How the heck people get 5km+ range?

[Macabre]

I barely can make 1.6km range. This is with some knowledge like how to position the antennas and to turn towards the approx location of the drone.
But I still can't get further than 1.6km!
Sure, I'm not flying in the desert where there's no interference, but I'm also not flying in (what I think) is an area with heavy interference. Just outside a 150.000 citizen city.
What do I do? Position myself in a helicopter so I'm always on top of the drone?

 

[MavicFT1P]

i reccomend the Leonardo AW139

 

[Former Member]

Despite all the hype, and Youtube click bait, 1.6km is actually normal range for a ready to fly, out of the box M2. My Mavic Pros usually get 2000' before the connection starts getting bad. Every single Mavic 2 that I have owned, sold or test flown has easily doubled what Mavic Pros get. I have learned what to expect from Mavics, and 5000 feet for an M2 is really normal. The fact that you are getting 1.2 km is to be expected.

 

[Mr. Salty]

I barely can make 1.6km range. This is with some knowledge like how to position the antennas and to turn towards the approx location of the drone.
But I still can't get further than 1.6km!
Sure, I'm not flying in the desert where there's no interference, but I'm also not flying in (what I think) is an area with heavy interference. Just outside a 150.000 citizen city.
What do I do? Position myself in a helicopter so I'm always on top of the drone?

Flat, open ground with no RF interference. No hills or other landscape to block the signal.

My personal best with the Mavic 2 Pro is 2.7 kilometers flying over flooded farm fields along the Missouri River. This is with all stock equipment.

 

[Kilrah]

Despite all the hype, and Youtube click bait, 1.6km is actually normal range for a ready to fly, out of the box M2. My Mavic Pros usually get 2000' before the connection starts getting bad. Every single Mavic 2 that I have owned, sold or test flown has easily doubled what Mavic Pros get. I have learned what to expect from Mavics, and 5000 feet for an M2 is really normal. The fact that you are getting 1.2 km is to be expected.

I haven't even once been in a location where either my M1 or M2 would even start reducing quality or drop frames at such a short distance (apart from the buggy case of the M2 issues when goggles are used).

 

[Macabre]

I see. But I feel like I had better signal with my old Mavic Pro Platinum.

 

[zocalo]

On the antenna, you're supposed to have them parallel with the flat portion of the antenna pointed towards the drone. e.g. with the drone overhead you'd have the antenna pointed towards the horizon, and with the drone far away you'd have the antenna pointed towards the sky. See p45 of the latest M2 manual for details.

A clear line of sight to the drone, no significant nearby EM/RF interference or structures with amounts of iron/steel in the construction (which includes concrete rebar) will also greatly help. Don't forget that some of those might be buried or not immediately obvious.

After that, you're looking into thinks like range extenders which shape the RC signal into a more elongated shape and provide more direction reception. The flipside of that is that you need to be more careful about keeping the RC pointed towards the drone or you'll start getting poor signal alarms, or lose communication altogether.

[Editted to correct error].

 

[FormerMember07122019_2]

On the antenna, you're supposed to have them orientated vertically when the drone is close to the RC and flat and pointed towards the drone when it's far away. A clear line of sight to the drone, no significant nearby EM/RF interference or structures with amounts of iron/steel in the construction (which includes concrete rebar) will also greatly help. Don't forget that some of those might be buried or not immediately obvious.

After that, you're looking into thinks like range extenders which shape the RC signal into a more elongated shape and provide more direction reception. The flipside of that is that you need to be more careful about keeping the RC pointed towards the drone or you'll start getting poor signal alarms, or lose communication altogether.

I think you may have misspoke (or actually mis-written). According to antenna theory, the maximum signal is from the flat portions. Imagine a donut placed onto the antenna. When the drone is overhead the antenna should be pointed horizontal and when the drone is far away they should be pointing straight up. See the bottom of page 45 in the latest M2 manual.

 

[MavicFT1P]

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This was in another thread, but i couldnt find it, so here tis again

 

[tcope]

Even interference from sun flares can cause issues. You also may still have a lot or man made interference that you do not know about. Try reviewing the signal strength on all of the channels while flying.

 

[Canuk]

If you want a good test get 5 miles away from any wifi in the area .
When I am away from town and as long as no trees are between the controller and the bird I can get 18 000 feet . If you want good range gun think of your controller like a lazer pointer . If you can point it at your drone with nothing between you should get good range . Any trees , houses , power lines and the range just keeps getting shorter and shorter . If a hill gets in the way , signal gone

 

[rsauder]

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.

 

[zocalo]

I think you may have misspoke (or actually mis-written). According to antenna theory, the maximum signal is from the flat portions. Imagine a donut placed onto the antenna. When the drone is overhead the antenna should be pointed horizontal and when the drone is far away they should be pointing straight up. See the bottom of page 45 in the latest M2 manual.

Yep, mis-written. Thanks for pointing that out - I've amended the original post.

 

[nd4wmike]

I barely can make 1.6km range. This is with some knowledge like how to position the antennas and to turn towards the approx location of the drone.
But I still can't get further than 1.6km!
Sure, I'm not flying in the desert where there's no interference, but I'm also not flying in (what I think) is an area with heavy interference. Just outside a 150.000 citizen city.
What do I do? Position myself in a helicopter so I'm always on top of the drone?

A flight near my home:
Stock Mavic 2 Pro.

 

[ScottM2Zoom1]

I fly to 3500' 6-10x a day every day from inside my house sitting on the sofa. I fly to 16,000' when outside 1-2x per week. I have M2Z , new pilot, owned since March 4, 125 hours in air, 425 flights, 700 miles .

 

[Arce101]

I barely can make 1.6km range. This is with some knowledge like how to position the antennas and to turn towards the approx location of the drone.
But I still can't get further than 1.6km!
Sure, I'm not flying in the desert where there's no interference, but I'm also not flying in (what I think) is an area with heavy interference. Just outside a 150.000 citizen city.
What do I do? Position myself in a helicopter so I'm always on top of the drone?

Dude put it in 1080p mode I got the max 4 miles also be sure your clear of obstructing objects lastly fly no higher than 180 ft

 

[Plainview]

Flat, open ground with no RF interference. No hills or other landscape to block the signal.

My person best with the Mavic 2 Pro is 2.7 kilometers flying over flooded farm fields along the Missouri River. This is with all stock equipment.

Can you share any video of your flight?

 

[cdonovin]

I barely can make 1.6km range. This is with some knowledge like how to position the antennas and to turn towards the approx location of the drone.
But I still can't get further than 1.6km!
Sure, I'm not flying in the desert where there's no interference, but I'm also not flying in (what I think) is an area with heavy interference. Just outside a 150.000 citizen city.
What do I do? Position myself in a helicopter so I'm always on top of the drone?

I had a similar problem I got out about 4k feet with my M2-Z and my drone thankfully stopped. I it the RTH button and it came back.....had me freaked a bit..The caveat here is I was in way points with litchi app. When this occured I was under the impression that it was flying off waypoints and my only limit was to how much battery life I have. this is the first failure i have had with litchi.. I have not tried DJI waypoint function yet.. can any one add to this post ??

 

[Guido De Spirt]

I barely can make 1.6km range. This is with some knowledge like how to position the antennas and to turn towards the approx location of the drone.
But I still can't get further than 1.6km!
Sure, I'm not flying in the desert where there's no interference, but I'm also not flying in (what I think) is an area with heavy interference. Just outside a 150.000 citizen city.
What do I do? Position myself in a helicopter so I'm always on top of the drone?

This is the max distance I managed to reach with M1 in Maldives (4.9km equal to 3.1 miles) Signal was very strong and I could not go further because of battery. I landed with 12% of battery left.

 

[Canuk]

A average flight