Next Generation Mobile Ground Station H16/H16Pro Sneak Peak

[bys_1123]

Skydroid is a very famous drone video transmission system company in China, almost every agriculture drone in China is using their product.

They just launched their new product H16/H16Pro, I feel this is a huge step than other controller, I can’t wait to share with you.

Most of poster now in Chinese, I’ll translate to English ASAP.

Quick Overview:

1. This use the almost same SoC solution with Herelink, so the signal range is nice.
   H16 up to 10km, H16Pro up to 20km+(maybe 30km)
2. It have full function Android OS, so you can run any App(not just GCS) you want.
3. RC control has its own link, not use joystick which cause non reliable.
4. Reasonable Price.
5. Has Ethernet port on Air Unit and controller, support IP camera or other device(maybe fmuv5x).
6. SDK will be available.

Transmission

1. 1080p resolution for both H16/H16Pro
2. Separated S.bus port/link for RC control.
3. Support Ethernet transmission.
4. HDMI only for H16Pro
5. Dual UART transmission

Dual Antenna

GCS APP

It has one its own customized GCS, also support QGC w/ RTPS video.

IP67 Waterproof

Screen

1. Up to 7" inch

2. Up to 1600nits !!! (both for H16/H16Pro)

Battery

1. 36W Charger
2. Charge time 2 hours.
3. Battery life 10~15 hours.

Sticks

1. It has enough button for most of usage.
2. One 2-axes stick to control gimbal

A short video:

Price:

1. H16 (10KM w/o HDMI)           USD$586
2. H16Pro (20KM w/ HDMI)       USD$998

The trial-produce sample (less quality casing) will available this month.
And mass production products will available next month.

The Skydroid company handles Chinese business most of time, so my company thone.io will become the reseller for global open source community. If you interested in this product or have any question, you can comment below or email me: stone@thone.io.

You can pay with paypal invoice for now and I’ll make an e-commerce page later.

[MadRC]

Hi, this looks very interesting, can you answer some questions.

Is this using LTE over 2.4 Ghz like Herelink ?

What Frequency bands does this use ?

You state that RC link is separate, is this via normal radio like FHSS and is it on the same frequency as the video and telemetry link ?

Can you give more info on the screen brightness as it states it’s upto 1800 nits. Is this time limited for max brightness ?

Really looks interesting and may try to have a look at one to test.

[bys_1123]

RC link: it do not use QGC joystick translate to MAVLink, but hard coded to 2.4G then share same physics link with other transmissions on air. And Air unit has Sbus port you can connect to Autopilot. Even QGC down, you can still control your drone.

[bys_1123]

luminance is auto setting like your smart phones. So it will much brighter while under sun light. You can see a bit maximum back light in this video. Due to OS is not fine tuned when it’s recorded.

Stone White (bys_1123)

[bys_1123]

Is this using LTE over 2.4 Ghz like Herelink ?

Yes, same solution and chipset.

[bys_1123]

The trial-produce version H16 is start ordering now.

It has 10km range and HDMI(pro) version Air Unit. Price USD$586.

If you want one please contact with me through email: stone@thone.io

And you could exchange it to final product version H16 or compensate the price gap to upgrade to H16Pro when they are ready if that’s what you want.

[bys_1123]

[bys_1123]

This final product will start delivery next week, the price will be higher.

H16 now has HDMI port too, USD$699
H16Pro (20km range), USD$1399

You could email me stone@thone.io to order yours.

[bys_1123]

Skydroid H16 Unboxing Showcase

Stone White (bys_1123)

[feemi]

Does it have CE certification ?

[bys_1123]

Thanks for reply.

Not yet, but will do it next.

[Dpatella]

Hi , it’s very interesting , can you confirm that HDMI input is avaible also in H16 version?
Does it possible to see how is the video quality with an HDMi input ? Latency ?

[Dpatella]

Which program is used to configure RC stick ?
Can I use another ground station software instead of QGC ?

[jimdgit]

If I were you I’d get an SSL for throne.io.
Chrome give a warning - safari just won’t go there.

[bys_1123]

It’s thone.io , no “r”

[bys_1123]

Yes, hdmi is available on all airunit of H16/H16pro now.
I’ll upload a video quality demo later. It’s the same with Herelink on quality and latency.

[bys_1123]

There is a APP called “H16Tool” on the controller, to adjust the channels and bind with airunit.
You can install any non-Google Mobile Services dependent Android APP on it, most of GCS APP is no problem.

[Dpatella]

Thank you for your answer !
If I understood the “H16Tool” assign the RC channels to sbus and set the videostreaming also.
in this case I will not be forced to use the QGC app from skydroid,
Also because QGC is updated at any release of new firmware and i don’t know if skydroid will update the app with regularity.
For example Herelink assign the buttons to change the flight mode inside QGC
In this case you are forced to use the custom app
I really surprise to see an Ethernet port in air unit… What is possible to do and how to buy ?

[Dpatella]

Thank you for your answer !
If I understood the “H16Tool” assign the RC channels to sbus and set the videostreaming also.
in this case I will not be forced to use the QGC app from skydroid,
Also because QGC is updated at any release of new firmware and i don’t know if skydroid will update the app with regularity.
For example Herelink assign the buttons to change the flight mode inside QGC
In this case you are forced to use the custom app
I really surprise to see an Ethernet port in air unit… What is possible to do ?

[bys_1123]

1. You understanding is correct, you can use “H16Tool” to configuration the H16 hardware, others like baudrate of uart1/2, preview the videostreaming, see the RC channels values reading. And RC is implementation in hardware, you could delete “H16Tool” if you like for final users.
2. You can install any version QGC on H16 too.
3. Ethernet for IP camera (more and more drone camera is using Ethernet), onboard computer or fmuv5, these Ethernet devices on drone.