Is it legal to fly a mavic mini CE in U.S. or a mavic mini FCC in Europe?

[Lorenzothcc]

The Mavic Mini CE version is what you guys use in Italy, so its not the FCC version! Its still the CE version, just the 5.8ghz signal is boosted a bit - but otherwise hardware wise the CE model is different to the FCC one. So when in Italy you guys do the FCC hack, you're still flying CE model, not FCC - just power is boosted a little bit. The real FCC model goes 4km in 5.8ghz, meanwhile our CE versions in 5.8ghz with the mod go about 1300m maybe a bit more! So I think that its not illegal, as its not a real FCC version hardware wise. The FCC model has a special Sky..something microchip that amplifies the 5.8ghz signal so that it reaches 4km - and our CE models are missing this Sky...whatever microchip - so the amplification for the CE models happens based on how much power they supply.

So according to the above - the CE model in Italy (FCC hacked) should still be legal to fly in Italy, as your drone will not fly further than before, it will not fly even half way or further than a real FCC model, so you should be fine.



I'm not gonna mess with my Mini, I'll just fly it all normally as it is without any modifications. I was thinking of getting that night time lights thing with the 2 lil torches on the sides of the drone because I like to fly at night, but that's a normal accessory sold in the shops - not some semi-smart workaround to get more signal in 5.8ghz!

Lots of people buy Mavic mini from bangood or gearbest so they have a Mavic mini FCC model and it's not legal. It's legal when you buy Mavic mini from Amazon or the dji store

 

[Mavic_Mini_Pilot]

Go outside the city somewhere where you have clear ground. A field would be the best choice with no power lines in the vicinity. Then take you mini out, make sure that it is set on a free channel on the 2.4 GHz Band, do set the antenna positions correctly like in the below picture and do a range test.
View attachment 91888

Make sure that you do not fly too high to prevent a flyaway due to wind, but otherwise it should be good for the 1.5-2 km you wish to achieve.

Wow, thank you very much. I love this forum everyone is so helpful.

Thanks again, will try as I'll soon be going to the mountains here in Bulgaria, we have some very beautiful mountains and there I'm planning on doing a proper RTH range test. I'm very aware of the winds, I use UAV Forecast & set my maximum wind (including gusts also) to 29km/h (8m/s - as stated by DJI) and I've set that at 100m altitude, cz I plan to fly at about 100m for most of the flight - of course it all depends on how the wind actually is.

I think that the Mini CE(Central Europe) model always prefers, to fly in 2.4ghz if set to Auto Transmission when there is no interference of course, else it just goes into 5.8ghz mode if the 2.4 band channels are too congested! They advertise that the Mini CE model goes 2km - but if the drone in Auto Transmission decides its too congested the 2.4 band channels, and switches to 5.8ghhz prior take off - then we'll only have about 500m to 600m and that's if the 5.8ghz is not too congested!

I would imagine that the Mini cannot switch from 5.8 ghz over to 2.4 ghz during mid flight as it would have to restart the wifi system and hence loose signal altogether for like a minute or so..

 

[netsonic]

No, it cannot switch directly the frequency mid flight. Mavic pro 2 can do this but it's another drone.

First fly it over a field it's safer this way. If you go in the mountains and plan to fly at 100m you might loose it as it's hard to see the Mini and at 1-2 km you cannot control it properly. You might find a plateau, but once you say mountains I imagine rocks and a big forrest.

 

[Mavic_Mini_Pilot]

No, it cannot switch directly the frequency mid flight. Mavic pro 2 can do this but it's another drone.

First fly it over a field it's safer this way. If you go in the mountains and plan to fly at 100m you might loose it as it's hard to see the Mini and at 1-2 km you cannot control it properly. You might find a plateau, but once you say mountains I imagine rocks and a big forrest.

Yeah, rocks and forest exactly...

Lol

I flew today, it was amazing, I love this little drone.

I flew it 30m(40m actually cz I launched from 4th floor) high cz I was afraid and 125m away. The reception was perfect and the drone was flying flawlessly really!

Gonna have me a night flight but I'm scared to, very scared!

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