Disappointed in range around trees

[dacarter]

I live on 4 acres that is completely wooded with tall pine trees. I took the Mavic up through an opening in the trees this afternoon and flew about 900-1000' away, 125' high, and completely lost signal several times. I know trees degrade radio signals but I didn't think it would be this bad. I was standing next to our garage which is a metal building and it seemed to get better when I moved further from it, but it still surprised me to lose signal that close to home.

 

[f3honda4me]

That's just how wifi signals work. :/

 

[BlakPhoenix]

How many tree's are we talking here? A 1000'+ forest of trees will certainly cause issues. Wood will attenuate WiFi signals resulting in packet loss and signal loss. The Mavic RC is like a very strong wireless router in your home, and you're attempting to put many walls between you and the router.

 

[dacarter]

Here's a shot showing the trees. They are mostly 70-80' tall pine trees.

 

[dacarter]

This shot shows the thickness of the trees looking the direction that I flew and the metal building.

 

[BlakPhoenix]

You can try flying higher so the signal doesn't have to pass through as many trees, else maybe try an autopilot flight?

 

[dacarter]

yeah higher would probably work better. I'll do some testing. I'm loving the mav overall, this was just a minor annoyance. I put it in sport mode this evening for the first time in a very tight area over the driveway, that was tense but fun. (that 2nd shot has convinced me I need to clean the pine needles off the patio cover this weekend)

 

[m0j0]

Trees, trees, trees. Going to need Litchi.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[bakerboy]

You sound surprised, but that's what happens

 

[maikm]

Tried flying from this nice open area to the right of your house? From there it would just a few treetops between you and the aircraft if you keep it high enough.

 

[dacarter]

The Google images are a couple of years old. That open area near the sewage treatment plant is now completely full of houses.

 

[Foxtrot Uniform]

You sound surprised, but that's what happens

Bakerboy is exactly right! Find a more open place to fly. Surprised you got the range you did...

 

[dacarter]

Yeah, I'll definitely be flying in other open areas, but I also wanted to be able to explore the undeveloped areas behind my property and check out wildlife, and the creek when there's a flood event. Nothing like the convenience of flying at home. I'm thinking more altitude will fix the issue. I'll report back on this.

 

[Skold]

FWIW - I live in a forest too, and I can get great reception with the Mavic Pro through the trees compared to my P3P. There will always be a limit to how much video you will be able to get through trees and such though.

 

[dacarter]

I flew the same route today, this time at 150-175' and it worked much better. I went a lot further away and didn't drop below 3 bars.

 

[integlikewhoa]

So now you just need to build a tall tree house higher then the tallest tree and you can have a direct line of sight over the tree tops.

Sounds like fun if you ask me. LOL

 

[halley]

Just a matter of physics, like tinfoil in a microwave oven. These frequencies are absorbed and scattered by leafy material, and are blocked by stone material. You get what you get, and you don't get upset.

 

[larkin]

Yeah, line of sight is not just the FAA rule but the practical limitation of the Mavic's choice of GHz frequency.

Sent from my XT1650 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[cobra46]

yeah higher would probably work better. I'll do some testing. I'm loving the mav overall, this was just a minor annoyance. I put it in sport mode this evening for the first time in a very tight area over the driveway, that was tense but fun. (that 2nd shot has convinced me I need to clean the pine needles off the patio cover this weekend)

Congrats on your new toy.

haha.. Use the Mavic as a leaf blower.

 

[cobra46]

The road in front of your house appears to be more open as well.