Does strong winds affect range?

[kirsten.rossouw]

Would strong winds affect the range of the Mavic negatively? I had a technician told me that wind affects cellular tower signal. That's what made me ask..

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[msinger]

I've never heard of strong winds affecting the signal. They will make your Mavic work harder -- thus draining the battery faster. If flying long distance flights, be careful of head winds on the way back to the home point. It could take longer to get back than you planned when flying into strong head winds.

 

[DefaultIT]

If the wind starts to approach the speed of light, then yeah...but you may have bigger problems then

 

[The Editor]

Would strong winds affect the range of the Mavic negatively? I had a technician told me that wind affects cellular tower signal. That's what made me ask..

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

In addition to the points msinger makes if the aircraft is in GPS mode (position hold) it will also work harder to maintain position in hover as it will need to apply counter force against the wind just to stay stationary.
So yes your battery will deplete much faster.

 

[m0j0]

I would not think so.. it will effect range in that it will either decrease or increase how far you can go on a battery though.

 

[kmaluo]

The wind may increase particulate in the air, perhaps causing mild interference. Like how a driving rain will get you more wet than without wind.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

I know in fact that with our UHF band walkie talkies our range decreases with a windy, dry day - static electricity is also increased on these days as well... The communications on the DJI stuff is quite a bit more sophisticated, I wouldn't think it would make a difference - other than the extra battery power going against the wind...

 

[DarkEnergy]

There is no evidence that strong winds directly affect cell phone signals. If the wind is accompanied by heavy rain or lightning reception may definitely be affected, but the wind on its own should not affect the signal.

 

[AnzacJack]

gdam wind blowing all my reception away

 

[CactusJackSlade]

Currently here in Northern CA the wind... and RAIN is blowing my reception away

 

[AnzacJack]

if i fly down wind will i get better range as reception may be blown with the drone?

sorry, its been a long day

 

[kmaluo]

Actually wind does have some effect on radio waves. This has been proven with Radar. What effects it has on other types of radio waves is probably minimal at best.

 

[DarkEnergy]

Actually wind does have some effect on radio waves. This has been proven with Radar. What effects it has on other types of radio waves is probably minimal at best.

Is not the wind but the water that the radar detects. The opacity of the air does not depend on its relative velocity to the emitter or receiver. At radio frequencies air opacity does depend on the water content or water column density.

 

[flyNfrank]

Have to admit I thought this was going to be a silly thread before coming into it. Glad to see the OP cleared that up right away in mentioning the cell tower part.