Mavic air 2 range question

[scotwilsn72]

Hey guys I’ve had my mavic air 2 for about 2 weeks now and before that I had the mavic mini. I like to think I have gotten pretty good at flying , but the only thing is because of Covid I haven’t had a chance to take the drones off my street yet, but I have miles of forest directly in my back yard and every time I take my drone up near the trees I start to get nervous. I’m afraid that it’s instantly going to lose signal and I’ll lose the drone. I’m a very careful flyer but I’ve done everything I can do on the street and want to raise the bar a little, but I’m just curious what would happen if I went beyond the trees and kept flying and if it would lose signal or all the above? The woods are very dense and if I had to guess the trees are probably about 40-60 feet tall each just so you can get an idea of the scale of things sorry if this was confusing I appreciate whoever reads this.

 

[Meta4]

I’m just curious what would happen if I went beyond the trees and kept flying and if it would lose signal or all the above?

What happens will depend on what you do.
You don't explain what you might be planning to do.

The leaves and branches and trunks of trees are full of water, which isn't penetrated by the radio frequencies used by the drone.
If you have a few branches between you and the drone, that's no problem.
But if you have too much vegetation blocking the line of sight between the controller and drone, the control signal will be lost.
If you have a clear, unobstructed line of sight to the drone, the signal will carry for several kilometres.
You can get an idea of the drone's potential range from the specs for your machine.

 

[Saladshooter]

Hey guys I’ve had my mavic air 2 for about 2 weeks now and before that I had the mavic mini. I like to think I have gotten pretty good at flying , but the only thing is because of Covid I haven’t had a chance to take the drones off my street yet, but I have miles of forest directly in my back yard and every time I take my drone up near the trees I start to get nervous. I’m afraid that it’s instantly going to lose signal and I’ll lose the drone. I’m a very careful flyer but I’ve done everything I can do on the street and want to raise the bar a little, but I’m just curious what would happen if I went beyond the trees and kept flying and if it would lose signal or all the above? The woods are very dense and if I had to guess the trees are probably about 40-60 feet tall each just so you can get an idea of the scale of things sorry if this was confusing I appreciate whoever reads this.

Make sure your return to home setting is above the tallest structure in your path and you shouldn't have much of a problem. The Air 2 is extremely reliable and should toward home if it drops its signal. Once the signal is reacquired you with have the choice to take command again or let it come all the way home.

As Meta4 says a clear line of sight will give you plenty of range without drops. If you choose to fly beyond the line of sight and put trees in the way you will shorten you range exponentially and you are almost certainly flying outside of legalities. Flying higher over the trees should extend your line of sight quite a bit.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Unfortunately loosing signal is part of flying a drone . The drone is designed to engage the RTH feature when you loose signal.

When your flying over the tress , try to keep adding alt and watch the bars , and dont panic when you loose signal. If the RTH does not engage after about 10 seconds you can also engage the RTH yourself.

One thing I would do is set you RTH a little higher to gain the strongest signal on the way back min 300 ft.

You also might want to practice using the RTH feature , as it can be used several times in a single flight just to get quick orientation of your drone.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[BSauce955]

Also, I hate to say it but you're not supposed to go farther than visual line of sight. Just have to point that out.

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

I used to sit on the roof of my house, so I could fly over the woods behind my house. If you can see the drone the signal will remain strong. Losing sight of it because of trees you'll lose the signal easily. Maybe you can construct a tree house in the woods. Not kidding. The higher you are, the better the signal you get and the better to maintain VLOS.

 

[Squidinc]

I use YAGI range extenders on my MA2. 2.4ghz for clear open areas, & 5.8ghz in more built up areas. They do make a difference depending upon conditions

 

[wardtom084]

Altitude, altitude and you will be fine. Remember there are more drones in water than they are trees. At least with the trees you have a chance of recovery, water not so much.

 

[tlswift58]

Everybody is correct. Don't try and fly at treetop level for 1/2 - 1 mile. Won't probably happen without signal loss.

At 200-400 ft up AGL - losing signal is far less likely at maybe up to 1/4 mile away. Can you see see it that far - VLOS? Doubtful. Technically, once you start passing over the trees, even 200 ft away and cannot see the drone - that is loss of VLOS and time to bring it back within. Do we push the envelopes - yes we do. Should you be 1/2 - 1 mile out, that is a different story and bad things can happen. Typically in a large forest area - you may lose your drone. In an open area with people - well a drone strike on a person won't earn you "Man of the Year!"

Take your drone up over the woods - play - have fun - but be very aware and safety should always be in play.

 

[wardtom084]

Everybody is correct. Don't try and fly at treetop level for 1/2 - 1 mile. Won't probably happen without signal loss.

At 200-400 ft up AGL - losing signal is far less likely at maybe up to 1/4 mile away. Can you see see it that far - VLOS? Doubtful. Technically, once you start passing over the trees, even 200 ft away and cannot see the drone - that is loss of VLOS and time to bring it back within. Do we push the envelopes - yes we do. Should you be 1/2 - 1 mile out, that is a different story and bad things can happen. Typically in a large forest area - you may lose your drone. In an open area with people - well a drone strike on a person won't earn you "Man of the Year!"

Take your drone up over the woods - play - have fun - but be very aware and safety should always be in play.

I have flown out to a mile with no problem. Firehouse strobes. In the mountains of NC and pay no attention to trees. I am up at least 400 feet and some times higher on the mountain tops. Just stay away from the water.

 

[tlswift58]

I have flown out to a mile with no problem. Firehouse strobes. In the mountains of NC and pay no attention to trees. I am up at least 400 feet and some times higher on the mountain tops. Just stay away from the water.

I may need those strobes if I or you can see them a mile away. ??

I usually fly way above tree top level and I do fly over a lot of water with no issues. Can't do much waterfalling and not fly over water. Also fly way below treetop and close to that nasty rhododendron / mountain laurel.

 

[wardtom084]

I may need those strobes if I or you can see them a mile away. ??

I usually fly way above tree top level and I do fly over a lot of water with no issues. Can't do much waterfalling and not fly over water. Also fly way below treetop and close to that nasty rhododendron / mountain laurel.

They are 3 mile firehouse strobes

dji drone strobe light anti collision light drone strobe light www.firehousetechnology.com

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

They are 3 mile firehouse strobes

dji drone strobe light anti collision light drone strobe light www.firehousetechnology.com

Here are two red and green ones I put on sticks so I could see them far away and be able to tell the orientation. These are the XL version. they have a beacon and 6 leds.

 

[MA2 317]

Here are two red and green ones I put on sticks so I could see them far away and be able to tell the orientation. These are the XL version. they have a beacon and 6 leds.View attachment 132910

Love the Sharpie landing gear. ?

I use a Sharpie everyday at work marking material.

 

[Interficiam Stercore]

Love the Sharpie landing gear. ?

I use a Sharpie everyday at work marking material.

They work great. I did that to my Mav 2P as well. and yes, sometimes they get in the way of the camera. But I'm not some super professional photographer.

 

[scotwilsn72]

Hey guys I’ve had my mavic air 2 for about 2 weeks now and before that I had the mavic mini. I like to think I have gotten pretty good at flying , but the only thing is because of Covid I haven’t had a chance to take the drones off my street yet, but I have miles of forest directly in my back yard and every time I take my drone up near the trees I start to get nervous. I’m afraid that it’s instantly going to lose signal and I’ll lose the drone. I’m a very careful flyer but I’ve done everything I can do on the street10.0.0.0.1 and want to raise the bar a little, but I’m just curious what would happen if I went beyond the trees and kept flying and if it would lose signal 192.168.1.254 or all the above? The woods are very dense and if I had to guess the trees are probably about 40-60 feet tall each just so you can get an idea of the scale of things sorry if this was confusing I appreciate whoever reads this.

issue got solvedd

 

[MS Coast]

"I’m afraid that it’s instantly going to lose signal "

I suspect that in most cases, signal loss will not be "instant," except for situations like flying behind a building. In the case of flying out over trees, the signal will probably decline gradually as distance and the amount of tree canopy between the drone and controller increase.

Keep an eye on the signal strength indicator on the screen and get cautious as soon as you see a decline.

Gaining altitude and keeping the controller's antennas pointed in the right direction will help.

 

[DroneZone Thailand]

I would also recommend the "Yagi" antennas ...

In the range up to 2 miles, the 5.8 Ghz are popular and work perfectly. (They go like a laser through the woods and trees)

See here my test from last year:

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