Walksnail AVATAR Repeater: Overview and first look of something new

[@kai-olavskansgard9049]

Would be great for winter flying. Place the repeter outside and sit in a warm car for flying.

[@LochnessFPV]

Ukraine is going to be happy. Clearly designed to be mounted on a big Matrice to extend the one-way FPV drones range. Can't see any other application. Only one question, how much latency is added?

[@WindjumbieFPV]

2x Latency

[@Polkem1]

Ive seen Russians and Ukrainians both using something similar for quite a while but for analog, but manufactured in their own country, and more cheaper looking, I assume its just a 5.8->1.2ghz rather than 5.8 to 5.3, could be useful for the groups that have more funding and money Ig, but I'm still trying to figure out repeater systems for elrs.

[@shamandgg]

Only if it can step frequencies randomly

[@pietroseven8228]

This exactly coming from the front line demand. First in development is space, long time nothing than aviation, army, long time nothing and than automotive and on final public!

[@Stubbino]

Maybe not for one way drones. Most drone units are self-funded using donations, and HD video is way too expensive to be wasting on one way missions. However, DJI drones are expensive and come with some big caveats. If you look at what else is in the market, you'll notice that there are camera gimbals that are compatible with Walksnail cameras. I think this is aimed more at building observer and multi-mission strike drones.

[@gregorydobson4307]

Great explanation Lee, dont think I'll be purchasing the item any time soon.

[@nevemOP]

This is not a mesh system at the moment. The VTx is constantly connected to the repeater and the pilot's VRx is also connected to it. For hobby use, I can imagine that it can be placed on an extendable mast to increase the coverage area. On a mountaintop, it makes sense if the antennas of the VTx part of the repeater can see both sides of the mountain equally. By the way, the latency increase can be 1-2ms, since there is no image signal processing. Only the RF packets are shoveled between the VTx and VRx sides. Currently, I think it is expensive compared to its capabilities.

[@umeshjadhav3326]

Pretty interesting....Will there ever be a Walksnail Digital FPV ground station? Where we can use whatever HDMI monitor we have it or with official monitor. Kind of similar yo analog ground station....

[@petrowi]

I appreciate the multiple directional antennas - stick this unit on a repeater drone and you have a better chance of getting signal at your goggles as the repeater drone turns and moves

[@MCsCreations]

Awesome review, Lee! Thanks!!! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@cheekyalex06]

This is so obviously been designed to used in field or mountain environment. Attached to something like a dji mavic this could extend your fpv range to go over long terrain with trees etc, ideal for a one way mission.

[@JPspinFPV]

What I'd like to see is 8 for use on an AAT ground station, 4 on the goggles and the other 4 on the transmit side. Not being wired to a digital ground station would be very convenient. This does not appear to work with the head tracking signal transmission, so that will have to be run through the radio link as an RC channel. It appears that iNav does allow for UART gimbal control, correct me if I'm wrong.

[@jesperpedersen5481]

Is that the new 20km system, Walksnail advertised over a year ago..?

[@jamesemery1]

yes this is deffo not meant for the civilian market

[@cyclops-fpv]

For those all important one way missions🌍💥🤔

[@Painless360]

Those are analogue quads. Lots more flexability and range ;)

[@RubyS.1]

I wish they would come out with a camera switcher.

[@thejeidi7228]

Seems still kinda useless looking at it. Because does it increase the distance if i have it next to me or will ibe flying blind untill i pass the point where its been set. ?

[@Painless360]

See the manual. If range extension is what you want then you'd put it at the edge of the normal range for the Goggle... Happy flying

[@wattage2007]

Wonder what the gain of these little antennae is.

[@DubCodes]

I want a multi diversity system that has a "main" hub and remote receivers, all connected via fiber, so I could say have one receiver next to me, another 4km away and another even further away without worrying about the obstacles in between. It wouldn't be cheap, but done right it's practical and not crazy expensive I've worked with a few systems that work like this for a number of years now but don't have the knowledge to build one myself

[@JoeyscustomRC]

Yeah, I was going to mention the same thing….at inverted $500, I don’t see a huge market for this thing.

[@mr-huggy]

This sis a product that would be great at events, like when they was chasing mountain bikes down through a city they was using analog to repeat the signal now they can use a digital system in much better quality.

[@RockFPV]

Repeating induces more latency isn't it?

[@robertv1273]

It would be fun to experiment with for sure. But a little too expensive. for my taste.

[@tombo7719]

color the connectors for the antennae, would look better w a red strip around the hex, like a piece of shrink wrap cut and sized so that you will know.

[@Painless360]

That would have been a very clear way to do it! :D

[@nealcastagnoli6185]

pretty clear that this was meant to be mounted to a drone that can be parked high in the sky allowing you to go into or over blind spots that would otherwise block a direct line of sight style of flying.

[@backwardsarcher5926]

this is made for "dual use" lol. i know many who have preordered them for that purpose

[@pietroseven8228]

I'll curious how the EU bureacracy will beat this with new regulations :)

[@ronaldcollins9618]

Great review as usual but I don't see a practical use for this by the everyday hobbyist.

[@jamesmason7124]

At over 500 dollars usd it's far too expensive, maybe when the second version comes out it will be cheaper and better. I thought it would be under 200 dollars usd

[@neuromancer692]

When you have military budget price is not an issue.

[@canigetachannel]

Avatar Spider! Flagpole it. HDZ4LIFE! FlyTribe! [not a hater]

[@MattBalder]

Just having the ability to get a repeater up 10 ft tall or positioned in a spot that would be hard to fly from could have a huge positive impact on the range you could get. Very cool piece of kit!

[@jotham123]

Dont worry, we'll find plenty uses! Will be great for placing on top of the car, a hill, mound or embankment and then being able to fly right down to the deck over rivers, ocean, etc.

[@joemck1235]

Not for that price

[@jas-FPV]

I predict a lot of people will have issues because they are too dumb to align the antennas 😂😂

[@alcmann]

Thanks for the review. Looks like these are going to be headed to Ukraine. Agreed I dont really see a use for the civilian hobby market really using these, especially with no HDMI output? no head tracking support ? . More of a device that fits a commercial / Military specific need.

[@runforestrunfpv4354]

It was probably product tested over there months ago.

[@alcmann]

Very true

[@ChrisQuadFPV]

More range ? 🧩 For some reason I kinda doubt it.