Not sure what this guy is using to accomplish this fpv run but I have never seen anyone go that far off. He must have a huge battery and a super powerful transmitter. Looks like he is just running stock stuff from the beginning of the video but what do I know. Pretty entertaining anyway ;)
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I take that back... this one is even better
same guy... just posted yesterday.
this is the best one so far imo
There are a couple of times in the video where you see a "glitch" type movement. Maybe gusts, but maybe hand-offs.
I've seen the same type of glitch swithing from stab to loiter for instance.
Also, I still think that most of it, at least the close in stuff is FPV, as the quad adjusts to stay clear of trees and buildings.
So maybe parts are auto with RTL disabled and others are taken over from the ground.
I looked closely through this video and the other videos on this pilot's channel and there is a very brief scene in this one, (or one of them), where the copter films a short segment of a guy sitting up on a communications tower, (about halfway up the tower), probably about 150 to 200 feet up, maybe less, it's difficult to determine the height of his seated position as the lower portions of the tower assembly are not visible in the segment. Typically, in hilly and mountainous areas, (and in any situation where possible), telecommunications companies will seek to rent or purchase a small parcel of land to erect their communication towers on, that high-point parcel of land being the highest point found in the area. So the use of a tower in this area, the midway point of that tower, could be much higher.
If a ground support team member is working with the pilot, (sitting up in that tower), the team might be using a wide beam directional antenna that broadcasts and receives and then repeats, (that functions as a router or signal relay for the flight control unit and your bird), increasing the effectiveness of their position further by literally tracking the drone by hand and line of sight. Another antenna on that unit, (a directional antenna would be most effective), is pointed at the pilot on the ground who remains stationary and remains in the sweet-spot of that fixed directional antenna the ground crew support is using on the tower, (keeping the pilot connected to the drone).
When the drone is in range of the pilot, communications "switch" to direct communication, when the drone is out of range of the pilot's direct communications, the repeater then functions to service the communications.
Or it might be the pilot himself sitting on the tower, perhaps the video was taken in several sessions and edited together. But we do know that it appears that significant range is being generated in this video.
Some limitations include the drone's broadcast unit and antenna type, and its orientation, (if not omni-directional). Point a cantenna at any omni-directional broadcast and receive unit and the limitation is from the omni-directiona antenna. The omni-directional antenna is far more limited in its BROADCAST footprint. It can receive directional, powerful signals but it must be able to broadcast BACK to the repeater.
Both antenna must be directional and must maintain beam intersection at the face of the antenna for maximum range, wide beam is best and is very effective. There are latency issues with repeating 2.4Ghz spectrum signal, but these can be overcome with the right hardware and software tweaks. One could program the drone to maintain orientation to a wide beam directional antenna that is broadcasting to the drone and receiving from the drone, and the drone could then have a tight beam directional antenna, (mini-dish, yagi, cantenna or other), to point at the repeater station's wide, sweet beam target.
If using an omni-directional antenna on the drone one could extend that strategy by programming waypoints where the drone begins to proceed autonomously to some waypoint before falling out of range, and flies to this waypoint that is then within range of another repeater station's wide beam, (daisy chain of repeater stations), and reorients it's antenna to that repeater station. One could use both a directional antenna and an omni-directional antenna set on each repeater node. There are many redundant and fault tolerant signal chain configurations that can be made.
So one could use wide beam directional antennas on the repeater stations, and use a tighter beam solution on the drone, if a top notch antenna orientation package is on the drone. If a gust of wind hits your drone, the GPS coords for the repeater station need to fire and reorient the drone to its nearest repeater broadcast beam if it loses connectivity.
I think a daisy chain of "Router Copters" or "Repeater Copters", might be the most viable solution as they are simply flown into position and the daisy chain at any location is then established as long as there are enough high-points for the daisy chain to succeed. So small, relatively inexpensive drones could be used to establish a daisy chain, line of sight, repeater assembly across some significant area. Each repeater drone would need to fly the path of the daisy chain but would not necessarily need to have a directional antenna with automated orientation.
If one did not want to use directional antenna in this network, one could fly the repeater drones and land them, position them close enough together where their omni-directional antennas would be sufficient, and then your primary flight drone could then, "fly the chain", maintaining some maximum limit distance from any one of the repeater stations that would not then cause the drone to lose the connection to the pilot, and if the drone did lose connectivity, a waypoint fires to bring it back into signal range.
Ideally, I think we all might understand that a satellite link for the flight controlling remote unit and the drone would be ideal. But we ain't gonna get that, so we have to make do, and we will.
But then again, there are 40,000 members of the drone community registered at DIYdrones.com alone. If a crowd sourcing solution were launched, how much money would each person need to donate to then purchase and launch a satellite for our community's use? How much does the cheapest satellite cost that would specifically service the community's drones? Would private business get onboard along with the individuals in the community. Would China make us a deal? ;-) Pie and grist, dreams into the future of small business drone applications.
Perhaps a drone that delivers and drops off repeater stations, small, inexpensive, water tight repeater stations might be ideal, and then one could quickly set up the daisy chain, and "fly the chain". That might create a flight control corridor that is 1km wide, but could stretch for many, many miles. If an iPad can run its WiFi for 8 hours while a person is using the iPad, small repeater stations, dropped off by the drone might be the real trick.
But then again, the BATTERY range of the drone you would use to drop off the repeater stations, that's an issue.
And we are always coming back to battery range of the primary flight drone. If its range is limited, then the daisy chain would not be useful. So a depot, or re-fueling daisy chain, that's a consideration. Inexpensive, single purpose "Chain Copters" could be used to establish and maintain a daisy chain.
Informational: Some of the field studies using directional antennas for 2.4Ghz spectrum wireless, (internet connectivity and sharing), have achieved line of sight, tight beam, transmissions distances of 3 to 11 miles, and with advanced equipment and more powerful hardware and software broadcasting solutions, even further. Maintaining the positive orientation of two tight beam antenna over longer distances, (two cantenna), even when they are in a fixed position can be challenging.
As David Dewey discussed, repeater stations mounted in helium balloons are another good idea. Google is using balloons launched from New Zealand to provide internet services to disparate locations with great effectiveness.
It's all about frequencies, the lower the better.
As someone stated, Dragonlink will do a nice long range control, and at 433MHz will have good penetration.
We have achieved nearly 10km on video at 900MHz using direction patch antennas. Add a good diversity system and a stable FPV can be done over those distances with ease.
Of course, in this country anyway, those frequencies are NOT legal to use, and we would be struggling with available frequencies to achieve this.
But it is doable, Just don't get caught, and make sure your in a country that does not rigidly enforce these laws and, as has been said, track you down and jail you for reckless endangerment.
We really don't need any more news stories of people getting hit by multi copters, so think before you fly.
Phew! That's what I wanna' do!
What do you say, 2 mi. as the crow (UAV) flies. Not exactly clear line of sight though. He´s quite low. And he's definitely FPV and not auto, the way he dodges obstacles.
we are currently flying with dragon link 433mhz radio system and I have a number of long range flights at 350-400 foot altitude , the longest have been 3.7 miles and 4 miles to turn around on 8000mah pack
Even assuming the video is edited the flight is only 7 minutes and it never appears he goes more than about 1 mile a good 433mhz 2 watt system will easily cover those distances. Any of you guys fly back in the 27mhz and 72 mhz days? 2 miles los with 100 mw was acheivable
@Wessie - I should think this would constitute reckless endangerment in the US. So I wouldn't post a video that leads the FAA right to your door!
I love the music mixes, it tells us a lot about the pilot and his motivations, especially the lyrics of the songs he has selected.
Another thing is this guy hauls butt in this video, I always do waypoints real slow thinking I may save battery life, well maybe not :-)
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