Air 3S - Wondering why I upgraded.

[Droning on and on...]

Even 2.5 km is BVLOS.

Why are people talking about 6 or 7 km?

Because they have an interest in flying that far?

Report them to the FAA if you'd like and have nothing happen (other than chuckles). Very much like reporting a jaywalker to the local PD crime hotline.

But please don't pollute a friendly community with scolding about the rules. We all know them.

 

[parkgt]

For me best camera I ever used was the Phantom 4 Pro.

Did you ever use one of the drones with a 4/3s sensor?

 

[Rchawks]

Because they have an interest in flying that far?

Report them to the FAA if you'd like and have nothing happen (other than chuckles). Very much like reporting a jaywalker to the local PD crime hotline.

But please don't pollute a friendly community with scolding about the rules. We all know them.

I would agree. It's easy to go down that rabbit hole as we've seen in other threads on that subject that get closed. I think they are simply saying the greater the range that a Drone is capable of actually doing then the stronger the reception will be in bad environments which makes the drone that much safer for operation. Whew I'm out of breath.

 

[mavic3usa]

I would agree. It's easy to go down that rabbit hole as we've seen in other threads on that subject that get closed. I think they are simply saying the greater the range that a Drone is capable of actually doing then the stronger the reception will be in bad environments which makes the drone that much safer for operation. Whew I'm out of breath.

I'm starting to hear that about O4 more and more and it's disappointing because I had hoped for better range....I mean, better penetration for the O4 Mavic 4 over the Mavic 3 but if that's not the case, that's one less reason to upgrade. Maybe with all the chaos, this might be a good "skip" year and just waiting for the Mavic 5.

 

[swoermck]

I'm starting to hear that about O4 more and more and it's disappointing because I had hoped for better

reading this, it just reminds me of something I noticed already a few months back with my Dji Air3: live feed on the controller/signal strength (DJI RC 2) seems to be worse compared to when I purchased my Air 3 last year. First I blamed weather conditions, antenna arrangement and/or positioning of the controller. But looking back now (honestly) range has degraded over the last months, possibly via one of the last firmware upgrades (stupid me I always upgraded to the latest firmware).

And out of interest I just checked my flights from last weekend from Air3 and Air3S at „Airdata“ : to compare video quality between both drones, I created a waypoint mission (created via Litchi and then uploaded identical KMZ files to both controllers) to have identical flight paths:

And what did I discover? Signal score always 100%, but signal score drop (from 100% to around 88%) for Air 3 as well for Air 3S at the exact same location!!

Having said this I believe this is not an Air3S issue, but more a general issue with DJI Air3/Air3S in combination with the RC2 controller, as it is clearly visible from Airdata‘s signal map, that both birds have issues at the exact same location.

.. and maybe „introduced“ by DJI via firmware upgrade (for what reason ever)

 

[Suren]

Is New Zealand CE or FCC transmission? Assuming you’re getting these range results in NZ of course

Its FCC since the Air 3 launched here

 

[Suren]

Even 2.5 km is BVLOS.

Why are people talking about 6 or 7 km?

Because on this forum we are not judged

 

[Suren]

The range crippling that both you and @bkushner are reporting on the Air 3s, compared to the Air 3, is certainly disappointing. I wonder if it was intentional.

It certainly is a disappointment but I use the cellular so not a major issue. If I did not have the dongle I would have returned it by now.

 

[davidarmenb]

It was the hype.

Though I am not seeing any of those issues with my 3S.

 

[davidarmenb]

The range crippling that both you and @bkushner are reporting on the Air 3s, compared to the Air 3, is certainly disappointing. I wonder if it was intentional.

And very surprising, considering they upgraded the antenna placements on the drone to give it better range.

 

[Droning on and on...]

reading this, it just reminds me of something I noticed already a few months back with my Dji Air3: live feed on the controller/signal strength (DJI RC 2) seems to be worse compared to when I purchased my Air 3 last year. First I blamed weather conditions, antenna arrangement and/or positioning of the controller. But looking back now (honestly) range has degraded over the last months, possibly via one of the last firmware upgrades (stupid me I always upgraded to the latest firmware).

And out of interest I just checked my flights from last weekend from Air3 and Air3S at „Airdata“ : to compare video quality between both drones, I created a waypoint mission (created via Litchi and then uploaded identical KMZ files to both controllers) to have identical flight paths:

And what did I discover? Signal score always 100%, but signal score drop (from 100% to around 88%) for Air 3 as well for Air 3S at the exact same location!!

Having said this I believe this is not an Air3S issue, but more a general issue with DJI Air3/Air3S in combination with the RC2 controller, as it is clearly visible from Airdata‘s signal map, that both birds have issues at the exact same location.

.. and maybe „introduced“ by DJI via firmware upgrade (for what reason ever)

There are all sorts of other reasons for this change that has nothing to do with the drone or firmware.

A new source of RF interference may have jjst come on line where you're seeing the dropout. Or summertime foliage that is falling now, and this dropout will improve in the coming months.

I'm not claiming it's either of these, just two examples of other factor that may be causing your drop off that coincidentally occurred at the same time you updated firmware.

 

[ryguy80]

Ultimately though, its crap launch in the US and not to mention Mavic 4 around the corner has turned a lot of people away from it and I don't blame them.

There's no guarantee that the Mavic 4 will be available in the United States after the hoops DJI had to jump through with the Neo and Air 3S launches due to the strained U.S.-China relationship. The extra resources (i.e. customer support) being put in place for juggling the logistics for U.S. shipments ("Dude, where's my order?") has to be costing DJI some good $$$.

 

[Suren]

I'm starting to hear that about O4 more and more and it's disappointing because I had hoped for better range....I mean, better penetration for the O4 Mavic 4 over the Mavic 3 but if that's not the case, that's one less reason to upgrade. Maybe with all the chaos, this might be a good "skip" year and just waiting for the Mavic 5.

The Air 3 uses O4 as well and signal penetration is really good on it. Maybe a FW update will fix the Air 3S but for now the Air 3 is king in long range flights.

 

[Dusty DJI]

The Air 3 uses O4 as well and signal penetration is really good on it. Maybe a FW update will fix the Air 3S but for now the Air 3 is king in long range flights.

I have flown my air 3s illegally at almost 2 miles from home point with still a few bars showing. I would have felt comfortable going another mile out. I see no reason to go further. l don't understand what you guys are asking for in distance?

 

[Droning on and on...]

Because on this forum we are not judged

Correct. But we judge...

 

[Axelz]

The cameras are still a bit meh, the main sensor is not really 50 megapixels, and noticed DJI quoting "effective pixels" now which is rather misleading. Other features look very decent though, the LIDAR and RTH quite amazing, plus it can fly fast. Don't think worth an upgrade if you already have an air 3 given the cameras, but if you can't stetch to a mavic 3 pro and moving up from a mini 3/4 then can see may tick the boxes for some - I still find the air series a bit of an odd platform though.

 

[Nick 207]

Due to bad weather I have only flown my Air 3s once around the yard so can't chime in on the distance but also purchased mini 4pro for the 04 transmission .Not impressed with it ,Will fly about same distance as my mini 3.I think 04 is an over hyped selling point.

 

[WanderLost]

If the Air3S is built anything like the air2S I will upgrade to that soon. Reason: My Air2S has flown many hours past its expected life (except for a motor/arm replacement for a motor that should have died) I was more than happy with the Air 2S. If I don't upgrade I will just get another Air 2S from Camrise.

I upgrade from my Air 2S because I wanted more range. Going to a Mavic 3 was a big step up in flight time, power and range.

 

[bkushner]

Did you ever use one of the drones with a 4/3s sensor?

Yes I owned the Mavic 3 Pro for a while. I found the Air 3 to be as good image wise for me.

 

[bkushner]

There are all sorts of other reasons for this change that has nothing to do with the drone or firmware.

A new source of RF interference may have jjst come on line where you're seeing the dropout. Or summertime foliage that is falling now, and this dropout will improve in the coming months.

I'm not claiming it's either of these, just two examples of other factor that may be causing your drop off that coincidentally occurred at the same time you updated firmware.

Well in my Mini 4 Pro isn't having any issues..