Radio

RFD900x-US Telemetry Bundle (FCC approved)

• 2 modems (one for plane, one for laptop)
• antennas (will use these for the laptop, but will use separately purchased antennas for the plane)
• cables

This radio is not really needed if the drone is always within line-of-site?

The drone can be controlled via laptop with this radio modem. You can also view telemetry data on the laptop. (Alternatively, control can be taken over by a transmitter which is bound to an on-board receiver.)

"These modems are high-power RF devices and it is recommended to power these devices from a separate power supply and not directly from the Flight Controller or USB"

• Current Consumption TX mode: ~1A peak at +30dBm
• Current Consumption RX mode: 60mA (typical)

The manual is here.

"The FCC limit for EIRP is 4 Watts, or 36dBm for frequency hopping radios in the ISM 900 MHz band. The Australian EIRP limit is 30dBm as defined by ACMA."

More info on RFD900 and on telemetry port setup

"Telem1 (aka Serial1) is for MAVLink communication and supports flow control. This should be used especially for high power devices (up to 1 amp) But NOT the RFD900 telemetry radio"