?? First Friday – Hard truth: Your your datalink is limiting your range
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It was an incredible couple of weeks in Europe, and I’m grateful for the warm hospitality our customers showed me across the region. It’s always a privilege to visit our customers and industry leaders in their spaces, to see their groundbreaking systems firsthand, and to learn how they’re solving real-world challenges with unmanned technology.
These visits also give us a deeper understanding of the challenges they face.
As one CTO put it while preparing for a 40km range test in -30°C conditions ??:
“I hope I run out of battery before the datalink cuts out.”
With years of experience working with drone customers, we’ve seen the real-world use cases of drones extend into longer distances, and battery technology continues to get better. So does our radio technology. I’ve learned something crucial: drone range is no longer exclusively limited by battery capacity—it can often be the datalink. And the cost of choosing the wrong one can be huge.
I’ve joined customers for range tests from Cape Cod to Southern California, meeting needs from 5km to 50km, transmitting video in both cases, and delivering the results they needed. Drone manufacturers often think they need higher-power (and higher-cost) radios for longer ranges. But countless of our customers achieve 20, 50, even 100+ kilometers with our radios at a much lower cost.
In January, we conducted a field test with a customer to prove high bandwidth performance at extended range. We successfully maintained a 47km link, streaming 2Mbps HD video in challenging terrain… with just a 1W radio. It’s our focus to prove performance in the field. We recently published a whitepaper on the 47km test, and DM me if you’re interested in joining us for one of our next long-range demos.
Every system and use case is unique, and getting the right performance often requires hands-on work. Our team specializes in fine-tuning solution architecture (e.g. antenna types, gains, power amplification, etc) and system design (e.g. mitigating onboard interference) to deliver consistent, reliable results. While variables like location and setup make each test unique, we help remove uncertainty by selecting the ideal radio model, frequency, form factor, and configurations optimized for the system’s use: whether mesh, P2P, anti-jamming, or encrypted–whatever is needed. Once optimized, it’s repeatable.
We’ve worked with our customers across the world to ensure they are getting the performance (range x bandwidth) they need for their system. We’d love to work with you too. Don’t let the range of your datalink hold you back.
What’s your biggest challenge with drone datalinks? Let’s discuss below ??
#TheDoodleAdvantage #LongRange
Nordic Drones Oy
UXV Technologies
AMDC GmbH
UMAG Solutions
Helsing
Parrot
