Yes, this might be the cause of your signal loss!!

[RC Madman]

Your link discusses Part 107. I'm discussing Part 101.

Please link me to Part 101 on the FAA site. The only info I can find on Part 101 is not from the FAA site.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Yeah - I had that same problem.

But this drone attorney seems to have it here:

FAR Part 101

And he has an assessment of it here:

Model Aircraft Operations

 

[RC Madman]

Yeah - I had that same problem.

But this drone attorney seems to have it here:

FAR Part 101

And he has an assessment of it here:

Model Aircraft Operations

Thanks. This is good info. I have to say the whole 107 has many of us hobbyist confused. Myself included.

 

[Gearbox]

You can get different Thermal currents at ground level , how much , depends on a lot of factors , so at different lower altitudes , I can see it. Its a possibility .

 

[Falcon900]

From my pilot's ground school on weather, the adiabatic lapse rate is about 3.5 degrees F for every 1,000 feet elevation ASL. I doubt if 1.5 degrees will amount to much around 400 feet with regards to the drone's electronics.

His point is that the inversion situation does not comply with the standard lapse rate due to warmer air above a cooler layer.

 

[chazzm]

Where I live in Texas the heat is almost always the same even above 400 ft. Except in the early mornings, I haven't experienced signal degradation here at least, I'm in west Texas on the plains, we have a very small airport here and a buddy of mine works the small tower, when the wind which normally comes outta the south blows we only see a one or two degree difference, 98 on the ground, 97-100 at 4-5 hundred feet! Now anywhere near mountains it's totally different.


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[Tink]

As a pilot who flies planes all over Texas, I can say that's not right.

Where I live in Texas the heat is almost always the same even above 400 ft. Except in the early mornings, I haven't experienced signal degradation here at least


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[NRJ]

Yeah - I had that same problem.

But this drone attorney seems to have it here:

FAR Part 101

And he has an assessment of it here:

Model Aircraft Operations

Bad links. Please re-link. Thanks.

 

[Mark The Droner]

Yeah, the links are good but the site went down for some reason. I do love the google cache though

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...r-part-101/&num=1&hl=en&gl=us&strip=0&vwsrc=0

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...ircraft-operations/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

 

[Bigfootbuilt]

Hi everybody my name is Mike and I'm new to drones, but I have a history of radar and electronics in U.S. Navy P3 Orion aircraft.

I have read recently about many problems with signal loss between controllers and the aircraft they are controlling, but I have not heard of anyone complaining due to temperature inversion layers in the atmosphere. When the sun beats on the ground during the day it warms up the air at the surface and above the surface of the ground. Later in the day when things start to cool you can have a heated layer of air above the ground, this is called a temperature inversion layer. Radio signals from both radar and controllers along with other various types of RF energy will not always penetrate that layer of warm air. I believe this to be a major cause of the signal loss people speak of. If the aircraft is within that layer and the pilot is below that layer the signals may not get through and instead will just bounce off that inversion layer and not make contact. It's important to know the temperatures at different altitudes so this anomaly can be avoided. You can search for basic radar theory and temperature inversion online and you'll find many documents explaining the effects on radio signals.

Hope this helps Mike.

You beat me to it. I was just thinking of temperature inversions. You can see it on weather radar early in the morning and early evening, especially when there is no wind. Lots of false returns around the radar site. Ever see someone burning trash in the back yard and the smoke only goes up about 50 ft then goes sideways and won't go higher? Temperature inversion. On radar, the signal beam bounces off this inversion and back to the ground, then back to the transmitter. Same happens with RC signals.
I flew on the latest RC firmware and noticed no difference in range, although I do see a few more hiccups in the video than I used to.

 

[jlrsn]

I'm very familiar with Temperature Inversion Levels in CA's Central Valley. I usually found that the Inversion Level would be at about 75' AGL. I had contracts with Central Valley Growers for over 20 years to have my helicopters fly just above Effective Translational Lift Airspeed with the main Rotor just above the Inversion Level before dawn when the morning freeze could kill their crops. The downwash of warmer air if flown properly would usually keep the temperatures just warm enough to save their crops. Back then it was called Frost Abatement.

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[N017RW]

Been flying r/c aircraft for 30 years in all kinds of weather all around the country.

Never had any issues as a result of this.

This is a non-issue for r/c planes.

 

[eneilsen]

temperature inversion is pretty common...

but as far as forming a solid, radio signal reflecting layer in the lower atmosphere... i don't see it.

is it scientifically possible? maybe over very short intervals and of time and area of effect... enough to cause significant signal loss over time? probably statistically insignificant.

where u DO see this in numerous situations is under water. water is far more dense than the air though.

can't see it as ever being an issue for current consumer drones... but it's always a good idea to understand thermodynamics in any field of aviation.