A question answered...

[edfrombama]

Good afternoon to all-
I have been somewhat concerned because lately I have noticed my Mini 2 drones were not getting as good of a range as previously when I fly my home pattern. And no, I won't tell how far I fly, but it is far enough that I can see a significant lessening of distance travelled before RTH initiates.
So this morning I combined a fishing trip to the beach with a drone flying operation, and i can report that in my very unscientific mind, the questions of range and why it has dropped has been answered. When i launched the Mini 2- Number One by official name- and flew it over the water and the low sand dunes, my range was superb. Heck, the little drone might still be flying away putting distance between us if I didn't call it back. No loss of connection, no RTH at 1200 feet.
So, the difference- the big, green, leafy trees that I love so much back home are a very real and a very effective blocker of signals from the controller and the drone. All that water in the leaves works to diminish the range.
So if I want to do one of my disapproved of by certain other folks long distance flights, I will need to do it over on the island where the signal strength stays good. I love the island anyway, so just one more reason to go there.

you all be safe and keep well- Ed

 

[edfrombama]

And here;' a photo of the island I fly at taken from a video I shot this morning.

 

[JOHNVOSS]

Unless I'm missing something do you think 1200 feet is an adequate distance for A Mini 2?

 

[edfrombama]

Good afternoon to all

No, by no means do I consider 1200 feet to be adequate. That's the whole situation. At first- last winter when I got the Mini 2 drone- it got much greater distance before it lost contact. Lately, the distance before signal loss has been much shorter than it originally was.
And I have had all the conversations about VLOS I intend to have- that's why I don't post actual flight distances EXCEPT to illustrate a point as I did in this original post.
I more and more every day come to value the quality of the DJI Mini 2 drone- just a superior little machine.

you all be safe and keep well- Ed

 

[thispilothere]

Yeah, I was getting an extra 30-45% range in the winter.

 

[JOHNVOSS]

Good afternoon to all

No, by no means do I consider 1200 feet to be adequate. That's the whole situation. At first- last winter when I got the Mini 2 drone- it got much greater distance before it lost contact. Lately, the distance before signal loss has been much shorter than it originally was.
And I have had all the conversations about VLOS I intend to have- that's why I don't post actual flight distances EXCEPT to illustrate a point as I did in this original post.
I more and more every day come to value the quality of the DJI Mini 2 drone- just a superior little machine.

you all be safe and keep well- Ed

Understood. No question about the trees. Fortunately I am still on FW v 1.03 and Fly 1.5.1 so I am happy with my range also.

 

[LoudThunder]

Fortunately I am still on FW v 1.03 and Fly 1.5.1 so I am happy with my range also

I am flying a Mini 2 with FW 01.05.0000 and Fly App 1.6.6 and I have not experienced any range issues, transmission issues, or camera Issues. As they say, all is at peace in the world… (Yeah, I wish…)

I admit I have yet to use any of the diagnostic software to scan my flight data so all of my "scientific testing is by the seat of my pants… I've been lucky and not needed to but as I read more of these posting, I am more and more inspired to do so, if not for no other reason than to say I did so…

When I have an issue, I put my tablet into screen record mode so that I will have a quick record of everything the app is or is not showing. I also snap lots of Screenshots.

I also quickly pop up the menu and scroll it so it's setting are recorded in the screen recording.

So, I would advise those who are also performing Unscientific Testing, that they step up their game a bit and record their screens or at least snap a screenshot or two.

If I was having issues with the drone's range, I would not be flying it over water… Remember too that you have to point the antenna at the Drone for maximum transmission and reception, and I would also be carefully monitoring the signal strength bars and periodically scanning the menu, Transmission Tab, and looking for any anomaly that indicates interference.

Finally, if you fly low, transmission signals can be reflected off the surface of nearby "things' like water, buildings, the ground, etc… the reflected signal reach the receiver at a slightly different time than the direct one and the receiver has to discriminate between the transmission and the late arrivals and respond accordingly. As the range increases the differences between the two becomes blurred and this affects range. I am no expert and perhaps a more knowledgeable member can explain where I might only be blurring the issue myself…

Good Luck!

 

[mobilehomer]

Latest firmware for drone and controller here. Same distance now as last summer with full tree coverage. So, I'm good with it.

 

[EyesWideShut]

I agree with @LoudThunder post. First about using screen recording to document your flights and you should review them and scroll thru to confirm your settings as the GPS loads. You'd be surprised at how often warnings pop up during your flight that you didn't see or have time to understand. Also include and use the map. You can pre-load the map at home or use your phone on location to hotspot to wifi to load the map for your flight area then close the wifi.

Also @LoudThunder mentions transmission signals being affected by the ground, surroundings and altitude. Even though there may be a direct line for the main signal to go both to and back from the drone, the phase of reflected signal may change and help increase or more likely decrease the main signal. DJI of course when doing their signal tests choose the best surroundings and the mathematically correct altitude and continually point the RC at the drone for optimum results. We won't get their "lab" results but should try and do the same.

Here on the forum I saw a so called "range test" video where the drone was flown out between some leafy trees (a fairly decent opening) but when further out he changed course a bit which now didn't help the signal line of sight. When the bars started dropping, making things worse, he went even further off the original course and then dropped altitude a few meters rather than climbing. I don't think he even realized right from the start that he wasn't helping by standing near a metal chain link fence. It was attenuating signals in his flight direction. Bet there aren't many chain link fences in DJI's signal test area.

If we are going to do test let's put some thought into what causes signal problems that we can try to eliminate most, then hopefully find a good repeatable area to fly from. If future changes are made (like updates, frequencies etc.) that we want to test, we can go back and re-test under similar conditions.

 

[Camino Ken]

I am flying a Mini 2 with FW 01.05.0000 and Fly App 1.6.6 and I have not experienced any range issues, transmission issues, or camera Issues. As they say, all is at peace in the world… (Yeah, I wish…)

I admit I have yet to use any of the diagnostic software to scan my flight data so all of my "scientific testing is by the seat of my pants… I've been lucky and not needed to but as I read more of these posting, I am more and more inspired to do so, if not for no other reason than to say I did so…

When I have an issue, I put my tablet into screen record mode so that I will have a quick record of everything the app is or is not showing. I also snap lots of Screenshots.

I also quickly pop up the menu and scroll it so it's setting are recorded in the screen recording.

So, I would advise those who are also performing Unscientific Testing, that they step up their game a bit and record their screens or at least snap a screenshot or two.

If I was having issues with the drone's range, I would not be flying it over water… Remember too that you have to point the antenna at the Drone for maximum transmission and reception, and I would also be carefully monitoring the signal strength bars and periodically scanning the menu, Transmission Tab, and looking for any anomaly that indicates interference.

Finally, if you fly low, transmission signals can be reflected off the surface of nearby "things' like water, buildings, the ground, etc… the reflected signal reach the receiver at a slightly different time than the direct one and the receiver has to discriminate between the transmission and the late arrivals and respond accordingly. As the range increases the differences between the two becomes blurred and this affects range. I am no expert and perhaps a more knowledgeable member can explain where I might only be blurring the issue myself…

Good Luck!

I agree with most of your advice. One small clarification on interference. What you have described sounds like how the old analog systems operated. The Occusync transmission protocol is a digital transmission that utilizes OFDM for video and FHSS for data. Both of these very robust transmission architectures that are inherently relatively immune to interference problems. In addition, they are packet based systems. If a data packet get corrupted it just gets re-transmitted. Any problems with signal reflections are highly unlikely. The biggest concern for interference is from competing larger amplitude RF signals in the same spectrum (WiFi, cellular, etc) which have the potential to overwhelm the receiver input circuitry, effectively blocking the transmission.

 

[wardtom084]

Good afternoon to all

No, by no means do I consider 1200 feet to be adequate. That's the whole situation. At first- last winter when I got the Mini 2 drone- it got much greater distance before it lost contact. Lately, the distance before signal loss has been much shorter than it originally was.
And I have had all the conversations about VLOS I intend to have- that's why I don't post actual flight distances EXCEPT to illustrate a point as I did in this original post.
I more and more every day come to value the quality of the DJI Mini 2 drone- just a superior little machine.

you all be safe and keep well- Ed

Last winter when there were no leaves on the trees?

 

[LoudThunder]

One small clarification on interference.

Thank you for the clarification, that's why I ended my posting with this and it's in quotes…

"I am no expert and perhaps a more knowledgeable member can explain where I might only be blurring the issue myself…"

What I am is an old Comm Chief and I still use the expression, "You are coming 5 by 5…"

Where transmission quality is reported on two scales: the first is for signal strength, and the second for signal clarity. Both these scales range from one to five, where one is the worst and five is the best.

So, if a transmission (for the sake of this discussion, the transmission is audio…) strength is weak and there is a lot of static, I might report, you are coming in 3 by 3 so you, the sender, would know that you had better talk slower and enunciate each word…

Off Subject, in the movie Aliens and the pilot of the landing craft said they were "in the pipe, 5 by 5…" was just so much "jibber-jabber" old world term for gobbledygook…

Once again, thanks for clearing up "interference issue"; your explanation came in 5 by 5…