Very long data transmission.

I need to find a way to relably and quickly send and recieve data at long distances. My Arduino currently has an accelerometer, GPS and altitude modulde plugged in. The data is going nowhere at the moment. However, these modules are going to be placed inside of a drone. As far a I know, there is no way I can provide internet to the Arduino, when it is in the middle of nowhere 400ft in the sky. My main idea was to send this data to the cloud and have another program recieve that data but from what I researched, you would need internet to do that; there doesn't seem to be an "ofline cloud".
So is there any way that I can reliably send data, as close to real time as possible, over long distances?

Thanks,
Dream.

Your description of the problem is not clear. Do you just want to communicate between the done and the ground over a distance of 400 metres?

If so that should be perfectly possible with a pair of nRF24L01+ transceivers with a high-power version (with external antenna) for the ground unit.

...R
Simple nRF24L01+ Tutorial

Line of sight between drone and the ground is normally very good, range maximum maybe 1km.

There are lots of radio modules that will cover that distance.

Si4432 based ones are cheap as are HC12s.

'as close to real time as possible' does not mean a lot really.

Sorry for being unclear. The drone will have a set flight path, starting from you (point A) and finishing at a location of your choice (point B). The drone will fly from point A to point B while the Arduino constantly transmits data back to (point A), or a laptop in this case. The distance between point A and point B will vary - it could be 200m or 4km, which is why it needs to be reliable and long distance.
And by 'as close to real time as possible' I mean, the GPS location of the drone will always be changing, since it is flying. When the data is sent from the drone to the laptop, I would like there to be as little delay as possible (However, the delay is the least of my worries because I know long distance data transmition has its speed limitations)

Hopefully that has cleared a few issues up.

Dream.

The modules you can use depends on where in the World you are ?

I currently live in the UK.

Dream.

DreamingInsanity:
I currently live in the UK.

Then what your asking advice for is illegal ?

Are you talking about data transmition, beacuse I know there are strict laws on using drones in public places and if I was to use this properly, I would apply for a licence.

My only other idea is this:

Would I be able to get some kind of 'pay as you go' sim, to provide the Arduino with internet acess (even if it is slow), send the data to a web server (or one of those websites which allows you to send data to it from an Arduino) and then get the laptop to retrieve the data, from the server.

DreamingInsanity:
Are you talking about data transmition, beacuse I know there are strict laws on using drones in public places and if I was to use this properly, I would apply for a licence.

The laws around flying drones apply to all locations, not just public places.

In the UK, and a lot of other places in the World, your not allowed to fly a drone (or other RC model) beyond unaided visual sight.

Not aware of any 'licence' that exempts you from this requirement .......

A quick google search brought up this: Drone Training

However, you might still need to be able to see the drone.

The Rockblock satellite modem can be used to transmit and receive data from just about anywhere in the world, as long as you have a clear view of the sky. Slow data rate.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will keep it in mind!

Dream.