Hello everyone,
I am relatively new to Ardupilot and searching for a Mavlink capable Telemetry system that comes (mostly) ready to use, and I think the SiK telemetry radios would be a good fit. But when I look on Aliexpress there are many different genuine and knock off versions with different prices and output powers, so I want to ask whether getting a knock off is fine or whether I should rather get a genuine holybro system.
For reference, this is currently the one im looking at the most: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006828714910.html?algo_exp_id=7dc2efa6-4722-4001-a97b-382bee09d253-2&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A (V5 Radio Telemetry)
Thanks in advance for any answers.
Greetings, Lasse
It’s really hard to say with the clones. Some people have had luck, but many have not. I would encourage you to stick to SIK radios form Holybro or mRo.
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But wait! The Holybro module is only a V3 and the generic Aliexpress module is a V5!!!
Doesn’t that mean it will have 5/3 more range?
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They are crap. The PA stage is poorly designed, spiting out noise like hell. Also for PA the radio settings should be changed in the firmware, but since there is no 500mW SIk radio, there is no such firmware.
Don’t buy.
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I think I recall the hilarious suggestion that the only way those radios would work w/o causing havoc from spurious emissions would be to trail them behind the craft on a long cable…
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Maybe the V5 comes with a longer cable for just such a performance improvement.
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I have never had a decent set of sik radios, I would recommend mLRS or ELRS-mavlink for your telemetry, you can use them standalone as a sik radio replacement or for both RC and telemetry.
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Thanks for all of your answers, gonna buy a Holybro V3 module then. The 30db output power of the V5s were tempting but that wont make up for a trash module of course.
@geofrancis I was also thinking about mLRS or ULRS but now I started studying aerospace engineering and its a lot of work so I want something that I dont have to solder up entirely from scratch. And ELRS-Mavlink doesnt provide full bidirectional Mavlink telemetry, or does it?
Greetings, Lasse
What does Google show you with a “elrs mavlink” search?
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Wow! How cool is that! I currently use ELRS as my RC link so thats even better than spending money on a separate system with less range. So Ill probably try that and finally get myself a decent receiver which I procrastinated buying way too long. Thanks for mentioning that!
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