ExpressLRS Range Issues: How to fix the common issues and fly further!

[@adamrosenberg4367]

Range and cost are the entire reason I'm interested in ELRS

[@joshmellon390]

Here we are again... I just got into ELRS this week lol. I absolutely love this stuff, and this channel is a great rescource.

[@dustinwilson492]

After multiple failsafe's with frsky I "went running" for elrs. So far I'm really happy with it. I run dynamic power and let it do its thing. No issues yet and rx prices are great too.

[@cagmuer]

We also crash allot so even if everything looks fine with a receiver, it might be damaged in a ways you can't see. That's one of the advantages of ELRS is that I'm more happy to replace flakey inexpensive equipment after a crash instead of just living with odd behavior as I try to avoid replacing a $50 receiver.

[@BrainDeadEngineering]

Great show .Cant wait till a true diversity rx comes out and please please off the IPEX plug for the SMA . Who ever come out with a SMA plug RX first ! That is all I will buy!

[@nickvledder]

8:42 power-limit in The Netherlands for 2.4Ghz is only 10mW (!) I know, that seems ridiculously low.

[@SanneBerkhuizen]

I think it was 25mw. But I'll take your word for it. Now you probably know "je mag niet op de stoep fietsen"

[@maxun1]

Thank you for the review, I did not wanted to waste my money specially at this days, so I stop to buy garbage, specially with the price of airplanes and equipment, so I still with crossfire and even older version software and guest what? It works for miles with no issues. Just open the package get the rx installed and flight no drama. You are the only one with the true, the rest of youtubers lie to people.

[@Jay-zc7iq]

I went crossfire , I was very tempted but I can’t lie I was influenced by rc creators saying how reliable it is I usually do my own homework but for me , I turn it on and it’s one thing I never worry about,and there’s a lot to worry about in this hobby

[@DivisionRc]

I do the same with ELRS. Never had issues

[@cagmuer]

Yeah crossfire, ghost, tracer, and ELRS all use the same radio chipset. Of course i am glossing over the differences but in general that's why all of these control links are so good as compared with previous generations of radio links using FSK modulation and other modulations. I am over simplifying but generally this is the case.

[@GordonScottYankeeEngineer]

I like the ecosystem that is crossfire. And it is very reliable from my experience.

[@frankyflowers]

is there one called dragon link or is that a different thing? i think those go far.

[@Jay-zc7iq]

@@frankyflowers dragon link… when you wanna go really really far uhf setup I’m sure painless has a video kicking about on it 🫡

[@bulufish8208]

A simple thank u. Without all the blah blah..

[@cagmuer]

868/915 have smaller bandwidth to work with and in cities these bands can be more noisy than 2.4 even with WiFi. In remote areas, then 868/915 would go farther hands down.

[@deadbyteDrones]

Do the Bench Test so you can establish your baselines. If your baselines are bad, then troubleshoot it while still on the ground..

[@Painless360]

Nice idea. I'm interested in what process you follow for testing ExpressLRS on your bevch..

[@deadbyteDrones]

@@Painless360 Just the official ExpressLRS Bench Test, outlined in the ExpressLRS Website.

[@deadbyteDrones]

Basically put Receiver and TX module 1m apart, in their optimal antenna orientation/polarization when in flight, off the flat surface and record the 1RSS (RSSI dBm) values with the lowest power level the tx can output. If the value is within -30 to -40dBm (for 2.4GHz) or -20 to -30 dBm (for 900MHz), baselines are good.. If it's way lower (higher negative number), then definitely something is amiss.

[@maro0016]

I use usually crossfire. I ordered however the jumper vtol rtf kit with ELRS , so let’s see how complicated it is

[@sptrader6316]

That's why I stay with Crossfire, no problems, Ever.

[@brightontilifly]

Here it is!

[@fpvdave]

What I don't understand is we use telemetry. Doesn't this mean that we use transceivers So the main unit is pumping out 1Watt, which allows us to fly our quad/plane further away. How much power is the unit on the quad/plane transmitting at.?

[@blackbarett6632]

It isn’t the right answer.. but the normal CRSF RX does 25 mw. Maybe ELRS is similar.

[@John_Doe_6996]

At 250mw 100hz I get critical rssi and lq danger warnings when my drone is roughly 200feet away….not sure if it’s my equipment, how I built it, or if it’s the Many many HV power lines that run through my back yard…

[@John_Doe_6996]

My Rx wiring runs across the top of my FC, directly over what I believe is the gyro…..could this be causing my poor range?

[@Painless360]

More likely is bad antenna alignment, antenna damage or obstruction, ELRS not being 'turned on' by a high CH5 value at flight time or a bad Rx... Best of luck!

[@John_Doe_6996]

@@Painless360 arm is aux 1 Chan 5 in up position, antenna is just behind the camera, mounted to the carbon frame, with 2 layers of double side tape, and 2 zip ties… carbon might be causing antenna interference.

[@John_Doe_6996]

@@Painless360 did some tinkering today, my signal problem was due to antenna placement on the drone. I tested rssi dbm how it was, then moved antenna on quad to the arm of the quad and my signal went from -50dbm to -20dm. So I’m definitely going to relocate that antenna!

[@Painless360]

Great to hear you fixed it. That list of 'bad antenna alignment, antenna damage or obstruction, ELRS not being 'turned on' by a high CH5 value at flight time or a bad Rx' pretty much covers the reasons.. Happy flying!

[@CarbonGlassMan]

I just tried out a BetaFPV PWM receiver for a plane running 250hz hybrid and could not get more than 70 feet away from myself before it would lose connection. I'm using the BetaFPV 2.4ghz module in my Radiomaster TX16S. Not sure what is going on. This is my first PWM receiver in my first plane.

[@Painless360]

Antenna alignment? Speed settings? What have you already tried?

[@CarbonGlassMan]

@@Painless360 The antenna should have been fine. At the back of the T1 Ranger wing pointing up and down. I crashed and broke the tail off the plane so I gave up and went back to trying to get my module to work with my Mobula7 again. I just reflashed my TX module back to elrs 2.9 so it will work with my elrs Modula 7 because the SPI Mobula receiver is stuck on elrs 2.0. I also reflashed the plane's receiver to elrs 2.9 after the crash. Then I noticed that my TX power settings was at 50mw. I don't know if it was at 50mw for just the plane because it was previously set to 500mw before I flashed the TX from elrs 2.x to elrs 3.2. So maybe flashing it to elrs 3.2 reset the TX output power to 50mw? Or maybe flashing the TX back to 2.9 lowered power to 50mw? I'm not sure. When I get the plane repaired I'll have to try it again and this time I will know that I am on 500mw output power.

[@hersheykiss9500]

does range imply reliability / robustness?

[@Painless360]

Yes. If a protocol and radio can get you out to 20km then it should be great for closer in flying. See my comments on this in the Crossfire series...

[@hersheykiss9500]

@@Painless360 thank you! that sounds like common sense, but just wanted to make sure im not missing something, as im not super-knowledgeable in this field.

[@gabrielnunes159]

I have an ELRS Lite (2.4GHz) Wich has ceramic antenna and a jumper T-Lite with 100mw power and 50Hz frequency. I am reaching maximum 100 METERS before I lost signal. I am using in an open field with some trees, not more than 2 imas obstacles sometimes. Is something wrong? I tried a lot of things, saw a lot of videos about range but I can't get any better! Is this the real maximum for my config? Please help! I saw the conector, the wires, everything is fine! Thanks in advance!!

[@Painless360]

Those ceramic antennas are terrible for any range outside... best of luck

[@gabrielnunes159]

@@Painless360 but only 100 meters? They can't afford this? And is at maximum 10 meters from the land...

[@Painless360]

I only got about 20 meters on the ones I tried here. Never used them again..

[@werriewoepers]

I bought a 2.4 patch antenna when I started off long range. It extended my reception from 400m to 1.8 km with a old xm+ receiver. . Can this be used on my elrs 2.4. .? Don't really want to always be running max power as where we fly is allot of interference. Thanks for the tips. Had my antenna alignment wrong but still getting 8 km on 200mw. .

[@Painless360]

Should work fine. See the new Moxon antennas from RadioMaster. They are kind of the same thing... Happy flying

[@nickrich710]

I'll fly with d8 and D16 mode do I need Lewis grips and lrs Express on my radio master tx16s

[@Painless360]

What are Lewis grips? I don't understand the question..

[@paulmorris563]

​@@Painless360 probably meant lua scripts, not hard to think out of the box!

[@frankyflowers]

are you even allowed to go far over there?

[@Painless360]

This is more aimed at those pilots who commented on the last ELRS video that they couldn't get more than a few dozen feet away... ;)