Reflector for antennae?

[KurtpH]

When deciding in the Stone Age of a year ago to buy a drone, I settled on the Mavic Air and Fly More Combo, then found more gizmos on one sales site on Amazon and got sucked in by the extra offerings of Sure RC. Maybe of questionable value, maybe not. I just found this in the bin of my stuff. It was part of the original deal. As anyone used these, do they work at all? See photos.

 

[Meta4]

As anyone used these, do they work at all?

If they work as well as mine, they are fantastic.

 

[lannes]

The only way to tell is to try them.

 

[zeusfl]

They really works well specially for the cost. I guess reflectors are the best performance per value.

 

[KurtpH]

If they work as well as mine, they are fantastic.

Have you noted an improvement in distance you can fly, or decreased “low signal strength” warnings?

 

[Meta4]

Have you noted an improvement in distance you can fly, or decreased “low signal strength” warnings?

They maintain good signal strength at distance, significantly more than without using them.

 

[KurtpH]

They maintain good signal strength at distance, significantly more than without using them.

I guess I’ll try it then. I was actually frightened that it would mess with my transmission. Thank you!!

 

[icecoldgin]

The engineering and science behind these parabolics is logical

 

[KurtpH]

The engineering and science behind these parabolics is logical

I was only frightened that I would have to really pay attention to pointing towards the drone. Sometimes I get absent minded and frozen in one position, looking at my monitor, and I thought , “what would happen if it went way off to the left and I was pointing to the right? Or if it went up and I was pointing flat?”

 

[lannes]

I was only frightened that I would have to really pay attention to pointing towards the drone. Sometimes I get absent minded and frozen in one position, looking at my monitor, and I thought , “what would happen if it went way off to the left and I was pointing to the right? Or if it went up and I was pointing flat?”

The drone woould loose signal and automatically initiate a RTH, which you can turn off when the signal returns.
You need to make sure the home point has been set correctly on take-off and verify it on the map.

 

[vindibona1]

I just watched a video (Drone Valley, I think) who explained the concept of the reflectors...
As he explained it, a lot of the signal from the antennae goes backwards as well as forwards. The reflector captures much of that backwards directional signal and refects it forwards towards your drone. The parabolic reflectors, shape the signal, so it narrows it as it pushes it more forward. The Yagi extenders (they look like old miniture TV antennas) use a different engineering principal, which provides a narrower but somewhat stronger beam. The Drone Valley guy (an engineer) says they two types work well together if used simultaneously. After watching the video I bought one of the parabolics.

He did go on to say that using them in a "legal" way they help maintain signal strength, and while they can help you push your drone further, in most cases, than without them, we're supposed to follow the rules and keep our drones within VLOS. To be real, I'm not sure if maintaining 100% VLOS practical all the time. I try to keep my drone within my sight, but it's hard to avoid it from being eclipses by tall trees, either momentarily or for extended periods, even though you may be less than 100 meters away from it. I dunno... They're cheap. I just paid $9 for the one I got this week (after watching the video). Haven't had an opportunity to test it yet. 25mph+ gusts here the last couple of days.
Parabolic range extender