3 ms·

Quote: "... it has to be satellite-driven because there’s no line-of-sight, there’s no cell phone coverage that could have dealt with that, so it has to be sate

Quote: "... it has to be satellite-driven because there’s no line-of-sight, there’s no cell phone coverage that could have dealt with that, so it has to be satellite-driven, which is pretty freakin’ sophisticated." It baffles me how narrow minded people can become once the mainstream technology is ubiquitous on every corner, it's like thinking of other possibilities is a hard wall. If I would do that with a drone I would use analog transmission using a Yagi antenna with a good reflector and I could definitely steer the drone more than 30 Km away from it: https://www.amateur-radio-wiki.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Yagi-antenna1-1000x600.jpg https://www.amateur-radio-wiki.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/0...

chucklenorris 5y ago
not really, the most advanced comercially available digital fpv video system can do at most 10km range (these systems are latency limited, sure there are 4g systems that can do more but you end up with hundreds of ms latency) also to maintain the high power draw these drones require you end up using lipo batteries that can give you at most 15 minutes of fight time, more typically somewere around 2-6 minutes. you can go with liion to get around 30 minutes but then you lose a lot of manouverability. this ofcourse assuming it was some sort of quadcopter. a plane can do more but is not as agile as the article suggests.
- manquer 5y ago
  If latency is a big challenge , isnt it even worse for satellite driven ones ? Unless it is a state actor it i LEO is very tough ( until starlink anyway), GEO latency can't handle video calls latencies, not sure if they can handle like you describe.
- unnouinceput 5y ago
  4g? battery? My friend, I would rock a drone that has a gasoline motor, not battery, so I would be up with it hours at a time. And I would use an analog transmission in 100 MHz range, like PAL system in the 60's - 800x600 resolution is enough to be able to view/control it. Do you think before digital era the analog was not good and fast enough?

chucklenorris 5y ago

not really, the most advanced comercially available digital fpv video system can do at most 10km range (these systems are latency limited, sure there are 4g systems that can do more but you end up with hundreds of ms latency) also to maintain the high power draw these drones require you end up using lipo batteries that can give you at most 15 minutes of fight time, more typically somewere around 2-6 minutes. you can go with liion to get around 30 minutes but then you lose a lot of manouverability. this ofcourse assuming it was some sort of quadcopter. a plane can do more but is not as agile as the article suggests.

manquer 5y ago
If latency is a big challenge , isnt it even worse for satellite driven ones ? Unless it is a state actor it i LEO is very tough ( until starlink anyway), GEO latency can't handle video calls latencies, not sure if they can handle like you describe.
unnouinceput 5y ago
4g? battery? My friend, I would rock a drone that has a gasoline motor, not battery, so I would be up with it hours at a time. And I would use an analog transmission in 100 MHz range, like PAL system in the 60's - 800x600 resolution is enough to be able to view/control it. Do you think before digital era the analog was not good and fast enough?