[SOLVED] Connection Lost to radio
Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 3:40 am
I am the proud owner of two Crazyflies - only one has been built thus far. To my dismay I could not fly more that a few feet from the Crazyradio USB dongle without losing connection.
I tried all the options on the forums, I changed channels, I changed the Radio Bandwidth, and I tried various combinations of both. I even turned off the Wifi in the house and the laptop to be sure something was not overpowering the signal.
No luck. Then I decided to go back to basics. I had my son walk the Crazyfly around, just in the palm of his hand to see if the signal was lost in any specific locations. It was consistent that a few feet away in any direction it lost signal. I then removed the antenna from the USB dongle to see if anything would change, I expected the distance to be shorter. Actually the result was the same. Ah HA! It is a bad antenna. I grabbed the antenna from the other kit and the signal locked in at 100% even clear across my house in the other room. I also tried an antenna I have from another radio dongle and it worked just as well. If I return the original antenna the issue returns.
Long story, short - if you are having connectivity issues try a different antenna. I would lobby to say that in the WIKI instructions we should advise that before a first flight a radio range check should be performed. All one has to do is connect to the Crazyflie and with it in the palm of your hand walk around the far ends of the flying environment. If you lose connection you will hear the tone from your laptop, or have a friend watch the screen for signal strength. It may save you a an unexpected crash or two.
I hope this helps someone else who may come across a bad antenna.
I tried all the options on the forums, I changed channels, I changed the Radio Bandwidth, and I tried various combinations of both. I even turned off the Wifi in the house and the laptop to be sure something was not overpowering the signal.
No luck. Then I decided to go back to basics. I had my son walk the Crazyfly around, just in the palm of his hand to see if the signal was lost in any specific locations. It was consistent that a few feet away in any direction it lost signal. I then removed the antenna from the USB dongle to see if anything would change, I expected the distance to be shorter. Actually the result was the same. Ah HA! It is a bad antenna. I grabbed the antenna from the other kit and the signal locked in at 100% even clear across my house in the other room. I also tried an antenna I have from another radio dongle and it worked just as well. If I return the original antenna the issue returns.
Long story, short - if you are having connectivity issues try a different antenna. I would lobby to say that in the WIKI instructions we should advise that before a first flight a radio range check should be performed. All one has to do is connect to the Crazyflie and with it in the palm of your hand walk around the far ends of the flying environment. If you lose connection you will hear the tone from your laptop, or have a friend watch the screen for signal strength. It may save you a an unexpected crash or two.
I hope this helps someone else who may come across a bad antenna.