How the heck people get 5km+ range?

[Deleted member 94307]

I used to EASILY get 5-6km range with MP; I'm luckly to get 500m to 1km now. DJI definitely has buggered their software to restrict range...there can be no other explanation imo.

Where are you flying? Do got me worried so I went down to the bay this morning and flew 9000 feet along the beach.. only thing preventing me from going further was the battery. I live in a very congested area with tons of wifi and interference. When I fly my spark or phantom 3 I get all sorts of connection issues, but with the Mavic...nothing.. Amazing range and the only unusual events was a strange issue with sensors while I was flying at civil twilight over water.. (needed sensor cal.). and a sensor error while flying in my neighborhood that one resulted in me forgetting that it won't slow down when you land and I almost crashed it into the ground..

 

[CJG]

In Australia, we have to maintain VLOS. How the bloody **** do you even have visual contact with something the size of a football at 1km? i lose mine around 800m.

This had occurred to me, but I’m not a drone-police kind of guy......

 

[baddog]

How can you even see your drone at 3 miles. I can barely see mine at 1500 ft. on clear day?

 

[Andie Moepse]

Despite all the hype, and Youtube click bait, 1.6km is actually normal range for a ready to fly, out of the box M2.

Complete NONSENSE. There are endless Youtube videos that prove you wrong many times over.

 

[Former Member]

Complete NONSENSE. There are endless Youtube videos that prove you wrong many times over.

Whats been your experience? I know you say you "saw it on Youtube" which to me means that you might have very limited experience of your own.

As for me, I have over 4,000 flights, so I have a little bit of personal experience flying drones, knowing how far they can fly, and how far it is safe to fly..

 

[grantiago]

I hope you can prove me wrong. I'm just not seeing the kinds of distances reported here and claimed by DJI. In my experience just under 2 miles is average -- good. My account at appdata.com has my farthest distance as 9,677'. Sorry, even I am exaggerating a bit.

Most of my flying is on a farm. Private property (I know you can't help yourselves, but try to limit your comments re. LOS -- please). If my aircraft falls on you. You are trespassing! I will be there shortly to finish the deal. Nooobody around. Nothing but corn or wheat for miles. No wifi. Weak cell signal in the area. Flat. The tallest tree is 50'. A power line runs up the county road. I suppose the aluminum in the pivots could be causing some interference. But I can fly in a pattern that takes me far from them as well.

I have a Mavic 2 Pro. Before that Phantom 3 pro. Two of them. 1.6 miles +- was all I could get. Before that Phantom 3 standard, that distance I don't remember. It wasn't much because I upgraded to the P3P to get some more Lightbridge distance (you got me there DJI). Marginal improvement in distance, but a much nicer aircraft ;-). I have a dedicated Huawei M3 as my flight platform -- so both DJI and Huawei can spy on me (as if I care) . I have no memory issues with the app.

In town I get can fly to just under 5000 feet before the M2P starts complaining (here come the trolls). If I'm flying low, the wifi, I assume, at a school, about 1000 feet away kills my signal. I have to climb or go around it to regain my signal.

Last spring I went to the Australian outback: flat. no power lines, no cell signal, no people, no structures, no nothing. Tons of 'roos, some cattle. Same < 10,000' distances.

In my experience, which, I believe, is adequate, short distance is not a fluke. Four different DJI aircraft. My day-to-day distance is no where near the bragging-scale of DJI or the forum here.

I've done the IMU re-calibration. I've re-calibrated the compass so many time it makes my head spin. I've attached CDs to the back of the antennas. I've made everyone in the area turn off their cell phones.

Please show me the magic lantern I have overlooked.

 

[Former Member]

I hope you can prove me wrong. I'm just not seeing the kinds of distances reported here and claimed by DJI. In my experience just under 2 miles is average -- good. My account at appdata.com has my farthest distance as 9,677'. Sorry, even I am exaggerating a bit.

Most of my flying is on a farm. Private property (I know you can't help yourselves, but try to limit your comments re. LOS -- please). If my aircraft falls on you. You are trespassing! I will be there shortly to finish the deal. Nooobody around. Nothing but corn or wheat for miles. No wifi. Weak cell signal in the area. Flat. The tallest tree is 50'. A power line runs up the county road. I suppose the aluminum in the pivots could be causing some interference. But I can fly in a pattern that takes me far from them as well.

I have a Mavic 2 Pro. Before that Phantom 3 pro. Two of them. 1.6 miles +- was all I could get. Before that Phantom 3 standard, that distance I don't remember. It wasn't much because I upgraded to the P3P to get some more Lightbridge distance (you got me there DJI). Marginal improvement in distance, but a much nicer aircraft ;-). I have a dedicated Huawei M3 as my flight platform -- so both DJI and Huawei can spy on me (as if I care) . I have no memory issues with the app.

In town I get can fly to just under 5000 feet before the M2P starts complaining (here come the trolls). If I'm flying low, the wifi, I assume, at a school, about 1000 feet away kills my signal. I have to climb or go around it to regain my signal.

Last spring I went to the Australian outback: flat. no power lines, no cell signal, no people, no structures, no nothing. Tons of 'roos, some cattle. Same < 10,000' distances.

In my experience, which, I believe, is adequate, short distance is not a fluke. Four different DJI aircraft. My day-to-day distance is no where near the bragging-scale of DJI or the forum here.

I've done the IMU re-calibration. I've re-calibrated the compass so many time it makes my head spin. I've attached CDs to the back of the antennas. I've made everyone in the area turn off their cell phones.

Please show me the magic lantern I have overlooked.

I agree.

 

[4wd]

It's curious how much variation there is, but I've noticed even a single tree in your LOS will affect signal, and areas with more trees about even not directly between drone and controller seem to attenuate your power.
I've never actually gone so far as to lose signal with any of them, Mavic 2 seems to be best yet with little signal change up to about two miles and that's on CE mode.
This is a good area for them though with few houses and huge open areas with hills to start off from
.
Mavic Pro was quite a step up from Phantom 3 and that was better than the P2 based Vision Plus.

 

[Clipper707]

I hope DJI isn’t taking it upon themselves to put limits on us.

That toothpaste is already out of the tube regarding altitude limits.

DJI-imposed range limits wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

In Australia, we have to maintain VLOS. How the bloody **** do you even have visual contact with something the size of a football at 1km? i lose mine around 800m.

Why is the word hell replaced with **** on the forum?
Is it somehow considered a swear word?

 

[mnix]

The M2 (Occusync 2) will do 5-6km, but it does require perfect conditions.

- Launch from a slightly elevated position with no trees in the direction of flight.
- Fly out over a valley so that you are hilltop to hilltop when you approach max range.
- At that range you need to maintain 400ft AGL. Anything lower you start to lose signal.
- 2.4Ghz link is the go, 5Ghz won't cut it.
- You can get away with one wifi network around, but any more you run into interference issues because there is no spare bandwidth.

One significant factor is something called a Fresnel zone. Optical LOS is not radio LOS.
A fresnel zone is roughly football shaped with the transmitter at one pointy end and the receiver at the other. For optimal signal, the entire zone needs to have no obstructions - hence hilltop to hilltop will always work better than on the flat.

 

[Victorian Aerial Vision]

Why is the word **** replaced with **** on the forum?
Is it somehow considered a swear word?

Religious connotations perhaps? Who the hell knows! ?

 

[Andie Moepse]

Whats been your experience? I know you say you "saw it on Youtube" which to me means that you might have very limited experience of your own.

I was building my own before you could even spell it.
But yeah, if I had just WRITTEN that I know that to be nonsense, then you'd have written the same. And I don't make Youtube videos of my flights, nor do I fly that far that often… but I HAVE.

As for me, I have over 4,000 flights, so I have a little bit of personal experience flying drones, knowing how far they can fly, and how far it is safe to fly..

Hoo. Ray. We'll just ignore that there are literally DOZENS of other videos showing the exact same. You could have saved face by simply admitting that you've been proven wrong. But no. Had to drop the zipper instead. ???‍

Not sure where you come from, but where I come from, thats illegal, and thus doesnt help in determining the range of a drone.

Ex'cumee… WHAT?! ???
I had no idea that DISTANCE can only be legally measured past, what… 650ft. altitude??! ?

 

[Hoot]

Max range I have seen from my Mavic 2 Zoom or Mavic 2 Pro is 5000'.

 

[clackey]

Hey guys - this is getting out of hand and so warnings have been sent.

Please be aware of the community rules...

• Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully.

If you have an issue with someone, click the ignore button and you don't need to see them again.

 

[Former Member]

racking up the equivalent of SIXTEEN POST A DAY

Yeah Im guilty of at least 16 posts a day. Love my job, and Im good at it.

 

[grantiago]

The M2 (Occusync 2) will do 5-6km, but it does require perfect conditions.

- Launch from a slightly elevated position with no trees in the direction of flight.
- Fly out over a valley so that you are hilltop to hilltop when you approach max range.
- At that range you need to maintain 400ft AGL. Anything lower you start to lose signal.
- 2.4Ghz link is the go, 5Ghz won't cut it.
- You can get away with one wifi network around, but any more you run into interference issues because there is no spare bandwidth.

One significant factor is something called a Fresnel zone. Optical LOS is not radio LOS.
A fresnel zone is roughly football shaped with the transmitter at one pointy end and the receiver at the other. For optimal signal, the entire zone needs to have no obstructions - hence hilltop to hilltop will always work better than on the flat.

I understand you are replying to the OP. Thank you. That is all good advice.

1. I'm on a hill +- 100' up. Looking down over a river valley -- don't think of a V. -- think of a plate. check
2. No trees at my elevation. check.
3. No wifi. check.
4. I've flown at 2.4. check.
5. 5Gz. check
6. hd on. check.
7. hd off. check
8. Conditions: clouds, drizzle, shine, wind. check
9. I've flown a lot. >300 flights. closing in on 3 mil feet. (which compared to ThunderD is a drop in the bucket.)
10. I fly out of range on a regular basis. "Signal lost aircraft will return to home point."

Been there. Done that. <10,000. day in. day out.

Ignoring the vast wasteland that is youTube, open your app and take a screen shot of your longest flight and post it here.

Attached is a screen shot of my longest flight. It's from a trip I took this spring. I've erased the lat lng so no trolls track me down.

terrible conditions:

1. hills
2. trees
3. powerful wifi.
4. high wind
5. surrounded by metal structures.

So all advice taken and tested it's an anomaly that my longest flight is in the worst conditions.

Now show me yours ;-)

 

[Rumbaar]

City, outskirts of city and my old Phantom 3 got 2km range. With my Mavic 2 Pro, I've gotten 3km without breaking a sweat.

 

[Aubpack84]

My M1 gets well over that in the city. This was flown in Pensacola FL near all sorts of interference from the naval air station and Air Force base.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

How can you even see your drone at 3 miles. I can barely see mine at 1500 ft. on clear day?

At the risk of "beating a dead horse" and mentioning something that has been discussed "ad nauseum", flying at night with auxiliary lighting (most commonly strobes) you can maintain VLOS well past 3 miles.