Originally Posted by
speedracerntrixie
So after a month your going to pick on my answer. Just how does one persevere 2.4 GHZ through aluminum? This can't have anything to do with the outcome of the other thread could it? What is so difficult for you and your friend to understand that this is my field of vocation?
Even though did you not read and understand my answer. 100% would be the key. Thomas please enlighten me to as what you deem safe, 90% functionality? 80% maybe. just where do YOU draw the line?
Sorry man, but i don't peruse every single thread of every subforum every day on here.. i have better things to do with my time.. like building something and enjoying life and family..
The way I look at something.. if its not working 100% it is not working correctly and won't work properly. If its not working properly its not working well enough to fly unless the pilot/owner is a complete idiot.
I understand its your "vocation", but that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't possible. Many people have predisposed dispositions on things because of their vocations, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are 100% undeniably the "end all" of correct information. Granted you should take what they have to say and listen to it, but I also believe in researching and testing to determine if they are truely knowledgeable or just a Blow hard full of hot air. I have seen many "experts" with the vocation experience and college education to back it up who were complete morons and couldn't tell righty tighty from lefty loosey if it was tattooed to their hands. A college educated person with a barely passing grade gives the guys with extraordinary passing grades a bad name. Since i don't know you from the next joe-blow, i can only listen to what you say and take it with a grain of salt.
While i know that is hard to take when as you say, it is your "vocation" in this field, its hard to take your "its impossible to do" to heart when I have been watching all metal aircraft fly on both 72mhz (FM and PCM) and 2.4ghz radio technology since 1996. And its not as if its been in low rf environments either. Many of the flights have occured at Joe-Nall, the largest RC fly-inn in the world. The RF environment there is not exactly noise free, same goes with the flights that have occured at Top-Gun which is located on Lakeland-linder Regional airport (yes, it is physically ON the airport property), Again, not a "RF" free zone considering it has a VOR, ILS, Weather station, operational Control tower and on average 250 aircraft operations a day.
If these all metal planes can be flown reliably without any control problems (as witnessed via the Spektrum flight-log for rx link performance) in these High RF noise enviroments, then it MUST be possible. While I do agree that there are those situations and locations that it may not be possible, I have witnessed that it is in-deed possible and respectably disagree with you saying it is "impossible".
The entire thing is that the owner/pilot MUST perform a thorough range check and adjust receiver antenna positions to get the best RF link at all attitudes. the metal will block the signal (just like the stainless steel and carbon fiber in RC jets does) but with PROPER setup and testing, the risks can be negated as much as possible just like with any other RC model.
Also if we were awarded the pleasure of a 100% perfect RF link 100% of the time we would never hear of loss of control problems.. EVER, but that is rarely the case.. well, according to those guys that most every club has... ALL of my airplanes are range checked per the manufacturers suggested procedure. For complex or high dollar aircraft are concerned, I take it one step further and keep a "flight log" installed at all times and religiously check it before and after every flight to monitor my RF link. If any abnormalities are found (such as a large jump in packet losses on a single antenna, or higher than average number of fades) the reason is investigated before the next flight. These models also get a more thorough range check in that the model is placed in all expected attitude arrangement in regards to the the TX antenna position and each position is tested for 1 minute to check the RF link for each remote receiver. Again, if any one receiver has a significantly higher number of packet losses, that antenna is repositioned and the entire range check procedure is repeated until the best RF link is obtained.
I am VERY particular in how my aircraft are setup (actually, i am a bit OCD about it). If its not 100% up to my standards, it doesn't fly.. period until it meets my standards. I pride myself in being one of those guys who can show up at the flying field, pull my equipment out, fly all day with no problems, pack everything up and go back home
Proper SETUP is what i am trying to get across on ANY aircraft. It doesn't matter if its carbon fiber, metal, or unobtanium. Anything can be made to be reliable IF you are willing to take the time to test and refine the setup. Hell, i have a Hotliner that does over 280mph that is Entirely built from Carbon fiber. It only has 2 little antenna's that are obscured from the TX antenna no less than 50% of the time in flight. I've never once had an issue with that airplane's RF link, and it is what i would consider the Worst RF challenge ever in regards to rx installation.
If you took my comments as a personal attack, i apologize. I just think its a bit premature to say that anything is impossible, b/c just think... 10-15-20 years ago people were saying private space flight was "impossible"... the X-prize winners proved that to be false.