H520's range and radar

[rconiv]

Today my H520 found a tree, which was almost not the worst thing about the incident. I thankfully caught a branch before ending up in the river. Unfortunately in the crash, the E90 did end up in the river as it was removed in the crash. I had lost camera, so told it to come home, and it decided to come home at full speed, even though it was in turtle mode. I got camera back just in time to see it hit the tree on the controller screen. So my question is, does the H520E have any additional radar, or is it the same only forward facing radar?

Has anyone gone from the 520 to the 520E noticed a Signiant increase in camera range? I know they changed some things with it, so wondering if it is a large change (large being able to go a lot more then 300 feet with a couple small trees in the way), or is it not to much different? I have to fly in some interesting areas for SAR, and currently it is kind of useless for that because of the camera's short range, and lots of vegetation.

 

[DoomMeister]

I believe the range is better with the H520e using OFDM. The OFDM is at 2.4GHz and carries both aircraft control and the video feed. Obstacle Avoidance is still just forward looking sonar. @terrence davidson should be able to verify that. Look for some of his first posts in the H520e forums. If you purchase one, make sure it has the internal frame upgrade before you purchase it.

Some information about your H520 and its RTL behavior. RTL is an automated function so its operating speed is not affected by the Rate Slider. Its return speed will be full rate and RTL height has to be set to an altitude higher than the tallest obstacle in the area of operation before starting flight. Initiation of RTL whether commanded by the pilot or upon LOS (loss of signal - the 2.4GHz Zigbee RC link) the aircraft will ascend vertically if below the RTL height setting to the set height. If at or above that height it will remain at its present height. At this point the aircraft will turn to the heading to take it to the takeoff area or to the ST16S depending on your choice in the setup menu. If OBS is turned on it will limit the speed to about 11 mph and stop at an obstruction and await pilot commands to avoid the object (if equipped with RealSense it will automatically guide itself without pilot input). It will then fly to that point, rotate facing away from the ST16, descend, and lower the gear and land.

The loss of the E90 is a bitter pill. Sorry for your loss.

 

[terrence davidson]

obs is sonar sensor and the speed will be 11 max. as for range it is much improved in most situations. as for the second gen h520 series which is the e version make sure you get the new internal frame installed unless it already is installed. I am going to reupload the frame photos. first gen right new updated is left.

 

[DoomMeister]

Thanks for your input Terrence! Very much appreciated.

 

[7cyclops]

I confused here. Post # 1 says range of 300 feet. What am I missing here? Considering a 520 someday. I have range of stock q500 at 1200 feet plus and my H480 about 2,500 feet, and I know pilots who have gone beyond. What am I missing here?? sometimes I feel so stupid!I would think any 520 would go at least double that far according to what I have read. Please help clear this up for me. Keith Maybe camera range issomething different than flying range?? I reread and reread post #1 and believe I am on the wrong page here.

 

[rconiv]

I confused here. Post # 1 says range of 300 feet. What am I missing here? Considering a 520 someday. I have range of stock q500 at 1200 feet plus and my H480 about 2,500 feet, and I know pilots who have gone beyond. What am I missing here?? sometimes I feel so stupid!I would think any 520 would go at least double that far according to what I have read. Please help clear this up for me. Keith Maybe camera range issomething different than flying range?? I reread and reread post #1 and believe I am on the wrong page here.

In a wide-open field, I can get around 1000 feet or so, before I lose the camera feed, but if I flip to return to home, at some point, it picks it up, and comes back, and once I get the camera back, I switch back to manual flight. Now if there is even a bit of vegetation in the way (tree's) the range drops dramatically. I know people will get the kighthawk system to boost the range, though my tired brain right now is not remembering if that increases the camera's range or the systems.

This said, I have wondered also if there is something wrong with the ST16+ but have no way to test it.

 

[7cyclops]

O.K. so I get it. I try not to fly with interference. Has been rather expensive for me,guess sometimes Iam a slow learner, but I never give up.If I need to fly close to an obstacle I will go up and over,staying away from a tree bush fence etc. being anywhere between me and the drone. If I lose a signal even for a second I will fly back and land, and start over. On a few occasions once I lost signal then drone just seemed erratic. No more taking chances for me! K.C.

 

[DoomMeister]

In a wide-open field, I can get around 1000 feet or so, before I lose the camera feed, but if I flip to return to home, at some point, it picks it up, and comes back, and once I get the camera back, I switch back to manual flight. Now if there is even a bit of vegetation in the way (tree's) the range drops dramatically. I know people will get the kighthawk system to boost the range, though my tired brain right now is not remembering if that increases the camera's range or the systems.

This said, I have wondered also if there is something wrong with the ST16+ but have no way to test it.

You could have issues with either the ST16S (the ST16+ is a misnomer put out by users to differentiate between the H480’s ST16 with 2 external antennas and the later version with 3 external antennas) or the E90 camera.

Does the video range vary according to the angle you are flying in respect to the controller? I have seen this with an H+/C23 (equivalent to the H520/E90), but at a much greater range of 2000+ feet in open ground. Straight out and back were fine, but at 90 degrees seemed to start breaking up.

A 4Hawks range extender does help with both control and video range. It does not amplify the signal per se, but focuses the radiation pattern. It also allows you to pick up the fainter signals returned from the aircraft/camera. The fly in the ointment is that you need to point the antenna at the aircraft.

 

[terrence davidson]

for first gen h520 I have issues with the camera position and video drop out in flight. some are major other are minor. camera facing front of drone and the back of drone facing me no issues with video feed. as soon as I pan the camera left or right depending on the distance from controller video feed signal drops out. also this can happen when the front drone is facing 3,6 and 9 oclock and the camera lens is also facing at any other position than noon with respect of the pilots location.