Signal Interruption

[Lets Fly]

I have been flying from my house for quite a while now. A month or so ago I was about 1700 feet away and received a warning for Signal Interruption To Aircraft Signal Interruption May Be
More Likely. I have not seen it for a while and last night I went straight up to take a sunset shot and got the warning at 250 feet. This morning again to take a sunrise it hit me at 40 feet went away and at 170
feet I got the warning and it disconnected. The AC returned to home as it should and on the way down I regained control. I have a cell tower about 3,500 feet away and a new one I hadn't seen about a mile away.
Can cell towers interfere with our signal, and if so I wonder why it never did before when at altitude? What else may do that? I am flying a Mavic Air and using an iPad mini 4. Can the iPad interfere with the signal when straight up, and would you have to lean the iPad back so the antennas have a line of sight? A lot of questions, hoping someone may have experienced this.

 

[Meta4]

I have a cell tower about 3,500 feet away and a new one I hadn't seen about a mile away.
Can cell towers interfere with our signal

At that distance your cell tower has no affect on your drone.

I am flying a Mavic Air and using an iPad mini 4. Can the iPad interfere with the signal when straight up, and would you have to lean the iPad back so the antennas have a line of sight?

Straight up is always the worst antenna geometry for good signal and you have to have a clear, unobstructed line of sight between your antennas and the drone.
If you have an iPad blocking that, its metal case would block signal if it gets in the way.

 

[brett8883]

I have been flying from my house for quite a while now. A month or so ago I was about 1700 feet away and received a warning for Signal Interruption To Aircraft Signal Interruption May Be
More Likely. I have not seen it for a while and last night I went straight up to take a sunset shot and got the warning at 250 feet. This morning again to take a sunrise it hit me at 40 feet went away and at 170
feet I got the warning and it disconnected. The AC returned to home as it should and on the way down I regained control. I have a cell tower about 3,500 feet away and a new one I hadn't seen about a mile away.
Can cell towers interfere with our signal, and if so I wonder why it never did before when at altitude? What else may do that? I am flying a Mavic Air and using an iPad mini 4. Can the iPad interfere with the signal when straight up, and would you have to lean the iPad back so the antennas have a line of sight? A lot of questions, hoping someone may have experienced this.

The short answer is anything that emits electrical magnetic radiation can cause interference. Even your microwave can interfere it’s just a matter of if it’s enough to disrupt the signal and interference is additive meaning several sources of weak interference add up to the same effect as one source of high interference. Sound waves are actually a good analogy to use even though radio waves are actually a form of light.

It’s kinda like talking to someone, if you are alone in a quite room then you can easily speak to each other from across the room no problem. When you are in a crowded place with lots of people talking you have to listen carefully for the persons voice you are talking to and ignore the rest. In this environment talking to the person accross the room is basically impossible because your voice will be drowned out by the other people talking.

Alternatively, you might be in a quiet room talking to someone and all of a sudden a freight train goes by outside and temporarily you can’t communicate with that person at all it’s so loud. Also, if you turn your back to the person you are talking to, you now rely on the sound waves bouncing off the walls to hear them and it is harder to hear at the same volume.

Now the Mavic is pretty darn good at filtering out the interference but it certainly will help if you point the antennae in the direction of the drone. The radio signal is sent out and received from the broad side of the antenna, so you want to try to have the the broad side perpendicular to the drone. If the drone is directly above you’ll want the antenna to be parallel to the ground so it will be perpendicular to the drone. See diagram.

It’s really hard to say what was causing your interference in that moment and if it was one source or a combination of sources. Also remember that radio power decreases as it passes through a solid object so make sure there’s nothing between the antenna and drone for best reception.

In the “HD”menu of the settings on DJI Go 4 there is a graph that shows interference levels and at what frequency. If the graph shows low intereference at all frequencies except there’s a spike an one particular region then that would suggest its a single source, however, if the graph shows interference at multiple frequencies then that suggests it’s coming from several sources. If it shows little interference then that suggests there’s something like an object in the way of the signal or the antenna not orientated correctly

 

[Lets Fly]

Thanks for the info, I will check on all that. Funny I just went out to try again and I could not even leave the ground in my yard. Trump is in West Palm Beach and it shut us down. Two weeks ago he was here and we could fly, It was only altitude restrictions for all aircraft. I am 33 miles from West Palm, this time I guess they are worried about the Mueller Report being released.

 

[Thomas B]

Yea... the Prez gets a 30 mile diameter no fly zone around him. Fortunately he likely won’t stay long so you can try the antennae orientation thing per Bret8883’s post. Also, when you do, make sure the antennae are pretty close to parallel. At least on the M2P and Z controllers there is an issue with one arm partially folding spontaneously.

 

[Lets Fly]

Yeah, not understanding how we could fly two weeks ago but not now. Also, I am not sure how the block is accomplished. Does DJI work with our gov. to control our AC? I can understand putting out restriction notices but having actual control over the birds at any time seems like an invasion of our privacy. Plus my Mavic Air can't go more than 2,000 feet from me for VLOS, so blocking us at 33 miles seems overkill. If you break the rules you get fined, but until that happens we should not be controlled (in my option). Can anyone explain how this is accomplished?

 

[Meta4]

Can anyone explain how this is accomplished?

It's just a part of the no-fly zone programming which includes permanent and temporary NFZs.

 

[JakeRobinson]

So, is ther

I have been flying from my house for quite a while now. A month or so ago I was about 1700 feet away and received a warning for Signal Interruption To Aircraft Signal Interruption May Be
More Likely. I have not seen it for a while and last night I went straight up to take a sunset shot and got the warning at 250 feet. This morning again to take a sunrise it hit me at 40 feet went away and at 170
feet I got the warning and it disconnected. The AC returned to home as it should and on the way down I regained control. I have a cell tower about 3,500 feet away and a new one I hadn't seen about a mile away.
Can cell towers interfere with our signal, and if so I wonder why it never did before when at altitude? What else may do that? I am flying a Mavic Air and using an iPad mini 4. Can the iPad interfere with the signal when straight up, and would you have to lean the iPad back so the antennas have a line of sight? A lot of questions, hoping someone may have experienced this.

So, is there a chance you might have forgotten to extend your antennas? I did this last week... flew all over the place around my house and once I landed and started to put up my gear I realized I had never moved the antenna arms from their storage position! Didn't have any issues tho which is good... could have caused problems but got lucky...

 

[Lets Fly]

No, always extended and they are very snug, not like some I have heard of leaning over. I still want to know do they control us through the controller, or the drone when a VIP is in the area? I would assume it's the controller since the AC knows to come home. Still seems strange to me that our frequencies can be blocked like that so easily.

 

[Meta4]

No, always extended and they are very snug, not like some I have heard of leaning over. I still want to know do they control us through the controller, or the drone when a VIP is in the area? I would assume it's the controller since the AC knows to come home. Still seems strange to me that our frequencies can be blocked like that so easily.

No frequencies are being blocked.
The drone is just programmed to recognise certain geographic areas as no-fly zones and won't cross into those areas or start up in those areas.

 

[Lets Fly]

Thanks, got it. Just to add, maybe no frequencies are blocked, but they must increase the range of the signal going out. Check the GEO zone for the President around West Palm Beach FL today and it is 66 miles in diameter. So they can send out a blocking signal at will from a central location, meaning they have the ability to control our flights at will. That was my
reasoning for the thread. If they can turn it on and off whenever they want, we have no control, and if it's built into the controller then DJI works along with the GOV. or whomever to comply with that particular frequency.

 

[JakeRobinson]

Thanks, got it. Just to add, maybe no frequencies are blocked, but they must increase the range of the signal going out. Check the GEO zone for the President around West Palm Beach FL today and it is 66 miles in diameter. So they can send out a blocking signal at will from a central location, meaning they have the ability to control our flights at will. That was my
reasoning for the thread. If they can turn it on and off whenever they want, we have no control, and if it's built into the controller then DJI works along with the GOV. or whomever to comply with that particular frequency.

Makes you think someone will/has a way to "root" the controller or hack it to get around that block.. not saying they should...

 

[Lets Fly]

No we should not, but it is not just a geographical location as Meta4 suggested on #10, because they changed it as a vip appeared, meaning DJI has to change and except it also. So it is not fixed on one spot on any permanent location, but can be adjusted whenever they want.

 

[Meta4]

No we should not, but it is not just a geographical location as Meta4 suggested on #10, because they changed it as a vip appeared, meaning DJI has to change and except it also. So it is not fixed on one spot on any permanent location, but can be adjusted whenever they want.

It is completely 100% geographical but the system accepts updates to allow for temporary NFZs, corrections and changes.

 

[Lets Fly]

Of corse it covers the geography, that's the only thing in can. The point is that it is not fixed and can be changed whenever they want it changed. My point is how it is so easily accepted, and nothing could stop the Gov. or same FAA from finally getting to the point of saying , ok you can no longer fly in this county, or state. how would we prevent that? The NFZ was lifted at 4:30 pm eastern time in my yard today, and I am 33 miles from the airport with a drone that can't fly 2,000 feet away or over 400 feet high, over kill.

 

[Meta4]

The point is that it is not fixed and can be changed whenever they want it changed.

Perhaps you'd prefer a static system where errors don't get corrected and you have no idea when a temporary flight restriction is in force?
When I say it's geographical, I mean it only affects your flying if you are within the geographical area described in the TFR.
Fly outside that and you'd never know about it.

My point is how it is so easily accepted, and nothing could stop the Gov. or same FAA from finally getting to the point of saying , ok you can no longer fly in this county, or state. how would we prevent that?
The NFZ was lifted at 4:30 pm eastern time in my yard today, and I am 33 miles from the airport with a drone that can't fly 2,000 feet away or over 400 feet high, over kill.

The TFR doesn't just affect you and you can't get a personal TFR that prohibits you from flying anywhere in the country or state.
I've included a link to the particular TFR you are talking about.
I'd suggest you read it including all details to get a better understanding of what it is, how it works and who it affects.
9/9535 NOTAM Details
If you think it's overkill, that's something you could take up with the FAA, because that's where it comes from.

 

[brett8883]

Makes you think someone will/has a way to "root" the controller or hack it to get around that block.. not saying they should...

Lol you are right . It feels good to be free from the restrictions imposed by a communist company and government from the other side of the world.

 

[Meta4]

Lol you are right . It feels good to be free from the restrictions imposed by a communist company and government from the other side of the world.

You mean this sort of restriction?
9/9535 NOTAM Details
They seem to come from your own government agencies ???

 

[brett8883]

You mean this sort of restriction?
9/9535 NOTAM Details
They seem to come from your own government agencies ???

I was referring more to the instances where DJI prevents flights even though there’s no legal or FAA mandated reason to.

However, I do not like being FORCED to do anything. The US government makes rules and if you don’t follow them then you face the consequences, we choose the people who make those rules and that’s a choice you get to make because this is a free county.

A communist government on the other hand forces their will on their citizens so they have no choice in the matter. They put up fire walls so their citizens can’t go to websites deemed unacceptable by government sensors. They issue licenses to have children and will murder a child born without one. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

What I think @Lets Fly is saying and I agree with is that it’s a slippery slope. Maybe it’s crazy but I feel much better following the rules because I want to and choose to. I don’t want to deal with DJI on the other side of the world to get permission to use my property. Therefore I have rooted my Mavic to remove all limits and kill all communications from my drone and device back to DJI who btw is spying on you and collecting and storing as much data about you as possible. That’s why the Department of Defense has banned all DJI products from Goverment work.

 

[Meta4]

I have rooted my Mavic to remove all limits and kill all communications from my drone and device back to DJI which btw they they are collecting and storing as much data about you as possible.

Simply not synching flight data would be enough to ensure no-one else gets to see your precious personal flight data - not that anyone else is really interested in it anyway.