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AREDN node on Tethered Drone.

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K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
AREDN node on Tethered Drone.
My buddy finally agreed to mount one of my AREDN nodes on his Tethered Drones to create an instant tower. We chose a NanoStation M5 because channel 180 doesn't interfere at all with the other equipment he uses on the 'flying tower' and we also wanted to link into other equipment on the drone, like a web camera or a thermal/night imager (if we wanted to spot fires or rescue people).
The NanoStation is also very light for all of the power and directionality you can get out of it. The drone has the ability to point the NanoStation in a certain direction so we can make a far link if necessary. What is even cooler is that my buddy has a ground station with the other NanoStation M5 that can aim the ground-mounted AREDN node directly at the panel regardless of direction and altitude based on SNR. Although it's really amazing, you don't really need it it for AREDN - but it's 100% necessary for other applications. The NanoStation is mounted to the drone upside down to ensure the MIMO panel antenna clears the props/body of the aircraft.
This 'drone-tower' goes up 300-400 feet, but can go much higher if one has the appropriate waivers.
This is one of his smaller versions and it deploys out of the drunk of a car and can use the vehicle's power to run in indefinitely. 

See photos posted in my reply as I can never get them attached on my first post.
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
AREDN node on Tethered Drone.
Here are a couple photos. I have video, but I lack the abiilty to post them right now.
 
Image Attachments: 
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
very cool.  How long can the
very cool.  How long can the drone stay in position before batteries run down?     I happened to have my NSM5 XW cover off.  It has 8 x 3/4" (looks like) copper squares equally spaced in a 2 x 4 pattern.     The drone wouldn't be deployed in rain?    Not familiar, do they make drones that can fly in rain?   
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
It stays up for days or weeks.
The drone is tethered via 2 high voltage wires and I believe a fiber optic link. It's meant to stay up for days or weeks or even 3 months from what I saw (maybe it was his larger ones that stay up that long). They only bring them down when the mission is over or when they need maintenance. There is a battery on board but only needed for some reason or other (I have no details on that... maybe safety or voltage surges, etc.?). 
The drone flies in rain or snow with few issues. If there is bad thunderstorms, hurricane, or hail I'm sure he has to bring it down until the weather passes. A lot of that can be automated.
If we were to fly my NanoStation in the rain I would recommend putting Kapton tape over the top to keep the rain out of the Ethernet ports.

-Damon K9CQB
 
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
It doesn't look from the pics
It doesn't look from the pics that there'd be much, if any, of an issue to mount the NSM5 right side up.   Following the reflection surfaces, there doesn't appear to be a direct path that might cause issues of concern.   Could compare iperf in both positions to measure if there is any impact with everything else the same. 

Joe AE6XE
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
I should try that.
Joe,
I'll try that. I'm just super OCD about putting the antenna as far away from the noise of the prop-motors and whatever is emanating from the aircraft. We should do an iperfSpeed test with them oriented each way. 
-Damon K9CQB
AJ6GZ
Tilt
There's also some downtilt on the V-pol according to Ub's specs. H-Pol looks flat. Probably makes no difference real world.
K6CCC
K6CCC's picture
That is cool!  I think I
That is cool!  I think I would build up a bracket so that the NS could be mounted in the same location, but rightside up.
 
w8erd
tethered drone
Is this a commercial drone?  I havbe toyed with the idea of building a tethered drone.

Bob W8ERD
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Bob,
Bob,
The drone is from Equinox Innovative Systems and is designed to be a flying antenna mast for telecommunications companies. But some of my military buddies or rumored to use it for other things. It would also be great for local fire or law enforcement to set up an LP/OP or antenna mast for persistent missions.
Website:
https://www.equinoxinnovativesystems.com/

My buddy's email is: rmorser@equinoxcomms.com 

-Damon K9CQB 


 
w8erd
Tethered drone
This sounds great. Thanks for the info.  I wonder if he could make an inexpensve model that hams could afford.
I have seen descriptions of other commercial drones, but his sounds way ahead of them.
A tethered drone would be great for mesh node.
If we hams could manage to have them, we could do wonders for public service activities.
Bob W8ERD
N3WTT
Depends what you consider
Depends what you consider inexpensive? Quadcopters are not really cheap and the ones that advertise doing so lack allot of capabilities such as gps assisted flight should be a huge benefit in this situation. Not being an expert on the tech though it may be possible to Homebrew a project. So what would people consider "affordable" to be used in Mass for aredn?
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
It is a modified commercial drone.
I'll ask for the specs from my buddy. He has built a company that actually designed these things (different models and sizes) as a rapidly deployable mast for sensors and communications systems that can stay up for a crazy long time. 
-Damon K9CQB
KB3LIB
This is cool D. I got my
This is cool D. I got my Rocket 2 in the mail. Waiting for the dish antenna for it. Should be in on Monday. Once I learn more about it, I will present something to my club.
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Let me know if you need any help.
KB3LIB,
Let me know if you need any help. I'm standing by to help you with flashing or with connecting to the NoVa-Mesh.
This drone test was done near Annapolis, MD. I know it's a but north of you, but we're growing interest out there as well.
BTW, I have your RB952Ui-5ac2nD (hAP-ac-lite). Just let me know how to get it to you. It does not have external antennas, but it's not hard to modify the board to accept them. 
-Damon K9CQB

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