DJI Smart Controller has less range / power in CE mode than Normal RC

[raven swe]

Does the feed break up on the SC ?

It does when the hd signal bars get down to 1, for me anyway

 

[RonBower]

I started flying almost 2 years ago with the original Mavic Pro. Upgraded last November (2018) to the M2P. Probably have around 500 flights in total. So, I am pretty familiar with the Go4 interface and settings. I was excited 2 weeks ago when my Smart Controller finally was in stock and shipped from B&H. I had been using a MavMount on a standard controller connected to a 9.7" iPad, with a big hood. I am 71 and need to use reading glasses when flying and thought the bigger screen was necessary. But when I first connected in fairly bright noon sunlight, I could see the screen easily well enough to navigate the SC controller. In just slightly less light, the screen is tremendous. Won't need a hood ever, in my opinion. BUT... I was very disappointed that my range was much less than the standard controller. I tried them side by side and at 3/4 mile, the transmission was breaking up and I was getting the dreaded low signal strength messages. I decided to take everything... drone, SC, all batteries to my office and hook them to Assistant 2. It seemed like the firmware was current on the SC but not the drone. So I updated it. I also was getting an occasional message to calibrate the vision system (sensors I guess). So I did that too. Then I took everything outside and flew the exact same flight ... height, direction, everything. This time the SC significantly outperformed anything I had seen with the standard controller. Because of my unique location, I am not comfortable flying more than 2 miles out, but the SC reached that distance with ease, only one bar down from the max (is that 3 or 4?). I'll admit that the last half of this path is well out of VLOS. I was very relieved and now can give the SC a big thumbs up. I have even tried Litchi with my previous Waypoint library and it worked well. I tried modifying and saving one of my existing missions and it all worked too. I had never used an Android device, so I had to spend an hour or two understanding how to do common tasks in Android .... kill apps, install Amazon store so I could buy and install Litchi. Basic stuff. DJI doc is very limited but a simple Google search brings back many helpful videos.

Anyway, I thought my experience might be of some interest to those seeing decreased range with the SC. The ergonomics are so much better than my previous configuration. For my purposes and situation, it's a nice upgrade. I still have my standard controller and its accessories, but I'm not sure I will ever use it.