Early this summer I attended my first MultiGP race with PITTROTORcross, a great bunch of racers with some really cool spots for flying. The race I attended was held at an abandoned golf course where the grass was about two feet tall. Being a noob, I crashed out during a practice lap and my brand new RunCam2 was knocked off the mount. Luckily I thought ahead and glued a Bluetootch locating device to the camera, which… totally failed at both connecting via Bluetooth or tracking the device. I was not happy. Thus, the search began for something that WOULD work, but wouldn’t cost as much as a whole new aircraft.
So if you’re like me and are constantly losing things in fields of tall grass and trees, you should be super excited about this review! A sponsor of the 2015 Drone Nationals, this is the Loc8tor and it is awesome.
Claiming to be “THE ULTIMATE LOCATOR“, the Loc8tor Lite boasts a range of up to 400 feet – blowing the pants off any of those Bluetooth devices. Included in the Loc8tor Lite package you’ll find a handy dandy multi-language user manual, not one but two homing tags measuring 32mmX6mm, or about and 1.24″X.25″, and the credit-card sized Loc8tor device that can track up to four tags to within an inch of their location. That’s pretty neat!
Using the Loc8tor is easy – simply power on the Loc8tor device and press one of the four buttons depending on which tag you wish to find. Once the initial connection is made the tracking tag will start to beep, and the Loc8tor will give you audio and visual clues based on the position of the tag. The closer you get to the locator tag, the higher the pitch of the alarm and the more lights are activated on the device. Once you’ve located your item, simply press the numbered button again and the tag and Loc8tor will stop beeping.
The Loc8tor takes a moment to connect before giving you feedback about not only the distance from your item, but also its direction. Point towards the item and there is a noticeable difference in tone and indicator lights than when you are pointing away from it. I tested the Loc8tor out in my home first by playing hide-and-go-seek with my son. Not only could the Loc8tor guide me to him, the beeping of the tag was a huge help once you got close enough to hear it. Signal penetration was no problem at all either, as I was able to track a tag hidden in my basement all the way from my attic on the third story.
The next test took place out at the club field, where I had my son hide the tracking tag somewhere in an open field that measures about 500′ across. The Loc8tor had no problems leading me right to the tag. By the time you get within a few yards of the item you start to hear the beeping of the tracking tag, which helps immensely to find the exact location of your item (even when buried in hay!).
The Loc8tor Light package will allow you to track two items for around $80, with the ability to add two more tags for a total of four items being tracked. The tags are small enough for almost any RC vehicle, though you may have problems fitting it on a sub-180 quadcopter frame. It works through walls, trees, grass, just about anything really. It doesn’t interfere with your RC link, and you can replace the batteries in both the Loc8tor and the tags yourself.
When it comes down to it, spending $80 for piece of mind is a no-brainer when you are tracking several-hundred dollar equipment – so forget those Bluetooth tracking devices and go with the Loc8tor Lite and you won’t be disappointed!
To purchase your own Loc8tor, or to learn more, visit www.loc8tor.com
For more RC reviews, check out NoobRC,com!
I found that having them squeezed too hard in the mounting caused them to disconnect the battery when knocked. (racing quad). We soldered a bit of copper to the negative contact so it covered more of the top surface of the battery.. It was still loosing contact after crashes, and I think the battery is riding up over the PC board inside coming away from the Plus contact.. I may have solved this by adding a bit of foam pushing the battery down onto the Plus contact.. preventing it riding up when knocked.
I've had it out for a day with some knocks and am not loosing contact now. maybe it's fixed. I'll try to come back in a few weeks if I've totally solved it. These things are useless if they won't keep working after a miniquad crash. That's when you want them working most.
They also fly apart if not held into the aircraft securely.. definitely put a wrap of electrical tape (red?) around it to hold it together.
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With quads I have a good open spot to fly so I don't often lose them, so I have these mounted in EPP flying wings where I was able to have them in a secure spot - probably why I haven't had a case of them falling apart. It is good feedback to get, I'll pass it on to the manufacturer!
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It has paid for itself many times. Some people criticize the range but you usually have an idea to get closer to the plane then from where you are flying it.
I lost a UMX Radian one time.It was found 1/3 mile away in a tree. Even when we narrowed the search down to the tree we could not find it. Someone climbed the tree and STILL could not find it. They climbed down and got the Loc8tor main unit, climbed back up the tree and went right to it. I ALWAYS fly with a tag on my aircraft.
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I lost it in the tree line across from the field. He as an Apprentice back there somewhere from earlier this year. This time however we found the Skipper almost immediately. What a pleasure to have these xray eyes into the trees and brush.Thank you loc8tor!
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