Sunny range booster test

[Biggmoinc]

Recieved my Sunny range extenders/reflectors, went up 400' and hit around 7500' out before signal kicked in RTH, slid on the reflectors and went out to 13865' with 40% left, on the way home and landed 772 ft short of takeoff point, 27695' total. wide open field, just took the daughter mini bike out for a spin lol, bout 13 1/2 min flight, windy headed out. My mavic air only got 11 min of flight time going the same distance out without the reflectors at 40%, but I got all the way back home with 6% left...kinda sucks comparing them finding out battery is becoming the limiting factor, 1rst pic you can see where RTH kicked in, and distance it went afterwards, 2nd you see where it didnt make it back, 3rd is my Air, I'm happy with the spark!

 

[Spark 317]

The reflectors are well worth the money, less than $10, and are simple to use.

 

[RoarRoar]

Seriously a must have accessory. I rarely fly without mine.

 

[Heckmaniac]

I use the exact same reflectors including the brand. Longest "successful" flight, meaning all way out and back was 14,588 ft out (landed with 2% battery). Have a somewhat laggy YouTubue of it below with telematics (not sure why so laggy - sometimes good video sometimes not so good). Longest ever I went 15,134 ft out (29,769 ft total), but came up about 500 ft short before battery gave out (screenshot below). I did recover the drone as it crash landed on a very small patch of land in the middle of a large creek, but never tried to break that record again. All distance flights I've done have been over open water or wide open, unpopulated farmland. Parabolic range extender dishes nearly double my range when used correctly and in right conditions.

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[Satigger]

I use the exact same reflectors including the brand. Longest "successful" flight, meaning all way out and back was 14,588 ft out (landed with 2% battery). Have a somewhat laggy YouTubue of it below with telematics (not sure why so laggy - sometimes good video sometimes not so good). Longest ever I went 15,134 ft out (29,769 ft total), but came up about 500 ft short before battery gave out (screenshot below). I did recover the drone as it crash landed on a very small patch of land in the middle of a large creek, but never tried to break that record again. All distance flights I've done have been over open water or wide open, unpopulated farmland. Parabolic range extender dishes nearly double my range when used correctly and in right conditions.

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You've some balls to take your spark out over so much water!!

 

[Biggmoinc]

That's good stuff right there! I do lakes and ponds, if it does happen to get iffy I can just go to a side , and have to hunt it down in someone back yard or woods lol

 

[Heckmaniac]

You've some balls to take your spark out over so much water!!

I did take chances early on with the Spark, but after losing my first one in an unrelated, non-distance water incident, my "balls" shrunk significantly with the 2nd Spark. I do live in the U.S. and got a seperate personal articles insurance policy for my drone and accessories with State Farm for $50/yr that covers accidental loss or theft with no deductible - full replacement cost. That calms my nerves a bit more knowing I'll be able to replace everything, but still more cautious now than I was when I did the flights above.

 

[Heckmaniac]

That's good stuff right there! I do lakes and ponds, if it does happen to get iffy I can just go to a side , and have to hunt it down in someone back yard or woods lol

Yep I panicked and went balls to the wall to get all the way home on the 15K+ ft flight. Problem is once battery hits 12 or 13% it takes it out of sport mode, slows to 12 mph and starts to land. You can overcome the landing by pushing up on the altitude stick, but the speed reduction is what caused me to come up short. Lucky for me there was a small 30ft patch of island in the middle of the creek where the battery gave out. 2 thunderstorms and 5 days later I did a rescue mission (see pic below) and found it buried 3/4 in mud and water and after a week in a baggie of rice and 3 attempts later Spark 1 came back to life and worked good as new until it's unfortunate demise a few months later (another story all together).

 

[Bandiano]

8G ??

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

Still depends on the openess of your area. I am in an area with so many trees, I use 2.4 and even with the reflectors, I have only managed 880 metres before disconnects. I was keeping to the 300AGL rule we have, probably will do better in June, when the rules change to 400 here. That said, I generally stick to VLOS.