GoPro Wifi and 2.4Ghz receivers don't mix...

[kirch93]

So today I went out with the intention of flying my blunt nose Versa, with my GoPro on the front.
It (was) my third Version at this plane as I managed to smash the last 2, one being pilot error, another a cheap transmitter.
I'd flown this plane before, its awesome! Even had it slope soaring in some crazy winds with no trouble.

I mounted my GoPro in the front with the front half of a broken case I had lying around. It just didn't have a back so I strapped it in with a velcro strap. I managed to get some awesome photos of my inlaw's house they are building with mk.2

I did a pre-flight check, turned my GoPro wifi on, got everything sorted, threw my plane up to a good height, flying around and started loosing control. I had controls every once in a while but they would get stuck on, which made for awesome loops, but ultimately ended in the destruction of my plane, and my GoPro screen, and a LiPo.

So I jumped on google, turns out I'm not the first person to have a problem like this. Wifi operates at 2.4Ghz, which is the same as my Frsky module and receiver.

This sucks, but live and learn I guess. I just hope people read this and don't do the same, if I can save one plane, all this typing will be worth it.... hahahahaha

 

[Balu]

A LOT operates on 2.4 GHz. Bluetooth, WiFi, video transmitters, cordless phones, baby monitor, garage opener.

A glance at FCC regulations confirms any suspicions. A band of frequencies clustered around 2.4 GHz has been designated, along with a handful of others, as the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical radio bands. “A lot of the unlicensed stuff — for example, Wi-Fi — is on the 2.4-GHz or the 900-Mhz frequencies, the ISM bands. You don’t need a license to operate on them.” That’s Ira Kelpz, Deputy Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology at the Federal Communications Commission, explaining precisely why these ISM bands are attractive to gadget makers: They’re free to use. If routers and cordless phones and whatever else are relegated to a small band 2.4 GHz, then their radio waves won’t interfere with, say, cellphones operating at 1.9 GHz, or AM radio, which broadcasts between 535 kHz and 1.7 MHz. The ISM is, in effect, a ghetto for unlicensed wireless transmission, recommended first by a quiet little agency in a Swiss office of the UN, called the ITU, then formalized, modified and codified for practical use by the governments of the world, including, of course, our own FCC.

For more see:
http://www.wired.com/2010/09/wireless-explainer/all/

The fun part about this is why the 2.4 GHz was chosen for this unlicensed band of frequencies... because of a kitchen appliance

 

[makattack]

Yep, sorry you had to discover that the hard way. I live and sometimes fly in the city. Lots of green space in my part of it. Never a problem except for one park near a golf course and zoo. Kept losing control when using a devo8 TX on dsm protocol. Have used it fine in other areas without this problem. Turns out the city was experimenting with a high power free wifi setup in this park.

 

[IFlyRCstuff]

I habe had th exact same situation. My neighbors to the left (there are two perpendicular to my house because we live at a curve) both have wifi near the back, so multiple times when I flew my quads over there I completely lost control, one I found, another sailed away into the golf course (I have a huge backyard with airspace that has about 3 square miles to it and the golf course). So then I flew my old plane around one day, the same thing happened. My controls locked, I could do nothing, good thing I was flying toward myself and away from "the bermuda triangle of VA"