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What really blows me away is the range that you can achieve with almost no power on tiny little antennas. For instance, ELRS uses a transmitter/receiver that is

What really blows me away is the range that you can achieve with almost no power on tiny little antennas. For instance, ELRS uses a transmitter/receiver that is less than a gram, that can keep a link with a drone alive across 30 km or even more. And the antenna is so small you might toss it away with the packaging if you're not paying attention. One example: https://rcmaniak.pl/userdata/public/assets/images/SpeedyBee/ELRS-2G4-RX/SpeedyBee%20Nano%202.4G%20ExpressLRS%20ELRS%20Receiver1.jpg https://rcmaniak.pl/userdata/public/assets/images/SpeedyBee/... Oh, and it also speaks WiFi, just in case and it has its own little onboard computer and a web server.

tappaseater 1y ago
I used to follow the balloon projects that hams would launch. A mylar balloon with a tiny 50 milliwatt transmitter and GPS, solar powered on the 10Mhz band tracked thousands of miles away.
mystraline 1y ago
Yep, its called LoRa. Ive been able to decode as low as -26 SNR. Theres LoRa chips for 2.4GHz, 900MHz, 868MHz, 433MHz, and 144MHz.
stavros 1y ago
I use this one, with an onboard antenna: https://imgaz.staticbg.com/thumb/large/oaupload/banggood/images/EB/58/fe086da4-4b42-49c1-b1b1-f25f107a2621.jpg https://imgaz.staticbg.com/thumb/large/oaupload/banggood/ima... It's a centimeter on a side, and easily goes more than 10km. It's just mind-blowing that this exists. 0.9 grams, IIRC.
- jacquesm 1y ago
  Wow, that's an even better example. I already have a hard time finding the radio sometimes, and need to put on my glasses, with that one you need tweezers to mount it :) I ran into your tuning tips page the other day by way of a random search!
  - stavros 1y ago
    Oh nice, I was hoping they'd be useful to someone! With that radio, I just use a drop of hot glue on the fuselage, and it works great! Plus, it's easy to find then :P
    - jacquesm 1y ago
      I'm having a devilish time tuning a drone using Inav, I've read through a mountain of documentation and tried a whole pile of things but so far it has not led to a breakthrough, just gradually increasing insight. Oh well, better to keep plugging away at it :)
      - stavros 1y ago
        Let me know if you need help, I've done it a few times.

tappaseater 1y ago

I used to follow the balloon projects that hams would launch. A mylar balloon with a tiny 50 milliwatt transmitter and GPS, solar powered on the 10Mhz band tracked thousands of miles away.

mystraline 1y ago

Yep, its called LoRa. Ive been able to decode as low as -26 SNR. Theres LoRa chips for 2.4GHz, 900MHz, 868MHz, 433MHz, and 144MHz.

stavros 1y ago

I use this one, with an onboard antenna: https://imgaz.staticbg.com/thumb/large/oaupload/banggood/images/EB/58/fe086da4-4b42-49c1-b1b1-f25f107a2621.jpg https://imgaz.staticbg.com/thumb/large/oaupload/banggood/ima... It's a centimeter on a side, and easily goes more than 10km. It's just mind-blowing that this exists. 0.9 grams, IIRC.

jacquesm 1y ago
Wow, that's an even better example. I already have a hard time finding the radio sometimes, and need to put on my glasses, with that one you need tweezers to mount it :) I ran into your tuning tips page the other day by way of a random search!
- stavros 1y ago
  Oh nice, I was hoping they'd be useful to someone! With that radio, I just use a drop of hot glue on the fuselage, and it works great! Plus, it's easy to find then :P
  - jacquesm 1y ago
    I'm having a devilish time tuning a drone using Inav, I've read through a mountain of documentation and tried a whole pile of things but so far it has not led to a breakthrough, just gradually increasing insight. Oh well, better to keep plugging away at it :)
    - stavros 1y ago
      Let me know if you need help, I've done it a few times.