequences for third parties then the OP is dropping themselves into a deep and possibly VERY deep cesspit right from the word go.

Even with an unobstructed view I would doubt anyone can see a naked Mavic 2 beyond 1000m. Strobes might help but it is my recollection that not by much and that, if you look away, it is still difficult to find the light-flash of even a Firehouse V at distance in an empty sky.
In an urban enviroment I suspect that VLOS range would be significantly reduced below that, because of obstructions to the line of sight.
At distance I would expect the line of sight to the drone to be near hortizontal i.e close buildings or trees that are under the track of the line of sight will block the line of sight UNLESS the drone is very high.
The OP cites two distances 1,333m and 1,718m. Assuming flight over horizontal ground and an AGL of 400ft, the line of sight's angle of elevation for 1333m is approximately 5.2 deg, for 1718m the angle drops to approximately 4 deg.

Outside of ideal conditions of DJI's testing, DJI's specs do not apply and I think that the expectation that they should be even approachable is completely unrealistic.
Flying a Mavic 2 from an urban area, I don't remember ever being dissatisfied with the reduced control range, it's part and parcel of the game. I will not fly the Mavic 2 or any other 'heavy' drone OVER an urban area, full stop.

All the above, said I understand the desire to ranges test a few times and have done so with my mavic 2 BUT ONLY over open sea where the drone was no threat to anyone or any property.
To be honest my courage failed whilst full signal strength was indicated and this is in a CE area.
This was also well below the the stated CE maximum control range.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Appreciate this, and I've ordered the Yagi-Udi antennae.

Could you direct me to proper information on the 'FCC BOOST' option. Would just like to get instructions from a good source on this since it involves downloading third party software and so on. Is there a go-to spot for this that's respected in the community?

The website drone-hacks.com has all necessary information, including a 'bird map' to determine what hacks work with what drone and firmware version. Been using their GUI for about 3 years for my Mavic 2's and it is a tweaked version of the official (original) DJI ASSISTANT with the developer console unlocked.

I bought a license: I installed the software: it has behaved itself impeccably for the last 3 years: I trust it.

Be aware... How well D-H works is determined by what drone you have.

Drone-hacks only works properly with DJI drones that have a fully functional SDK released for them. Support for drones since the Mavic 2 line is patchy, but the bird map will give you all the info you need.

The problem listed by Kentdavidge probably results from trying to use the D-H companion app installed onto his mobile device to unlock FCC mode on a flight-by-flight basis (correct me if I'm wrong), the FCC BOOST is activated through the D-H GUI loaded into your PC.

Addendum
I use FCC BOOST NOT for BVLOS flights, but to ensure a powerful and clear control signal in environments where a lot of background WiFi noise makes flying erratic or unpredictable.

 

[MS Coast]

Appreciate this, and I've ordered the Yagi-Udi antennae.

Could you direct me to proper information on the 'FCC BOOST' option. Would just like to get instructions from a good source on this since it involves downloading third party software and so on. Is there a go-to spot for this that's respected in the community?

If you're in the U.S., the drone is already operating at the maximum signal power level.