Mavic Air 2 lost signal during flight.

[Mr500CM]

I was out on Long Island Sunday flying around Kings Park area. Nice weather, slightly windy, nice big fluffy clouds. I was at 200 feet and about a mile out when I went from 5 bars to no signal. I could not reconnect, lucky for me the drone did what it was supposed to do and that was return to home. It did and I resumed flying without any other issues. It wasn't a gradual loss of signal it was full strength then zero. I've seen videos where these drones fly for miles, this flight was a little over one mile. My questions are:

Any idea why this happened? I know there are a lot of factors.
What do I do when I don't have signal?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Lance

 

[cgmaxed]

I was out on Long Island Sunday flying around Kings Park area. Nice weather, slightly windy, nice big fluffy clouds. I was at 200 feet and about a mile out when I went from 5 bars to no signal. I could not reconnect, lucky for me the drone did what it was supposed to do and that was return to home. It did and I resumed flying without any other issues. It wasn't a gradual loss of signal it was full strength then zero. I've seen videos where these drones fly for miles, this flight was a little over one mile. My questions are:

Any idea why this happened? I know there are a lot of factors.
What do I do when I don't have signal?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Lance

It happens to me on occasion. The signal will just drop out. Could be an object in the way or radio interference. I just wait until the Return home function gets the drone close enough to home, then go on my way.

 

[tlswift58]

I was out on Long Island Sunday flying around Kings Park area. Nice weather, slightly windy, nice big fluffy clouds. I was at 200 feet and about a mile out when I went from 5 bars to no signal. I could not reconnect, lucky for me the drone did what it was supposed to do and that was return to home. It did and I resumed flying without any other issues. It wasn't a gradual loss of signal it was full strength then zero. I've seen videos where these drones fly for miles, this flight was a little over one mile. My questions are:

Any idea why this happened? I know there are a lot of factors.
What do I do when I don't have signal?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Lance

Flies for miles? Think you need to understand VLOS - Visual Line of Sight rules. Sure, DJI and many drone companies "tell you" their drones will fly miles out - yet in the USA and in many countries - that is against the law / rules.

Can you tell us HOW you keep a "visual" on your drone at that mile out? We'd all love to know the secret.

 

[cgmaxed]

Flies for miles? Think you need to understand VLOS - Visual Line of Sight rules. Sure, DJI and many drone companies "tell you" their drones will fly miles out - yet in the USA and in many countries - that is against the law / rules.

Can you tell us HOW you keep a "visual" on your drone at that mile out? We'd all love to know the secret

If you had asked me, i'd tell you how it can be done. I'll tell you anyway. I use 2, 1500 lumen spot lights pointing backward toward my home point. I actually can see the lights up to 2 miles "out". As long as I keep the lights pointed toward my home point, I know exactly where it is and can avoid any aircraft getting near it. It took a little time to learn how to keep the back of the drone pointed toward me at all times, but I learned quickly. It amazes me how powerful 3000 lumens total is, in complete sunlight. Looks like a floating star or ufo. If I were to turn the drone, the light and drone would disappear, as if it went into an invisible portal, then return immediately with a little rotational nudge. Anyway, I know where the drone is, and its direction at all times using the lights. I can fly home from 2 miles without looking at the controller or app without any difficulty. I doubt our Mr500CM does what I do. But, Maybe he has really, really, really good vision.

Oh, by the way, have you read about or watched people flying the new DJI FPV drone, Half of them have the goggles on, but have no spotter. Then they put that crap on youtube. If the FAA decided to look up who some of these people are, they would be up the creek. I wonder how many people don't know about VLOS compared to those that just Ignore it. Breaking the law is one thing, proving it is another. A mid air collision is highly unlikely to occur at this time due to the relatively low number of drone fliers, but this risk will increase as civilian use of drones increases, and it's increasing fast.

 

[tlswift58]

If you had asked me, i'd tell you how it can be done. I'll tell you anyway. I use 2, 1500 lumen spot lights pointing backward toward my home point. I actually can see the lights up to 2 miles "out". As long as I keep the lights pointed toward my home point, I know exactly where it is and can avoid any aircraft getting near it. It took a little time to learn how to keep the back of the drone pointed toward me at all times, but I learned quickly. It amazes me how powerful 3000 lumens total is, in complete sunlight. Looks like a floating star or ufo. If I were to turn the drone, the light and drone would disappear, as if it went into an invisible portal, then return immediately with a little rotational nudge. Anyway, I know where the drone is, and its direction at all times using the lights. I can fly home from 2 miles without looking at the controller or app without any difficulty. I doubt our Mr500CM does what I do. But, Maybe he has really, really, really good vision.

Oh, by the way, have you read about or watched people flying the new DJI FPV drone, Half of them have the goggles on, but have no spotter. Then they put that crap on youtube. If the FAA decided to look up who some of these people are, they would be up the creek. I wonder how many people don't know about VLOS compared to those that just Ignore it. Breaking the law is one thing, proving it is another. A mid air collision is highly unlikely to occur at this time due to the relatively low number of drone fliers, but this risk will increase as civilian use of drones increases, and it's increasing fast.

You talk more "poo" than Biden does. Give me / us a break - you can see a tiny drone 1 mile or more away. BALDERDASH DUDE!

As for FPV - you are probably 95% right - no spotter- but guess what - that is on them. No real difference than you and your 3000 lumen lights.

 

[cgmaxed]

Flies for miles? Think you need to understand VLOS - Visual Line of Sight rules. Sure, DJI and many drone companies "tell you" their drones will fly miles out - yet in the USA and in many countries - that is against the law / rules.

Can you tell us HOW you keep a "visual" on your drone at that mile out? We'd all love to know the secret.

OH, I had something to say about the claims of drone companies saying how far their drones can fly. Range = connection strength = ability to maintain video signal and control of the drone. I use that information, not on how far the drone will go, but I use it to determine how strong the signal will be maintained in areas with scattered objects or errant signals blocking my communication between the drone and RC. When flying low, the tips of trees or the edges of home's roofs interfere with the signal. Then you have to increase altitude to get the signal back. I like to fly as low as possible, but still be able to see my drone. I don't think the drone companies have another way to express how much power or how strong the connection between drone and RC is besides telling us the range.

 

[cgmaxed]

You talk more "poo" than Biden does. Give me / us a break - you can see a tiny drone 1 mile or more away. BALDERDASH DUDE!

As for FPV - you are probably 95% right - no spotter- but guess what - that is on them. No real difference than you and your 3000 lumen lights.

You don't believe you can see 3000 lumen lights 2 miles away? I do it all the time. I CAN SEE THE LIGHT. Really. It's no "balderdash". I'm telling the truth. The lights cost 90 dollars a piece and are well worth it. P.S. I didn't vote for Biden.

 

[cgmaxed]

I was out on Long Island Sunday flying around Kings Park area. Nice weather, slightly windy, nice big fluffy clouds. I was at 200 feet and about a mile out when I went from 5 bars to no signal. I could not reconnect, lucky for me the drone did what it was supposed to do and that was return to home. It did and I resumed flying without any other issues. It wasn't a gradual loss of signal it was full strength then zero. I've seen videos where these drones fly for miles, this flight was a little over one mile. My questions are:

Any idea why this happened? I know there are a lot of factors.
What do I do when I don't have signal?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Lance

Do you want to say anything Mr500CM? Or are you staying out of the thread you initiated. It's fun harassing (debating) each other.

 

[cgmaxed]

Pic of just 1, 1500 lumen spot light attached to drone on a sunny cloudy day in florida, 1 mile away. The picture doesn't do it much justice. I was shooting with a cell phone. It's much brighter on site. The light is in the center of the photo.

 

[Zeprider]

Will you name your $180 dollar solution?

 

[cgmaxed]

Will you name your $180 dollar solution?

The pic is showing the drone with a FENIX E35 tactical light. It's a 3000 lumen light, but drops to 1500 lumens due to heat control mechanism. You oughta see what 2 of these things can do at night when pointed at the ground. It's brilliant, no pun intended.

 

[Merrill277]

I fly in the mountains a lot and basically you need a line of sight to keep a good contact with your MA2. I've flown behind huge boulders perhaps a quarter mile away and lost contact. And like you, the drone fly's up to the ceiling indicated on RTH and then home. Once in range I disable the RTH and continue flying. Its really a nice feature but miles? Not true in many instances. Again line of sight.

 

[Zeprider]

The pic is showing the drone with a FENIX E35 tactical light. It's a 3000 lumen light, but drops to 1500 lumens due to heat control mechanism. You oughta see what 2 of these things can do at night when pointed at the ground. It's brilliant, no pun intended.

That is 65g +/- per light added to the MA2. Not too bad. I would imagine that even small yaw movements would cause it to vanish at 1 mile away. I lose VLOS around H: 200 ft D: 1000 ft (300m) on a clear day with, polarized lenses, and the sun behind me. I would suggest an FAA approved strobe or three.

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

I was out on Long Island Sunday flying around Kings Park area. Nice weather, slightly windy, nice big fluffy clouds. I was at 200 feet and about a mile out when I went from 5 bars to no signal. I could not reconnect, lucky for me the drone did what it was supposed to do and that was return to home. It did and I resumed flying without any other issues. It wasn't a gradual loss of signal it was full strength then zero. I've seen videos where these drones fly for miles, this flight was a little over one mile. My questions are:

Any idea why this happened? I know there are a lot of factors.
What do I do when I don't have signal?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Lance

That is now what I get from all my DJI drones after last firmware updates
About 1mi range from stock controllers as well as the DJI Smart controller and drifting real bad only after update!
Just goes from bad to worse
I have no idea how long they can play these games and keep customers