European flight range for the Air

Ian in London · Feb 1, 2018

There has been a lot of discussion about how the CE limits for flying in European countries might affect the range of the new Air given it's different 'enhanced wi-fi' transmission system. Well, I thought I'd put it to the test, taking advantage of the area I live in now, being pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

After a 2,000 metre range test from Kelly at Ready Set Drone earlier this week out in Texas, I wondered how far I'd get over here in the UK given the specs state the power output is half that of non-European contries. And was a little surprised....
Cheers
Ian

Splats · Feb 1, 2018

Decent range for the UK although the video was choppy for a lot of the way. Hoping antenna boosters I have will clear that up. I'm hoping for around 1,500m of flawless performance with direct line of sight so that I can follows a boat and skier from the beach. Also, I think 1,000m of solid performance in mixed terrain is more than enough to have a wee explore of your surroundings.

Just watched your locator video with interests. Are you still happy with that purchase? How long does the battery last on the wee transmitter and is it always on or do you need to remember to switch it on and off?

Pedro · Feb 1, 2018

Thanks Ian, great info, nice video.. Thumbswayup

Ian in London · Feb 2, 2018

Splats said:
Decent range for the UK although the video was choppy for a lot of the way. Hoping antenna boosters I have will clear that up. I'm hoping for around 1,500m of flawless performance with direct line of sight so that I can follows a boat and skier from the beach. Also, I think 1,000m of solid performance in mixed terrain is more than enough to have a wee explore of your surroundings.

Just watched your locator video with interests. Are you still happy with that purchase? How long does the battery last on the wee transmitter and is it always on or do you need to remember to switch it on and off?

Thanks for that. I think if you flew at a higher altitude you woudlget better range as well.
I still very much rate the Loc8tor. It does only have a 150 metres or so range, but as long as you know roughly where the bird was flying,.it shoudl help. There is nothign to turn off or on either, until you turn on the finder remote. My Mavic Pro battery has lasted well over a year.

Cheers,
Ian

Gotters · Feb 2, 2018

good video - I've had a couple of UK flights and got only around 800ft on one occasion out in the country, and c2500ft from my garden.

I noticed in your vid that the wifi signal thing in the app flips from 2.4ghz to 5.8ghz quite a few times, even though I thought the software killed the higher power in the UK, wonder what its doing.

paul1664 · Feb 2, 2018

Maxing out at 400m here (UK) on 2.4, 380m on 5.8. Small village location. Going for more tests at the weekend but not holding out much hope on increasing much. Have some reflectors arriving from Amazon today so will compare with those tomorrow. 400m is just about acceptable - far enough to lose sight - but disappointed I won't be chasing any cruise ships.

NickB · Feb 2, 2018

Needed to be higher than 50m and also the antenna's were not in optimal position imo.

Ian in London · Feb 2, 2018

NickB said:
Needed to be higher than 50m and also the antenna's were not in optimal position imo.

When I was flying and facing the Air, I made sure the remote was angled to ensure the antennae were exactly perpendicular to the direction of flight. Given the number of weak signal remonders I got, I was always very aware of their position.

I am sure i'd have got better range at a higher altitude, but as this was going on YouTube, I wanted to at least be able to argue that I'd flown as safely as I could beyond VLOS; namely on a day that was too windy for paragliders and well below any small aircraft flight paths.... Maybe one still evening I'll do a another higher test ...
cheers
Ian

Lastrexking · Feb 2, 2018

Are you using iOS or Android? The Spark uses the same WiFi system as the Mavic Air, and works much better on iOS.

Ian in London · Feb 2, 2018

Lastrexking said:
Are you using iOS or Android? The Spark uses the same WiFi system as the Mavic Air, and works much better on iOS.

I'm an Android lad. But I can't see how the phone would affect the remote controls wifi....?

Lastrexking · Feb 2, 2018

Wellsi said:
I'm an Android lad. But I can't see how the phone would affect the remote controls wifi....?

If the Air is like the Spark (and I think it is), then the transmitter frequency is set by the phone. On iOS the Spark as been infinitely more stable and gets video feed as it chooses the less congested 5.8 ghz.

Ian in London · Feb 2, 2018

Ah, I see... well, most of this flight was done on the 5.8Ghz frequency, but when I'm nearing 1,800 metres you see it flip to 2.4 GHz a few times as it tries to maintain contact...
Cheers, Ian

Pedro · Feb 2, 2018

Lastrexking said:
If the Air is like the Spark (and I think it is), then the transmitter frequency is set by the phone. On iOS the Spark as been infinitely more stable and gets video feed as it chooses the less congested 5.8 ghz.

When you say "set by the phone", do you mean the Go4 app on the phone? Unless it's changed with the Spark recently, when I had mine, you had to select the frequency in the Go4 app which involved using an OTG cable and re-starting the wifi, once you had selected a frequency, you had to stay with it for that flight.. From Ian's video you can clearly see that the switching of frequency is done automatically by the controller/Go4 app so quite different to the Spark (or how it was). The phone itself doesn't do anything other than act as a display and run the app, the phone makes no changes or decisions, Go4 does that.

synaesthesia · Feb 2, 2018

Nice video! I was wondering how much of a difference being on this side of the pond would make to the range. Still plenty enough for me though!

Lastrexking · Feb 3, 2018

Wellsi said:
Ah, I see... well, most of this flight was done on the 5.8Ghz frequency, but when I'm nearing 1,800 metres you see it flip to 2.4 GHz a few times as it tries to maintain contact...
Cheers, Ian

That’s a fair distance. I’ve never gone that far with my Mavic Pro.
I’m loving the size and quality of the camera on the Ai

Pedro said:
When you say "set by the phone", do you mean the Go4 app on the phone? Unless it's changed with the Spark recently, when I had mine, you had to select the frequency in the Go4 app which involved using an OTG cable and re-starting the wifi, once you had selected a frequency, you had to stay with it for that flight.. From Ian's video you can clearly see that the switching of frequency is done automatically by the controller/Go4 app so quite different to the Spark (or how it was). The phone itself doesn't do anything other than act as a display and run the app, the phone makes no changes or decisions, Go4 does that.

Yeah, I meant the app - I thought that was obviously implied.
You’ve never had to use otg cable to switch frequencies on Spark. DJI doesn’t even support otg on Spark. It used to be a simple matter of sliding a virtual switch in the tx settings in the app. It has changed recently though, and there’s now an 'auto' and 'custom' option instead. Auto is self explanatory, and maybe what the filmed flight above was using. Custom no longer lets you choose specifically between two frequencies, you have to choose from a number of channels instead.

Pedro · Feb 3, 2018

Lastrexking said:
You’ve never had to use otg cable to switch frequencies on Spark. DJI doesn’t even support otg on Spark.

Err, wrong again. Not sure if you have a Spark or not and if you have, maybe you've not had it long but OTG was the only way you could change from 2.4 to 5.8. I know that DJI removed OTG functionality but in the early days, it worked. I ended up doing the controller conversion and sticking a pair of directional antennas on my Spark and ended with a reliable 1,500m CE range.

Procedure: Set 2.4GHz with RC and OTG cable

Lastrexking · Feb 3, 2018

Pedro said:
Err, wrong again. Not sure if you have a Spark or not and if you have, maybe you've not had it long but OTG was the only way you could change from 2.4 to 5.8. I know that DJI removed OTG functionality but in the early days, it worked. I ended up doing the controller conversion and sticking a pair of directional antennas on my Spark and ended with a reliable 1,500m CE range.

Procedure: Set 2.4GHz with RC and OTG cable

Had a Spark since release. Never used otg. As the image below shows (not mine). You just select either 2.4 or 5.8 on the top right.
Very easy to do. No otg required. Done it many times myself.

Pedro · Feb 3, 2018

Maybe it was an IOS/Android thing. Like Ian, I'm an Android fan and with Android if you selected a different frequency, the wifi wouldn't restart so the only option was the method described in that link using an OTG cable, which used to be supported.. I sold my Spark, was not for me.

Anyway, we've hijacked this thread a bit so back to Air.. I'm sure the Air transmitter can easily be converted for after market antenna. I've not even had a chance to fly my Air yet and it's raining again today.

philh24 · Feb 3, 2018

Same in the north east windy Thursday the day it came raining yesterday and today. I’m beginning to think there might me an air Mark 2 before I get out [emoji849]