Significantly lowered my Altitude to distance ratio of my drone by raising my antennas above the tree line.

[StevenBrodsky]

I recently bought an alientech antenna and attached it to my RC PRO flying a Mav 3E. I found the antenna to have great performance when flying below obstacles like tree lines and housing roof lines, but the lower altitude wasn't quite low enough for me. I wanted to figure out how I could actually land my drone without seeing it and take off again.

There is a large clear field to the west of my house. It's a site awaiting construction, but hasn't been touched in decades, except the entire field is mowed and there is a lake. It's fenced off and no one is allowed inside. I asked the owner if he didn't mind me practicing flying over it and even flying in it. He said gave the ok. But I wanted to test the limits of this alientech antenna. I wanted to see if I could land the drone in a field with a 300 ft wide swath of trees in the way.

So, I bought a 30ft painting pole and put an adapter on the top to which I could attach the alientech antenna. I also bought two 30 ft long cables that ran from the RC pro to the top of the painters pole and into the alientech antenna. I pointed it toward the field and into the 300 foot wide swath of trees.

And guess what, Because of the 30ft height of the actual antenna, I was able to land the drone in the field and take off again with only a moderate signal loss.

I was satisfied with the test. I have always found it annoying, when I couldn't lower my drone enough to get a clear crisp shot without having to zoom into something that is at ground level. I know it's not feasible, but If I could take that pole with me everywhere, it would certainly cut out all that ground clutter interference. To bad though, It's just too bulky. Who knows maybe I'll find some other use for it in the future.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Foliage, being chock full of water, is one of the best signal attenuators.

 

[mavic3usa]

O5, O6, and O7 are going to be nice; that's for sure.

 

[EyesWideShut]

I know it's not feasible, but If I could take that pole with me everywhere, it would certainly cut out all that ground clutter interference. To bad though, It's just too bulky.

If you could lessen the weight of that 30ft plus cable maybe you could use a secondary drone to act as a pole and lift the antenna to the height you want when needed. Wonder what gauge of wire and configuration is needed for the low power RC Pro transmission?

BTW: now your antenna is a tethered motorized flying object...

 

[EssenYVR]

If you could lessen the weight of that 30ft plus cable maybe you could use a secondary drone to act as a pole and lift the antenna to the height you want when needed.

It seems like there's a market for a drone that could act as a signal relay - launch it up above you and let it hover there to relay signals between your controller and another drone.

Not sure about how the regs would apply to flying two drones simultaneously. But they'd probably get you on line-of-sight requirements, since the only reason you'd need to use one is if it's not in visual line of sight.

 

[Droning on and on...]

It seems like there's a market for a drone that could act as a signal relay - launch it up above you and let it hover there to relay signals between your controller and another drone.

Not sure about how the regs would apply to flying two drones simultaneously. But they'd probably get you on line-of-sight requirements, since the only reason you'd need to use one is if it's not in visual line of sight.

Not possible for a recreational pilot.

Regardless, the VLOS requirement makes this moot. If you can see your drone, your RC can too.

 

[StevenBrodsky]

It seems like there's a market for a drone that could act as a signal relay - launch it up above you and let it hover there to relay signals between your controller and another drone.

Not sure about how the regs would apply to flying two drones simultaneously. But they'd probably get you on line-of-sight requirements, since the only reason you'd need to use one is if it's not in visual line of sight.

I've seen product diagrams of drones being used as relays. I think it was military though. They can line up 4 drones and have a fifth flying 30 miles away , while the pilot receives and sends commands through the chain of drones.