Club 3-Mile

[Zandian]

 

[Boog0822]

As soon as the wind dies down a little this weekend I'm gonna try for the 3 mile mark! So far I've only been a mile...

 

[cderoche]

I've done 2 miles a couple of times with the DJI Go 4 app. Thinking about hitting the 3 mile mark one day, but using a Litchi way point mission. Figured this way I can make my Mavic fly directly to the spot I want without guessing and course corrections, and back, and perhaps this would consume a little less battery / provide a little more margin of safety for the return.

 

[Kestrel]

The furthest i've gone is 2.36 miles. Had plenty of signal, could of gone further but was being conservative on the battery.

 

[Phxbird57]

I've done 2 miles a couple of times with the DJI Go 4 app. Thinking about hitting the 3 mile mark one day, but using a Litchi way point mission. Figured this way I can make my Mavic fly directly to the spot I want without guessing and course corrections, and back, and perhaps this would consume a little less battery / provide a little more margin of safety for the return.

your can fly straight out with DJI Go app4 and when you turn around flip it in to rth mode ( shorts route back) and push the right stick all the way forward. your get a little more speed 33 or 32 mph.

 

[cderoche]

your can fly straight out with DJI Go app4 and when you turn around flip it in to rth mode ( shorts route back) and push the right stick all the way forward. your get a little more speed 33 or 32 mph.

Correct, if you're not flying to anything in particular. I meant you can fly to a specific point of interest or waypoint with Litchi without course corrections, if I use DJI Go 4 I have to keep checking the map and camera constantly to find where I'm going, 3 miles out is a long ways. If you're very familiar with the area that helps a bunch though. I normally use RTH on the way back, haven't tried pushing the sticks to speed it up yet, thanks for the tip. Even without RTH that nice green line makes it easy to come home. I'm still amazed at just how far this thing goes!

6-14-17 Update, just tried my 3 mile way point trek with Litchi, seems it doesn't let you put the way points super far apart, it wouldn't let me run the route. And I did multiple points, but one is over a mile from the next. Not sure what the max distance is between points. But if I have to set up a dozen points each way it kinda defeats the purpose of saving battery. Although I guess you'd still get to exactly where you wanted to automatically. Will try the 3 mile run later with DJI Go 4.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Wondering Mavic battery usage at three miles distance? Upon return, percent batter remaining?

dji Mavic Pro user manual states "Max flight time 27 mins (0 wind) at a consistent 15.5 mph." Assume flying at 15.5 mph could provide for longer distance then higher speeds and also consume less battery power.

Time building confidence to fly extended distance...longest flight approximately two miles.

Fly safe Captains, protect our air space rights and privileges.

 

[m0j0]

Do You guys get video feed when over 1 mile. I haven't gotten over a 3rd of a mile yet, but scared to loose video feed.... I would panoc and hit Rth.... Idk what else you can do if your screen is Grey...

Yes… I have no problem with video. I do fly in the desert where there is almost zero interference and no trees to block the signal. If you are flying over a populated area you will have a significant amount of interference which will inhibit your connectivity. My biggest issue is always battery. My suggestion to you would be that you completely learn how to use the RTH features. Understand what happens when you lose video and what happens when you lose transmitter connection. Properly set up your RTH and you won’t have a problem. If I lose video connection I hit RTH and wait for the signal to reconnect.

I'm so confused. 3 miles is achieved by many on the Mavic leaderboard.
This Drone with the right conditions should eat 3 miles pretty easily or at least from what I've seen.

It will under normal conditions. However, if there is wind or you are flying over an area with interference you could run into disconnects and or run out of juice.

I notice all these distances are close to sea level,. I doubt you could get 3 miles in the mountains with elevations of 9000 feet or more.

That would seem logical based on the effects of density altitude on flight but I fly near 5000 feet altitude and I easily make round trips of 6 miles with about 24%.

The Feds are watching and waiting…

No we are not.

As soon as the wind dies down a little this weekend I'm gonna try for the 3 mile mark! So far I've only been a mile...

It is not difficult. Set the RTH parameters prior to flying out. Make sure the RTH is properly recorded.

 

[Phxbird57]

Yes… I have no problem with video. I do fly in the desert where there is almost zero interference and no trees to block the signal. If you are flying over a populated area you will have a significant amount of interference which will inhibit your connectivity. My biggest issue is always battery. My suggestion to you would be that you completely learn how to use the RTH features. Understand what happens when you lose video and what happens when you lose transmitter connection. Properly set up your RTH and you won’t have a problem. If I lose video connection I hit RTH and wait for the signal to reconnect.



It will under normal conditions. However, if there is wind or you are flying over an area with interference you could run into disconnects and or run out of juice.



That would seem logical based on the effects of density altitude on flight but I fly near 5000 feet altitude and I easily make round trips of 6 miles with about 24%.


No we are not.


It is not difficult. Set the RTH parameters prior to flying out. Make sure the RTH is properly recorded.

MoJo sounds like you fly in an area same as I do. highest item are some 25 ft telephones poles or power poles. I have not had a run in with the trible police in over a year. It's the heat I have to watch out for. did a long flight with a P4 and came back checked temp of the battery on airdata 164 degrees. Little warm.

 

[cderoche]

Wondering Mavic battery usage at three miles distance? Upon return, percent batter remaining?

dji Mavic Pro user manual states "Max flight time 27 mins (0 wind) at a consistent 15.5 mph." Assume flying at 15.5 mph could provide for longer distance then higher speeds and also consume less battery power.

Time building confidence to fly extended distance...longest flight approximately two miles.

Fly safe Captains, protect our air space rights and privileges.

I think everyone's mileage on batteries will always vary. So many variables, battery pack condition, charge level, temperature, wind speed, elevation, altitude. I would definitely prefer early morning before it gets windy for the long distance runs. Plus it's way less hot, being in the southern part of Louisiana. Humidity is a beast here. But assuming you have a 100% charged pack and not flying into a 25mph head wind, you should have enough battery to make a 6 mile round trip, I believe 8 miles total range is listed somewhere on DJI's specs for the Mavic. So you should average around 25% battery life upon return, assuming a perfect flight. I would be try to keep altitude just high enough to get a good signal and clear obstacles. I've seen videos of guys flying their Mavic along a flat beach and only go 100-150 or so feet up and had good signal out to 3 miles. I'm guessing there were no radio towers or tons of WiFi stuff nearby.

 

[flyNfrank]

Unless you have someone there waiting for it. Maybe I owed my friend that lives 5 miles away 10 bucks and figured I'd deliver it to him and just get the drone later

How will Amazon do their drone delivery service? Surely no one will be spotting all those drones.

Per Amazon... I have always thought that Amazon would stage their delivery trucks in the cities they have deliveries for and launch aircraft from that point.

 

[Kmccb]

View attachment 14932


Looking at fig.2 the green area represents the Flat Surface that should face towards the AirCraft.

In fig.3 think of the number 10 line as it was a imaginary laser-pointer, and the better you are at pointing that line at the AirCraft, the aircraft will receive the best possible signal. I can also share from experience...if at a point the signal begins to drop to say 0-1 Bars displayed in the GO4 app, simply increase the AirCrafts Altitude an additional 75-100ft. It should at least return to 4 Bars allowing you to continue on with your flight. Repeat the process should it drop down again to the 0 Bar mark. If you do in fact increase the altitude up the additional 100ft and it remains at 0 Bars, I recommend you RTH and at a minimum get closer to Home Point or a more controlled signal.

If you follow the recommendations above, any issues you may have will be limited more so then any other.

Thanks a lot!

 

[cderoche]

Per Amazon... I have always thought that Amazon would stage their delivery trucks in the cities they have deliveries for and launch aircraft from that point.

Sounds interesting enough. I imagine the big truck roll up door opening up and a swarm of drones fly out each to their own drop off points. All this will only help the hobbyist. I'm sure any upgrades in technology resulting from this, like everything else, will find its way to the consumer levels.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Sounds interesting enough. I imagine the big truck roll up door opening up and a swarm of drones fly out each to their own drop off points. All this will only help the hobbyist. I'm sure any upgrades in technology resulting from this, like everything else, will find its way to the consumer levels.

You are right on point. Following example what lies ahead...
Amazon’s Newest Patent: “Virtual Safety Shroud” for Drones

 

[Ciawz]

first distance test trial, stop at 1.426m due to signal lost
Will try tomorrow from a better spot

Btw i just notice that i can sped up mavic RTH speed up to 54.2km/h
I thought it is limited to 30km/h

 

[Grey Wolf]

In just don't get it! Why push your luck? What are you getting out of this?
What can you use the video for?
Most places it would be illegal anyway!

 

[cderoche]

In just don't get it! Why push your luck? What are you getting out of this?
What can you use the video for?
Most places it would be illegal anyway!

Same reason people that buy a new Camaro or Mustang, or even a Tesla Model X like your logo, have to floor it at least once to break the 100mph barrier, just to say you did it. Or because you can. Don't get me wrong, if the Mavic wasn't as safety feature laden as it is there's no way I'd try going out far. In my area I'm flying mostly over sugarcane fields, trees, or the Mississippi River once I'm out BVR. And I have an insurance policy on it. If I wanted to stay directly above my head I would have bought a much cheaper drone.

I've not been able to break the 2 mile mark yet from home, too many cell phone towers once I get that far out. I just make the Mavic RTH once I start getting strong interference warnings. I did come across a useful website that lists all the cellphone towers in your area. You'd be surprised at just how many there are these days. The further out you are with the Mavic the further away you need to stay from these interference generators. With proper prefight planning a 3 mile out trek doesn't have to be that risky.

CellReception | Find a better signal.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Same reason people that buy a new Camaro or Mustang, or even a Tesla Model X like your logo, have to floor it at least once to break the 100mph barrier, just to say you did it. Or because you can. Don't get me wrong, if the Mavic wasn't as safety feature laden as it is there's no way I'd try going out far. In my area I'm flying mostly over sugarcane fields, trees, or the Mississippi River once I'm out BVR. And I have an insurance policy on it. If I wanted to stay directly above my head I would have bought a much cheaper drone.

I've not been able to break the 2 mile mark yet from home, too many cell phone towers once I get that far out. I just make the Mavic RTH once I start getting strong interference warnings. I did come across a useful website that lists all the cellphone towers in your area. You'd be surprised at just how many there are these days. The further out you are with the Mavic the further away you need to stay from these interference generators. With proper prefight planning a 3 mile out trek doesn't have to be that risky.

CellReception | Find a better signal.

I'm getting old. Just purchased a van and have not hit 100 mph . First vehicle to not safety do so.
Happen to know website that lists all the cellphone towers?

 

[cderoche]

I'm getting old. Just purchased a van and have not hit 100 mph . First vehicle to not safety do so.
Happen to know website that lists all the cellphone towers?

A van I would understand. I probably wouldn't do it in a van. You probably couldn't if you wanted to without reprogramming. Only did it once in my 2012 GMC Sierra truck, and only after using a programmer to disable the "nanny" 95mph speed limiter feature. After you have been over a hundred miles an hour the thrill is lessened the next time. After you've done it dozens of times chasing bad guys in a prior job it does nothing for you at all I can tell you first hand.

The 3 mile thing I'd only do once with my Mavic. Too many things causing interference where I'm at
Check the link below for the tower locations:
CellReception | Find a better signal.

 

[Mavic Schwa]

I have not had the conditions for a 3 mile one way flight 6 miles total. I'm certain the bird can do it so far I've gotten to 2.17 mi or 3500m, going into the wind, just before I lost all connection . Black screen, over the FL Everglades, no satellites no remote or video bars, I panicked and hit RTH. I will attempt again on a less windy day. Maybe, I don't fancy loosing $1k to some hungry gator in the swamps.