http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1377791

Here is the distance archived with CL and 5 turn helix with 5.8Ghz 200mW...

Originally Posted by Coil

Here is the distance archived with CL and 5 turn helix with 5.8Ghz 200mW...

Wow! Nice work! I think you now hold the 5.8GHz long range record.

-Alex

Originally Posted by IBCrazy

Wow! Nice work! I think you now hold the 5.8GHz long range record.

-Alex

He does indeed. That is a great job! how was the flight. Where did your picture start going south?

Originally Posted by Coil

Here is the distance archived with CL and 5 turn helix with 5.8Ghz 200mW...

Do you just leave the Helix pointing out at the general known direction of the plane and try and keep the plane out in the receiver's "path", or do you manually adjust the helix horn slightly back and forth while you fly?... or both?

Thanks guys!

I had a helper that adjusted my receiver antenna to have the best reception possible... picture was crystal clear to about 3 km then started to degrade, good thing about circular polarisation is that picture quality degrade very linear. It is a very predictable system, i will try to make 7 turn helical and push even further.

Thanks to markus123456!
He builded a CL and a SPW for me (5.8ghz).

Today i was able to test them.
First of all i have to say that the weather was not really good (high air moisture), so i can not tell the maximum range i can get with theses antennas.

I also use the foxtech/bevrc 5.8ghz 200mw system. With the whip on the tx and a 8dbi patch antenna i was flying a maximum range of 1.9km in the past.

Today i flew 1.7km with the CP antennas and i think i can do 2 or 2.5km when the weather gets better.

So i can say it is not worse in max range than my 8dbi patch and there are some other things that have improved dramatically with the CP antennas.
1. I can fly in any direction (with my 8dbi patch, i have to point the antenna in the direction of the plane)
2. almost no distortion when i fly low passes or hard turns (in this category the linear polarized patch antenna sucks)

So i am very happy with these antennas and i am looking forward for new range tests next week (if the weather is better).
Maybe i can fly over 3km if i get a helical for the rx

Originally Posted by BKMorpheus

Thanks to markus123456!
He builded a CL and a SPW for me (5.8ghz).

Today i was able to test them.
First of all i have to say that the weather was not really good (high air moisture), so i can not tell the maximum range i can get with theses antennas.

I also use the foxtech/bevrc 5.8ghz 200mw system. With the whip on the tx and a 8dbi patch antenna i was flying a maximum range of 1.9km in the past.

Today i flew 1.7km with the CP antennas and i think i can do 2 or 2.5km when the weather gets better.

So i can say it is not worse in max range than my 8dbi patch and there are some other things that have improved dramatically with the CP antennas.
1. I can fly in any direction (with my 8dbi patch, i have to point the antenna in the direction of the plane)
2. almost no distortion when i fly low passes or hard turns (in this category the linear polarized patch antenna sucks)

So i am very happy with these antennas and i am looking forward for new range tests next week (if the weather is better).
Maybe i can fly over 3km if i get a helical for the rx

They are a lot of fun Helical antennas are great to have. I would go for a 4 - 5 turn one as that will get you at least 4-5km if not more.

Originally Posted by Coil

Thanks guys!

I had a helper that adjusted my receiver antenna to have the best reception possible... picture was crystal clear to about 3 km then started to degrade, good thing about circular polarisation is that picture quality degrade very linear. It is a very predictable system, i will try to make 7 turn helical and push even further.

What measurements are you using? I used 13mm spacing and a 16mm wooden dowel rod.

@BKMorpheus : just with cl and spw antennas you should be able to go for mininmum 4 km. with a 5-8 turn helix >5km. but watch out for rc-link (2,4g?)!
i 've been away >5 km, but had to return because of rc-failsafes.... picture was still flyable.

Hm i will see.

Here is the key cam footage of my test flight:

FPV Rookie - circular polarized antenna test (4 min 32 sec)

I started getting some snow in the video @ 1.5 KM or so (ground distance) with 5.8 and 200mw. I'm not sure what the actual 3d distance would be but I was fairly high so at least a little further than that. There were some good rain clouds around and I chickened out once I saw I was looking down on clouds and rain around where I was flying Great views but not so great for keeping things dry.

This is just on the outskirts of town and there are a lot of suspicious towers with various pointy/round bits sticking out all over the place so I highly doubt it is rf clean (I can barely use 72mhz for r/c as there is so much noise and interference - 2.4 ghz is much, much better).

Originally Posted by Mikey-flies

I started getting some snow in the video @ 1.5 KM or so (ground distance) with 5.8 and 200mw. I'm not sure what the actual 3d distance would be but I was fairly high so at least a little further than that. There were some good rain clouds around and I chickened out once I saw I was looking down on clouds and rain around where I was flying Great views but not so great for keeping things dry.

This is just on the outskirts of town and there are a lot of suspicious towers with various pointy/round bits sticking out all over the place so I highly doubt it is rf clean (I can barely use 72mhz for r/c as there is so much noise and interference - 2.4 ghz is much, much better).

While I agree that being carefull is the right aproach, you should know that usually with CP antennas the signal is never "out" at once. It's normal to fly through areas where the signal is a bit worse and then it returns to normal thereafter. I regularly see this behaviour where say at 800m out I have some grain in the picture shortly thereafter clearing up again. This repeates over a flight of several kilometers up until it really degrades to a degree where it's adviseable to return.

When exploring a new antenna or tx palcement etc, I usually fly out makeing circles at several distance points to also see if the signal will cause trouble because of the plane or parts of the plane blocking it. It's especially important to early check out if returning results in a worse signal than flying out....

Markus

Originally Posted by BKMorpheus

Hm i will see.

Here is the key cam footage of my test flight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix4DNFHUvs8

Very nice video! :-) Great flight.

Markus

Update!

Today the weather was better and i flew again.
For comparism (all with RC305 and 200mw 5.8GHz):
With linear polarized antennas
my max range: 2.8km with a 11dbi BiLoop and 1.9km with a 8dbi patch
max altitude: 550m

With CP antennas
With the CL+SPW i did 1.7km on bad weather.

Todays results with CL+SPW
range: 2.8km
altitude: 740m (with very good picture)

And of course the CP antennas got way better signal on low passes or behind trees plus they are not directional, so i can fly in any direction.

I really will not go back to linear polarized antennas