How do i extend range in urban areas

[Tacobell]

How do i extend range in urban areas?

 

[rickw]

do a search,must be over a dozen post about this

 

[Tacobell]

do a search,must be over a dozen post about this

Haven't found many solutions.

 

[Tinmania]

What kind of urban area, are we talking skyscraper city or suburban housing development?

Also, what kind of range are you getting now?

I fly from a suburban housing development, here in Arizona. Heading up from my house I am very close to a Target shopping center and many other businesses. If I head that way my range is certainly not great, but still acceptable (have had it out 3/4 of a mile with full control, albeit a few live video feed stutters). If I head down my block, less than 1/5 mile down is a huge wilderness area. If I head that way I have very good range, but still not as good as if I launched from an open area.

I do have a parabolic reflector to help with range. But I honestly have not used it in flight yet. I have to try it next time when flying from my house.

EDIT: Didn't see this was in the Mavic Air sub-forum. I have a Mavic Pro, and not Air, so take that into consideration.



Mike

 

[Travisimo]

Haven't found many solutions.

You can find quite a few YouTube videos of pilots using range extenders on their Mavic Air's with varying degrees of success. But honestly, flying in urban locations is going to be wildly variable even with range extenders. One simple thing you can try is setting a manual Wifi frequency and channel. Normally, 5.8ghz is recommended in urban locations, and picking a channel manually from within the app may give you better results than auto. But don't expect anything near the advertised range in urban locations. In my area - which is an urban area with approximately 500,000 - I usually get no more than 1 mile, and even that is rare. I generally get between 1/2 mile to 1 mile (FCC) but it is wildly variable, as I mentioned. You are not only dealing with Wifi congestion and radio interference, but usually large obstacles that also affect your signal. The example where I got 1 mile was when I was on top of a pretty big hill flying where there were no obstacles between me and the aircraft, and I thought 1 mile was very good. Conversely, when I flew downtown trying to capture an arena when it was empty, I literally lost signal on the other side of the arena because the building blocked the signal.

Flying an aircraft that uses a different radio transmission type like the Mavic Pro with its Occusync or the Phantom with Lightbridge will yield better results, but even they can have problems in urban locations. It's just the nature of radio physics. Ultimately, try choosing manual settings like I suggested or do some research on range extenders (in the forums and on YouTube). Some extenders are as simple as attaching to the back of your remote to direct the signals toward your aircraft, while others require rewiring your remote. Good luck! Personally, I just accept the limitations in urban areas and fly safely within short distances. Others will recommend not flying at all in urban locations.

 

[Tacobell]

What kind of urban area, are we talking skyscraper city or suburban housing development?

Also, what kind of range are you getting now?

I fly from a suburban housing development, here in Arizona. Heading up from my house I am very close to a Target shopping center and many other businesses. If I head that way my range is certainly not great, but still acceptable (have had it out 3/4 of a mile with full control, albeit a few live video feed stutters). If I head down my block, less than 1/5 mile down is a huge wilderness area. If I head that way I have very good range, but still not as good as if I launched from an open area.

I do have a parabolic reflector to help with range. But I honestly have not used it in flight yet. I have to try it next time when flying from my house.

EDIT: Didn't see this was in the Mavic Air sub-forum. I have a Mavic Pro, and not Air, so take that into consideration.



Mike

I'm talking about suburban housing, just a basic neighborhood.

 

[Tacobell]

You can find quite a few YouTube videos of pilots using range extenders on their Mavic Air's with varying degrees of success. But honestly, flying in urban locations is going to be wildly variable even with range extenders. One simple thing you can try is setting a manual Wifi frequency and channel. Normally, 5.8ghz is recommended in urban locations, and picking a channel manually from within the app may give you better results than auto. But don't expect anything near the advertised range in urban locations. In my area - which is an urban area with approximately 500,000 - I usually get no more than 1 mile, and even that is rare. I generally get between 1/2 mile to 1 mile (FCC) but it is wildly variable, as I mentioned. You are not only dealing with Wifi congestion and radio interference, but usually large obstacles that also affect your signal. The example where I got 1 mile was when I was on top of a pretty big hill flying where there were no obstacles between me and the aircraft, and I thought 1 mile was very good. Conversely, when I flew downtown trying to capture an arena when it was empty, I literally lost signal on the other side of the arena because the building blocked the signal.

Flying an aircraft that uses a different radio transmission type like the Mavic Pro with its Occusync or the Phantom with Lightbridge will yield better results, but even they can have problems in urban locations. It's just the nature of radio physics. Ultimately, try choosing manual settings like I suggested or do some research on range extenders (in the forums and on YouTube). Some extenders are as simple as attaching to the back of your remote to direct the signals toward your aircraft, while others require rewiring your remote. Good luck! Personally, I just accept the limitations in urban areas and fly safely within short distances. Others will recommend not flying at all in urban locations.

Does the mavic air rival the range of the phantom 3 pro?

 

[Travisimo]

Does the mavic air rival the range of the phantom 3 pro?

No, the P3P uses Lightbridge while the Air uses Wifi. According to the specs, the P3P has a range of 5km while the Air is 4km. However, there is more to the story than that because they also use different transmission technologies. The P3P uses Lightbridge, but it is based on older technology. The Air uses "enhanced Wifi", which does have marked improvements over older Wifi aircraft from DJI (the Air is definitely better than my previous Phantom 3 Standard, which also uses Wifi).

In areas with little interference or congestion, the Air may come close to rivaling the range of the P3P, but in most practical situations, the P3P will still have a distinct advantage. You basically have older (but more reliable) Lightbridge versus newer (but less reliable) Wifi transmission technologies, so it's not an apples to apples comparison.

 

[Travisimo]

I'm talking about suburban housing, just a basic neighborhood.

Highly variable, as you'll notice from a myriad of experiences posting here in the forums. Some pilots seem to get great range in suburban locations, while others experience interference even at short range. There really is no way to universally state what the range will be like in any given location (other than the middle of nowhere where you should theoretically reach close to the stated range in the specs). With the limited battery life of the Air, going out that far has very little practical value other than the proverbial range tests anyway.

It is likely that if you are flying in a suburban location, you should be able to keep transmission within line of sight of your aircraft, which is really the most important thing. Choosing a manual frequency and channel can definitely make a difference, as can your altitude and many other variables. Flying higher will typically give you better range, as will flying without obstacles between the controller and aircraft.

 

[InvisibleName]

I'm talking about suburban housing, just a basic neighborhood.

Start with the basics: Are you in the USA, hence flying in FCC mode, or elsewhere & forced into CE mode? If the latter, then search for how to force FCC mode, this will greatly increase your range due to the extra power output from your RC. If you’re in the USA, well, over to your fellow countrymen!

 

[dragonmuzz]

FCC Exploit if your not already on it and a set of parabolic reflectors....