Hi there. Really enjoying all the information and videos on the forum and was wondering if anyone has had any experience using the Teradek Cube for video downlink. We have an opportunity to try one next week with the Canon 5D and C300 using iPads as monitors. Any thoughts would be great. Thanks Katya
I too am curious about this. I am wondering what the latency is like on them and what the distance is. I believe the guys over at Quadrocopter played with one and liked it. I also think they are selling them on their site now but I never heard what their actual thoughts where on it. Please report back with your findings. Josh
Will do Josh. I always have problems with my video downlink so am hoping the cube might be a good option, albeit a rather more expensive one. Kat
we have a teradek, it works like a charm, if you can manage to set it up right. Latency is only an issue when you have it go thru a network i noticed, but apart from that, it works well. and we quite like it.
Thanks for that Ed. Are you going directly to iPads or are you using a wifi router to boost the signal when creating an ad hoc network? Katya
We tested the Teradek cube on Monday. We were not testing it on the cinestar but for range as we are working with a company here in the UK who are developing a way to extend wifi range for the cubes and mobile solutions for live broadcast with the bond box. So far we have cube to cube range - video to video 40 meters cube to ipad - 20 meters cube to iPad with router in the middle of both 40 meters with the test range extender we got perfect cube to cube transmission at 300 meters plus. We ran out of field so couldn't try any further but were getting 5 bars of signal so expect that up to 1km would be possible. If you create a 3G network with wifi dongles and the bond box the latency is about 6 secs but will be better in the UK anyway when we get 4G The extender units are in preproduction at the moment but are slightly too large to mount on the cinestar so the next step is to reduce the size of the copter extender so that it will comfortably mount on the cinestar 360 or 2 axis gimbal. The great thing about it though is that here in the UK you are able to get a larger range within legal OFCOM transmission limits, not sure what everyone else's rules and regs are in other countries. In built up areas where there are lots of wifi units working it is possible to switch channels so it should always be possible to get a clean signal but we will be testing that a little later down the line.
Great news !! How did you do these tests? On the ground or between buildings or hills? I used to work with WiFi Networks and there is the good and old Fresnel curve between the antennas. If you got these distances on the ground they should be much better with one of the points in the air. Please keep us informed!
Hi Arthur The tests were done on the ground in a big open flat rural space. I'm more on the camera side of things so not much to do with the actual technology of the wifi etc and the company we are working with are the tech experts in terms of the wifi and transmitter/receiver technology but we will be testing all sorts of scenarios over the next month or so and the eventually getting it up on the cinestar once the wifi transmitter is small enough. All exciting though and will post with any updates as I know the guys are hoping to go into production with their extender soon and if people want to go the route of the terabek cube for their rc video downlink then their technology would be a great addition to get the extra distances needed. Kat
US snowboard team head Coach using Cube to monitor thier Athletes performing down the half pipe. From the pictures below you can see that the half pipe is covered in wifi with hi-gain antennas systematically placed throughout the half pipe. The Cube weight is approximately 7 ounces. Hope this helps.