Mavic Air - Increased Reception Range?

[Pilot25dmc]

Before anyone asks... No, it does not invalidate the warrenty, takes less than 5 minutes to do if your on Android and probably 10 minutes if your an Apple user. You can switch back to CE mode at anytime and this takes seconds.

Its no different to bringing your drone on holiday from a CE country to a FCC one. All your doing us using some software to trick this procedure into happening.

 

[Mike_in_Letcombe]

Before anyone asks... No, it does not invalidate the warrenty, takes less than 5 minutes to do if your on Android and probably 10 minutes if your an Apple user. You can switch back to CE mode at anytime and this takes seconds.

Its no different to bringing your drone on holiday from a CE country to a FCC one. All your doing us using some software to trick this procedure into happening.

Can you say how you convince DJI GO4 to believe you’re in FCC area? Using a VPN?

 

[Pilot25dmc]

I used xCode on my iMac and just ran a developer program on my iPad. xCode has a function that allows you to change the GPS location of your device temporarily to test app functionality in different countries. I chose San Francisco.

Once the Air is connected to the iPad the Air believes its in an FCC country so changes the wifi settings to FCC mode. I then swapped the iPad with my usual iPhone 6s+ and when the warning popped up telling me the Air was now back in a CE location and would I like to change back to CE I just hit ‘cancel’. I will need to hit ‘cancel’ everytime I open the GO4 app, but if I do accidentaly hit the button that switches it back to CE mode then it will only take a few minutes to switch back again.

I have probably made it sound more difficult than it actually is but the video posted above explains it well - if you use Android then its much easier to do.

 

[Malulo]

Have you tried these?

https://www.amazon.com/IRUIS-Platin...sr=8-1-spons&keywords=mavic+air+booster&psc=1

I have not tried them but there some reviews on youtube which shows that they do help extending the connection.

I’m too curious to hear feedback

 

[synaesthesia]

Can you say how you convince DJI GO4 to believe you’re in FCC area? Using a VPN?

Using a VPN to another country wouldn't work as this has no impact on the GPS location detected by the mobile device. It's all about the GPS location detected by the mobile device.

I’m too curious to hear feedback

Yes, these "work", but only if you fully understand what you're doing to the radio signal by using a parabolic range extender in this fashion - you're changing an omnidirectional signal into a directed signal. As such if the drone is within the region the directed signal is being sent to the signal strength will be stronger but everywhere else the signal strength would be much weaker than if you weren't using it.

In practice this means if you're reliably pointing the parabolic range extender in the direction of the drone you will get a somewhat better signal than if you were not using it. If you do not point the parabolic range extender in the direction of the drone you will get a *much* worse signal than if you were not using it.

 

[Mike4884]

Well hopefully most people are pointing the remote and facing the drone! So shouldnt be a problem. Might i suggest the 4hawks antenna...it has made my hd feed as reliable and not lag as my mav pro. Distance is great also

 

[Keule]

Might i suggest the 4hawks antenna...it has made my hd feed as reliable and not lag as my mav pro. Distance is great also

I second that! Just took out my 4Hawks XR for a few test flights - no video hickups, stable signal.

 

[Mike4884]

I second that! Just took out my 4Hawks XR for a few test flights - no video hickups, stable signal.

Sweet u got the xr? She is big! Verizondrone28 just got the xr also. Im liking my sr but i might grab the xr for extreme stuff too it is amazing what it has done to my livefeed and range.....recommend it all day long.

 

[Keule]

u got the xr? She is big!

Yep, but it's not so heavy as expected. Nevertheless, i put all RC stuff on my tripod ;-)

 

[Mike4884]

Sweet let me know how the xr performs for u

 

[Keule]

let me know how the xr performs for u

Will do, i hope the wind decreases a little bit in the afternoon ... ;-)

 

[Mike4884]

Will do, i hope the wind decreases a little bit in the afternoon ... ;-)

Windy here too ...just fresh out of a snow storm ....really need to get back to my scheduled program......distance runs

 

[Mike4884]

Just installed my pp phone mount.... I messed up Iin beginning i should have did it before I installed the antenna bracket ....so I could not install the phone mount .....so what I had to do was instead of taking all of the antenna and remote back apart I just pulled the pin where the phone mount collapses.....slapt it on and then put the pin back in, I was able to get my phone mount on the remote...woot .... pretty slick now and the antenna works and all three stages like normal operation

 

[KevinPritchett]

5.8ghz? I was always under the impression that 2.4 was a stronger, more powerful signal, while 5.8 had greater range. Maybe I am mistaken?

My Titan 2.4 has much better range than my 5.8. But my 5.8 works best when surrounded by trees, buildings, etc.

 

[r0mko]

This has no impact on your return to home location as that is determined by the GPS chip in the drone, not the mobile device's location

In fact, once your drone has switched to FCC mode, you can switch your phone back to normal GPS mode. The only drawback you'll get a warning message offering you to switch to CE mode, but it has a "Cancel" button. So you don't need to spoof GPS all the time.

 

[Verizondrone28]

Took my Raptor XR out for a flight today and just hit my longest distance of 11,437 feet!!! That's 2.16 miles! HUGE! For a comparison, I made this same run twice before with my stock Air controller and maxxed out at 9700 feet both times. The signal would start lagging before 9000 feet and would stutter along until 9700 feet where I'd lose the RC connection. So really, I couldn't do anything between 9000 and 9700 as it was just too laggy on the video feed. With the Raptor XR, I maintained a full smooth video feed right up until the end. I made a different run yesterday that I previously ran with the stock Air controller a few times. With a tree, house, and building in my way, the stock controller would only go about 1500 feet before lagging so much that I had to turn around. I took the Air out to 6700 feet with the Raptor XR. Smooth video feed until the end too. And yes, I'm aware that you shouldn't have obstacles like this in your way but I wanted to see how the Air would handle it. The answer...MUCH better with the Raptor XR. All of these runs were on a 5.8 channel. Those bands are just much more clear in my area.

Guys, this thing DOES work! It's amazing. The Air controller mod was very, very easy as well. If you're decent with tools, you can do the mod in under 45 minutes and the kit comes with the necessary tools (although the job will be a little easier if you have a nice mini screwdriver set). On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the hardest, the mod is a 2. I have the Raptor SR on order now too for times when I want to be a little more portable.

 

[Mike4884]

Yes sir! I am loving my raptor sr on the air... it really does improve everything about range and the HD feed..... it's such a big Improvement on the mavic air versus itelite/4hawks on phantom 3 or 4....i dont know why. Maybe it has something to do with the technology of the mavic air only being "enhanced Wi-Fi" itelite on my phantom 3 and 4 was cool i noticed some improvement if i was to gauge it i would say 15% but the 4hawks on mavic i am going to go with 40% improvement ...maybe more on hd feed! Today I went out to 9000 feet I wasn't trying to do a distance Run or anything I was just flying around. I was live streaming to Facebook recording video and everything was silky smooth all the way out and all the way back in ....it was awesome....we all know live streaming can get laggy while recording or trying to go far... I did not get any lag. Stock i couldnt live stream past 6 or 700 ft it was just to laggy.... I totally recommend this antenna. I love the performance

 

[Verizondrone28]

I was already happy with the Air but this really takes it over the top and gives me more confidence to fly. Not arrogance...just confidence that’ll have a smooth video feed which helps when I’m working the controls for my shots. And it was a fun mod too.

 

[AnzacJack]

Can you say how you convince DJI GO4 to believe you’re in FCC area? Using a VPN?

There are quite a few apps that will spoof the gps into believing it’s somewhere else. I turn this on, power up the mav and it thinks it’s in Chicago (or anywhere I select) and asks me if it wants to change settings, I say yes.
Then turn off gps spoof app.
Now when I start up the mav realises I’m not in an fcc a and asks if I want to change. I say no, then all is good

 

[Mc39]

Thinking about getting the 4Hawks SR. How much does it impact portability? When traveling do you remove the antenna from the rc and if so how quickly does it attach / detach?