SC V1, Antennas up or down, 900GHZ vs 2.4GHZ

[Seakins]

Couple of questions,

1. Why should it matter if the antennas on the SC are pointed up vs down. I have heard that it's because they will hit the bracket on the back of the unit, but mine stop before hitting it in the down position. All pictures of the SC show the antennas in the up position, while the regular controller always show them in the down position when flying.

2. Did a little test yesterday flying the exact same route at 318 ft. Don't really know why 318 ft, but thats what it was. Anyway, 1st flight set the frequency to 900. Had the Antennas pointed down. No drops in video until 5600', screen froze, and I immediately changed the frequency to 2.4GHZ (it was still on 900). probably was coincidental, but just after the frequency change, "the remote control and aircraft have been disconnected" warning sounded. When video finally reappeared, the aircraft was already 900' on its way back to home.

3. Once it returned, I cancelled the RTH before it started it's decent, checked to make sure the frequency was 2.4GHZ (not Auto), flipped the Antennas up (why, I don't know) and flew the same route at the same altitude a second time. No drops in video until 5250' when it started to pixilate. Pressing on, the video stayed pixilated until just over 6108' when the screen froze. I kept waiting for the remote control and aircraft disconnected error to appear, finally it did. After what seemed like an extremely long time, (25 seconds) I pressed the RTH button. Immediately the "aircraft is coming home" sounded and the screen unfroze showing it had already flown over 1100' on its way back. Maybe because I didn't clear the screen warning about the disconnect, the screen did not update until I pressed the RTH button? Not sure, but the drone did what it was supposed to due and was on it's way back.

And before anyone comments only getting 5-6K feet with the SC, this is in a very populated area, but I am able to fly over open land next to probably 1000 homes (lots of interference) I have flown the same drone with the same SC down in Mexico 4 miles away down the beach, circled a friends home taking photos and video, back around (over a large mesa rock), then out over the water where I filmed rays playing with some fish. This drone is awesome.


So, did having the antennas up vs down affect the 10% increase in distance or was it the 2.4GHZ vs 900GHZ frequency. I really don't see why the antenna position should matter, and why up on the SC and down on the regular controller.



Anyone?

 

[Waldo Pepper]

Couple of questions,

1. Why should it matter if the antennas on the SC are pointed up vs down. I have heard that it's because they will hit the bracket on the back of the unit, but mine stop before hitting it in the down position. All pictures of the SC show the antennas in the up position, while the regular controller always show them in the down position when flying.

2. Did a little test yesterday flying the exact same route at 318 ft. Don't really know why 318 ft, but thats what it was. Anyway, 1st flight set the frequency to 900. Had the Antennas pointed down. No drops in video until 5600', screen froze, and I immediately changed the frequency to 2.4GHZ (it was still on 900). probably was coincidental, but just after the frequency change, "the remote control and aircraft have been disconnected" warning sounded. When video finally reappeared, the aircraft was already 900' on its way back to home.

3. Once it returned, I cancelled the RTH before it started it's decent, checked to make sure the frequency was 2.4GHZ (not Auto), flipped the Antennas up (why, I don't know) and flew the same route at the same altitude a second time. No drops in video until 5250' when it started to pixilate. Pressing on, the video stayed pixilated until just over 6108' when the screen froze. I kept waiting for the remote control and aircraft disconnected error to appear, finally it did. After what seemed like an extremely long time, (25 seconds) I pressed the RTH button. Immediately the "aircraft is coming home" sounded and the screen unfroze showing it had already flown over 1100' on its way back. Maybe because I didn't clear the screen warning about the disconnect, the screen did not update until I pressed the RTH button? Not sure, but the drone did what it was supposed to due and was on it's way back.

And before anyone comments only getting 5-6K feet with the SC, this is in a very populated area, but I am able to fly over open land next to probably 1000 homes (lots of interference) I have flown the same drone with the same SC down in Mexico 4 miles away down the beach, circled a friends home taking photos and video, back around (over a large mesa rock), then out over the water where I filmed rays playing with some fish. This drone is awesome.


So, did having the antennas up vs down affect the 10% increase in distance or was it the 2.4GHZ vs 900GHZ frequency. I really don't see why the antenna position should matter, and why up on the SC and down on the regular controller.



Anyone?

Probably the reason for the extra range was using 2.4ghz, placement of the antennas up or down at that short range probably has nothing to do with signal.

i agree, SmartController in an area with a lot of interference at 5-6k is still considerably good. Inference can greatly reduce signal, From my experience 2.4ghz will excel over 900GHz for range.

I keep my antennas pointed up with my SmartController V1, works for me.

Cool picture, beautiful ocean pic!
Paul

 

[Waldo Pepper]

What I do now, leave it in Auto and let the controller choose the strongest band. Sometimes It’ll start at 900GHz then switch to 2.4ghz. But going beyond that range you flew yours, eventually it’ll switch to 2.4ghz.

Congratulations with getting and enjoying your SmartController V1, I like mine too.

Paul

 

[SARty]

2. Did a little test yesterday flying the exact same route at 318 ft. Don't really know why 318 ft, but thats what it was. Anyway, 1st flight set the frequency to 900. Had the Antennas pointed down. No drops in video until 5600', screen froze, and I immediately changed the frequency to 2.4GHZ (it was still on 900). probably was coincidental, but just after the frequency change, "the remote control and aircraft have been disconnected" warning sounded. When video finally reappeared, the aircraft was already 900' on its way back to home.

I don't have an answer for you, but would suggest repeating your test at 2.4 with antennas down. In #2 above, you start out at 900.

Thanks for sharing what you've done so far.

 

[Seakins]

So today, repeated the same route with antennas down and frequency set to 2.4GHZ. Same altitude also. At 5200' paused to check the frequency, and low and behold it had changed to 900, even though I selected 2.4, not 900 or Auto prior to the flight. Changed it back to 2.4 and continued on until the screen grayed (lost video). I was able to continue until 6250' and then the aircraft initiated a RTH. So, I would have to say that for the 2.4GHZ frequency, neither up or down antenna seemed to make that much of a difference (6108 vs 6250). Strange that the aircraft changed to 900GHZ on its own during flight even though I had initially set it to 2.GHZ. Will try it locked to 900GHZ next time with antennas up.