DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

DJI Mavic Sun Hood/Shade: Gives the RC Interference problems

TrayBoz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2017
Messages
612
Reactions
1,002
Age
54
Location
Dallas, Texas
I finally got my DJI Mavic Sun Hood from the DJI Store today - it took them 3 weeks to ship it after receiving my payment. (they did tell me it was on backorder) It looks nice, folds flat and is well built.

I tried to use it today for the first time. For the first time ever got a message box in the DJI GO APP pop up and said something like : "Significant Controller Interference - Fly with extreme caution."

I'm assuming this HAS to be because the sun hood completely covers the two antennas (that's how it mounts) with its black vinyl sleeves. I still had full bars on the RC and HD icons, and they neither was flashing = I didn't test it out past about 1000 feet away from me though.

Well, this sucks! I assumed since this was made and designed by DJI that it would work perfectly and had been thoroughly tested. I'm hoping the warning message can just be ignored (it popped up again after I cleared it a few minutes later). I will always wonder, though, how much is it really affecting my reception, if any.

It does do what it's supposed to - it blocks the sun pretty well. I use an iPad Mini 4, and it's designed for use with a phone, so it doesn't really shade the whole screen at one time, but if I hold the controller at just the right angle, I can shade most of the screen, which is FAR better than nothing when it's really bright outside like today.

Has anyone else had a problem with their Sun-Hoods reducing their antennae's reception? Are there other hoods that don't use the antennae as a mounting post?

First world problems are going to be the death of me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Piggy and normr
Hope this ain't the case as I ordered one last week. It arrived on last Thursday but I havent had chance to use it. I'll try it tomorrow and let you know if I get any issues
 
Last edited:
Had similar problems like on first flights.
I shut the WiFi of on the iPhone(iPad and problems went away.
WiFi interfered with controller is my conclusion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Glideslope
I have the DJI sunshade for a month and have had no problems with it. The part around the antennas is made of semi soft plastic, so it cannot degrade the signal and there is certainly no way at all that it can produce interference.

Rob
 
I have the DJI sunshade for a month and have had no problems with it. The part around the antennas is made of semi soft plastic, so it cannot degrade the signal and there is certainly no way at all that it can produce interference.

Rob


I concur. I've flown out 25000 feet and no issues using the dji sunshade. Definitely not the cause.
 
I have just got the sun hood, not yet had chance to use it but if you are worried couldn't you cut away most of the two bits around the antenna?
As the above posts suggest there shouldn't be any degradation of signal.
 
Thats good to hear. Maybe it was just total coincidence that I happen to get this error msg on the VERY first flight with the sunshade. Ive flown 129 times from the exact same spot (in my backyard) and never got that error msg before , so it does seem like an awfully big coincidence. ? I'll try again tomorrow with and without the sunshade and let you know the result.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Prop_Nut
Thats good to hear. Maybe it was just total coincidence that I happen to get this error msg on the VERY first flight with the sunshade. Ive flown 129 times from the exact same spot (in my backyard) and never got that error msg before , so it does seem like an awfully big coincidence. ? I'll try again tomorrow with and without the sunshade and let you know the result.

The communication between the controller and craft is dynamic. The default behavior is that it will hop around to different frequencies until if finds the most stable. It can happen that one day you see strong interference and on another flight it's find. I think it is more likely a temporary connection issue. It will likely be better on your next flight with the sunshade in place. RF is not affected by plastic/vinyl.
 
Did you also upgrade FW from 400 to 500+? I had lots of signal problems when I did and downgraded back to 400. I also have the shade with no issues.
 
I finally got my DJI Mavic Sun Hood from the DJI Store today - it took them 3 weeks to ship it after receiving my payment. (they did tell me it was on backorder) It looks nice, folds flat and is well built.

I tried to use it today for the first time. For the first time ever got a message box in the DJI GO APP pop up and said something like : "Significant Controller Interference - Fly with extreme caution."

I'm assuming this HAS to be because the sun hood completely covers the two antennas (that's how it mounts) with its black vinyl sleeves. I still had full bars on the RC and HD icons, and they neither was flashing = I didn't test it out past about 1000 feet away from me though.

Well, this sucks! I assumed since this was made and designed by DJI that it would work perfectly and had been thoroughly tested. I'm hoping the warning message can just be ignored (it popped up again after I cleared it a few minutes later). I will always wonder, though, how much is it really affecting my reception, if any.

It does do what it's supposed to - it blocks the sun pretty well. I use an iPad Mini 4, and it's designed for use with a phone, so it doesn't really shade the whole screen at one time, but if I hold the controller at just the right angle, I can shade most of the screen, which is FAR better than nothing when it's really bright outside like today.

Has anyone else had a problem with their Sun-Hoods reducing their antennae's reception? Are there other hoods that don't use the antennae as a mounting post?

First world problems are going to be the death of me.

I got mine 5 days after ordering it, already 2 months ago. I never had any kind of problems.
Great in combination with a phone, less effective with a tablet (but was never intended for a tablet use)
 
  • Like
Reactions: dacarter
We've sold hundreds of the DJI Monitor Hoods for the Mavic and have logged hundreds of flight hours in-house with these hoods and have never seen or heard of this issue. I believe it has to be coincidence that you experienced that on your first flight with the hood. Look forward to hearing your report back tomorrow, @TrayBoz
 
I finally got my DJI Mavic Sun Hood from the DJI Store today - it took them 3 weeks to ship it after receiving my payment. (they did tell me it was on backorder) It looks nice, folds flat and is well built.

I tried to use it today for the first time. For the first time ever got a message box in the DJI GO APP pop up and said something like : "Significant Controller Interference - Fly with extreme caution."

I'm assuming this HAS to be because the sun hood completely covers the two antennas (that's how it mounts) with its black vinyl sleeves. I still had full bars on the RC and HD icons, and they neither was flashing = I didn't test it out past about 1000 feet away from me though.

Well, this sucks! I assumed since this was made and designed by DJI that it would work perfectly and had been thoroughly tested. I'm hoping the warning message can just be ignored (it popped up again after I cleared it a few minutes later). I will always wonder, though, how much is it really affecting my reception, if any.

It does do what it's supposed to - it blocks the sun pretty well. I use an iPad Mini 4, and it's designed for use with a phone, so it doesn't really shade the whole screen at one time, but if I hold the controller at just the right angle, I can shade most of the screen, which is FAR better than nothing when it's really bright outside like today.

Has anyone else had a problem with their Sun-Hoods reducing their antennae's reception? Are there other hoods that don't use the antennae as a mounting post?

First world problems are going to be the death of me.
We've sold hundreds of the DJI Monitor Hoods for the Mavic and have logged hundreds of flight hours in-house with these hoods and have never seen or heard of this issue. I believe it has to be coincidence that you experienced that on your first flight with the hood. Look forward to hearing your report back tomorrow, @TrayBoz
 
I have had the hood now for 3 weeks. I am now convinced that the hood intermittently interferes with command transmission at distances over 1000 feet horizontally. Today, again, I lost response, at least from the gimbal, and some odd rapid yaw movements. I pulled off the hood, and control was re-established. I want to go on record concerning this, because, although I have purchased the refresh program, I don't want any pushback if there is a claim.

So, can the magnet on the flip cover contribute, or is there another factor that can explain this? We live out on 65 acres where there should be zero interference. No power lines, etc.
 
I have had the hood now for 3 weeks. I am now convinced that the hood intermittently interferes with command transmission at distances over 1000 feet horizontally. Today, again, I lost response, at least from the gimbal, and some odd rapid yaw movements. I pulled off the hood, and control was re-established. I want to go on record concerning this, because, although I have purchased the refresh program, I don't want any pushback if there is a claim.

So, can the magnet on the flip cover contribute, or is there another factor that can explain this? We live out on 65 acres where there should be zero interference. No power lines, etc.
Any magnet can effect it, if your using an ipad make sure the home button is to the right of the controller to put the magnetic strip in the ipad further away.
 
Any magnet can effect it, if your using an ipad make sure the home button is to the right of the controller to put the magnetic strip in the ipad further away.
Right, but I am using an iPhone. On the DJI hood, there is a portion that can be flipped back, and what appears to be an interior thin magnetic strip holds it in position.
 
I was looking at the DJI hood today and thought I'd check the Forum for some info. A bit undecided now....
Thanks for the post people.
 

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,592
Messages
1,554,159
Members
159,593
Latest member
mini2+