Possible aircraft locator???

EyeStation

Well-Known Member
Saw this on the morning news program. Bluetooth bound to your Android or iOS phone. Last location memory. and relatively small for its use. Once you get close enough using the GPS mapping, the phone takes over with the local search via bluetooth connection.

http://chipolo.net/

[video=youtube_share;iwZvVjlXCoM]http://youtu.be/iwZvVjlXCoM[/video]

Think it would be an inexpensive way to locate a lost bird? Well, provided it remains on the surface and not at the bottom of a pond....Tony might still be out of luck.
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
The last location feature they're talking about isn't quite so useful for our purposes. It tracks gps of the phone or tablet running the app. When a tag goes out of bluetooth range it will mark the gps location of the phone at that time. The tag does not have a gps antenna in it from the looks of it. Which makes sense. It uses bluetooth to talk to the phone, so if it had a gps antenna and knew it's location, it wouldn't be able to communicate it to anything until you got within bluetooth range anyway.

I'm thinking the better option for locating wayward models might be a 72Mhz transmitter beacon on the heli and a signal strength meter with a fairly directional antenna. More expensive option, gps antenna on the model, read by an arduino board, and then encoded on either 72Mhz or 2.4ghz spectrum channel and broadcast out. Transmitters could integrate it or it could be standalone Rx device. No signal strength stuff. Reads out the location and you go find it.
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
We use Frsky telemetry gear on our minis.
When you go down some where, if you hold the Taranis right against your body you shield the rx from the TX.
Then you turn slowly until RSSI is at its lowest and the aircraft is directly behind you.
Even in long grass a MiniQuad is hard to see but this way we find them easy.
I also have a Tx operated beeper on the quad for when I am close enough to hear it. :)
 
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