Is there any way to find signal strength in the log files?

[jaxmyers]

Hey guys,

I'm a relatively new Mavic pilot, and I love my Mavic so far, but I have a question about reviewing log data after a flight.

Yesterday I flew about 0.4 miles from home and I got a low signal strength warning. I looked at my remote and noticed that the signal had dropped pretty quickly down to 1 bar, and I noticed the video resolution started suffering a bit. I immediately flew back towards home and the signal strength recovered rapidly, and everything went fine from there. When I got home, I looked at the log playback in the DJI Go app and noticed that it didn't have the signal strength warnings in the log, it only showed the high wind speed warnings (I always get at least one of those). I then exported the log files and uploaded them to airdata.com, and in there it shows the signal strength as perfect, zero "Minor Signal Errors", and just a green line for signal strength which is the best category that this app can display, and there are no logs of notifications regarding signal strength either.

My question is: Does the Mavic log the signal strength in the .txt log files or anywhere else, should I want to look at it after a flight? Is airdate.com reliable for viewing log data involving signal strength?

thanks,
Jax

 

[ksmusa]

I don’t think so but I could be wrong. Moving forward, you could record the screen in DJI go to view this information.

 

[Mr. Salty]

If you sync your logs with AirData UAV (Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones) you can see signal strength overlaid on a map.

 

[MavicCF]

Hey guys,

I'm a relatively new Mavic pilot, and I love my Mavic so far, but I have a question about reviewing log data after a flight.

Yesterday I flew about 0.4 miles from home and I got a low signal strength warning. I looked at my remote and noticed that the signal had dropped pretty quickly down to 1 bar, and I noticed the video resolution started suffering a bit. I immediately flew back towards home and the signal strength recovered rapidly, and everything went fine from there. When I got home, I looked at the log playback in the DJI Go app and noticed that it didn't have the signal strength warnings in the log, it only showed the high wind speed warnings (I always get at least one of those). I then exported the log files and uploaded them to airdata.com, and in there it shows the signal strength as perfect, zero "Minor Signal Errors", and just a green line for signal strength which is the best category that this app can display, and there are no logs of notifications regarding signal strength either.

My question is: Does the Mavic log the signal strength in the .txt log files or anywhere else, should I want to look at it after a flight? Is airdate.com reliable for viewing log data involving signal strength?

thanks,
Jax

That is interesting, it seems like all my warnings show up in the Go4 app log. Usually Airdata does a good job of giving the correct results. Are you sure you uploaded the correct log?

 

[MavicCF]

Welcome to Mavic Pilots by the way!

 

[jaxmyers]

If you sync your logs with AirData UAV (Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones) you can see signal strength overlaid on a map.

I did that but it shows 100% signal strength (green) for the whole flight with no deviations while I know in fact that I was down to 1 bar.

 

[jaxmyers]

That is interesting, it seems like all my warnings show up in the Go4 app log. Usually Airdata does a good job of giving the correct results. Are you sure you uploaded the correct log?

Yep I am sure.

Weird huh?

 

[MavicCF]

Yep I am sure.

Weird huh?

Yeah it is weird, hope you get it figured out! -CF

 

[sar104]

Yeah it is weird, hope you get it figured out! -CF

Airdata is just assessing signal strength by the number dropped data packets in the telemetry downlink. It's not looking at the video feed which is not part of the txt log.

 

[jaxmyers]

Airdata is just assessing signal strength by the number dropped data packets in the telemetry downlink. It's not looking at the video feed which is not part of the txt log.

Is dropped packets the same as “minor signal errors” in airdata? Surprisingly there are zero of those in the flight in questions although other flights have a few of those sometimes.

The strange thing is the video glitching didn’t even bother me but the app gave an ominous warning yet that warning wasn’t even included in the log.

 

[sar104]

Is dropped packets the same as “minor signal errors” in airdata? Surprisingly there are zero of those in the flight in questions although other flights have a few of those sometimes.

The strange thing is the video glitching didn’t even bother me but the app gave an ominous warning yet that warning wasn’t even included in the log.

I'm not completely certain how Airdata calculates their minor signal errors but it seems to correlate with lost telemetry data. It does seem odd that the warning was not in the log file.

 

[jaxmyers]

Now that I think of it, I can’t remember if it was the remote signal or the HD video signal that was weak. I think it was the remote but I’m not sure. I guess the only way to find out is to fly that route again if the info I’m looking for isn’t in the logs.

 

[MavicCF]

Airdata is just assessing signal strength by the number dropped data packets in the telemetry downlink. It's not looking at the video feed which is not part of the txt log.

Sorry if I gave the imperessin that I thought Airdata was using the video feed, that was definitely not my goal.

Now that I think of it, I can’t remember if it was the remote signal or the HD video signal that was weak. I think it was the remote but I’m not sure. I guess the only way to find out is to fly that route again if the info I’m looking for isn’t in the logs.

To the OP, don't lose it flying that route too far out.

 

[jaxmyers]

Sorry if I gave the imperessin that I thought Airdata was using the video feed, that was definitely not my goal.

To the OP, don't lose it flying that route too far out.

Good point. If I do I’ll be careful. There may be interference from a nearby mast. I feel like worst case it’ll RTH and then regain signal in a few seconds. Back when I flew 3dr solo nearly every flight would end with RTH. Relying on WiFi to fly a drone in a city just isn’t that great.