Official Mavic Air Range Leaderboard!

Long Ranger · Mar 22, 2018

zackdbassist said:
I barely made it into the top ten. Google conversion says my flight was 3789 meters.
Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

Yeop, you made it on and are in the 10th position.
Nice Job! Thumbswayup

,, Leaderboard updated..

zackdbassist · Mar 22, 2018

Long Ranger said:
Yeop, you made it on and are in the 10th position.
Nice Job!,, Leaderboard updated..

While doing it I noticed a strange thing, the bird won't switch to 2.4Ghz even when there wasn't any source of interference around and for max range it should be using 2.4Ghz while in auto.

I doubt once you use the manual freq selection after that even if you switch to auto, it only selects channels within that frequency and can't switch between frequencies. Can anyone confirm that?

Long Ranger · Mar 22, 2018

zackdbassist said:
While doing it I noticed a strange thing, the bird won't switch to 2.4Ghz even when there wasn't any source of interference around and for max range it should be using 2.4Ghz while in auto.

I doubt once you use the manual freq selection after that even if you switch to auto, it only selects channels within that frequency and can't switch between frequencies. Can anyone confirm that?

Once custom channels and frequency are set before flight, those settings should remain. If left in Auto, it will find the best connection for the area you are flying in. It will automatically switch between frequencies.
Preset your custom before flight and your good.

comthre3 · Mar 25, 2018

Farthest I've gone in Kuwait, using 4Hawks SR, the video got a little choppy towards the 3.3K mark. The farthest point was at 3646.3 meters. got back home with 30% battery. Highly populated area, with a lot of wifi interference, hence the altitude.

Verizondrone28 · Mar 25, 2018

comthre3 said:
Farthest I've gone in Kuwait, using 4Hawks SR, the video got a little choppy towards the 3.3K mark. The farthest point was at 3646.3 meters. got back home with 30% battery. Highly populated area, with a lot of wifi interference, hence the altitude.

That’s a heck of a run and especially so as you had solid video for the majority of the run. The 4Hawks is the real deal!

comthre3 · Mar 25, 2018

Was hoping to get more range out of it, but guess that’ll do for now. Has anyone here installed the 4hawks sr on their controller. Got a couple of quistions

Verizondrone28 · Mar 25, 2018

comthre3 said:
Was hoping to get more range out of it, but guess that’ll do for now. Has anyone here installed the 4hawks sr on their controller. Got a couple of quistions

I have the Raptor XR and SR myself. I was able to hit over 10,000 feet twice on my long range runs but there isn’t much battery left at that point to do much filming that far out. I just wanted to see how far I could go (and it’s **** cold here still so it was about 30F on both of those runs...it may improve once it gets warmer).

I’m more concerned with maintaining a solid video feed up to say 6000 feet because that still gives me time to get some shots before heading back to make sure I get home with battery life. The Raptor has been great in holding that solid video feed where I need to fly.

What other questions did you have?

comthre3 · Mar 25, 2018

Verizondrone28 said:
I have the Raptor XR and SR myself. I was able to hit over 10,000 feet twice on my long range runs but there isn’t much battery left at that point to do much filming that far out. I just wanted to see how far I could go (and it’s **** cold here still so it was about 30F on both of those runs...it may improve once it gets warmer).

I’m more concerned with maintaining a solid video feed up to say 6000 feet because that still gives me time to get some shots before heading back to make sure I get home with battery life. The Raptor has been great in holding that solid video feed where I need to fly.

What other questions did you have?

Thanks for the quick reply, First of, is it normal for the app to disconnect the video feed the first few meters as the quad is drifting up and away from me? then after, let's say 13 meters, it regains the connection and everything works smoothly from there?

Second, my compass tends to be a little off on the map, which wouldn't allow me to point my controller towards the drone directly. Which in turn may mess up the flying experience. Is there a way to ensure pointing the controller directly towards the drone since I'm flying way beyond line of sight?

Verizondrone28 · Mar 25, 2018

comthre3 said:
Thanks for the quick reply, First of, is it normal for the app to disconnect the video feed the first few meters as the quad is drifting up and away from me? then after, let's say 13 meters, it regains the connection and everything works smoothly from there?

Second, my compass tends to be a little off on the map, which wouldn't allow me to point my controller towards the drone directly. Which in turn may mess up the flying experience. Is there a way to ensure pointing the controller directly towards the drone since I'm flying way beyond line of sight?

Mine doesn’t disconnect close by but it does stutter just a few times until I’m like 50 feet away. Not sure why but I never record from that close anyway so I haven’t paid any attention to that. Once it hits 50 feet, the connection goes solid. I don’t lose the connection either...but some stutter in the feed.

First...did you do the recent firmware update that is out for the Air? If so, you should do a “cold” IMU calibration and a compass calibration. The cold IMU is where you put just the drone in your refrigerator for 20 minutes. Take it out, insert the battery, and get it turned on and connected. Do your IMU calibration. Don’t ask me WHY that method works but it does. The drone starts up and gets connected a lot faster after this method. Do a standard compass calibration away from anything metal.

To keep my bearings on my drone when I’m flying, I watch the radar map in the lower left corner. That will always display the drone’s orientation in relation to my position through an arrow. Learn to read that radar map and it’ll help you fly the drone correctly. You can see which way the drone is pointing and the arrow turns as you work the controls. It also maintains a straight green line connecting back to your home position and that also helps you to know which way to come home. This method works like a charm for me.

comthre3 · Mar 25, 2018

Verizondrone28 said:
Mine doesn’t disconnect close by but it does stutter just a few times until I’m like 50 feet away. Not sure why but I never record from that close anyway so I haven’t paid any attention to that. Once it hits 50 feet, the connection goes solid. I don’t lose the connection either...but some stutter in the feed.

First...did you do the recent firmware update that is out for the Air? If so, you should do a “cold” IMU calibration and a compass calibration. The cold IMU is where you put just the drone in your refrigerator for 20 minutes. Take it out, insert the battery, and get it turned on and connected. Do your IMU calibration. Don’t ask me WHY that method works but it does. The drone starts up and gets connected a lot faster after this method. Do a standard compass calibration away from anything metal.

To keep my bearings on my drone when I’m flying, I watch the radar map in the lower left corner. That will always display the drone’s orientation in relation to my position through an arrow. Learn to read that radar map and it’ll help you fly the drone correctly. You can see which way the drone is pointing and the arrow turns as you work the controls. It also maintains a straight green line connecting back to your home position and that also helps you to know which way to come home. This method works like a charm for me.

Nice! thanks. Didn't know that cold calibration literally meant "COLD"! I'll try that and report back, unfortunately, the weather isn't great today here. Guess ill be trying sometime tomorrow.

Thanks again

Verizondrone28 · Mar 25, 2018

comthre3 said:
Nice! thanks. Didn't know that cold calibration literally meant "COLD"! I'll try that and report back, unfortunately, the weather isn't great today here. Guess ill be trying sometime tomorrow.

Thanks again

You’re welcome! Yeah I never knew about that either but it’s a real thing. No clue WHY it works but it actually does work. You learn something new every day. Ha!