GPS had asked somewhere in a thread I can't find about using LRS systems. There are a lot of them out there now. Both in 2.4 and UHF, the UHF version is what requires you to have a Ham Radio license. The basic way these work is that you simply bypass the internal radio on the transmitter and send the signals generated by the stick positions to a new radio that is mounted on the back of your transmitter. Some are easier than others. Futaba works well, especcially the older 72 Mhz stuff, you are looking for the PPM signals that generally come out of the trainer port, but Spektrum signals are kind of low, so they don't always drive the added radio with enough signal to be read correctly, there are ways around this, but each case is different so you would have to search for a solution on a case by case basis. The UHF systems are easily good up to 25 Miles of range, but with good antennas, boosters and line of sight you could go 50 - 100 miles, getting the video signal back would be an issue, and enough battery to fly that far...... Here is a list of what I know for systems: FrsKy 2.4 Ghz http://www.frsky-rc.com Dragon Link 433 Mhz http://www.terranova.net/~winger/RCVideoStore/DragonLink/DragonLink.htm (the cute girl in the video pretty much has me sold on this product, eerrrr, I mean the product works well ) But the FPV setup in the van is Awesome, I will have one like that someday! Chain Link 433 Mhz http://www.bevrc.com/chainlinkdare-uhf-long-range-system-p-272.html EzUHF http://www.bevrc.com/immersionrc-ezuhf-long-range-system-p-289.html FlyTron Open LRS UHF http://www.flytron.com/16-openlrs Rmilec LRS UHF http://www.foxtechfpv.com/rmilec-uhf-lrs-c-53.html Thomas Sherrer UHF http://www.webx.dk/rc/uhf-link3/uhf-link3.htm Found another LRS in the 800 - 900 Mhz band http://lrsdmd.wikispaces.com/LRS_Version_2.51
Man I hate to see all this stuff showing up on the ham bands! Long range transmission could really turn into a mess without some kind of coordination or at least the cooperation that the "old" hams had. Even two guys having this capability in a little place like Grants Pass would be dangerous. This has gotta turn into a big problem eventually. ...Tiger
This is the kind of stuff where not having a ham license would be a real problem. The video transmitters would be a "victimless crime" but uhf is much more of an issue. However, some of these use frequency hopping like 2.4 does so you can run systems side by side. The issue is when a ham sees an RC plane fly overhead and he grabs the mic to tell someone about it on UHF at 45 watts the Rx in the plane could be desensitized and cause a fail safe to happen.
We can't have those ham's stepping all over our FPV. The only answer is what CB folks did in the 1970's...more power. If the ham uses 45 watts you're gonna have to use 100 watts.
Seems like the Chainlink is done with and the Rangelink is replacing it. Here are some links for Rangelink. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1518968 http://www.rangepiloting.com/
Been shopping for a LRS and Range Link is coming out ahead for a number of reasons. And not all technical. The current HOT rls systems are Dragon Link, EZUHF, TS, and RL. Dragon Link is Dragon Link and works well, it does cost $ but works well. EZUHF is good, but I hear a lot of complaints about customer service, this is very important to me. Range Link is lower cost, but seems to get positive comments about how it works. Trevor flys one, I have seen it and am impressed, Spektrum has crappy PPM out the trainer port and does not work well with most LRS. Range Link has been made to use Spektrum PPM right from the box. Range Link is on sale right now for $185.00
I've also been reading up on LRS systems recently. I don't even have a trainer port so a new radio may be needed anyway for me. Am I missing something or is Dragon Link the only one with free waypoints?
Unless I am missing something waypoints are not involved with LRS. These would just be the UHF radio transmitter. And since the radio part is removed from the system, a cheap transmitter is actually ok in most cases.
My mistake. When I was reading about Dragon link I ventured to their OSD page here: http://www.dragonlabs.net/site/DragonOSDplus That is where I read about the waypoints.
Here are a couple of charts that may help with what is out there. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AodCPSAvVLOGdGV1djBDUVp0R0hJMWQyWTQwSGtwQXc&hl=en#gid=0 https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tUvCDcT6ukkAXWiLa350ejg&output=html Keep in mind they were put together by the good folks at Dragon Link. After being burnt by non-existent customer service from China, and very bad quality control, I am taking a good look at spending more money at Dragon Link. They claim Made in the USA, and good service. A dead camera from China was a hard lesson -- There is a lot of very good general information on the Dragon Link Website, If you have the time to navigate the site. RC Groups has a ton of information, if you have forever to sort out the junk. One interesting thing I ran across, was problems caused by some cameras Generating RFI problems with UHF. Of course, I happen to own a couple of the worst ones. Another interesting discovery was information about cheap Video Receivers. Keep the wallet in your pocket until you do a bit of research - Bottom line - if you are thinking about UHF, you need a Ham License. Easy to get, and the education is priceless. You will soon discover the whole ball game is about RFI and Antennas. LEM
Thanks for those links, good info there. It must be from last fall though as Range Link has not made it on the list. But yes, Dragon Link is very good, although it has had some issues, they seem to get worked out. What impressed me is the fact that the Range Link guy visits the forum on a regular basis and interacts with his customers directly. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1518968
