Drone datalink · Coming soon
MODL-Core
The radio, ready to bolt in.
A compact carrier board for Microhard pMDDL-series IP-mesh radios. It powers the radio straight from the flight pack and breaks out Ethernet, USB and telemetry on Pixhawk-style connectors.
Coming soon · Alpha build of 5 units planned
01 / In plain words
The drone’s network, carried by radio.
A pMDDL radio links aircraft and ground as one encrypted IP network: video, telemetry and companion-computer traffic over a single long-range link, with mesh between several nodes. The radio module itself needs a carrier: clean power from a noisy flight pack, Ethernet magnetics, connectors and a way to shed heat. MODL-Core is that carrier, sized for an airframe.
BVLOS telemetry and video
One IP link for MAVLink, camera streams and payload data, instead of a separate radio for each.
Drone-to-dock links
An Ethernet port on each end: the aircraft and the dock computer see each other as network devices.
Multi-drone mesh
Several aircraft and ground nodes on one mesh, relaying traffic between each other.
Payload networks
Add the Ethernet switch module to put a camera, companion computer and flight controller behind one radio.
02 / Design choices
Small board. The hard parts done right.
The radio runs Microhard’s own firmware and web interface, and its antennas plug straight into the module. The carrier’s job is power, heat and connectors — the parts that decide whether a link survives a real airframe.
Swap radios, no soldering
The module sits in Microhard’s Pico socket under a locking cover. Radios move between boards, and a module is never lost to a failed carrier.
Straight from the pack
7–28 V input covers 2S–6S, with reverse-polarity protection and transient clamping for LiPo hot-plug. Above 6S, feed it from an 8–12 V BEC.
Built for 1 W transmit
At full power the module draws about 7.5 W. The board carries a thermal-via field under the module and a heatsink with gap pad on top.
Pixhawk-style JST-GH
Power, TELEM (Pixhawk pinout), USB, LAN and WAN on latching JST-GH. The pin order is fixed as the MODL interface standard for add-ons.
Add-ons by cable
MODL-USB-C for laptop set-up and MODL-Switch for a small Ethernet network plug into the core’s ports, so the core never grows.
LEDs you can read
Power, CPU, TX, RX, three RSSI bars and link LEDs for LAN and WAN, plus the configuration button.
03 / Target specifications
What the alpha is built to.
Design targets for the alpha build. Final figures follow bench and flight tests.
Radio
| Supported module | Microhard pMDDL24502.402–2.482 GHz · Pico form factor, shared across the pMDDL family |
|---|---|
| Radio | 2×2 MIMO · up to 1 W (30 dBm)Over 25 Mbit/s on an 8 MHz channel · AES encryption · IP mesh |
| Antennas | 2 × u.FL on the moduleu.FL-to-SMA pigtails to the frame |
| Firmware | Microhard firmware and web UINo custom firmware on the carrier |
Carrier
| Input | 7–28 V · 2S–6SReverse-polarity protected · TVS clamped · >6S via external BEC |
|---|---|
| Ports | PWR · TELEM · USB · LAN · WANJST-GH, latching |
| Board | ≤ 60 × 45 mm · 4 layers · 4 × M3≤ 20 g without module |
| Power budget | About 9–14 W worst case at 1 W TXModule, regulator loss and 5 V add-on loads |
Band note for India: of the pMDDL variants, only pMDDL2450 falls inside the de-licensed 2.4–2.4835 GHz band, so the alpha is built and tested on it. The Pico footprint keeps the other variants mechanically compatible.
Need it changed for your system? Every change starts with your problem. How we work
Contact
Need a long-range link on your airframe? Get on the alpha list.
Tell us the aircraft, the range and the payload traffic. Early-access requests shape the first build.