Marco Polo Tracking System waterproof vs non?

[nutsnbolts]

I'm looking to pulling the trigger for one of these. I'm debating whether to go with the waterproof vs the non waterproof version.

Design wise I know there is a difference with the attenna but not sure the about the size difference.

Any thoughts with going with one over the other?

 

[lisadoc]

Here's my answer to your question:
Attaching Marco Polo Tracker to Mavic

 

[nutsnbolts]

Thanks for that and here I thought I have gone through all the posts about the Marco Polo Tracking system. I must've missed that specific post.

In either case thanks again and my next question was going to be justifying waterproof version.

 

[msinger]

Design wise I know there is a difference with the attenna but not sure the about the size difference

Here are the dimensions of both trackers:

Ultralight Marco Polo Tracker:

• Height: 2 in. (51 mm)
• Width: 0.86 in. (22 mm)
• Depth: 0.45 in. (11.5 mm)
• Weight: 0.42 oz. (12 g)

Waterproof Marco Polo Tracker:

• Height: 2 in. (51 mm)
  
• Width: 1.375 in. (35 mm)
• Depth: 0.75 in. (19 mm)
• Weight: 0.8 oz. (23 g)

 

[Doug Lare]

I bought the waterproof one, in the hopes that if I do drown my Mavic (I hike a lot, especially along creeks and rivers), it'll transmit long enough for me to locate my Mavic. Also, at the time I bought mine, they were both the same price. I have tried it out, testing it, it performs well, hopefully it'll work if I need it. I mount mine over the front, over the camera. Not going to be hit by the blades. Doesn't appear to affect flight or time of the flights

 

[wytnyt]

would you take your computer outside and operate it in the rain?
the mavic has similiar components in it that does not like being wet
i have 2 marco polo's [not weather proof] so the regular mp is all thats needed for me

 

[wytnyt]

I bought the waterproof one, in the hopes that if I do drown my Mavic (I hike a lot, especially along creeks and rivers), it'll transmit long enough for me to locate my Mavic. Also, at the time I bought mine, they were both the same price. I have tried it out, testing it, it performs well, hopefully it'll work if I need it. I mount mine over the front, over the camera. Not going to be hit by the blades. Doesn't appear to affect flight or time of the flights

in water frequencies cannot be transmitted,even 1 inch of water will stop it from transmitting.

 

[Doug Lare]

in water frequencies cannot be transmitted,even 1 inch of water will stop it from transmitting.

True. Actually, I guess I wrote that poorly. I tend to fly along the edges of rivers, in tall grassy areas, marshy, shallow creeks. If it goes completely under water, it's gone, if not a shallow creek. But in a marshy area, I'm hopeful it'll be recoverable

 

[lightbg]

I bought the waterproof one for two reasons.

1 I like the antenna placement better than the lightweight one.

2 I have a beagle. (If you have one, you know why)

Jake

 

[Tim Crabtree]

The main advantages of the waterproof "Advanced" Marco Polo vs the "Ultralight" are; IP67 waterproofing, clip-in mounting system that allows you to easily remove it for charging or to move to another drone and a crush-resistant polycarbonate case that will protect the tracker in the event of a direct impact in a crash. The Ultralight is smaller and lighter and fits on drones as small as a Spark. Both have the same range and battery life. There are some great examples of mounting both types of tags on this forum, just search for Marco Polo Mounting.

Regarding the need for waterproofing, if you were flying a Matrice 200, which has an ingress protection rating of 43 and a payload capacity of over 5 lbs., you definitely wouldn't want to save the $15 or the 0.6 oz. of additional weight and NOT get the Advanced tracking tag! For the Mavic Pro, it is not quite so clear. The most frequent story I have heard is guys having a fly-away late in the day and having to come back to search after it rained overnight. If the tracking tag is not functional then you are much less likely to find your rig, even though it may be in pretty good shape after a light rain.

Regarding transmitting from under the water, it is not quite as bad as you may think. We have done testing and found that, in freshwater, there is about 24dB of signal loss for each 6 inches of submersion. What this computes to in terms of range is that 6" of submersion will reduce the open field range from a maximum of 2 miles to about 1/3 mile, at 18 inches of submersion you may get about 400 feet of range and the depth at which you would have to be standing right over the drone to get a signal is about 4 feet. So, underwater recovery is possible - if it is not too deep. What salvage value to drone has is another story but, in some cases, just getting the SD card back may be worth getting wet.

 

[Doug Lare]

The main advantages of the waterproof "Advanced" Marco Polo vs the "Ultralight" are; IP67 waterproofing, clip-in mounting system that allows you to easily remove it for charging or to move to another drone and a crush-resistant polycarbonate case that will protect the tracker in the event of a direct impact in a crash. The Ultralight is smaller and lighter and fits on drones as small as a Spark. Both have the same range and battery life. There are some great examples of mounting both types of tags on this forum, just search for Marco Polo Mounting.

Regarding the need for waterproofing, if you were flying a Matrice 200, which has an ingress protection rating of 43 and a payload capacity of over 5 lbs., you definitely wouldn't want to save the $15 or the 0.6 oz. of additional weight and NOT get the Advanced tracking tag! For the Mavic Pro, it is not quite so clear. The most frequent story I have heard is guys having a fly-away late in the day and having to come back to search after it rained overnight. If the tracking tag is not functional then you are much less likely to find your rig, even though it may be in pretty good shape after a light rain.

Regarding transmitting from under the water, it is not quite as bad as you may think. We have done testing and found that, in freshwater, there is about 24dB of signal loss for each 6 inches of submersion. What this computes to in terms of range is that 6" of submersion will reduce the open field range from a maximum of 2 miles to about 1/3 mile, at 18 inches of submersion you may get about 400 feet of range and the depth at which you would have to be standing right over the drone to get a signal is about 4 feet. So, underwater recovery is possible - if it is not too deep. What salvage value to drone has is another story but, in some cases, just getting the SD card back may be worth getting wet.

Thank you for the clarification. That is more in line with what I understood. Hoping I never have to test range under water. I bought it as an insurance policy, of sorts. As you said, the SD card is the primary interest for retrieval. Mavic under water is probably toast.

 

[wytnyt]

The main advantages of the waterproof "Advanced" Marco Polo vs the "Ultralight" are; IP67 waterproofing, clip-in mounting system that allows you to easily remove it for charging or to move to another drone and a crush-resistant polycarbonate case that will protect the tracker in the event of a direct impact in a crash. The Ultralight is smaller and lighter and fits on drones as small as a Spark. Both have the same range and battery life. There are some great examples of mounting both types of tags on this forum, just search for Marco Polo Mounting.

Regarding the need for waterproofing, if you were flying a Matrice 200, which has an ingress protection rating of 43 and a payload capacity of over 5 lbs., you definitely wouldn't want to save the $15 or the 0.6 oz. of additional weight and NOT get the Advanced tracking tag! For the Mavic Pro, it is not quite so clear. The most frequent story I have heard is guys having a fly-away late in the day and having to come back to search after it rained overnight. If the tracking tag is not functional then you are much less likely to find your rig, even though it may be in pretty good shape after a light rain.

Regarding transmitting from under the water, it is not quite as bad as you may think. We have done testing and found that, in freshwater, there is about 24dB of signal loss for each 6 inches of submersion. What this computes to in terms of range is that 6" of submersion will reduce the open field range from a maximum of 2 miles to about 1/3 mile, at 18 inches of submersion you may get about 400 feet of range and the depth at which you would have to be standing right over the drone to get a signal is about 4 feet. So, underwater recovery is possible - if it is not too deep. What salvage value to drone has is another story but, in some cases, just getting the SD card back may be worth getting wet.

good to know,thx

 

[nutsnbolts]

Honestly for me I just want to be able to find the drone functioning or not. I don't want a non waterproof Marco Polo hinder me for whatever reason hence debating whether I need one or not but looking at the price difference it seems like a no brainer, however I guess it comes down to size and mounting options and really the situations that the drone may be in. But in the end I see how the waterproof can protect it from rain if you can't get to it that day but I prefer not to wait and find it at all cost in minimal time.

 

[SailorDan]

Old post, but I stumbled here looking for the same info and want to contribute for future lurkers like me

Most of my flying is in a dry environment - minimal chance of a crash in water where retrieval is an option. Despite this I'm leaning towards the water proof sensor because of this -

crush-resistant polycarbonate case that will protect the tracker in the event of a direct impact in a crash

The tracking system is worthless if the sensor breaks. I think the extra cost is worth the increase in sensor survivability. I don't see any cons.

 

[Tim Crabtree]

Old post, but I stumbled here looking for the same info and want to contribute for future lurkers like me

Most of my flying is in a dry environment - minimal chance of a crash in water where retrieval is an option. Despite this I'm leaning towards the water proof sensor because of this -



The tracking system is worthless if the sensor breaks. I think the extra cost is worth the increase in sensor survivability. I don't see any cons.

Right. I think the only negative reviews we have ever received were from customers that lost a drone and couldn't get a signal from the tracker until they were right on top of it. In both cases the tag transceiver was damaged in the crash. If you are flying a Spark or a racing drone then you don't really have much of a choice but to go with the Ultralight tag but if you are flying anything much larger then the "Advanced" or waterproof version is the way to go. It is like a commercial airliner black box, it may well be the only thing still working at the crash site. I can't say that it is absolutely indestructible though. We did get one Advanced tag back for repair with internal damage even though the case was intact. I called the guy to find out how that happened and he said it was on a high-powered rocket where the chute failed to deploy. It hit in a dry river bed (i.e. a rock) at what he figured was about 250 MPH. Short of that, it is pretty darn tough.

 

[Mavhawk]

The main advantages of the waterproof "Advanced" Marco Polo vs the "Ultralight" are; IP67 waterproofing, clip-in mounting system that allows you to easily remove it for charging or to move to another drone and a crush-resistant polycarbonate case that will protect the tracker in the event of a direct impact in a crash. The Ultralight is smaller and lighter and fits on drones as small as a Spark. Both have the same range and battery life. There are some great examples of mounting both types of tags on this forum, just search for Marco Polo Mounting.

Regarding the need for waterproofing, if you were flying a Matrice 200, which has an ingress protection rating of 43 and a payload capacity of over 5 lbs., you definitely wouldn't want to save the $15 or the 0.6 oz. of additional weight and NOT get the Advanced tracking tag! For the Mavic Pro, it is not quite so clear. The most frequent story I have heard is guys having a fly-away late in the day and having to come back to search after it rained overnight. If the tracking tag is not functional then you are much less likely to find your rig, even though it may be in pretty good shape after a light rain.

Regarding transmitting from under the water, it is not quite as bad as you may think. We have done testing and found that, in freshwater, there is about 24dB of signal loss for each 6 inches of submersion. What this computes to in terms of range is that 6" of submersion will reduce the open field range from a maximum of 2 miles to about 1/3 mile, at 18 inches of submersion you may get about 400 feet of range and the depth at which you would have to be standing right over the drone to get a signal is about 4 feet. So, underwater recovery is possible - if it is not too deep. What salvage value to drone has is another story but, in some cases, just getting the SD card back may be worth getting wet.

I'm jazzed about reading this. I just lost or misplaced my regular tag for Marco Polo at a nice playground I fly at near home. I had it velcored on the top of Mavic Pro, but either I lost it in flight, or accidentally left it near a back stop I put my accessories at while flying nearby. At any rate, I didn't realize I lost it or left it there until 8 or 9 days later. I went back with my tracker but couldn't get a signal from the tag. During that 8 or 9 days it rained an inch and some guy told me the playground was flooded. I'm thinking it may still be out there but had gotten ruined by the rain. Sooooooo,,,,,, I'm strongly considering the advanced waterproof tag. Great to hear that you actually get some signal under water. That way, by doing a "grid search", you'd have a good chance of finding it. Thanks for doing that test. Marc.