So i finally got to range testing today for my boat. I have a zorro 4in1 and an xsr reciever.
I am using SBUS for rc control to a matek 743wlite and SPort return for the telemetry back to yappu.
The vehicle is always horizontal being a catamaran so rather than do the 90deg V like you might on a plane etc I chose to orient the two antenna at 180 deg vertically to best suit the signal.
So i drive across the dam in line of sight on flat water and i get to about 180m and im already back to rssi in the 40s and hearing warnings . This is with the tx antenna lifted and vertical also. The radio manual mentions 2km at 20dbm and i was really only hoping for 500m as i wouldn’t actually expect to get the advertised range but honestly thought id get 1/4 of it. Is the rf power adjustable? Even if it is i imagine it would default to maximum.
I have other frsky rx on fpv foamies and fly them in excess of 500m in populated areas full of wifi without losing signal.
I realise 900mhz will be suggested and i may have to do this but i thought it should be within 2.4ghz capability and the rfd module i would use requires a full size bay and the zorro has only a nano, i could get a tx16 etc but it just adds to the complexity and size weight etc.
Has anyone found similar range limitations on frsky 2.4? Or is there something wrong with my installation
I think ~1.5km max when I was using those. That’s on a a multirotor unobstructed. Those were all replaced with either Frsky R9 or Crossfire. Starting from nothing today I would drink the ELRS cool-aid I suppose.
So you think 200m and getting warnings means i have something wrong? 1.5km line of sight max is fine, my target is 500m
I wonder if being close above the water affects the signal and limits my range?
I’m going to say it’s a water issue. I’ve had FrSky receivers out to over 1600m without issue, albeit in ideal conditions. However a colleague of mine sails RC sailboats and he often says they have trouble after only a few hundred meters.
I can confirm the range reduction above water from flying float planes.
Flying above dry land with regular Frsky equipment I get the nominal range easily… The presence of water will affect the range of 2.4GHz radios. It’s even worse close to the water.
To minimize the range reduction above water the RC sail boat guys put the antennas as high as possible in the rig.
In the few minutes of google-foo that I tried, it seems the effect is proportionate to the frequency. So a 900MHz system may suffer less than the 2.4Ghz.
Ok, so maybe my old 36Mhz gear could be put into use? I wonder if it can do fport
I just spoke to a radio sailing guy and he said they are normally within 100m of the boat and just use standard 2.4ghz gear with no major issues except for when they use carbon hulls. Maybe i can try putting the rx up high on the back of the motor but then its right near the esc and motor which cant be good.
Ground interference kills range. I’ve gotten nearly 1000m over the ground out of a 900MHz ExpressLRS set, which will carry passthrough telemetry just as well as (if not better than) FrSky’s garbage.
I also get about 400-500m out of SIYI’s 5.8MHz HM30, which will carry video, telemetry, and SBus.
I dont need the video, but elrs is sounding better all the time, i was put off it early on as not a viable reliable system but that may not have been good advice. I would like to stay with the small form and simplicity of the zorro tx if i can, but no biggie if i can’t
Looks like the Zorro supports an ExpressLRS module, no problem.
I avoid FrSky like the plague now. I used to use it for everything, but ExpressLRS is superior now that it has matured a bit, while FrSky continues to wallow in firmware confusion and issues.
I’ve been RC modelling for 25 years and finally this is the first time I’ve had a chance to make something that might be useful (other than just for the joy of the hobby itself)
Most of the other usv’s that are built for this purpose use T200 thrusters or similar clones, I bought some with the intention of testing both above and below water propulsion and graphing the speed vs current draw on the same vessel to see which is truly more efficient, but the advantages being able to sit the thing on a flat table or in the back of a vehicle without putting the weight on thruster weed guards has me already sold on air props, besides I never have to worry about getting weed or fishing line etc wrapped on a prop shaft and I can drive right up the bank and keep the operator completely away from the waters edge in many cases as demonstrated in the vid.
I’d love to get some plaining hulls as the motors are plenty powerful enough, but there is just no supply as there is no market outside plastic toy rc boats
Late to the party, but I can confirm that the radio/receiver pair will perform a lot better in the air than on the water. I have tried with several boats. If you can raise the antenna(s) a feet or two, it will help a lot. If you’re just half good with a solering iron, you could replace one of the existing coaxial antenna cables, get a new, longer one (eBay), solder it in place and mount the end on a CF/GF stick. The end needs to cut like the existing ones to match the 2.4GHz frequency, ofc.
And you should be able to find a decent glassfiber hull on ebay or from one of the ususal suppliers. Or you could get a cheap toy boat, reinforce the hull and add quality servo/rudder/motor/electronics.
I might try the extended antenna up a bit and see if I can get 500m, so far I haven’t got elrs going but if I do I will post the resulting range here so people know what to expect
We’ll I finally got elrs working and did a range test today with antennas at the same distance off the water as I had with frsky 2.4GHz
Today I got 500m with no issues for rc or telemetry, I’m not sure what the rc power was as I had it set to dynamic, but the telemetry power was 100mW and held up strong, crsf stayed in mode 4 all the way and qual was reported at 60-70 most of the way out and back.
I’m using ranger nano module at 100hz full, 1:2 telemetry ratio and the RP3 rx with antennas about 150-200mm above the water.
I’d like to have gone all the way till it lost telemetry and eventually lost rc and triggered rtl but it was already basically out of sight as the water was choppy.
. This is with the tx antenna lifted and vertical also. The radio manual mentions 2km at 20dbm and i was really only hoping for 500m as i wouldn’t actually expect to get the advertised range but honestly thought id get 1/4 of it. Is the rf power adjustable? Even if it is i imagine it would default to maximum.
