New RC system

[Burgerman]

A FRSKY CNC machined from billet alloy, and carbon fibre ultra long range claimed 50 to 100 mile air range system exists...
It uses 3 different radio systems at once.
A 2.4ghz super low latency system, that frequency hops on the same 2.4ghz that most RC syatems use. With diversity antennas. About 1 to 2 mile air range.
A Long Range 2.4ghz frequency hopping system, that is lower bandwidth, higher gain that has almost as good latency but not quite.
A Long range 1 watt (LoRa) 915mhz system with a wide bandwidth and very high gain. This has 50 to 100 miles range.

All 3 can be used at once.
Theres are recievers that are very small compact units that do 2.4Ghz and 900Mhz simultaniously with dual sets of diversity antennas. So ultra low 0.006sec end to end response time, as long as its within the 2.4ghz range. But go 3 miles away, to 50 miles or behind a tower block and the LoRa 900mhz system takes over. That is 12 to 30 ms response instead of 6. Thats instantanious as far as I can detect!

This means that you have a solid reliable syatem that is frequency hopping across 2 different parts of the spectrum. Nothing short of being struck by lightning will cause a loss of radio control link.

Gyros, servos, or whatever and a huge amount of telemetry modules for GPS position, baraometer, compass, variometer, voltages, current, and 101 other sensors such as airspeed, altitude and other things. Such as frame rate and signal strenth recieved. So you can know exactly what is happening as you fly or drive an empty powerchair across a town for a laugh.

So what do you think? These are anodised in orange or dark grey. Which one?
Switches and sliders, trims etc all anodised aluminium. Shell and internals all CNC machines from magnesium alloys. Stick gimbles use 12 ball bearings and are all hall effect. Software is very complex and powerful and any amount of mixing, telemetry control or display, sounds, ect as well as curves and complex interactions can all be achieved. For e.g you can corrolate engine turbine RPM with elevator trim. (speed trim) Program air brakes, gear and flaps % to corrolate with airspeed and attack angle. You can set angle of attack to vibrate elevator stick (haptic anti stall feedback) or even set that to increase throttle or/and lower nose as long as below x airspeed or whatever you can dream up. All as complex as you wish it to be.

[martin007]

The characteristics are of an RC for military use...

[Burgerman]

Yes. And not cheap. But I have lost or crashed maybe a dozen very fast sometiMes very heavy model planes over the last 50 years of playing in this silly hobby.

In the beginning radio interference on the weak 27mhz sets we had then, as thats all there was meant that there would be maybe 2 or 3 bouts of control loss, some ending in the usual ritual burning of balsa, nylon etc...

Then came digital. Then came 35 or 72mhz. And then PCM which was encoded. All still got shot down, loss of control etc periodically. Wasnt too serious then as models were not that fast or heavy. They just cost a fortune and had to be dug up to get your engine out of the hole they made!

Then came the 2.4ghz stuff. MUCH harder to shoot down from interference as they uses weak 50 to 100mW dual frequencies. But if you flew bigger or faster stuff, or sailplanes at several 1000 feet you could fly them out of range. How far can you get with what amounts to a wifi signal? And with the advent if wifi, and baby alarms, door cameras, phones etc all using the same 2.4ghz then it soon became problematic and very conjested and we were back to having radio communication reiability issues.

Enter modern technology.
Its now possible to have a super sensitive reciever that means it can hear a really weak signal. Maybe 10 miles away on wifi frequencies. And 50 to 100 miles away on 900mhz. Over a city, that may means it can hear probably 1000 or much more 2.4ghz signals all fighting each other from tens of thousands of sources. So it must figure out which signal is yours. It samples all of them, and it listens to maybe 20 different frequencies as your transmitter hops from one to another in a specific order. And a specific time/patern. Thats how it identifies you. This takes time to calculate, and happens continually, hence theres a tiny delay, called latency. The weaker the signal, the greater the interference the bigger the latency. And at a tiny 100mW allowed at 2.4ghz that has a finite range of around 1 mile if congested. 2 miles if not. (10 and 50 miles on special LoRa recievers which are slower to respond).

With big heavy fast jets for e.g they can cover a mile and a half in 15 seconds! Thats 350mph. So with 2.4ghz radio control you can fly past yourself, and 15 seconds later out of control range. On a good day.
On a bad day, radio frequencies busy, lots of radio noise you might have half the range and do that in 7 seconds... So you can crash a heavy plane into a human, house, vehicle etc and its got a literal red hot glowing gas turbine engine and 2 litres of kerosine in a plastic fuel tank which atomises on impact. Can you imagine the result? And getting sued for damages? Or death?

So enter 900mhz systems... These are lower frequencies. They are better at going through trees, houses, traffic, etc. They also allow in the USA a 1000mWatt signal on the 915mhz band. This isnt quite legal in the UK and we have a different 8xx frequency and power limit. But its still way better than 2.4ghz.

Either way these are long range systems. 50 to 100 miles in free space airborne. These also use frequency hopping across a wide band, and both 2400 and 900mhz simultaniously and so you wont fly out of range. Nobody needs that much range, but it misses the point. It means a VERY radio noisy area, or lots of trees or behind buildings etc then control loss is no longer an issue. Since these systems use both 2.4ghz and 915mhz and both are frequency hopping on respective bands that interference or range issues bad enough to lose control are almost impossible.

What it that sort of safety worth?
Now you can get that technology in a plastic version of the same transmitter... Cheaper. But I really like the CNC machined anodised case, fancy high quality gimbles, switches etc. I like quality! So will pay the difference!

[martin007]

How much does one of those control equipment cost?

[Burgerman]

Well I try not to think about that... And I have my older one to eBay etc.

About 1100 uk pounds... For transmitter.
Plus recievers, many types, and telemetry modules like airspeed, altitude or GPS or angle of attack, voltage or rpm sensors for turbines etc. Those are anything from 20 to 90 each.

Lets think about that. I move chairs around via RC. If a cheap basic RC system loses its signal between some cars or because wifi interference for a second, you could cause a car accident. Or hit a pedestrian. Or just destroy the inside of my own van or house. And they do not have the sheer setup flexibility and graphing and mixing or remapping capability either.

So how expensive is it really?
Never mind planes causing ££££ or damage!

[Burgerman]

Even if you ignore chairs, and really fast heavy jet turbine planes, etc, for now.

Lets say you want to fly a cheap lightwight foam "park flyer" with a slightly faster motor.
Its this foam polystyrene toy model https://shop.multiplex-rc.de/en/kit-funjet-2-p4105/

EVEN THIS toy would injure someone at 200mph or put a massive dent into that porch parked up the road...

So it doesent need to be big and heavy, a solid safe radio link is important!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll1gxywQlck


youtu.be/Ll1gxywQlck

[Burgerman]

Same plane, now 264mph, (more cells) and FPV so he has camera on board. And wears goggles to fly it from the pilots perspective...

This will show you why a mile of range just isnt enough! A mile is gone way too fast. And remember this is just a small foam toy, and battery powered.


youtu.be/V71LykTUxXU

[Burgerman]

And now same plane has a very tiny gas turbine jet engine installed!
Not flown yet. He wants the cheap toy foam plane to go faster!


youtu.be/LP7VaQnIIGc

[Burgerman]

So if flying anything like a big heavy plane.
A fast plane.
In a radio signal congested place like a town.
Or flying long distance via FPV
Or driving a wheelchair a few miles across a town...

You need a long range, triple link system for security and garanteed control.

So this allows me to fly on any of the normal protocols.

But also allows 3 independent simultanious continuous links:
1. Normal (frequency agile low latency diversity) 2.4ghz 100mW (1 mile approx range)
2. LoRa (long range high sensitivity) frequency agile 2.4ghz. 500mW (8 to 10 miles range)
3. LoRa (long range high sensitivity) frequency agile (hopping channels) 915mHZ 1000mW (50 to 100 miles)

Like this:

[Burgerman]

RC hobby INDOORS

Anything can fly and does. Fish, wales, farther xmass, trains, and way more, watch give it time!


youtu.be/XED_Ip1Te-4

[JohnnyUK]

I've been away from the hobby for couple of years so I'm surprised to see this standard of military hardware hitting the hobbyist market, that's an impressive spec! It's styled similarly to the (even more expensive) Jeti transmitters, is it touch screen or does it still require a million button presses to change the program? It would be good to have total confidence in radio integrity with £20K+ of jet turbine screaming towards the ground, mind you my obsolete £300 Hitec radio has never lost a signal. What would the X20 extended range be used for?

What ever happened to 'line of sight'?

[Burgerman]

I've been away from the hobby for couple of years so I'm surprised to see this standard of military hardware hitting the hobbyist market, that's an impressive spec! It's styled similarly to the (even more expensive) Jeti transmitters,

Jeti uses a standard 2.4ghz like spectrum, futaba etc, and IF you fit a 2nd 900mzh reciever it uses a single 900 channel. It doesent use these simultaniously. So you have to actually experience a fail safe type situation befor the 900 kicks in. Thats nowhere close to as good as the frsky systems.
Because this uses THREE lots of data connection.
1. Stock wifi type 100mW 2.4, (as does the Jeti, spectrum, etc).
2. LoRa 2.4ghz higher latency, but 10 mile of air range. (Doesent exist on jeti or any other system).
3. 915mhz at 1 watt. With 50 to 100 miles range running ALL 3 SYSTEMS all of the time. (Compared to the jeti which is 25mw or 100mw and only after failsafe)

On the jeti the 900 is really only intended as a save the plane system in the event of it getting RF noise or range issues. And needs a 2nd reciever.

is it touch screen or does it still require a million button presses to change the program? It would be good to have total confidence in radio integrity with £20K+ of jet turbine screaming towards the ground, mind you my obsolete £300 Hitec radio has never lost a signal. What would the X20 extended range be used for?

Touch screen? Yes.
The extended range?
Ever flown a quadcopter from the the Wheatsheaf in grimsby to video cleethorpes, or the fort out in the humber? I have...
Ever flown a big foam radian glider from the college in grimsby to spurn point to look around?

Also its not the crazy range that matters. Its the SECURITY that this level of 3 different simultanious signal gives you. So using 2.4 over a busy town ( drone or a powered glider at altitude) means that there is thousands of other 2.4 signals competing. If you dont want to lose control, or have really bad range, then you need a bigger gun. And you need 900mhz and a full watt of power to work behind tall buildings or chimneys etc. I also drive powerchairs around the town. You only get a couple of miles at ground level when mixed up with buildings and vehicles.

What ever happened to 'line of sight'?

Works for that as well! Only it does it with no danger of loss of control.

[Burgerman]

Whilst this cant do the same 3 simultanious systems, it can do 2.4 + 900 and still offers 50 to 100 miles range for half the price.

But its a plastic rather than CNC alloy transmitter, less flexible, and doesent feel like a chunk of engineering!

But if its only a reasonably secure link you want, and silly range:

https://www.flyingtech.co.uk/product/fr ... ghz-radio/

Built-in TD 900M/2.4G Dual-Band Internal RF Module Supports Multiple Working Modes
2.4G ACCST D16 Mode (Compatible with ACCST Receivers with D16 V2 or later FW)
2.4G ACCESS Mode (Compatible with ACCESS Receivers)
900M ACCESS Mode (Compatible with ACCESS R9 868/915MHz Receivers)
(*Capable of simultaneous working under ACCESS mode)
2.4G & 900M TD Mode (Compatible with TD Receivers)
Super-low latency and long-range control with telemetry
(*Up to 50 to 100KM range and down to 4ms end-to-end latency)
800*480 Color Touch-Screen Displays
6 Quick-Mode Custom Buttons (Front) and 2 Momentary Buttons (Rear)
Lite Type External Module Bay
Built-in 6-axis Gyroscope Sensor
All CNC Metal Trims, Knobs
Haptic Vibration Alerts and Voice Speech Outputs
Supports SWR Indicator Warning
Supports Recharge System for 2S Li-ion Battery (USB Type-C Interface)
High-speed PARA Wireless Training System (Compatible with FreeLink App3.0)
High-Precision Hall-Sensor Gimbals with Metal Panel
(10 Ball-Bearings, Adjustable 45 Degree Travel and 8 Degree Rotatable for Gimbal Dial for S & HD version)
ETHOS: The more powerful, Flexible and Intuitive OS for your radio.
Clear and Intuitive UI Design
Supports Dual Operation Modes of Radio Display (Touch and Non-Touch)
Supports Multi-Language Switching
Hardware/Software Version and Factory Version Detection
Supports running LUA Scripts

It cant do LoRa on 2.4, but can still do long range on the 900 simultaniously so is still a better safer more powerful link than the jeti. I know I had one! Sold that and went back to the FrSky systems. They are more complex and more flexible and cheaper...

So this can do 90% of what the one I am buying can as long as you dont are about build quality...

[Burgerman]

OK now I am bankrupt again!
I ordered dark/grey anodised even though the orange really stands out. I think it would make me want to puke after a few days...

So this will be here in 7 days.
Mode 1 (right hand throttle)
FCC US Spec RF stage 915mhz not EU...
And while it already does all the FrSky protocols and dual 2.4, LoRa on 2.4 and 900, and can do any 2 or 3 of those simultaniously I also ordered a MULTI module...

That is an open source thing, it can do ALL the many different protocols, different brands and systems used by all the other companies. So it allows me to connect and use other non FrSky gear such as ready to fly stuff or mini quads, indoor whoops etc. Instead of suffering the plastic toy transmitters they come with. Including telemetry.
It allows a 3rd trick too!

Hi John
Just to keep you informed Frsky are sending out your FCC mode 1 out to us tomorrow so i will expect delivery to us early next week, then we will send it straight out to you.

Regards
xxxxx xxxxxxxx

I can get a EU 900 module, which is on 868mhz instead of 915... And run BOTH together. Allowing me to use 4 different frequencies, including 3 of them being LoRa systems all at once in one aircraft... That has got to be a bomb proof system!

[Burgerman]

OK now I am bankrupt again!
I ordered dark/grey anodised even though the orange really stands out. I think it would make me want to puke after a few days...

So this will be here in 7 days.
Mode 1 (right hand throttle)
FCC US Spec RF stage 915mhz not EU...
And while it already does all the FrSky protocols and dual 2.4, LoRa on 2.4 and 900, and can do any 2 or 3 of those simultaniously I also ordered a MULTI module...

That is an open source thing, it can do ALL the many different protocols, different brands and systems used by all the other companies. So it allows me to connect and use other non FrSky gear such as ready to fly stuff or mini quads, indoor whoops etc. Instead of suffering the plastic toy transmitters they come with. Including telemetry.
It allows a 3rd trick too!

Hi John
Just to keep you informed Frsky are sending out your FCC mode 1 out to us tomorrow so i will expect delivery to us early next week, then we will send it straight out to you.

Regards
xxxxx xxxxxxxx

I can get a EU 900 module, which is on 868mhz instead of 915... And run BOTH together. Allowing me to use 4 different frequencies, including 3 of them being LoRa systems all at once in one aircraft... That has got to be a bomb proof system!

[JohnnyUK]

The extended range?
Ever flown a quadcopter from the the Wheatsheaf in grimsby to video cleethorpes, or the fort out in the humber? I have...
Ever flown a big foam radian glider from the college in grimsby to spurn point to look around?

Impressive for sure blows Jeti and Spektrum into the weeds. FrSky have really upped their game with this one and I don't think its expensive for what it is

How the hell did you get a Radian to Spurn and back? Where did you find the lift? Didn't realise you're ALSO a glider man, I'm selling my Vladimir Mini Graphite if you're interested in warm/hotliners?

[Burgerman]

I am a glider man. I like gliders.
Had loads. Dont consider the radian as a glider, more a disposable polystyrene toy!

For the last 10 years I flew very little. I used to fly pylon racers, many very very fast own designed stuff, pulse jet deltas and turbines.

Right now I have only a very old radian with ailerons, flaps etc thats upstairs and I havent seen it for 4 or 5 years... And an unbuilt esky pusher sort of toy. And an old black pulse jet delta hanging from the ceiling. A quadcopter that I havent flown for 3 years.

And a few RC 4x4 cars, camera platforms etc.

But I still have a turbine in a kitchen cupboard. So have another plan!

How to get a radian to spurn? Easy, bigger battery, long range gear and FPV digital goggles/cam from DJI. Doesent take long you dont even need a bigger battery.

[Burgerman]

Vladimir Mini Graphite?

Looking for something similar to add a small gas turbine one day, currently skint! But it needs to be a bit bigger. Or I need a smaller turbine... Also no accessible slope so will be flying someplace like barratts... Need power. And running away!

Also did a few years with helis as a fascination. Now back to planes, I geniuely dont think you will find a better pilot, especially silly wildly overpowered fast stuff. Did that stuff 4 decades. I just get that and react automatically, basically I'm crash proof. But helis? How should I say. That worked out expensive!

Planes, I can honestly count on one hand that I crashed MYSELF and usually doing silly things. On one occasion trying to cut the streamer of a control line combat flying wing with a fast RC wing... Going about 130mph. But I have maybe 40 or more in as many years that were due to flying out of range, interference, gear or airframe failure. That radio link not working is a horrible feeling. Even if it only lasts a second. This gear should eliminate that now I am too old to take advantage of it!

FPV thermal soaring is however my latest craze about to be rekindled. Big slow lightweight power assisted with my DJI FPV goggles, vid quality is amazing. At least 4 miles video range.

[Burgerman]

Very old pulsejet delta on my ceiling...

[Burgerman]

I just did a little more research.
Jeti radios, are very high build quality. Thats why I bought one in the past. They are great software, great to hold and use, and well documented and simple and easy to get parts or have well written manuals etc. And you pay for that. Reasuringly expensive!
They are a claimed 100mW output at 2.4ghz and in reality do 80mW when tested and certified by the FAA and CE for compliance.
See here.
https://fccid.io/2A7CJ-DS12V1US
And they have a 2nd reciever that uses the 868mhz (EU) or the 915(FCC, rest of world) as a failsafe backup system. Again they claim this is 25mW for both EU and FCC variants. Because as a simple interference backup measure thats all thats required. So you get quite sensitive recievers with jeti, this results in around 3 mile range.

The FrSky has traditionally been a cheap chinese company that make stuff at a fraction of the cost. And had a chequered reputation for chopping and changing, endless firmware updates, and many complicated types of trasmitters and recievers that do not all work well with each other. Too many protocols.

Recently, past few years they fixed all that and tried to make a more finished system that worked with all the same parts. They were reasonably successful, and now have a range of affordable systems, with way more features and more permutations of recievers, frequencies, speed controllers, tememetry modules, etc etc than any other company. Those that fly expensive jets still wanted a SAFE secure link, and better range than all conventioa systems can provide as flying 300 mph 6k jets around demands a SOLID link! Well FrSky normal and long range 2.4ghz (LoRa) systems already had better range than other mainstream manufacturers. The 900mhz addition, all built into a single reciever, NOT used as a failsafe but all the time alongside the 2.4ghz systems gave them the best link of all.

But heres the thing. In the EU mode they do not use 25mW like jeti do, they allow you to choose. Either 25mW or "flex" mode that looks at the signal strength, and increases power as required while you fly. Up to a max of 500mW on the 868mhz, alongside the usual 100mW 2.4 system.
If you want more, by which I mean the US FCC rules, you can flash the TX with FCC firmware. Now instead of a EU narrow range of frequencies (low bandwidth, few lanes to "hop" in) you get a much wider spread of frequencies, more lanes, and a full time 1000mW output. Thats instead of jetis 25mW... Some FORTY TIMES the output power! That doesent give 40x the range. You need 4x the power to double the range. But this is 40X...

All great but those jet pilots, and the competition glider guys all wanted a high quality non plastic transmitter. So recenty they made a high quality version of the TANDEM X20 and added pro to the name. That I bought.

It has better switches, feels solid and is CNC machined from billet. Has better slide switches, pots, and a bunch of other things such as a whole extra RF system. Its now able to do 3 different RC protocols at once for even better resolution, latency, and crazy range.

At a price... Its still not jeti organisation/history. It IS jeti build quality. And has a better link, and more servo, reciever, and other module, and telemetry stuff. So as long as you dont mind the lack of company "polish" and can do the odd firmware update etc then its a bargain!

[JohnnyUK]

Have to say that is fascinating. FrSky's reputation as I know it was iffy at best, that changed with the Tandem range with higher spec, hall effect gimbals and carbon finish. I like that finish, good colour choice on your new Tx I'd throw up looking at that orange one for too long.

What's the current rules regarding flying FPV? I've never flown quads so don't know how you satisfy CAA rules when you're flying FPV and a 'spotter' can't see that far. I thought it had to be line of sight unless you and the 'drone' or were licensed to fly FPV. Still can't understand how a Radian flew with bigger batteries, I bought one and the fuse snapped off near the tailplane during it's maiden it was a known weakness at the time lol. I've had a Heron for the last 5 years not bad for a foamy

I chose Dayglo Green for the Mini Graphite, a bit harsh to look at but the model is so thin I struggle to keep it in sight especially when it's coming at me. Yes it was originally designed as a slope soarer but I got one with an electric nose, it's fitted to the fuse with electrical tape there's no room for anything mechanical. It's over powered but the nose never moves even on full power in a turn. It took me a year to build there's no room, everything's shoehorned in. Really high build spec all components from Hyperflight in UK, it weighs 1600g and is set up to pull 60A in 5 sec bursts with a 4S 2200 developing 3kg thrust. It's a Leomotion 3025 geared motor with 100A YGE ESC so there's headroom for up to 5kg thrust with a bigger 4S. I don't crash often but this thing scares me and it's too expensive to bust hence why I'm selling it. I've got to put it together for eBay photos, will PM you a link when I've done it

[Burgerman]

What's the current rules regarding flying FPV?

There are rules?
Optional...

You dont know me very well.
Also, back to FrSky, they have 2 up to date systems.

If you dont like or want their TANDEM gear (900mhz LoRa running alongside 2.4ghz conventional in the same reciever.) And 900 is banned on some sites.

Then they also have a DUAL system called TWIN where both are on 2.4ghz.
https://www.t9hobbysport.com/products?c ... z-receiver
These will be available in 6 up to 18 channel recievers inc stabilised ones.
These 2.4ghz systems are both different to each other. One is 5ms? end to end latency, so super fast. The other is a super high effieciency much more sensitive system, that has much more gain. This 2nd one is a 2.4ghz LoRa system with slower responce in the 12 to 15ms time, but has as they put it, 10s of km of range. Which is true. Both of these 2 systems run on one reciever with 2 completely seperated signal paths. In the FCC vrsion it uses up to 500mW on the LoRA half. So almost as much range as the 2.4/900 Tandem systems.

Whats more my new reciever allows me to do all 3 at once! I buy a TWIN system, for 2.4+LoRa 2.4. And add a tiny 900mhz reciever the size of a stamp as well. None are backup systems and all 3 run all the time. The reciever decides which frames are the fastest and best and uses those. So that way you get 1 normal 2.4ghz system, and two LoRa high power ones on completely different frequencies at once. That extra 900 reciever adds 8 grams...

[Burgerman]

TWIN recievers. 2.4ghz low latency + 2.4ghz Lora recievers in one case. 10's of kilometers range. Saw one tested at 16 miles on utube. So they work. Unless someone blocks the 2.4 or you are over a busy city covered in wifi/phones/alarms etc.
https://www.t9hobbysport.com/products?c ... 4e2410a171

TANDEM recievers. 2.4ghz + 900 LoRa recievers all in one. Approx 50 to 100km range. Better in and around buildings or where possible 2.4ghz congestion lives. The power grid started using beamed wifi from tower to tower for contol systems. Some places are seeing dead spots and crashes on 2.4 alone.
https://www.t9hobbysport.com/products?c ... 2de0938b16

Normally each system needs a TWIN or a TANDEM capable TX.
But there exists now some transmitters that do both. The Tandem X20 for e.g. The X20 pro AW, that I just bought can do both simultaniously on one model...

And I can fit one of each, just in case. Connect a single cable and they function together as one reciever. All 3 frequencies and 4 signal paths/systems 100% of the time.
Or I can add just a 900mhz reciever to the TWIN one. For 3 systems.

I think they will ntroduce new recievers that do all 3 systems in one reciever case soon.

[JohnnyUK]

Fascinating and those receivers are pretty reasonable prices, Jeti would be much more. After reading your blurb I want one too.

My Hitec is obsolete so I'd planned to change to new system when I had a few month's spare to reprogram. Turns out I'm quitting the hobby, will hang onto a couple of foamies but my BMFA/CAA has expired and the admin pain renewing is more than it's worth to me. I'll be a maveric like you and hope Keir's boys don't catch up with me

[Burgerman]

I always said I wouldnt join any club that would have me as a member.

You can gang rape children repeatdly for decades, steal anything you want from a shop, ride or drive ebikes and scooters on the footpaths, or call the cops if you are attacked or mugged, or have your house broken into. And cannot ever see a cop or be prosecuted. If they did, the courts throw you back out again. Prisons are full. Prisoners inc murderers and rapists and violent thugs with 100 plus court appearences are being released onto the streets. Meanwhile they are all sat at home studying twitter anti diversity and mean tweets.

And you think they will care about a model aeroplane?
Why should I be forced to join some quango or "club" to fly my hobby planes? Do you think the average plod will have any damned clue about the "rules"?
By joining some club, especially a self certified national thing like the BMF which has no more legitimacy than the bloke flogging dusters in law, you give all these government bodies a target group to make rules for. If we all did our own thing, who will they target?

[Burgerman]

I have been playing with this thing for a week now. It is a thing of beauty. Engineered really well. But the Ethos software is mega complex. It needs to be I suppose to be so flexible. But 7 days in I am about 5% into understanding how to do some simple stuff!

I have my carer put a TD reciever (2.4+900 FCC 500mW and 1000mW respectively) with him. It still showed RSSI and Frame rates (VFR) strength that was acceptable a mile away in the town centre in shops etc in his pocket... I was on my bed at home indoors looking at the screen! Thats crazy.

[Burgerman]

And I just discovered something.

I have a 500mW module by FrSKY that allows the use of their TWIN recievers.
Thats a 2.4ghz normal FSK standard range type low latency link, up to 2km. Plus a Long Range LoRa system link (typically 10s of km's) also on 2.4ghz. In one module and one reciever.

When I use a TD reciever as well, connected to the transmiters INTERNAL RF section I get another independent 2.4ghz 2km link, and a 1 watt (1000mW) 900mhz link thats good for 50 to 100km on LoRA system all at the same time. So both recievers connect via a servo lead and work as one with 4 different independent RF links including 2 long range protocols on completelyy different frequencies.

I end up with FSK 100mW, FSK 500mW, as seperate normal 2.4ghz links. And a LoRa 2.4ghz at 500mW, as well as 900mhz at 1000mW all running independently on one plane. They all work seamlessely together as one strong connection and each one sends all of the telemetry back via whichever one has the strongest most reliable link.

-Stock 100mW 2.4 is up to 1 to 2km dep on reciever sensitivity. As used by most RC systems.
-High power 500mW 2.4 is 2.3x that range, or over 4km.
-High power LoRa 2.4 is lower bandwidth, 10s of kilometers. Typically 20+
-High power 1000mW 915 megahertz is anything from 50 to 100 km but more importantly it isnt absorbed much by green stuff, trees or the materials in a city. Because of lower frequency and higher power levels. It bounces around more in a city instead removing dead areas where 2.4 doesent work.


Using all 4 of these together? Thats got to be the most robust, longest range possible RF control system possible.

And it all looks just like any other RC transmitter like a spectrum, futaba etc. These mostly have a single 50mW link... Jeti has a 82mW @ 2.4, (100mW with antenna gain) and a 25mW 900 section that isnt actually used until after the 2.4ghz 1 second failsafe event has happened. So not seamless and accuracy and latency suffers at long range.

[Burgerman]

4 seperate long range RF links...

No its not green. Thats the funny reflections on dark grey annodising.