From: Jeff on
Can I ask some expert advice to select radio modems to be used in a small
UAV (a model airplane infact) ?
Desired specs for the radio modem;
o Range : 5km (or more)
o Weight : Lighter than 150gm
o Data rate: 56-115.2K bits/sec
o Interface : RS232 (and/or TTL)
o Price : Must satisfy budget constraints of five uni students (ie. as
low cost as possible) :(



From: karel on
<Jeff Rina> schreef in bericht
news:43a80b79$0$18197$afc38c87(a)news.optusnet.com.au...
> Can I ask some expert advice to select radio modems to be used in a small
> UAV (a model airplane infact) ?
> Desired specs for the radio modem;
> o Range : 5km (or more)
> o Weight : Lighter than 150gm
> o Data rate: 56-115.2K bits/sec
> o Interface : RS232 (and/or TTL)
> o Price : Must satisfy budget constraints of five uni students (ie. as
> low cost as possible) :(

I am not an expert on the matter,
but have some teaching on aviation
and the use of radio comm's therein.

have you any idea of the preferred carrier frequency?
VHF (80-150 or so MHz) offers good reliability
but is line of sight, i.e .will not follow the earth's curvature

at a very rough estimate, 5 kms range
would require 400 ft flying altitude -
dos that sound reasonable?

though I have received tower comm's at /- 10 kms distance
quite clearly, with a simple receiver,
and neither tranmitter nor receiver applying high antenna structures

final tip: i remember seeing some projects
of R/C aircraft with a camera and transmitter installed
so as to monitor the camera image on the ground
let google be your friend!


From: M. Noone on
Have a look at sparkfun.com - they have some nice cellular modules that
look like they might work pretty well for you. They also have two lower
speed rf modules, um96 and um12, that have very good range (which will
improve very much when in the air). Best of luck,

M. Noone

JeffRina wrote:
> Can I ask some expert advice to select radio modems to be used in a small
> UAV (a model airplane infact) ?
> Desired specs for the radio modem;
> o Range : 5km (or more)
> o Weight : Lighter than 150gm
> o Data rate: 56-115.2K bits/sec
> o Interface : RS232 (and/or TTL)
> o Price : Must satisfy budget constraints of five uni students (ie. as
> low cost as possible) :(

From: Mark Borgerson on
In article <43a80b79$0$18197$afc38c87(a)news.optusnet.com.au>, <Jeff Rina>
says...
> Can I ask some expert advice to select radio modems to be used in a small
> UAV (a model airplane infact) ?
> Desired specs for the radio modem;
> o Range : 5km (or more)
> o Weight : Lighter than 150gm
> o Data rate: 56-115.2K bits/sec
> o Interface : RS232 (and/or TTL)
> o Price : Must satisfy budget constraints of five uni students (ie. as
> low cost as possible) :(
>

The 9Xtend series from MaxStream may fit your requirements. The
modules are about $299. ( you wil need 2, of course). I'm in the
early stages of evaluating a system that uses these modems, so I
can't tell you much about their ease of use and reliability.

Mark Borgerson

From: pbreed on
try www.maxstream.net

I've personally tested their Xtend modules to more than 75 miles.

Standard Dipole on the airborne end, a small dish on the ground.

Test was terminated at 75 miles because that was as far as we needed and
I could not legally climb any higher, without oxygen, to maintain a clear line of sigt
over a mountain ridge where we were testing.

I've tested their raidos to over 20 miles with dipoles on both ends and no gain.

These tests seem to be somewahat sensitive to the population density in the area,
7 miles was my max measured range on the ground in the San Diego area.

Be aware that they are line of sight and you must respect the freznel (spelling?) zone limits.


Paul







On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:47:29 +1100, <Jeff Rina> wrote:

>Can I ask some expert advice to select radio modems to be used in a small
>UAV (a model airplane infact) ?
>Desired specs for the radio modem;
> o Range : 5km (or more)
> o Weight : Lighter than 150gm
> o Data rate: 56-115.2K bits/sec
> o Interface : RS232 (and/or TTL)
> o Price : Must satisfy budget constraints of five uni students (ie. as
>low cost as possible) :(
>
>