Drone Ground Station

[Rye]

I've been using DJI drones to fly around my farm to check crops and water levels (especially after rain and the rouds are muddy). I have gotten good at herding cows with it as well. The farm is only a mile square. I've had really bad luck keeping them connected to the remote even when just a few yards away sometimes. I've had several P4Ps and had two drop out of the sky right in my sight. I've had several replacements and the new ones would have the same issue. DJI customer service couldn't solve the issue either. I've tried different wires, different phones, different remotes, and updates with no luck. At $1700 a piece it's just too expensive to have them keep crashing. Ten+ years ago I built my own with a DJI kit with spectrum transmitter/receiver and cheap Sony camera and it had way better connection (although the picture sucked).

I'd like to use the shell from an old P4P and rebuild it with custom hardware to travel my farm. Years ago before all the regulations, there were many guys on youtube building custom ground stations. Some were connected to TVs with large antennas on the roof. I think I remember one actually building a tracker antenna that would stay pointed at the drone. Now I haven't ever built anything like that and I know DJI used to sell a ground station,
but I'd like to get away from DJI (also because they are talking about banning chinese drones here in the states).

Is it possible to still get that type of equipment? Even if I had to get a license to fly it, it would sure be a much easier way of checking crops inside on my big screen TV.

[Burgerman]

A spectrum TX and reciever has at best a mile and a bit of range. Less if theres any 2.4ghz noise.
Thats because like the DJI stuff, the power limits on the spectrum or other normal branded TX is around 100mA I think? I have a DJI drone, and its range is "variable"...

So what to do if you dont want crazy ground stations, and directional antennas etc?

Well you could use a TX similar to what I am using. You dnt have to spend as much to get the same internals.
Why? Because it can do as FrSKY describe as "TENS of KM" of range on the newest RC recievers, on a LoRa ststem. These use the normal 2.4ghz signal, with the usual 1 mile range at best, and a 2nd LoRa system that at the same 100mW and a 2nd antenna goes 10s of KM. And you can use their own module to up that to 500mW. These are the TW recievers.

But if you use an additional tiny 900Mhz reciever (they connect up with 1 servo wire) then you have a 2nd redundancy link. That too is LoRa, and can do 50km to 100km air range and it does that at 1000mW. All built into the TX. So 10x ?? the power of your DJI. On 900mhz which already has better range.

So with dual frequancies, that will both do at least 10 miles, or 40 with 900mhz, at once you will never run out of radio range.

But you need to "see" too.
I have some DJI digital goggles, these do HD and are as clear and sharp as my TV. So those have up to 4 or more miles range. I tested them at 2 miles and no degradation in image quality at all. So I believe it. Those can be set to 1200mW and are very good.

So theres ways! But might not be strictly legal... And no base station.

Note range here: where it says 50 to 100km...
https://www.hobbyrc.co.uk/frsky-tandem- ... ransmitter

It can. With the right setup. Correct reciever etc. Its all CNC machined alloy and quality gear. But you can get a TX at half that price that has the same internals. The TD recievers are 2.4 and 900 built in. The TW recievers are 2.4 + lora 2.4 built in. And thiose are better if you also add a tiny (fingernail sized) 900 reciever as well.

Heres a dual band RX with 50 to 100 km range
https://www.hobbyrc.co.uk/frsky-td-r10- ... d-receiver

As you then have 3 independent RF streams at once. Including an FSK one, and 2 LoRa ones on different bands.

Goggles, and TX are good for claimed 13km in perfect conditions... Count on 4 miles at least with perfect vision at low altitude.
https://www.dji.com/uk/goggles-3

[Burgerman]

Theres a thread here somewhere!

Found.
My new FrSKY, X20 Pro AW. As a system its very complex, you need to do a ot of learning. Its mostly great for those with enough brain cels to understand everything and better than everything else out there. But its like giving your sister a turbo, nitrous assisted suzuki when she is 17.

MOST people are overwhelmed by the complexity options, firmware choices and what works with what and why... Not to mention whats legal to do where you live. I never worried about any of that stuff and I like the complexity as it allows me to do what I choose.

Not a choice to be taken lightly. I estimate that 95% of normal RC club members would hate it! And its too complicated for them. But then so is life in most cases!

https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/board/ ... =5&t=12658

40 miles air range?

[Rye]

I like the idea with this setup but after reading your other feed about it, it may be too complex for me to learn at my current point in life. Are there less complex 900mhz systems that are more simplistic? I do have some trees around and the penetrating power would make it easier to get closer to the ground for scouting crops. I won't be flying anywhere near other humans.

I was able to screen mirror to my big screen (with lag) but I would need a screen outdoors with my current setup. With the 900mhz it may be possible to be indoors.

[Burgerman]

I dont really know. I dont think theres other systems that have the same abilities, but the manual for my TX is 450 pages...

I dont find any of it difficult, but it does mean keeping on ttop of and understanding all the various firmwares and updates. But I spent a week reading that PDF manual.

I will upload it so you can have a read in a minute. Will delete it in a day or so.

https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/doomed ... 01.6.2.pdf

[Burgerman]

I have GPS and airspeed modules, recievers with vertical air speed etc. These all tell the TX whats heppening.

So I have a readout by "amber" a girl, of altitude, airspeed, rssi strength on 900, % frame rate on 900, rssi on 2.4 lora, 900mW power level, flight battery lowest cell, GPS distance, speed, altitude, etc. So I dont need to look at the screen while flying. Just listen. All these things take a fair bit of configuration, like several hours IF you understand how! Once you do, a week in, then its all easy.

Being a control freak, and not one to overly worry about rules, it suits me perfectly! It can do stuff no alternative can.

You dont need to get the super expensive alloy CNC case one I have. There are cheaper ones like the X20 that has 95% of that functionality. Unless you want that! Its a massive overkill for drones really.

You should maybe consider a plane with that same gear/camera etc as it will allow much longer flight times, and cover way more distance.

[Rye]

I'd like to get into planes in the future. I prefer the quadrotors for down low static monitoring.

[Burgerman]

Well I do both for fun. But quads eat up lots of power while sat hovering. I always really prefered planes though as I have been flying them since I was a child. My days of fast stuff are over, too big, too heavy too hard to deal with in a chair and hard to get to flying sites now. I am more into slow, quiet, and flying FPV. From ocal parks and unofficiel sites. Especially sailplanes and high performance stuff.

[Rye]

How long have you been paralyzed? I'm 25 years in.

[Burgerman]

1997. So 28 years. But I have other issues on top of paraplegia.