I’m curious how far can I go with for example a crosshair extreme patch and a mushroom v2 if my Vtx is tbs and turned up to 800mw on 5.8?

  I’ve ventured out a bit and go out a bit further in each trip flying out.
My break up in video happens on the way back and I’m guessing that’s normal?

  If I’m out pushing the range of video is there any clues you’re flying out of video range using analog?

 Maybe I should use a gps??

Sky04x/rapidmix
Unify 5v 800mw

So far I’ve gone 3km on crappy antennas and placement

I can probably go much further but I’m tracer

Yes please use gps.
Worst performance on the way back it's normal if you have the antennas on the back of the quad. At 800mw you can go several kms but there many variables to account. Just push it slowly and get a gps.

Agree with pushing it slowly as you have a lot to learn about your quad.

Control link limits, Video limits, when to turn back, what’s you backup plan if you lose signal, battery management, optimal altitude vs distance, throttle management, interpreting flight telemetry, wind effects, etc.

breakup on the way back sounds like an antenna placement issue. provide a picture please :-)

do you use crossfire?

(05-Apr-2021, 12:40 PM)hugnosed_bat Wrote: breakup on the way back sounds like an antenna placement issue. provide a picture please :-)

do you use crossfire?

I’m using XF nano.
I’ll post a pic when I get home.

Antenna is true rc long stem and my nano is right on top of tbs vtx pro HV.Im using VAS patch and Omni mushroom.
I’m using HW G3 stack with the 12 volt bec powering the camera and vtx.I tried vbatt but I think 12 volts bec is a bit cleaner.
I’m running 4S and the cap that comes with G3 stack.
I have noticed where I have been flying there are trees in my antenna paths in some directions and if I fly in one direction where the path is more clear a much noticeable difference in range and especially video clarity.
The path that is free of obstacles also is in the direction my patch points.Im actually kind of impressed how far I get such a clean video so far away.
The direction that is more clear is up hill from where I stand if that makes any difference.There is a big hay field a kilometer away maybe 1.5 and I can fly close to the ground and still get clean video,but in the directions where trees are in antenna path I have to stay above tree line or fuzz and breakup.
I’ll post pictures here in a few my tablet with ability to post pictures is charging.

trees does give video feed interferences even if flown above them.
to fly behind a treegroup, you would need 1,3ghz videolink.

(05-Apr-2021, 12:40 PM)hugnosed_bat Wrote: breakup on the way back sounds like an antenna placement issue. provide a picture please :-)

do you use crossfire?

 Here’s a few pictures.
The radio receiver is right on top of vtx.3M sticky with zip ties holding both to aluminum frame .
 I’m basically just trying to get an idea of behavior and an idea of what range to expect out of 5.8.

your descriptions sounds normal for analog video. your quads antenna placement looks okish, nice long antenna. im not sure, the angle of it is a bit high, is it probably covered by the whole quad if you fly back to you?
you could test that if you fly the quad faraway on a lower level than you and in a second flight in a higher attitude to compare.

(05-Apr-2021, 07:35 PM)Rob3ddd Wrote:  Here’s a few pictures.
The radio receiver is right on top of vtx.3M sticky with zip ties holding both to aluminum frame .
 I’m basically just trying to get an idea of behavior and an idea of what range to expect out of 5.8.

I think your setup is ok and what you are seeing in traditional analog breakup on the way back which for me is usually the case flying towards myself on the way back.

If you are planning on pushing range straight ahead of you then instead of an omni and a patch, you could improve video using two identical patches but you need to ensure these are always pointing towards the quad.

I've found two only patches beneficial if I'm using rapid fire or fusion as it gives you a blended image of the two signals. With an omni there's not a lot of image to blend at a distance. Traditional diversity setting fixes that with rapid fire, fusion likely has similar.
Two patches can also help to broaden the coverage but the range is generally the same. Just easier to get a clean image if your having trouble aiming with your head while flying.

Keep a 1.3 to 1.5 distance to height ratio helps immensely to get you above the trees and ground interference. Also be conscience of the antenna orientation, theres nulls directly above and below the antenna thought the plane of coaxial. If your antenna is angled too far backwards the nulls point above and behind and below and in front. Fine when your flying away but when you turn home that can put the lower null pointed right at your position. Too short an antenna can also be blocked by the quad frame / battery causing interference right at the antenna. Bckground Rf can be a huge cause of range reduction, a quality receiver will have better filters to reduce the noise but it will not cure that issue.

I like to have the radio antenna up front if possible. That way when you turn around your signal improves.

(05-Apr-2021, 09:57 PM)hugnosed_bat Wrote: your descriptions sounds normal for analog video. your quads antenna placement looks okish, nice long antenna. im not sure, the angle of it is a bit high, is it probably covered by the whole quad if you fly back to you?
you could test that if you fly the quad faraway on a lower level than you and in a second flight in a higher attitude to compare.

Is better to have it at a lower angle then? What about if it lays flat/horizontal?

(10-Apr-2021, 06:24 AM)Antek55 Wrote: Is better to have it at a lower angle then? What about if it lays flat/horizontal?

You want the video antenna at an angle so that when you are flying forward where the quad will be tilted, the antenna will end up in a vertical position. You definitely don't want it coming horizontally out of the quad. It is all to do with the "doughnut" beam shape of an omnidirectional antenna. All of the signal is coming out from the sides of the antenna with nothing from the top and bottom (those areas are called NULL transmission points of the beam where there is no signal), so if you have either the top or bottom of the antenna pointing directly at you, you will get no signal which is obviously bad.

https://www.mpantenna.com/omnidirectiona...n-patterns

Antenna angle is less important for freestyle and racing quads because the quad is forever changing orientation and direction, but for long range where you are generally just flying straight, the antenna position to get it vertical and high up above the frame is far more critical.