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Distance of my Mavic Pro

Mavic2StingRay

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I am only getting a mile before my controller says weak signal adjust antenna. This is happening on a lake with one or two fly over wooded area. Is this normal or something that I can fix by maybe changing frequency or something else? And I am in RC mode. Thanks for the help....
 
Yes I have flown in other areas with about the same resolute. Yep facing the drone with both antennas at a 45 deg facing the drone. Just seems like it should do the 3 miles that I see everyone else getting. I thought I needed to change something in my setup maybe?
 
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Yes I have flown in other areas with about the same resolute. Yep facing the drone with both antennas at a 45 deg facing the drone. Just seems like it should do the 3 miles that I see everyone else getting. I thought I needed to change something in my setup maybe?

You have the antennas pointed incorrectly. The flat part of the antenna should be facing the aircraft, not the ends. At a 45 degree angle, you're exposing the tips of the antennas to the aircraft, and hence, will get the least range/distance. Point them straight up if flying away from you off in the distance.
 
Vision line of sight. Gotcha and the answer is no. I have some trees in the way. But some guys are flying their Mavics easy three miles over all kinds of trees and more.
 
Ok I have learned everything from you guys and YouTube. I am new to this and I am having a blast just a big learning curve. You guys have been a great help for sure. I will try to point the antennas straight up and see if that helps. I seen on YouTube where the guys says to point at a 45 that’s why I did it. But straight up makes more sense. Thanks
 
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Antennas should not be at 45 deg.
Nor should the tips be pointing out toward the drone. That equates to worst possible transmission.

They should be kept parallel to each other and orientated perpendicular to the location of the drone. So if the drone is at any significant distance from you and you are flying at normal heights (ie below 400'), the antenna should be close to vertical, parallel to each other with you facing the drone.

Also anything you can do to raise elevation of the RC should improve reception.

Here is an extract from the user manual...

upload_2018-5-29_9-54-31.png
 
Sorry to thread jack but I have to say this.....
Why is it some clown on every forum has to tell you to reference Google. This is what forums are for, asking questions from people who know the answers. Some person trying to learn asks a simple question and some one has to pipe in with GIYF..... Was it that hard to just answer the guys question, It took you the same amount of time to type in your smart-*** answer. My God people, we are here to help people who are looking for help.
Sorry, rant over.
 
You have the antennas pointed incorrectly. The flat part of the antenna should be facing the aircraft, not the ends. At a 45 degree angle, you're exposing the tips of the antennas to the aircraft, and hence, will get the least range/distance. Point them straight up if flying away from you off in the distance.

GIYF ("Google is Your Friend" before you ask on that one too. ;)).

VLOS = Visual Line of Sight

This is good information, and thank you for your post.
 
controller to drone 1.jpg
controller to drone _005.jpg




To clarify a little further, the "Optimal Transmission Zone" is a vertical 60° angle between the controller antennae and the drone. As long as you maintain that angle, you will be in that zone, but obstacles could drastically reduce the horizontal range of the zone.

The critical component of the zone is the attitude of the antennae in relation to drone. You can have the antennae folded perpendicular (straight back) to the controller, but if your controller is pointed downwards toward the ground, your OTZ will be lower to the ground.

As you can see from the above images, the controllers antennae are not folded straight back, they are at a 45° on the controller which is fine if that is how you hold your controller, and some people do. If you hold your controller more flatly, you will need to fold your antennae further back to make up for the flatness of the angle of the controller.

In diagram A above, antennae orientation is aimed too high, and the drone will be out of the zone. The pilot could either point the controller further down or orient the antennae that way. In diagram B, it is aimed too low, and the pilot can either fold the antennae back against the controller, and/or rotate the controller back to get back into the zone.

Im sure many of you know this already, and as @ksmusa has said, make sure you are pointed toward the drone. If the drone is behind you, so is the zone.
 
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Was it that hard to just answer the guys question, It took you the same amount of time to type in your smart-*** answer.

Because the first post about the distance is an actual question. Asking what VLOS stands for is lazy. OP could have looked it up in the same amount of time it took to ask here and found his answer right away. Also it shows some respect for the people helping you if you can at least be bothered to do the tiniest bit of work before you ask the question to start with. In the end OP will get better answers if he doesn't have most of his audience rolling their eyes.

Also FYI the response you dislike so much did answer his question and was about the kindest way I've ever seen someone make the suggestion to the OP that he could help himself a bit. I for one applaud the answer that was given, it was better than what most people would have typed.
 
Because the first post about the distance is an actual question. Asking what VLOS stands for is lazy. OP could have looked it up in the same amount of time it took to ask here and found his answer right away. Also it shows some respect for the people helping you if you can at least be bothered to do the tiniest bit of work before you ask the question to start with. In the end OP will get better answers if he doesn't have most of his audience rolling their eyes.

Also FYI the response you dislike so much did answer his question and was about the kindest way I've ever seen someone make the suggestion to the OP that he could help himself a bit. I for one applaud the answer that was given, it was better than what most people would have typed.
Right. Could have just answered the question... Would have been easier...
 
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