Air-born AREDN Node with sUAS / Drone

[@billiondollardan]

Survival Russia sent us over here to say hi. Hi!

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks for channel support.

[@bradak9189]

Survival Russia sent me. I was a Tactical communications tech in the Army 19 years this is cool 😎

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks and thanks for supporting the channel.

[@richardsolomon8076]

Great video, Lars from survival Russia says hi :-) new sub from there

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks for supporting the channel.

[@WTFSoCal]

Im with Mastiff Coms... Spider Wire ! Glad to see ya back where the food is better brother !!!

[@minicoopertn]

I have wondered before about a similar setup but using a large helium balloon tethered to the ground. Thoughts if it is practical?

[@Mills141]

Helium is in short supply right now

[@kb9mtd-aaronwebb]

I like the balloon idea. Much more economical and can stay up considerably longer. I wouldn't use helium though. Use Hydrogen. It has better lift and can be put into multiple mylar balloons to increase the time aloft over a latex or equivalent.

[@cfisupply]

@@kb9mtd-aaronwebb I'd looked into this a while ago. The particular setup I was looking at was going to be what I considered expensive. I mean, the cost of the balloon & helium brought the cost of each flight to like $100 or so. Yes, it be good for a day or two, but... Not reusable. I'm looking into tethered drones (powered from the ground), whether commercial (expensive) or a DIY mod, and also looking into kites, though... That relies on wind.

[@Mills141]

Lithium ion battery are much lighter than alkaline. Removing the inner strands of the 550 cord will lighten that out. Thank you very much for the video. This is a technology I definitely should look into

[@robertfrawley]

How about 25 feet of small speaker wire instead of rope and power radio with drone battery

[@cfisupply]

This is what I'm looking into. I don't have a nice drone, but I did get one of those really cheap quadcopters (like $100) and may try something like this with that. At least start out with flying it tethered and go from there.

[@rkaag99]

That would divert energy from your flight time.

[@robertfrawley]

@@rkaag99 The alkaline batteries are heavy and less power dense than the lipo battery, so i think the wire idea wouldn't take that much from flt time.

[@survivalcomms]

That's a cool looking package. Thanks for sharing !

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks for the comment.

[@wheelman567]

I've been kicking around the idea of doing the same thing with a helium-filled balloon put four lines on it will stabilize it, get it as high as you want stabilize it and you don't have to worry about flight time

[@Commsprepper]

Balloons will work fine with omni directional antennas but eventually I would like to also have directional antennas. Drone with GPS will hold its position - balloons will not.

[@richardnday]

I would suggest that you use a very light cord. You don’t need 550 para cord. I use a 3mm diameter cord for shoelaces. EBay has various very strong cord that weighs much less than what you are using. I like your videos. Very well done.

[@karinhart489]

Richard Day, couldn’t you use fishing line?

[@richardnday]

You could use fishing line, but it is hard to find fishing lines that are greater than 12 lbs breaking strength. The thin cord has about 100 lbs breaking strength

[@mattycreek384]

Survival Russia Sent me, Liked Subbed and Bell!!!

[@gusgone4527]

Me too.

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks for the support.

[@KM4ACK]

Nice progress on the project. Did you test signal quality between a ground node and the airborne node? 73, de KM4ACK

[@Commsprepper]

Yes. It was slightly improved but I could not focus on that and flying at the same time. Only one set of hands that day.

[@BertShackleford]

Soon I will be approaching the communications aspect of my list in greater detail. As of now I have a simple Yaesu FT-60R handheld with a few accessories. What would you recommend as an upgraded handheld or is the FT-60R still adequate for the average user? Secondly, what would you recommend for a mobile/backpacking transceiver (such as the Yaesu FT-817ND or FT-857D)? Perhaps these models are out-dated which tells you just how long I've neglected the comms portion of our setup. Third, any thoughts on some base station units without going too far down the rabbit hole? Lastly, we come to antennas and other necessary equipment. What antennas would you recommend for the three types of units listed above (handheld, mobile/backpacking and base) and what other "must have" items would you suggest to make life easier? Thank you for your help my friend. EDITED for double spacing.

[@stevecook7279]

I backpack with my FT-817ND all the time and love it. I use 43' of wire with a 9:1 balun and use different methods to toss the antenna up into a tree.

[@jhlewis10]

Braided fishing line.

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks

[@two2wisper]

That’s really good.

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks

[@3101010]

Survival Russia sent me to say HELLO ;) Thanks for the Tape Hank

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks for the comment and channel support.

[@WTFSoCal]

also might try 4 Cr123 batteries...

[@Commsprepper]

SoCal Sup? I may look at 123s. AAs are too much. How are things in CA?

[@Devin82m]

This is very cool, and I appreciate all the work you have put into it. I, being an IT guy appreciate the tech and experimenting. I do have to ask how useful this is in a survival situation though? I understand it's use case as you have presented it in several videos, but what if you or others don't have computers or smartphones? What if a drone gives you away (especially with blinky lights), or it's control radio traffic, or you don't have sufficient power to recharge everything? Btw, I would replace the batteries with LifePo4, they are low weight and last much longer. Traditional radio and or using TNCs seems to be far more effective and realistic, especially at the frequencies WiFi works on, you get more distance and power using other data methods, granted they are slow and less persistent, but much easier to deal with and far less specialized. Case in point, once your Ubiquiti modem goes you are done, no replacement, but with traditional ham equipment you can more easily repair/replace it. I should clarify that I love APRS and a few other more digital modes, I also have a lot of laptops and a few RaspberryPis, so I have options, but I would just be careful investing too much in a tech that is limited, requires way too much infrastructure and the ability to replace it easily, and honestly only has one use unlike other ham equipment that is typically multi use. At least that's my view, I handle comms for a decent sized group of people and I'm trying to keep it simple, but please let me know if I'm missing something major. I'm not trying to be a know it all troll, I'm just trying to learn. :-)

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks for the comment. I suggest you get one of the $25 dollar units off of the AREDN supported equipment matrix and check it out. There are allot of applications here when you start working with IP on ham radio.

[@stevenlein4772]

Hi de KB9FQJ Lars sent me here. How high do you have to go for good coverage? For how long? Non consumable alternative 10 meter portable mast? You're are building that thing so light. Balance it and you can put the whole shebang on top of a light mast for 24, 7. Good job om 73s.

[@Commsprepper]

I am still working on this project. Trying to make it as light as I can with the best antennas.

[@rkaag99]

Nice work!!

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks.

[@TheOpenAirGarage]

Proof of concept. Now to perfect it. Could also use helium and ballon tethered to get it up in the air.

[@Commsprepper]

Balloons will work fine with omni directional antennas but eventually I would like to also have directional antennas. Drone with GPS will hold its position - balloons will not.

[@TheOpenAirGarage]

Commsprepper Ahhh, I get you. Makes sense.

[@shadowmaster9780]

Very nice, but have you tried a helium baloon instead?😁

[@Commsprepper]

Balloons will work fine with omni directional antennas but eventually I would like to also have directional antennas. Drone with GPS will hold its position - balloons will not.

[@AtlasReburdened]

Were you a 5939?

[@Commsprepper]

I don't think so - I don't know what that is.

[@AtlasReburdened]

@@Commsprepper It's an aviation comm systems tech in the Marine Corps. You just sounded like you might have had that or a similar background.

[@cfisupply]

Do you mind sharing your 3d printer files at some point? As stated in replies here... I've been looking to do similar for various events as well as for emergency preparedness.

[@Commsprepper]

eventually

[@forthy62]

Really good idea. Depending of the part of Germany you are going to I would like to invite you to our local Ham Club in Mainz. 73 Stephan, DF6PA

[@Commsprepper]

Stephan thanks for the comment. I will be in Stuttgart but know where Mainz is. Perhaps I could take drive up.

[@robertfrawley]

Also a 100 gallon plastic garbage bag filled with He and a fishing line mounted to drone to reduce weight will take a load off battery.

[@Commsprepper]

Balloons will work fine with omni directional antennas but eventually I would like to also have directional antennas. Drone with GPS will hold its position - balloons will not.

[@upnorthandpersonal]

Lars says hi :)

[@Commsprepper]

Thanks!

[@cobrasvt347]

Why not use lipo’s they are a lot lighter and more powerful but keep the ability to run AAA’s just in case.

[@Commsprepper]

I try to use what I have laying around in the parts bins before buying stuff.

[@MONNIEHOLT]

Try lithium ion AA batteries they are way lighter than the Duracell, and they last a lot longer I use them in my trail cameras and they last for a year even in the coldest weather, great thing you got going there, keep at it 🙋🏻‍♂️ PS instead of 25 feet of Paracort use a high tensile strength fishing line that will reduce weight too

[@Commsprepper]

it needs some tweaking for sure.

[@gusgone4527]

In the age of cyber warfare, systems like this could easily fill the void after a serious attack by some third party. Be that an enemy nation or proxy terrorist group. Well done. Will we see this on EBay any time soon?

[@Commsprepper]

Still working on this project. This prototype was too heavy. I need to get the weight down. More to come when I find time.

[@terrymac9570]

Totally against sec 2 of the uk licence, we are not allowed to use any aerial platform

[@Commsprepper]

No aeronautical mobile at all?