MA2 and boats - is there an interference issue?

[Digi_t]

Took the MA2 out today for a flight over an estuary, as you might imagine there were lot of boats there, well over a hundred or so. For the first time ever when flying I got a weak rc signal warning, the aircraft was no more than a few hundred metres away and this happened twice. Also the orientation icon was red with a line through pretty much 50% of the time. It’s done that plenty of times before so I’m used to that but its never done it so often.

All firmware up to date, calibrated the compass before the flight. So just wonder if anyone else has had any issues flying a marine traffic before?

 

[Pappy]

As far as the types of errors for the "Aircraft Orientation" indicator is concerned, I found this handy summary from another post.


All of the cell phones and possibly VHF radios (ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore) may have something to do with it. I remember a YouTuber completely lost connection when he got too close to a freighter ship. VHF radios have either a 5 or 25 watt transmit setting. The 25 watt setting can over power the DJI transmission.

 

[Meta4]

So just wonder if anyone else has had any issues flying a marine traffic before?

Most of my flying is around ships and boats and I haven't noticed any interference issues at all in several years.

 

[Mave76]

Most of my flying is around ships and boats and I haven't noticed any interference issues at all in several years.

Two contrasting observation. I thinki DJI has to answer the issue.

 

[Meta4]

Two contrasting observation.
I thinki DJI has to answer the issue.

One flyer who did something once, noted something and wasn't sure of what caused it.
Another flyer who has done the same thing extensively and is able to confirm that the guess of the first flyer is not valid.
No need for DJI to answer anything and you'd have a hard time getting an accurate answer from them anyway.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Took the MA2 out today for a flight over an estuary, as you might imagine there were lot of boats there, well over a hundred or so. For the first time ever when flying I got a weak rc signal warning, the aircraft was no more than a few hundred metres away and this happened twice. Also the orientation icon was red with a line through pretty much 50% of the time. It’s done that plenty of times before so I’m used to that but its never done it so often.

All firmware up to date, calibrated the compass before the flight. So just wonder if anyone else has had any issues flying a marine traffic before?

No were not having those issue in the marina , many times were flying from inside the car over the boats, the Wi Fi and in the pouring rain, I cannot say we noticed any signal drop and we record everything .
So I do not see any issues and we fly a lot more than most.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the rain.

 

[Dave Maine]

Both SSB and VHF the 2 radio frequencies used in marine communications are far away from the drone radio frequencies and will not cause problems.

However, WiFi use on boats is becoming common, and some boatyards boost WiFi transmission power to help boaters enjoy good WiFi transmissions. It is just as illegal as boosting signal strength on drones, but as we readers all know, is done.

 

[itsneedtokno]

Flying around a large freighter you may get WiFi interference (on the back side), but that's not what you are talking about here.

I've flown over hundreds of boats... Thousands probably. (25 today alone) no interference ever.

I've clipped channel markers and lost my drone, I've lost connection because I was 1500 feet away with an MA1 flying at 10 feet elevation chasing a 70' Viking, but never lost connection flying as you described.