Hi, I wanted to build an autonomous airplane (UAV) with an Arduino, and in order for me to be able to communicate with it, I am looking for some system that is capable of transmitting data over long distances, preferably over 5 miles (~8 km), but even anything over 3 miles (~5 km) is okay. After searching for a while on the internet, the most common solution I found was using LoRa, but that doesn't give me the range I need. Would anyone know of any communication systems that meet my desired range, is light enough to put on a model airplane, and isn't very expensive? Thanks in advance.
Why ?
In a lot of places in the World, your just not allowed to do that.
Besides, if you had enough knowledge to design and build an autonomous airplane that was safe, the comms side ought to be trivial ...................
If you have line-of-sight LoRa gives you 20km and more.
Without line-of-sight (p.e. a mountain in between) you probably won't get a solution in the hobby budget. Keep in mind that the bandwidth is quite limited.
I agree with srnet, that you shouldn't do your project if it isn't allowed in your country. As you measure distances in miles you're probably in the US where this isn't allowed as well to my knowledge.
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The OP may want to look into the drone world for a solution.
I was just doing this as a fun project. I thought it would be cool to build an airplane that could fly itself for long distances.
Yes, I am in the US. Thank you both for alerting me that this kind of project isn't allowed, I will not proceed with this project.
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Thanks for the information, I didn't know LoRa could go that far if unobstructed.
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