Distance

[aokusman]

Got 4000ft along a lake before loosing signal behind lots of trees.

 

[Vaideeshwar]

My Mavic air 2 only flys 2600ft and then says weak signal why? I thought it could go for miles.

I wouldn't call it a defect yet. I agree with the tips from all other members. I have one more for you.
Story:
(All Flights discussed below are from the same point and in the same neighborhood and in the same direction)
1. With my MA1, I would at times fly to about 1.6km away, and other times I would only get about 500m before the AC loses signal and initiates RTH

2. With my MA2, I usually get 3.5km from this point, and yesterday I only got 800m before the AC lost RC connection and initiated RTH.

Here is where to look:
Go into the DJI Fly App and under Transmission, take some time and observe what happens under Channel Mode. By default it should be Auto. The data inside the horizontal range (represented by the white lines inside the graph) represents the channel chosen automatically by your RC-AC. If the graph inside the horizontal range seems to be fluctuating too much, and if you find some part else inside the main plot to be less fluctuating, switch to Manual mode and choose that section of the graph that has least fluctuation (usually also has a larger negative decibel value to it). This should greatly improve the quality of connection between your RC and AC. Although Auto USUALLY does a great job, it occasionally picks poor channels. If the entire plot seems to be wildly fluctuating, go ahead and turn off the AC and RC and try reconnecting to see if the plot seems somewhat better. If not, then you are likely in a bad place and might have to consider moving to a better place that allows a stable connection. If the connection is still poor in an isolated area, you might want to consider getting in touch with DJI.

But from my experience, just switching to the right channel helps.

Also, put your phone in airplane mode before you fly, to remove direct interference from your mobile device.

 

[RockRZR]

I tried two phones today. Placed both in airplane mode. Very little difference on the range. I had RC horizontal to the ground pointing in AC direction. Signal strength keeps jumping from 2-3 bars to complete signal loss. This is happening around 2000 ft

 

[Vaideeshwar]

I tried two phones today. Placed both in airplane mode. Very little difference on the range. I had RC horizontal to the ground pointing in AC direction. Signal strength keeps jumping from 2-3 bars to complete signal loss. This is happening around 2000 ft

Hi, please check out my post (right before yours) for a potential solution.

Thanks.

 

[RockRZR]

I will try tomorrow.

 

[Paradigm]

Got 4000ft along a lake before loosing signal behind lots of trees.

What height were you at?

I tried two phones today. Placed both in airplane mode. Very little difference on the range. I had RC horizontal to the ground pointing in AC direction. Signal strength keeps jumping from 2-3 bars to complete signal loss. This is happening around 2000 ft

Airplane mode shouldn't matter IME. Do you have another DJI drone you can fly the same exact route to see if that one is different?

 

[RockRZR]

What height were you at?

Airplane mode shouldn't matter IME. Do you have another DJI drone you can fly the same exact route to see if that one is different?

Nope, sold my mavic pro

 

[Bradley D]

Distance is very dependent on your:

Terrain
Overall height of drone over terrain
Orientation of antennas

best test for distance would be a large open field with no trees.

Also what were your actual signal strength bars when you received the message?

Paul C

I flew it 200 Feet high and I put it into airplane mode as suggested. I even went into transmissions and switched it to manual transmission and tried every option in there it still only flew 2500 feet before signal was lost is it possible the drone is defective?

 

[RockRZR]

I did the same. Flew at 400ft and still dropping signal

 

[Dangerousdriver77]

Your experience is an outlier. I'd troubleshoot and if that doesn't solve it contact DJI.

All of the range tests I've seen indicate it can even best the MP2.

I got to 764m tonight, and then without warning complete loss of signal and RTH did not work when I pressed the controller, nor did Smart RTH function despite having good GPS signal and Home Point updated. I managed to retrieve the drone which for some reason had landed despite in the street having 60% battery left! Made me scared to fly it again until DJI tell me what happened!

 

[RockRZR]

I wouldn't call it a defect yet. I agree with the tips from all other members. I have one more for you.
Story:
(All Flights discussed below are from the same point and in the same neighborhood and in the same direction)
1. With my MA1, I would at times fly to about 1.6km away, and other times I would only get about 500m before the AC loses signal and initiates RTH

2. With my MA2, I usually get 3.5km from this point, and yesterday I only got 800m before the AC lost RC connection and initiated RTH.

Here is where to look:
Go into the DJI Fly App and under Transmission, take some time and observe what happens under Channel Mode. By default it should be Auto. The data inside the horizontal range (represented by the white lines inside the graph) represents the channel chosen automatically by your RC-AC. If the graph inside the horizontal range seems to be fluctuating too much, and if you find some part else inside the main plot to be less fluctuating, switch to Manual mode and choose that section of the graph that has least fluctuation (usually also has a larger negative decibel value to it). This should greatly improve the quality of connection between your RC and AC. Although Auto USUALLY does a great job, it occasionally picks poor channels. If the entire plot seems to be wildly fluctuating, go ahead and turn off the AC and RC and try reconnecting to see if the plot seems somewhat better. If not, then you are likely in a bad place and might have to consider moving to a better place that allows a stable connection. If the connection is still poor in an isolated area, you might want to consider getting in touch with DJI.

But from my experience, just switching to the right channel helps.

Also, put your phone in airplane mode before you fly, to remove direct interference from your mobile device.

I just read your post again and realized your comparing a mavic air to the mavic air 2. Transmissions are different. This is not an apples to apples comparison.

 

[Vaideeshwar]

I just read your post again and realized your comparing a mavic air to the mavic air 2. Transmissions are different. This is not an apples to apples comparison.

True, the systems are different, but the problem is the same. The solution I suggested worked for me on both drones- MA1 and MA2.

I can manually pick a bad channel on my MA2 and show you how worse the transmission distance gets. But if you think that the channel automatically chosen had negligible noise, then I guess you would have to get in touch with DJI.

 

[Cov723]

I seen a video with the phone placed on the left side with plug on the left of controller. The signal distance was half of that with the cable plugged in from the right side. If this is something you did, try to move the power port of the phone to the right side of controller. I also seen something about the length of cable for say an iPad and the cable interfering with the antennas. Worth looking at for distance issues. I’ve flown 8-9k with very lil drop in signal in a heavy pop area.

 

[Mel 08]

Can i ask what happens when you loose signal
Does it land?

 

[Cov723]

Can i ask what happens when you loose signal
Does it land?

I set mine to RTH and it will come back into range and I’ll cancel the RTH. I only set it to hover if I’m moving from the RTH spot. I’ve flown from a boat and since I’m moving hovering is the best option for that type of flight. Otherwise I’ve always use RTH to get it to come back into range. I should add I’d never set it to land. This feature shouldn’t be an option IMO since you lose signal you will have a difficult time knowing what it’s landing on.

 

[Mel 08]

I set mine to RTH and it will come back into range and I’ll cancel the RTH. I only set it to hover if I’m moving from the RTH spot. I’ve flown from a boat and since I’m moving hovering is the best option for that type of flight. Otherwise I’ve always use RTH to get it to come back into range.

So it doesn't return to home automatically like it does when the battery gets low?

 

[Cov723]

So it doesn't return to home automatically like it does when the battery gets low?

Yes it’s does on its own and once it’s back into range it alerts me RTH in progress and I cancel once I can take control with VLOS.

 

[Mel 08]

Yes it’s does on its own and once it’s back into range it alerts me RTH in progress and I cancel once I can take control with VLOS.

Cheers for that.
I'm new to this hobby with only 3 flights to date
I panic if i can't see my £950 flying in front of me so doubt I'll be sending it into the wild blue yonder
Just doing as much research as possible.

Cheers Mel

 

[Cov723]

Cheers for that.
I'm new to this hobby with only 3 flights to date
I panic if i can't see my £950 flying in front of me so doubt I'll be sending it into the wild blue yonder
Just doing as much research as possible.

Cheers Mel

I know exactly what you mean. The more I flew the more courage I got to push the limits. My advice is if you Don’t feel comfortable to send it, don’t. And always stay calm, of course easier said than done. A good Youtuber for short informative videos is FLYTPATH. I have no affiliation with this person. Just got a lot of great tips from him. Many others to name, but you shouldn’t have an issue finding them. Happy flying and be safe.

 

[trey151]

Ive been having the same exact issue on range...flying in congested area...and get repeatable differences with the mini (range at 3,500ft) before signal breakup most times 3,700ft for RTH....New Air 2 = 2,200 ft before complete signal loss and RTH......something is up for sure....firmware is up to date....both in Auto transmition mode and flight path is the same. Pretty disappointed that its worse than the mini.

Side note, ive read that folks in Europe only got like 700 meters out of theirs...which is close to mine and others in this thread that have had issues. The ADS writing is a sticker that looks to be slapped on wonky on the prop arm. Im wondering if they were in a rush and just put a sticker on international versions and gave folks the non ADS models due to time/limited production. A stretch but id figure the lettering on the prop arm for "MAVIC Air 2" (which looks to be painted on) and "ADS" would be matching. Also had a $0.42 cent credit on my acct when purchasing refresh care (not sure where that came from....was it an ADS sticker discount?) just kidding

Another thought is that the ads was not enabled in the app by default and I wonder if it limits the range automatically if its not enabled (for 1st flight etc)....The signal drops off almost instantly at 2,200 ft +/- which totally does not do that on the mini (it looses signal gets pix-elated more and goes a few more hundred ft). I may try to reinstall app enable ADS before flight and see if that helps. Next would be a call to DJI.

Any thoughts on solution would be helpful. The mini outdoing the air 2 so badly on range just hurts