signal booster?
 

hey guys. im plan on getting myself hobby-lobby's ducted fan F-5 tiger. it looks like a pretty cool jet.

anyway i revently purchased a micro helicopter off ebay that came with a wireless camera with a range of 1000 feet. its a pretty neat camera and im gonna use it on my car too. anyway i browsing and i started looking up signal boosters. once can boost my cameras signal to 5 miles! a special antena can almost double that!!!

anyway so right now, radio gear is limited by our own eyes, beyoned some 1/4 mile you cant realy see the plane, so radios are judged more by function then distance, because beyond 1/4 mile, signal distance is irrelevant.

but now that im going to gett all these signal amplifiers and whatnot, i can take my plane (by camera) to like 8 miles. but, of course radio gear wont keep up.

so. im looking ut i cant realy find any signal boosters for rc radio gear. i was watching daily planet a while ago, and i saw how one guy kept up the worlds longest sustained solar powered flight. he was using rc equipment, and was flying up to a few miles out.

so where do i get this extending radio gear?

also, are there any controllers (that would work with this system of course) that can show me signal strenght and have like a low signal warning (for the 2.4 ghz camera too) so that ill have some reaction time to turn around before signals over?

with the camera, there will probably be more and more noise till its unusable rather then a sudden blackout. with the radio gear... that i dont know.

so, to sum up, im looking for:

-rc transmitter signal booster (plus high sensitivity antenna for reciever as well)
-wireless camera low signal warning
-reciever low signal warning

thanks alot, Matt

EDIT: and if your wondering 'why the hell would he want that?'

well im very into the personal UAV scene. ive been all over it since the predator made flights, so having an UAV at my disposal is just too cool an idea to pass up.

RE: signal booster?
 

I'd check with the CAA before I contemplated any UAV experimentation, also the Canadian equivalent of the FCC might have something to say about your plans.
Pete

RE: signal booster?
 

I believe it is equipment on a different freq being used for some of the long range stuff. I special license is required for this.

RE: signal booster?
 

Pete theres only like 2 or 3 people in Canada so not much worry about the fcc he he j/k:) Theres a video forum in here super thats doing just what u wanna do although it is very expensive around 3-500$ US or more
Also theres a web site with wireless video glasses that lets u control the plane vehicle at a distance.;)

RE: signal booster?
 

That's cause they're all down here, especially now that the Canadian dollar is so close to par with the Greenback:D
Pete

RE: signal booster?
 

lol well i can see youve all been too canada:eek:

actualy canada and america are the two most similair countries in the world.

only difference is here when i go to my local flying field, i wont have to worry bout some redneck mounting a shotgun to a heli [:-]
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...32886542793867
only in the states...:eek:

but honestly though ive only been to new york and chicago.. which as you can imagine, didnt give me the best impression :D

but back to the topic, i dont realy know if there are any limits. i mean if i can send a 2.4 ghz signal 5 miles, why couldnt i send an 72.____ mghz signal that far. keep in mind, theres no real limit to power or range, its more about the frequency that counts. you wouldnt want to send a signal on the same frequency as airline radios, so thats pretty much it.

though anyones plane/ helicopter nearby will realy lose it when i hit the on switch lol.

and there are new severe laws restricting personal auv's, and by definition an rc plane/ chopper is still murky water as to how its regulated. if you go to runryder, there was a thread about it there.

anyway, they have signal boosters for like 2.4 ghz signals. thats because its common, its in high demand. nobody realy NEEDS to boost there transmitter signal that far, so its not economical to build it. but thats why im asking, there might be some universal booster/ small ocmpany that makes them.

i know its controversial if im allowed to do this, but thats not the point of this thread. here its just 'well, is it out there?'

thanks -matt

RE: signal booster?
 

Rednecks are people too we do the same as canadians we just do it louder he he and with more gusto

RE: signal booster?
 

lol actualy on another site, im working to build something and a guy with 'redneck' in his username is more helpful then you imagine!

cant get that thing that he said out of my head. its some saying be careful less you hat end up in one tree and you in another'

but still... by the lack of replies im getting it makes my chances of gettin this kind of thing look grim...

EDIT: hey i just got an idea. what if you could somehow get your cell phone reciever to act as the reciever, and keepin gin mind that new cell phones can access the internet, what if you could somehow control your airplane via the internet with the cell phone as the reciever?

RE: signal booster?
 

Ok here's an idea. the early or rather older model transmitters, correct me if i'm wrong had 5 watt outputs on 72 mhz. And another idea there are fm tranmitter kits on sale on the web and tv channels 2-6 are on the 72mhz band and have higher outputs with what i think is called a booster amp for the final stage. u might want to speak to a ham operator for tecnical advice here. hope these things help best i can do for now i was a tv technician before i retired . Everything has changed since then 20 yrs ago ;) http://www.hobbytron.com/R-LPA-1.html check this irl out??

RE: signal booster?
 

hmm that amp kit looks pretty good. how much range can i get with a 1 watt trans, using a regular model reciver?

also i came across this. though i dont have 5000 dollars to spare, i find this realy interesting:
http://www.u-nav.com/3400.htm
it can follow waypoints, or in semi-autonomous mode you can steer it 2D (on a map) and it will automaticly get you there (so if yo uwantto turn 5 degrees right and climb 300 feet, you tell it to do so and the a/p does it automaticly).

i wonder what the range for that is, i mean the predator ua can get signals from halfway around the world. does this recieve signals somehow via gps?

besides the cost this thing is fantastic,
but because 5000 is way out of my league, im still lookin through long-range radio systems :)

EDIT: just did some quick googling, apparantly one watt of power will only give you 500 feet indoors, 1/5 of a mile between 2 vehicles, and 1/4 of a mile with nothing but air in between. that sounds like normal tx range to me...

RE: signal booster?
 

OK I will correct you. 72 mhz units did not have 5 Watt output. The early 27 mhz units were permitted to use 5 W output. Few did as it was not necessary and put a servere drain on the batteries.

RE: signal booster?
 

Doesn't anybody care about the interference he will be causing by boosting he's signal like that.

Think of the other flyers please. You might have fun but not the rest of us. Anyway, I'm sure glad not to be a modelaer in Ontario.

RE: signal booster?
 

Range of any radio system is determined by frequency, power, and antenna location. Higher frequencies are line-of-sight, and that includes 72 MHz. Lower frequencies will actually bend around the earth. That's why AM broadcast channels can travel so far, especially at night...they are low frequencies (AM or FM has nothing to do with it).

More power = more range. Higher antenna = more range.

Now that information can be found in any electronics textbook that discusses radio frequencies. But not to put a damper on anything, in the U.S. the 72 MHz channels are restricted BY LAW to no more than 0.750 Watt of power. That automatically limits range. Don't know about Canada, but I would not in the least bit be surprised that it's the same. Most R/C transmitters are rather less than the legal maximum. Trying to increase the power radiated is illegal.

Also, consider the fact that once a model is flying out of direct eyesight, it's considered an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle. This brings it under the regulation of the FAA in the U.S. and the corresponding Canadian authority. You have a lot more considerations than whether or not you could pull it off for the sake of coolness.