I flew my Phantom 3A as far as it would go and then attached the range extender which seemed to give me about 1000 more feet of range. I know there are a lot of variables involved, but it definitely helped.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBuy7BsOIPU&t=33s

  

Hi, thanks for sharing your story here. We would recommend maintaining the VLOS while flying drone and keep abiding by your local policies to have a peaceful flight. Thank you for continued support and always have a safe flight.

Cool! Thanks for sharing!

DJI Tony Posted at 1-4 16:16
Hi, thanks for sharing your story here. We would recommend maintaining the VLOS while flying drone and keep abiding by your local policies to have a peaceful flight. Thank you for continued support and always have a safe flight.

Believe it or not I was able to see it most of the way out until it got at an angle above the tree line. Then I lost it in the sky. Even when it was right above me, it is very hard to see because of the Sun. I did however hear it and no that it was just above me.

I know a lot of guys who use the litchi app and send their Phantoms on missions. That seems crazy to me. I would be scared to fly it further than the transmitter can transmit and hope the software brings it on its Mission and back. I only know one guy who sent his Phantom out on a mission along the coast over the ocean only to have it not return. Have no idea what happened to it. He was very bummed :-)

Nice . Thanks for sharing

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Cool, that was interesting.

RedHotPoker

Aloha PJ,

     Yes, Parabolics are great for improving signals both for distance and penetration.  Below is a link to a thread I started a few years ago that showed how well parabolics penetrate the jungle.

https://forum.dji.com/thread-60563-1-1.html

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetacean Posted at 1-5 03:57
Aloha PJ,

     Yes, Parabolics are great for improving signals both for distance and penetration.  Below is a link to a thread I started a few years ago that showed how well parabolics penetrate the jungle.

That was cool and brave to put her down in the clearing. Not to bad a hike if you had loss signal.

photojunky Posted at 1-5 08:56
That was cool and brave to put her down in the clearing. Not to bad a hike if you had loss signal.

Aloha PJ,

     Good you noticed that I do not have "STUPID" written across my forehead!  That clearing is almost right next door and as noted, a close walk.  My neighbor has a 26 acre Botanical Garden and it is an amazing drone playground.  Then there are the Pali (cliff in Hawai'ian).  We can go 1640 feet up the cliff for our flights.  Beautiful views of Kahalu'u!

     BTW, did you notice the many ways in my thread that you can orient the Parabolics to improve communication and image quality for the Live View?

     I hope you have many good flights in the New Year!

Aloha and Drone On!

HI, i get mixed responses when i have tried them,  in the past, some days the seem to make a difference, other days none, that was when i was going through my trial of them and trying to see how far, well max in  fcc mode over wide open country, no houses or trees just various types of field was (in foreign money) 16,000ft,  or  4877m, brought her back home, changed the battery and took the para's off and sent her back out and guess what, i got 4877m again, this was done on a cold and sunny morning with no wind at all, other days when i have had a play with them they seem to add another 500m,  they were cloudy days and never near the 4877m i got on that clear day, i find they do work best or show their best when im in CE mode. I dont know, i dont know what to say about them,  i deffo made sure they were pointing correctly cause i would move the controller ever so slightly trying to get a better signal.....

Bashy Posted at 1-5 19:59
HI, i get mixed responses when i have tried them,  in the past, some days the seem to make a difference, other days none, that was when i was going through my trial of them and trying to see how far, well max in  fcc mode over wide open country, no houses or trees just various types of field was (in foreign money) 16,000ft,  or  4877m, brought her back home, changed the battery and took the para's off and sent her back out and guess what, i got 4877m again, this was done on a cold and sunny morning with no wind at all, other days when i have had a play with them they seem to add another 500m,  they were cloudy days and never near the 4877m i got on that clear day, i find they do work best or show their best when im in CE mode. I dont know, i dont know what to say about them,  i deffo made sure they were pointing correctly cause i would move the controller ever so slightly trying to get a better signal.....

Aloha Bashy,

     The interesting commonality of your experience is you are getting max distance with and without Parabolics.  My experiences have been to not get max distance generally and I can only get close to max distance with Parabolics.

     Others have reported flight experiences like yours.  I wonder if they also were getting max distance?

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetacean Posted at 1-5 03:57
Aloha PJ,

     Yes, Parabolics are great for improving signals both for distance and penetration.  Below is a link to a thread I started a few years ago that showed how well parabolics penetrate the jungle.

Thanks Cetacean,  I need to source a pair of extenders by the looks of things.
Cheers

Manxmann Posted at 1-6 01:06
Thanks Cetacean,  I need to source a pair of extenders by the looks of things.
Cheers

Aloha Manx,

     I just ordered a couple from HeliPal through Amazon that are the hinged type.  But look at the middle of the thread below to see different ways of using Parabolics that show an advantage for not getting the hinged type.  But then, you can always take out the pin of the hinged type and use each parabolic separately.  (They clip back together easily when needed.)

https://forum.dji.com/thread-60563-1-1.html

     They will definitely help you get out a couple miles or more for some Live View flying.  There are many different brands in the 10-15 US Dollar range and that is often with free shipping.  I even got some for my Mavic Air!

Aloha and Drone On!

I should have been looking to get closer to the 7km as advertised for the P4P in FCC mode though or at least over 5km. I have bought the silver version that i am still yet to try out, hopefully soon

I also feel they can be a real pain in the rear, well, deffo for the P4P controller,

1, they are a tiny bit too heavy, so if you, for what every reason, allow the controller to sit in such a way that the para's point down a little, then thats too much for the antennas and they drop horizontally, this in turn makes the slid off, at the very least,  out of the top holes because theres not much antenna left (obvious reasons) i fixed that though with a tiny mound of super glue, now they slid on ans stay on tll i remove them.

2, another issue is, you cant have the antennas  fully back towards you, ie    <--- / instead they have to be <---I  and you have to tilt the controller more then appears natural,

3, 1 more,  and thats fitment, they so so very hard to fit when you are setup and ready to fly, i.e if they come come circle back to point 1

Cetacean Posted at 1-6 14:02
Aloha Manx,

     I just ordered a couple from HeliPal through Amazon that are the hinged type.  But look at the middle of the thread below to see different ways of using Parabolics that show an advantage for not getting the hinged type.  But then, you can always take out the pin of the hinged type and use each parabolic separately.  (They clip back together easily when needed.)

It looks like Amazon (amazingly) have them in stock in Oz !  About $12-50.

Cetacean Posted at 1-6 14:02
Aloha Manx,

     I just ordered a couple from HeliPal through Amazon that are the hinged type.  But look at the middle of the thread below to see different ways of using Parabolics that show an advantage for not getting the hinged type.  But then, you can always take out the pin of the hinged type and use each parabolic separately.  (They clip back together easily when needed.)

Oh,  sorry Cetacean,  that's the foldable variety.......

Manxmann Posted at 1-7 00:23
Oh,  sorry Cetacean,  that's the foldable variety.......

Aloha Manx,

     The independent variety may no longer be available.  You can always remove the pin of the hinged ones so they can be independent.  I was even tempted to shave off the hinges of the recent ones I got for a second set but I decided I would try the hinges and see how they do first.

     In response to what Bashy said about weight issues, never ignore the benefits of magic tape.  I use clear or magic tape to hold almost everything when there are issues.  Clear or magic office tape is light-weight and has just the right amount of stickiness to work for our needs.  Still yet, you need to keep checking the orientation of your antennae.  I wish DJI had a tightening system on them.

     That said, Parabolics do create and receive a much more direct signal that requires that you keep the antennae oriented correctly.  Within 100-200 feet or so, there is not too much of a problem but out there at 500 feet and beyond, not having the antennae oriented enough toward the bird can cause a loss of signal and surprise - RTH!

Aloha and Drone On!

Bashy Posted at 1-6 20:59
I should have been looking to get closer to the 7km as advertised for the P4P in FCC mode though or at least over 5km. I have bought the silver version that i am still yet to try out, hopefully soon  

I also feel they can be a real pain in the rear, well, deffo for the P4P controller,

Aloha Bashy,

     Your superglue idea is a good one.  I might give that a try.  I recently got the gel version of superglue again so it will make a blob real well!  For some reason it is hard to get the gel version.

     Another option that you might try is magic or clear office tape.  It is lightweight, thin and has just the right amount of stickiness for our needs.  I use it all the time for my Phantoms and controllers.

     Mahalo for the help!

Aloha and Drone On!

The Phantom 3 Advanced advertisers 2.1 Miles but I have only been able to get within a couple of thousand feet of that with the range extender. However, the distance I can get is far enough for me.

Cetacean Posted at 1-7 01:30
Aloha Bashy,

     Your superglue idea is a good one.  I might give that a try.  I recently got the gel version of superglue again so it will make a blob real well!  For some reason it is hard to get the gel version.

So,   are you using the super glue to just make a friction causing lump to keep the extenders from sliding off ?   When I read the earlier posts I had the impression you were glueing the extenders in place  !  

Thanks for sharing

Manxmann Posted at 1-7 16:15
So,   are you using the super glue to just make a friction causing lump to keep the extenders from sliding off ?   When I read the earlier posts I had the impression you were glueing the extenders in place  !

Aloha Manx,

     The glue is for a lump or two (in case of adjustment purposes).  Not a good idea to glue the Parabolics in place.  Put the glue or gel in place and then let it hang up-side-down so it is a nice lump.

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetacean Posted at 1-7 19:59
Aloha Manx,

     The glue is for a lump or two (in case of adjustment purposes).  Not a good idea to glue the Parabolics in place.  Put the glue or gel in place and then let it hang up-side-down so it is a nice lump.

Fair enough Cetacean,  I really couldn't imagine you glueing the bits in place !! ?

then sand it back with ya Mrs's nail file ever so carefully, and just a smidgeon at a time, you need it so then can be pushed on but also with enough resistance so that cant slide off