DJI RC for mini 3 pro (the elephant in the room ?)

[old man mavic]

I am starting this thread in response to the amount of posts on the new dji rc ,about its apparent lack of range
firstly this thread is not about VLOS and the rights and wrongs of flying BVLOS
and if it turns into a debate on that subject ,i will shut it down
the whole point of the new controller is ease of use ,and in that respect it works perfectly
if you require the drone to fly further because you can where you live ,then dont get it with the dji rc
get the dji rc-N1 version which has the antennas in the device holder or better still if you already have that rc then use that to fly your Mini 3
DJI or any drone company for that matter ,have no control over what individual countries requirements,are for radio communications ,and have to comply with those regulations ,in order to be able to sell their products
when I fly the Mini 3 pro within my visual capabilities then ,as with my original MM i do not have any signal dropouts whatsoever
the signal ranges that are quoted in the specs of any drone ,are what could be possible,
,based on the signal strength between the rc and receiver, and which frequency band is being used
in the real world , outside interference,from other RF sources, and the signal being absorbed by trees, and the affect weather conditions can have on the signal ,all play a part in how far the signal can travel

 

[lensimages]

I am starting this thread in response to the amount of posts on the new dji rc ,about its apparent lack of range
firstly this thread is not about VLOS and the rights and wrongs of flying BVLOS
and if it turns into a debate on that subject ,i will shut it down
the whole point of the new controller is ease of use ,and in that respect it works perfectly
if you require the drone to fly further because you can where you live ,then dont get it with the dji rc
get the dji rc-N1 version which has the antennas in the device holder or better still if you already have that rc then use that to fly your Mini 3
DJI or any drone company for that matter ,have no control over what individual countries requirements,are for radio communications ,and have to comply with those regulations ,in order to be able to sell their products
when I fly the Mini 3 pro within my visual capabilities then ,as with my original MM i do not have any signal dropouts whatsoever
the signal ranges that are quoted in the specs of any drone ,are what could be possible,
,based on the signal strength between the rc and receiver, and which frequency band is being used
in the real world , outside interference,from other RF sources, and the signal being absorbed by trees, and the affect weather conditions can have on the signal ,all play a part in how far the signal can travel

Totally agree with OMM

 

[YVRGUY]

Totally agree with OMM

Ditto…nice

 

[Chaosrider]

I am starting this thread in response to the amount of posts on the new dji rc ,about its apparent lack of range
firstly this thread is not about VLOS and the rights and wrongs of flying BVLOS
and if it turns into a debate on that subject ,i will shut it down
the whole point of the new controller is ease of use ,and in that respect it works perfectly
if you require the drone to fly further because you can where you live ,then dont get it with the dji rc
get the dji rc-N1 version which has the antennas in the device holder or better still if you already have that rc then use that to fly your Mini 3
DJI or any drone company for that matter ,have no control over what individual countries requirements,are for radio communications ,and have to comply with those regulations ,in order to be able to sell their products
when I fly the Mini 3 pro within my visual capabilities then ,as with my original MM i do not have any signal dropouts whatsoever
the signal ranges that are quoted in the specs of any drone ,are what could be possible,
,based on the signal strength between the rc and receiver, and which frequency band is being used
in the real world , outside interference,from other RF sources, and the signal being absorbed by trees, and the affect weather conditions can have on the signal ,all play a part in how far the signal can travel

So, the DJI RC has noticeably lower practical range than the RC-N1?

Did I understand you correctly?

Thx.

 

[old man mavic]

@Chaosrider ,that seems to be the consensus of opinion,from most posters on the subject of range ,the main reason being put forwards is the use of internal antennas compared to the RC -N1 ,i am trying to give a balanced viewpoint ,to the conversation

 

[Chaosrider]

@Chaosrider ,that seems to be the consensus of opinion,from most posters on the subject of range ,the main reason being put forwards is the use of internal antennas compared to the RC -N1 ,i am trying to give a balanced viewpoint ,to the conversation

Fair enough!

Are there any reasonably objective (or at least semi-objective) tests that have been done to compare the range of the two different controllers? Theoretically, I can understand the antenna argument, but I'm just wondering if the difference is real.

Thx.

 

[EpicFlight]

While the range issues people are having are real, I'm unconvinced that internal antenna placement is the problem. At those frequencies, attenuation passing through the thickness of your fingers is very small, and inconsequential.

This is why cell phones operate just fine at lower power than the DJI RC and miles from a cell tower.

The design of the antenna physical radiator may be poor, leading to these problems. Simply being physically internal to the RC and radiating through hands should not be a problem.

 

[Mazdaman323lx]

From a recent picture of a RC PRO tear down it would be relatively easy to buy third party antennae and mount them on the outside of the controller. The wires to the internal antennae are just push on connectors to the board and the antennae themselves are just standalone (off the shelf modules ) held in place by plastic brackets . Maybe some FPV builder could recommend upgrade parts ?

 

[Xenomorph UK]

I bought the M3P with the RC for the ease of use. With the constant changing of drone rules, i took the most sensible option i could see for me right now which was the under 250g route. What i wanted to avoid though was the time honoured connection dilemmas of connecting the phone or tablet, waiting for the satellites bla bla bla.

By way of luck, it was on the day Argos in the UK accidently (yeah right) leaked the new M3P was coming out. From that moment forward i was waiting for it to become available as for me it answered all the things i wanted with the added bonus of the features not available on the mini 2.

Most of the videos and reviews ive seen with the restriction on distance have generally been blamed on operator error. Dont shoot the messenger im just reading between the lines. Most that have tested it and not had issues have not placed their finger over the antenna housing and have pointed the remote directly at the drone as they fly it.

I dont claim to have any knowledge for what blocks what so other than the enjoyment of flying my drone, i rely completely on reviews for how to get the best out of what ive bought. So far, ive not had any issues whilst flying ensuring my fingers are not over the end of the RC, pointing at the drone while im flying and although a week in and its early days, i hope it remains that way.

We do all live in different locations though and as OMM said, this makes complete sense to me, outside influences can cause all manners of hastle.

 

[Chrislaf]

the whole point of the new controller is ease of use ,and in that respect it works perfectly

I agree completely. I recently purchased an RC Pro for my Mavic 3, not because it had better range and stronger signal than the stock RC-N1 that came with my M3 but because of the ease of use - no more connecting a phone, worrying about my iPhone dimming, the bright screen and the ability to customize the multitude of buttons and dials to my liking.

I will probably purchase the Mini 3 (drone only) in the future to replace my Spark and am hoping it will eventually be compatible with the RC Pro for the same reasons the DJI RC is so popular.

Chris

 

[old man mavic]

While the range issues people are having are real, I'm unconvinced that internal antenna placement is the problem. At those frequencies, attenuation passing through the thickness of your fingers is very small, and inconsequential.

This is why cell phones operate just fine at lower power than the DJI RC and miles from a cell tower.

The design of the antenna physical radiator may be poor, leading to these problems. Simply being physically internal to the RC and radiating through hands should not be a problem.

i am not sure why when holding the RC ,you would want to put your fingers ,or any other part of your hand over the top of the RC

 

[ufgatorvet]

I don't have and haven't looked, but are there "instructions" in the enclosed manual that teaches you how to hold the RC? If there are no specific instructions on how to hold it, shouldn't this be a non-issue?

"Do not hold here" illustrations, or even stickers on the RC? Seems to me that if holding it a certain way was critical, it would be spelled out.

 

[Daytona500]

how much of a difference are people noticing

 

[shadow3467]

The bad signal/low range issues are not a controller issue, it has to do with the mini 3 pro drone itself

 

[EpicFlight]

The bad signal/low range issues are not a controller issue, it has to do with the mini 3 pro drone itself

elaborate, please.

 

[shadow3467]

elaborate, please.

Theres been several tests of ppl on youtube testing with bot hthe RC and RC-N1 remote and results are the same

 

[EpicFlight]

Theres been several tests of ppl on youtube testing with bot hthe RC and RC-N1 remote and results are the same

Thank you. Helps tremendously knowing the source/data.

 

[shadow3467]

Have a look for yourself. I had to edit the video to shorten it since the flight was 22 mins long, I cut out the start, and a few parts towards the end where I was much closer getting perfect signal.

At 8:22 I lose signal completely, and then fly directly to where I was. As you can see, I'm not very far and there's nothing between me and the drone other than a few trees maybe

Also at the start you can see, WiFi and Bluetooth are disabled since some people said those effect signal

This is in Canada, FCC not CE

 

[Cymru]

i am not sure why when holding the RC ,you would want to put your fingers ,or any other part of your hand over the top of the RC

One other issue may well be beam angle - its not just horizontal.

When people are holding the controller to see the screen this has the effect of angling the antennas upwards about 45 degrees or so. This means its far from optimum for a drone thats likely to be at a much shallower angle to the horizon, even at a few hundred meters.

On the old SC the antennas angled offset to account for this - not sure the DJI RC actually does.

Im leaning more towards the drone and/or controller also having a more directional antenna. This means any angular errors will have a bigger effect on signal.
The little blue dot in the compass indictator is now REALLY important.

 

[Faster]

We have to consider the Mini3 has their antennas on the front arms, not in the legs like other DJI drones, they are positioned horizontally. I don't know how much this will affect the signal angle.