Constant disconnection and signal drop

[Paradigm]

I made a thread a bit ago about an immediate loss of signal. Since then, the frequency of such things is almost at the point of every single flight. Heck, thinking on it, I think every single flight yesterday had it.

It happens within a few hundred feet. Sometimes it is a couple hundred feet right above me and sometimes it's right in front of me. It goes into RTH and starts returning home. Sometimes it won't regain signal until it's under 100 feet during it's auto land sequence.

I have started using the little foldable parabolic range extenders you put on your antennas and that seemed to help for bit.

Unfortunately the range/signal appears to have gotten worse and the extenders don't prevent it anymore. Although they do help.

I refreshed the remote/drone firmware and relinked the remote. I have tried a new cable to link my ipad to the remote.

Has anyone experienced this?

It seems to me that it's the remote, but I clearly can't test that out without swapping out the remote or the drone.

I have contacted DJI, and they want me to send my drone and remote in. They said it may be covered under warranty, although I bought my drone in Dec. of 2018. I did buy DJI Care Refresh +, and the said if it's not covered under warranty it will definitely be covered under that. However, I don't know if that would use the one exchange I get with that...

I'm tempted to just buy a new remote, as you can get one on eBay for about $200.

 

[Paradigm]

I decided to fly with my phone instead of the iPad. To try to rule out the iPad as well.

Flew out to a spot I know I never had issues before about 1500 feet away at about 240 ft high.

Boom, signal drops and it goes to RTH home. Same spot, same height every time.

I was looking at the antennas and noticed there's a wire inside of them. Then I remembered telling the DJI tech that in the past, I used to get much better range with the antennas closed than I do now with them open.

So I figured I'd close the antennas to see what happens.

The signal comes back as it's in RTH mode and I see the bars go up.

I test it over and over. Close the antennas... never loses signal or image/signal.

As soon as I open the antennas, complete loss of signal/transmission.

I do some further tests in other areas and I get the same results. With the antennas open, my signal is much worse. I do these tests with the signal graph open and I don't notice interference, just a drop with the antennas open and not a drop with them closed.

 

[Camino Ken]

Obviously, this is not the way its supposed to work. You might have a problem with the Internal wire connection to the physical antenna.

 

[slup]

1500 feet in an urban area especially with 2,4GHz isn't bad actually when counting in all possible interference ... what you say about "closed" antennas sounds unbelievable, so just have to ask to be sure.

The correct antenna position for a distant flight is #1 with the flat side pointing towards the AC ... & by closed you mean #4 ?

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[Paradigm]

1500 feet in an urban area especially with 2,4GHz isn't bad actually when counting in all possible interference ... what you say about "closed" antennas sounds unbelievable, so just have to ask to be sure.

The correct antenna position for a distant flight is #1 with the flat side pointing towards the AC ... & by closed you mean #4 ?

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I was 1200 feet away at 240ft above in a suburban setting. I said 1500, but I relooked at the screen shots. I'm comparing the reception to what it's been for the last 1.5 years with this drone.

It's a spot I've flown to and passed countless times and I've never had reception issues at that height or below it.

I always used setting 1 for my antenna placement. And yes, I couldn't believe that with the antenna closed I was getting reception. As soon as I opened them up, I lost all reception, screen went black, and I couldn't control the drone. It began to RTH.

I tested that scenario over and over again, with the drone facing different directions. I tested it with various antenna positions. With the parabolic range extenders. With an iPad and with an iPhone.

Every single time, as soon as I closed the antennas I got reception and as soon as I opened them I lost it. I then tested this in different spots, for example, I would often lose reception when the drone was right above me at a few hundred feet. Again I closed the antenna and I regained reception.

My guess is that the wires in the antennas have gotten frayed, or some other connection within the remote/antenna system has become compromised, and when I actually close the antenna a better connection gets made with the wires.

I even tried watching the frequency screen where you see a line graph and it shows you your interference. I didn't have any.

I talked to DJI and they want me to send the drone and the remote to them so they can diagnose and fix the issue. If I didn't have the warranty I would just buy a new remote. You can find them for approx. 200 on eBay.

I wanted to create this thread because I couldn't find a similar problem when searching and to help others that may experience this in the future.

 

[Paradigm]

Oh wow, just took a look and what did I find!

 

[Romonaga]

Well that explains the issue. That looks like a fairly clean cut.

 

[Paradigm]

Well that explains the issue. That looks like a fairly clean cut.

Yeah, just from opening and closing the little antennas each time. Kinda disappointing.

I sent it in and I'm just waiting to hear back from them now.

Interesting enough, the new Air 2 controller doesn't seem to risk that, as the antenna is designed differently.

 

[Paradigm]

So after sending it out 2 weeks ago I finally got word of what's wrong.

• Core Board Module
• Main Board
• Repair Service Fee (quantity: 2)

Total: $616 (not including tax, not sure about labor)

Now mind you, when I sent it in the only issue I noticed, and tested, was the broken cable inside of the antenna that I pictured above.

I don't even know if they fixed that? I told them over the chat and I wrote it on the paper that you have to add to the drone box.

Ftr, they actually looked at the drone a full week after it was delivered and I reached out to them a few times because the status didn't change from shipped.

The good news is it's all covered under warranty and they'll either replace it or repair it. The case inquiry status says under repair, so yeah. Fingers crossed the fixed the antenna cable and it works as it should.

 

[Paradigm]

Just got the drone back today, so exactly 21 days from when I shipped it.

I emailed DJI after they gave me the (covered) estimate an asked if that included the wires being fixed since it wasn't detailed in the invoice. They said it will be a new remote.

I just got the drone and the remote, aircraft, and gimbal are new. Well, new to me serial numbers. I do not see any physical damage to the drone, but it's clear that it's an as new refurbished unit. I do notice that the serial number stickers are slightly askew and there's a bit of glue residue around them from when they were changed.

The drone and remote activated no problem.

The one thing I do notice is that as soon as I take the gimbal guard off, the whole gimbal camera drops down. Both of my previous drones did not have that, and the camera remained upright, if not completely at least mostly. Odd.

There was no cost for this and I did not have to use up a refresh. Completely covered under warranty.

I'll update if there are any issues once I get a good flight test.