Well the time has finally come for me to order my downlink setup. I am planning on the Iftron tech stuff as that seems to be what most are recommending. I have a few questions before I place my order. Just want to make sure I get everything I will need. Here is what I have on my list so far. Using a panasonic gh2 for video, maybe a pj710v for video, and a Nikon D4 for stills. What other cables or connectors etc will I need to make it a plug and play system. Also, what is every recommend for screens. http://www.iftrontech.com/product_info.php?cPath=46&products_id=179 http://www.iftrontech.com/product_info.php?cPath=48&products_id=190 2 of these antennas http://www.iftrontech.com/product_info.php?cPath=39_71&products_id=159
I have not used the Iftron stuff but am REALLY happy with the 1.3ghz systems from Lawmate. Might want to take a look at them. If you go Iftron let us know how it works. Tabb
I have the Mondo Extreme and the Yellowjacket. Work very well. Rather than the patch antennas think about getting something from IBCrazy. 3 lobe/4 lobe circular polarized. I have those with a 5.8 Fan antenna from www.truerc.com. That is the second antenna on the yellowjacket. I've been out to about 1500 meters and reception was solid. And the folks at Iftron give outstanding customer service.
I second the IBCrazy antennas. We were using patch antennas before and were not happy at all with them. The new IBCrazy BlueBeams work so much better! Josh
Hey all. I have my third order with Iftron pending as I write this. We been using the 500mw and the passport as well. mostly good results. I spoke with Ira today and he said the Yellowjacket USB is not available yet-- some supply issues he said. I'm going to try the 1.5 watt Stinger. Possible overkill. I am waiting on the clover/planar sets from Circular Wireless, available at readymade rc. They also have a long range helical that looks interesting. Anyone ever tried these antennae? P.S. as to customer service, I ordered from Iftron seven days ago and still don't know the status of my order. He lists and answers his phone( and that's nice), but very slow service compared to my other vendors. Just sayin... Dave
sorry, here's the link to the 5.8 helical http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11_45_49_97&products_id=1026
I would be curious to see how well that works. We are still looking for something a little better. Thanks for sharing! Josh
hopefully this looks right. Ordered last night 1 x 5.8 GHz Bluebeam Whip Antenna Set (RHCP) (58BLUEBEAMWHIP) $54.99 1 x 5.8 GHz Skew Planar Wheel Whip Antenna (RHCP) (Single, Straight) (RHCP-SPWWHIP-ST-5.8-IBC) $32.99 1 x Mondo Stinger 5.8GHz 500MW Fan-Cooled AVD Transmitter (MST5.8-F) $289.95 1 x PassPort 5.8 Diversity Receiver (PPT5.8) $399.99
+1 for Ira and the Iftron crew. We have been with them for 3 years strong. Sure its a bit more then most systems out there but the company service has been excellent. Looks like the cloverleaf antenna does a lot to improve the system. Look for them soon at quadrocopter.com. Greetings, Adam
I just upgraded to the cloverleaf antennas and it's a night and day difference between them... wish I had found out about them before spending $140 on the patch antennas. :/
I switched over to Bluebeams for both the 1.2Ghz FPV and the 5.8 camera downlink. Now there are no dropouts within my typical operational range of "400 feet" up and, oh, 200-300 yards horizontal. I put two of the 4-element receiver Bluebeams on the 5.8Ghz Passport Diversity receiver, using a longer semi-rigid cable on one so that there's more spacial diversity. The slightly harder part was finding a good spot for the Tx and Bluebeam on the gimbal to avoid the carbon fiber occluding it. I may have to move the Mondo Stinger down on to a landing gear leg as I wanted the Bluebeam pointing up -- just on the hunch that having it pointing down might not be a Good Thingif the Rx's Bluebeam are pointing up -- I don't understand enough about Right Hand Circular Polarized antennas such as the Bluebeam. Andy.
twister how is this working out for you??? I have some lawmate 900mhz that are pretty solid but they get very hot and not well made. The iftron stuff seems high quality. the stock antennas i can only go about 20-30 feet before i get dropouts. i am going to order some antennas this weekend to resolve hopefully
Working great so far. 5.8ghz so its basically line of site but I have had it pretty far out and have yet to lose signal. I would definitely recommend it.
Tagging on to Andy's question on importance of orientation of the Bluebeam clover leaf antennas. I have exactly the same set up 5.8 Mondo Stinger with a 3-leaf Bluebeam and a Passport reciever with 2 4-leaf Bluebeams, on the reciever end I use 90 degree angle connectors to get vertical positioned antennas (north orientation), but on the transmitter side the antenna is oriented south, is this a no-no if I want to maximise signal quality ? Btw, compared to my earlier patch antenna setup this is way better, but of course improvements are always welcome. Slightly off topic, has anyone explored into the world of HD signal quality (using wi-fi), we get requests for live feeds but the video quality we today see with the current set up is really not good enough, these look interesting, but range is so-so: http://paralinx.net ?
Have a look at the polar diagrams for the Bluebeam antenna, Berndt. The first one is looking down on the antenna from above and shows that it radiates an almost equal amount of power in all directions. The second diagram shows a side-on view and you can see that the radiation pattern is essentially zero right above and right below the antenna (assuming that the antenna is pointed up at the sky). What worried me more -- and this is my ignorance of antenna theory -- is that if you have the transmitter antenna pointing down at the ground and the receiver antenna pointing up at the sky, then I was wondering whether the antenna right hand circular polarization would be correct. Do an experiment with an analog wrist watch: With the face of the watch pointing up at the ceiling, note the direction in which the hands move -- clockwise, obviously. But now invert the watch so that the face of the watch is pointing at the floor. When viewed from above the watch, the hands on the watch move counterclockwise. Applying this to the antenna, by having one pointing at sky and the other pointing at ground, have we rotated the polarization? I don't know -- largely because I don't know the reference point for the assertion that these are "right hand circular polarized." Right hand viewed from where? One thing is for sure -- if you have a Bluebeam antenna that is pointing horizontally, then the so-called side lobes in the second polar diagram would suggest that the radiated power is going straight up at the sky and straight down to the ground, but less going horizontally, especially if the transmitter is at the same altitude (that is close to the ground) as the receiver. If there's anyone who's knowledgeable about antenna theory on this forum, I'd appreciate their comments. Recently there's been an alarming increase in the number of things about which I know absolutely nothing and these antennae are close to that! Andy.
Thx for the clarification Andy, I will do some field tests and see if I can draw some conclusions on North-North vs. North-South.
I just jump from a 2 axis gimbal to a 3 axis and need a second transmitter receiver on the 2 axis I been using Lawmate 1.2 I have 2 units of course cant use them at the same time, so questions: 1 is 5.8 the only safe way to go 2 ifrontech poducts are way more $ than Lawmate, is this the only way to go 3 what is prefer 1.2 for pilot 5.8 camera op or the other way thanks