Can a battery affect signal??

[kenjancef]

Air 2S with DJI RC. Last week I went on a flight, was within LOS, took pics, battery was low, flew back in, swapped the battery. Went out to the same point, my signal was crap, dropping to red, and almost had RTH kick in. Managed to get it back. Put in a third battery, flew to the same point, all was good, no drops at all. I put aside that second battery and looked at it when I got home. There's nothing visual that would tell me that it's bad, no bulging, lights working.

During this flight, nothing in the environment changed... no cell phones, no people, nothing at all. Totally weird...

 

[Cafguy]

No your battery will not effect your signal...Well if it did all of your battries would. Probably just one of those odd things that happen from time to time.lol.

 

[kenjancef]

No your battery will not effect your signal...Well if it did all of your battries would. Probably just one of those odd things that happen from time to time.lol.

Kinda figured that, but it was just weird enough to ask... lol

 

[MS Coast]

Air 2S with DJI RC. Last week I went on a flight, was within LOS, took pics, battery was low, flew back in, swapped the battery. Went out to the same point, my signal was crap, dropping to red, and almost had RTH kick in. Managed to get it back. Put in a third battery, flew to the same point, all was good, no drops at all. I put aside that second battery and looked at it when I got home. There's nothing visual that would tell me that it's bad, no bulging, lights working.

During this flight, nothing in the environment changed... no cell phones, no people, nothing at all. Totally weird...

Might you have been standing in a slightly different place, putting more obstacles between the controller and the drone or getting into a wifi signal field? Were you at the same altitude in all three cases? Might be interference with the wifi signal from other users and equipment near the drone or near the controller.

I sometimes see irregular signal loss in an area of about 150 yds in diameter, over a corner of a large meadow surrounded by woods. All is fine 360 degrees around that area and there are no structures, power lines, electrical hardware, or antennas nearby. No explanation yet, but I'm sure it's not related to the battery.

 

[DagDerniT]

Yes, without a battery you will have no signal. Therefore it is affected...

 

[kenjancef]

Might you have been standing in a slightly different place, putting more obstacles between the controller and the drone or getting into a wifi signal field? Were you at the same altitude in all three cases? Might be interference with the wifi signal from other users and equipment near the drone or near the controller.

No to all of the above. Stood in pretty much the exact same spot, took off from the exact same spot (when I landed after the first battery, I never picked up the drone, I just did a swap in place). The environment didn't change.. no one left, no one came in. When I went back out, I flew to approximately the same spot (without using a waypoint it probably wasn't EXACT, but as close as I could be, since I wanted to grab more shots of what I was getting). So that's why I thought it was weird when I put in the third battery and all was good again. I figure the battery didn't cause the issue, but it was weird enough to peek my curiosity...

 

[djiuser12345]

While I‘m also on the side of doubt when it comes to relating signal interference with a battery I‘ve seen some very strange behaviours on wifi or in general above multiple spectrums related to some faulty powered devices.

One example might be USB3 ports which are a major EMI/RFI nightmare, you can look that up for yourself.

So I still would say its doubtful but it could potentially be possible that either the battery was faulty and/or the connection to it was misbehaving and thus there can be Interference building up somewhere on the FC itself.

OR you maybe even fiddled with the Remotes USB or receiving part? Maybe the receiving end was the trouble?

Anyways there are a lot of unknown variables in play here and this is very abstract diagnosing

 

[sawman]

Haven't experienced signal variations, but did get a motor warning one time. Swapped batteries and the problem disappeared. Put suspect battery back in and problem came back (showed about 83% charge at the time).
Put suspect battery on charge after returning to base. Problem went away and hasn't reappeared since, about 6 months and 8 cycles ago.

 

[tlyons]

Air 2S with DJI RC. Last week I went on a flight, was within LOS, took pics, battery was low, flew back in, swapped the battery. Went out to the same point, my signal was crap, dropping to red, and almost had RTH kick in. Managed to get it back. Put in a third battery, flew to the same point, all was good, no drops at all. I put aside that second battery and looked at it when I got home. There's nothing visual that would tell me that it's bad, no bulging, lights working.

During this flight, nothing in the environment changed... no cell phones, no people, nothing at all. Totally weird...

The battery has a BMI with active electronics so yes, if something is damaged or failing, it could generate interference.