As I mentioned in my last thread where I tested for range/distance, I was able to get 16K feet/3 miles out of my bone stock P3P at 250ft. I was really pleased with it and when I turned around I still had full signal. I could not ask for more distance but my signal penetration was really lacking. Put even a few trees between me and the phantom and either I lose the link or the signal is severely degraded. So I decided to purchase the DBS mods ITElite antenna kit hoping to improve my penetration, as I had heard good results from others.
I installed the kit and did some testing, here is what I found:
Stock P3P
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Attempted to fly out to a known object 2500ft away. We will call it POI #1. This test site where I launched from is surrounded by trees, so it's tough to get any good distance. Suffered signal loss and drop outs before I could reach POI #1. Climbed up to the max altitude of 399ft and still could not achieve a good signal. Had to abort the mission and return home. Signal could not penetrate the trees around test site A.
Attempted to reach POI #2 1700 ft away in a different direction. Drop outs and signal loss a few hundred feet short even at 300ft altitude. Aborted mission and returned to home.
DBS Mods ITElite Antenna installed
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Flew out to POI #1 again originating from Test Site A. I was even standing in the exact same spot. Reached POI #1 at 399ft altitude easily, with full signal no drop outs whatsoever. Immediately the improvement in signal penetration is apparent and proven. Decided to descend down on the object to see how low I could go. At 200ft I started getting some blips in the signal. At 150ft it started to drop out a bit but I was still getting video and had control. Absolutely amazing. I would have been happy just to make it there at 399 feet but the lower altitude was awesome.
Tried POI #2. Easily reached at 300ft, no drop outs whatsoever full signal. Descended to 144ft altitude before signal problems become apparently. Again an amazing improvement. Significant number of trees between me and the phantom at this location and altitude.
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I decided to test out the signal penetration at a different test site, one not surrounded by trees in a more open area. Picked a spot by the canal, we will call Test Site B. Decided to fly out to the same object we are calling POI #1. Reached it no problem at 2500ft away. Now POI #1 is a good 2000ft deep into nature preserve and surrounded by a pine tree forrest. Let's see how low I can go before I can lose signal. I assumed I would lose as it a soon as the quad went below the tree line since it would be nearly a half mile of forrest between me and the quad.
Something amazing happened I did not expect. Went past 100ft, 50ft, 30ft...still perfect signal! Went all the way down to 20ft off the ground. Full bars, full signal, not even a blip of a dropout. It was like it was 30ft in front of me not a half mile deep into a Forrest. Did not even attempt to go lower than that. I am really amazed this was even possible. Here is a screen capture of me 20ft off the ground at POI #1. Note the trees in the distance. Those are the same trees (behind) between me and the quad and the signal still makes it. I don't think I could have even done this stock.
Tested a bit further and went to the end of the preserve just over a full mile away from me. Still had full signal at 250ft. Lowered down to 110ft and I started losing a few bars and got a minor blip. Just incredible. 6000ft of trees in between and I'm at 110ft with good signal. Another note is that I was concerned about the directional nature of the antenna. I could turn around 180 degrees and face the opposite way and still had full signal 1000ft out. So I think it only is a problem at far distances.
I am really impressed with the DBS mods antenna. I wonder what it could do with boosters. For right now I am very pleased and it has achieved my goals and suited my purpose. Most buy these for extreme distance/range but I had that stock. I wanted signal penetration and the DBS mods antenna did not let me down.
Thanks DBS mods!
I installed the kit and did some testing, here is what I found:
Stock P3P
----
Attempted to fly out to a known object 2500ft away. We will call it POI #1. This test site where I launched from is surrounded by trees, so it's tough to get any good distance. Suffered signal loss and drop outs before I could reach POI #1. Climbed up to the max altitude of 399ft and still could not achieve a good signal. Had to abort the mission and return home. Signal could not penetrate the trees around test site A.
Attempted to reach POI #2 1700 ft away in a different direction. Drop outs and signal loss a few hundred feet short even at 300ft altitude. Aborted mission and returned to home.
DBS Mods ITElite Antenna installed
----
Flew out to POI #1 again originating from Test Site A. I was even standing in the exact same spot. Reached POI #1 at 399ft altitude easily, with full signal no drop outs whatsoever. Immediately the improvement in signal penetration is apparent and proven. Decided to descend down on the object to see how low I could go. At 200ft I started getting some blips in the signal. At 150ft it started to drop out a bit but I was still getting video and had control. Absolutely amazing. I would have been happy just to make it there at 399 feet but the lower altitude was awesome.
Tried POI #2. Easily reached at 300ft, no drop outs whatsoever full signal. Descended to 144ft altitude before signal problems become apparently. Again an amazing improvement. Significant number of trees between me and the phantom at this location and altitude.
----
I decided to test out the signal penetration at a different test site, one not surrounded by trees in a more open area. Picked a spot by the canal, we will call Test Site B. Decided to fly out to the same object we are calling POI #1. Reached it no problem at 2500ft away. Now POI #1 is a good 2000ft deep into nature preserve and surrounded by a pine tree forrest. Let's see how low I can go before I can lose signal. I assumed I would lose as it a soon as the quad went below the tree line since it would be nearly a half mile of forrest between me and the quad.
Something amazing happened I did not expect. Went past 100ft, 50ft, 30ft...still perfect signal! Went all the way down to 20ft off the ground. Full bars, full signal, not even a blip of a dropout. It was like it was 30ft in front of me not a half mile deep into a Forrest. Did not even attempt to go lower than that. I am really amazed this was even possible. Here is a screen capture of me 20ft off the ground at POI #1. Note the trees in the distance. Those are the same trees (behind) between me and the quad and the signal still makes it. I don't think I could have even done this stock.
Tested a bit further and went to the end of the preserve just over a full mile away from me. Still had full signal at 250ft. Lowered down to 110ft and I started losing a few bars and got a minor blip. Just incredible. 6000ft of trees in between and I'm at 110ft with good signal. Another note is that I was concerned about the directional nature of the antenna. I could turn around 180 degrees and face the opposite way and still had full signal 1000ft out. So I think it only is a problem at far distances.
I am really impressed with the DBS mods antenna. I wonder what it could do with boosters. For right now I am very pleased and it has achieved my goals and suited my purpose. Most buy these for extreme distance/range but I had that stock. I wanted signal penetration and the DBS mods antenna did not let me down.
Thanks DBS mods!
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