Originally Posted by ecworks

The only question I now have is whether the 18" antenna extension will reduce my Rangelink reception very much.

If done righte, not so much on 433Mhz. However, as Daemon mentioned, the behaviour points towards an antenna problem, and the extension surely could be the source of this. SMA connectors are sometimes a bit trickey. Make sure they are tightly screwed, or better yet, replace the extension and get an antenna with a long enough cable. However, be very cautious not to overtighten the SMA connector at the receiver end as this one is know to become loose.

HTH

Markus

Ya, I've taken to adding a little solder at the Rx's SMA female connector, as
it's just a friction fit in the square right angle block, and I've had two of em fall off now,
one in a crash, once just randomly while screwing on the antenna.

ian

I have a Rangelink and I think it's great. But I was wondering....
How many Rangelinks can be used side by side at the same time.
(Friends flying FPV together)

Originally Posted by markus123456

If done righte, not so much on 433Mhz. However, as Daemon mentioned, the behaviour points towards an antenna problem, and the extension surely could be the source of this. SMA connectors are sometimes a bit trickey. Make sure they are tightly screwed, or better yet, replace the extension and get an antenna with a long enough cable. However, be very cautious not to overtighten the SMA connector at the receiver end as this one is know to become loose.

HTH

Markus

What antenna would you recommend over the stock?

Originally Posted by ecworks

What antenna would you recommend over the stock?

You can copy the stock antenna, just use a long enough cable. The dipole antenna per se is a good solution. There are several references to a buildinstruction for such an antenna in this, the chainlink or dragonlink threads. I forgot where, but the antenna is basically nothing more than a coax cable to whoes ends (mesh and center) a wire is soldered. The complete thing is then isolated and made more mecanically stable with hot glue (actually not that great) and shrink tubeing. Make the wires the same lenght as those on the existing antenna.

Markus

Originally Posted by ecworks

Couldn't concentrate on work so I kept working on this problem and finally decided to rearrange the entire layout. I moved the 1w 1280 vid transmitter out to the very end of the left wing and attached the stock antenna which tilts up or down. Temporarily laid the wiring from the transmitter on top of the wing back to the fuselage. Then I moved the Rangelink stock antenna out to the far end of the right wing and used an 18" antenna extension. Wired the Rangelink receiver to my FY-30 gyro and wired the 1280 vid transmitter to a small battery and the vid servo wire to the Eagletree and powered the whole thing up. Results: In micromode for the rangetest I now get 42 meters roughly. In normal low power mode the rangelink is holding at 98% for as far as I can walk away. (couple hundred yards on my street) A few days ago the 1280 1w vid transmitter knocked down my range test to 15 meters or less. The only question I now have is whether the 18" antenna extension will reduce my Rangelink reception very much.
I'll do a long range ground test soon so see if I can go a few miles downrange and see how the Rangelink and 1280 vid perform together.

So it seems to have been the distance between the rangelink and the 1280 1w transmitter. Originally it was a foot apart. Now close to 3 feet.

ecworks,
From your description, it sounds like you also changed your power sub-system. In other words, you isoloated the VTx from the rest of the system. Keep in mind EMI comes in two basic flavors, radiated and conducted. With all the clocks, microprocessors and amplifiers in our systems, you would be surprised how many different frequencies you can end up with. Most are low enough amplitude as to not cause a problem but sometimes they can bite. If my assumption is correct you can use a common mode filter such as this one. http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=533 If my assumption is not right, then, as you discovered, distance is your friend. On the 18"...I believe Sid uses RG316 for his Ant leads. 18" would attenuate about .3dB @ 1.3GHz. Range effect would be minimal.

Rangelink arrived today.

Connect PPM, BAT,GND from Turnigy 9X to RL TX works ok.

Connect GND and +5V to RX following image:
http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/at...576-64-RX3.jpg

and it does nothing.... no LEDS, no binding....
My two RXs with the same behaviour.

am I missing something?

Didn't see binding mentioned in your steps.
There'll be no LED on the Rx until you perform the binding procedure, and you should
also do advanced binding at least once before that.

ian

Originally Posted by CN I Dawg

ecworks,
From your description, it sounds like you also changed your power sub-system. In other words, you isoloated the VTx from the rest of the system. Keep in mind EMI comes in two basic flavors, radiated and conducted. With all the clocks, microprocessors and amplifiers in our systems, you would be surprised how many different frequencies you can end up with. Most are low enough amplitude as to not cause a problem but sometimes they can bite. If my assumption is correct you can use a common mode filter such as this one. http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=533 If my assumption is not right, then, as you discovered, distance is your friend. On the 18"...I believe Sid uses RG316 for his Ant leads. 18" would attenuate about .3dB @ 1.3GHz. Range effect would be minimal.

I think you may be right. I've got so much in that plane now that the possibilities for problems are many. Took it out today for a 2.25 mile ground test and worked great. After my lockout the other day I'm reluctant to fly again with out more ground tests. Going to take it out tomorrow for a 6 mile ground test. On the pacific coast we have a great place to do that sort of thing. Place the plane on a hilltop on coast and drive down the coast highway with the transmitter and Fatshark goggles as far as you want, the coast curves in such a way you maintain line of sight for over 40 miles or so.

that 1w vid transmitter gets really hot!

Another question for anyone using 1.3 cloverleafs for vid tx and rx: Since I'm flying above I was going to use a 90 degree connector and swivel the cloverleaf pointing down off the edge of the wing. I have plenty of clearance (using landing gear) but wondered if this would help or hurt?

Also, would there be any downside to having the stock video antenna on the plane and the cloverleaf on the receiver on the ground?

Originally Posted by ecworks

Another question for anyone using 1.3 cloverleafs for vid tx and rx: Since I'm flying above I was going to use a 90 degree connector and swivel the cloverleaf pointing down off the edge of the wing. I have plenty of clearance (using landing gear) but wondered if this would help or hurt?

Also, would there be any downside to having the stock video antenna on the plane and the cloverleaf on the receiver on the ground?

Your question is a bit off topic here as it puerly centers around your video antennas, but having the CL hanging below the plane is probably the best mounting method, alas ok. Regarding mixing a linear with a circular antenna, that's a bad idea as you loos 3dB by principle AND also loose the advantage of circular polarisation. Either work linerarly polarized - a good idea for a test to see if your issues might be related to the CP antennas - or consequently circular polarized antennas.

HTH

Markus

Originally Posted by markus123456

Your question is a bit off topic here as it puerly centers around your video antennas, but having the CL hanging below the plane is probably the best mounting method, alas ok. Regarding mixing a linear with a circular antenna, that's a bad idea as you loos 3dB by principle AND also loose the advantage of circular polarisation. Either work linerarly polarized - a good idea for a test to see if your issues might be related to the CP antennas - or consequently circular polarized antennas.

HTH

Markus

Thanks for the input.

When turning on the entire Rangelink system (plane and tx transmitter) does it matter in which order I turn on the system? Should I power up the Ranglink transmitter first and then the plane itself with the Rangelink receiver or do the reverse? Sometimes I turn the system on and my RSSI goes down to 1 and I have to perform the Servo Wizard thru the Eagletree software all over again. I wonder if this is because I'm not turning on the system in the right order.

Transmitter first on, and last off, regardless of what RC control system you're using.
Turning the Rx on first, or Tx off first is a great way to lose a finger, or an eye.

ian