AG0N-Gary
Captain
Flight distance : 700846 ft
United States
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PolarProSupport Posted at 2018-1-10 17:17
@ AG0N-Gary The specific physics behind the wave patterns and how the metal in the phone (or the Mavic controller, given that also has metal parts) affects them are a little outside the scope of my knowledge, but for practical purposes the position of the phone on the controller has no effect on the communication between the controller and drone. We have had no instances of folks contacting us about signal strength, range, or other communication issues when using the Mavic Phone Mount, regardless of antenna position. This is a fairly popular mount, so if it affected something as critical as the RF signal it is likely someone would have reached out by now.
That said, if you are ultimately still concerned, we would recommend foregoing this particular mount. Personal preference definitely plays an important role in picking out new equipment, and we would rather you be comfortable with any gear you do pick up.
@ AG0N-Gary The specific physics behind the wave patterns and how the metal in the phone (or the Mavic controller, given that also has metal parts) affects them are a little outside the scope of my knowledge
Sorry if it came off strong, but I've been around RF for almost 60 years. All of that time, I've been an amateur radio operator, around 40 years in broadcast engineering, and several years in commercial 2-way radio, as well as radar maintenance in the service. I'm not an antenna design engineer, but I do know enough about antennas and things that influence directionality to know that you can't put the metal cased phone that close to and parallel with the sides of the antenna (where the radiation is), at that frequency, without having effect. I'm not going to say it isn't going to work at all, but it WILL have effect on the pattern of the antennas on the controller, possibly a negative one. Until you use NEC software to model the whole package, we don't know.
but for practical purposes the position of the phone on the controller has no effect on the communication between the controller and drone.
The Mavic controller is going to have much less effect on the pattern because it is at one end of the antenna, not in the main radiation pattern like the phone would be when mounted up there with your mount. I'm not saying it won't work, but the chances of it distorting the pattern are very high. There will be plenty of stray signal escaping the reflecting surface of the back of the phone, but where most of it goes is anyone's guess without measuring the field.
We have had no instances of folks contacting us about signal strength, range, or other communication issues when using the Mavic Phone Mount, regardless of antenna position. This is a fairly popular mount, so if it affected something as critical as the RF signal it is likely someone would have reached out by now.
That's not surprising at all. It isn't going to kill the signal completely, but could have effect on the symmetry of the pattern. Look how the reflective parabolas work with the antennas. They have a fairly specific shape, and are spaced a certain distance from the antenna in order to warp the radiation pattern in the desired direction, toward the drone from the controller antenna. While I doubt that the people putting out these parabolic reflectors have actually engineered the proper distance from the antennas and the proper parabolic arc for that distance, it doesn't have to be perfect to improve things. In the same way, the phone in close proximity of the parallel side of the antenna can have a negative effect on the signal. It might not be enough to kill the signal, but it might decrease the strength of the signal going directly from the antenna to the drone antennas.
That said, if you are ultimately still concerned, we would recommend foregoing this particular mount. Personal preference definitely plays an important role in picking out new equipment, and we would rather you be comfortable with any gear you do pick up.
Absolutely. The fact that it keeps the antennas from being put perpendicular to the drone direction is enough to keep me away from it. All said, though, I use my iPad to fly. I don't know if your mount will hold one, but it would have even more effect than a phone would. Also, the mount I use allows me to use a strap to hang around my neck in a position that I can readily reach and see both screen very easily.
Sorry for dragging everyone off on a siding, but I was merely trying to counter one of your statements that I strongly disagree with, that the placement of the phone will have no effect on the communication between the controller and the drone. I know it will. I just don't now how much it will or will it be positive or negative? Will it be 1%, 5%, 10%, or even 25%? I don't know, and I don't have the equipment to measure it.
Thanks for the discussion, Oliver. Love the filters!
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