Mavic Air range issues

jaewon_aviation_kr · Dec 11, 2019

I’m a newbie drone pilot who used to take aviation photographs.
I really enjoy the quality performance of the Mavic Air. However, the range is not satisfying at all. The official spec says it can go up to 4km. Mine loses connection when it goes 1000m far. With the Signal extender! I tried 2.4G, 5.8G, all firmware updated,tried both my iPhone 7+ and Amazon Fire HD8. They did the same thing. I flew it at suburb areas of Daytona Beach and ‘kinda Urban areas of Oshkosh, WI.
I tried using both USB port and micro usb port. I cleaned the port with a blower.Still the max range was like1000m with lots of interference. Any clues?

Scoobychief · Dec 11, 2019

firstly in suburban area thats not bad, i probably get the same as you in the uk in suburban and i have to use the fcc hack. i would try going somewhere top of a hill out in the open space in the country side away from any airport etc..and give it a good try and see what you get. remember to allways allow enough battery for RTH. and let us know how you get on.

Starz · Dec 11, 2019

Range will vary in the differing areas that your hardware works in. What you’re describing is probably normal and may be increased with some form of range extender, but you will struggle to get a huge increase.
You may want to switch to one of the other DJI platforms like the Mavic series and get to the ocusync transmission system. Everything will have their limits.

joecnc2006 · Dec 11, 2019

You say with a signal extender do you mean just the parabolic ones which slide over the existing antennas or have you actually done the controller mod and installed a patch antenna?

jaewon_aviation_kr · Dec 11, 2019

joecnc2006 said:
You say with a signal extender do you mean just the parabolic ones which slide over the existing antennas or have you actually done the controller mod and installed a patch antenna?

Im not sure of a name but I have $9.99 extender. Might be parabolic

jaewon_aviation_kr · Dec 11, 2019

Starz said:
Range will vary in the differing areas that your hardware works in. What you’re describing is probably normal and may be increased with some form of range extender, but you will struggle to get a huge increase.
You may want to switch to one of the other DJI platforms like the Mavic series and get to the ocusync transmission system. Everything will have their limits.

I could buy renewed Phantom 4 but I was not considering about the range since all the youtube videos were about how good the range was for Mavic Air

Mrmund · Dec 11, 2019

jaewon_aviation_kr said:
I’m a newbie drone pilot who used to take aviation photographs.
I really enjoy the quality performance of the Mavic Air. However, the range is not satisfying at all. The official spec says it can go up to 4km. Mine loses connection when it goes 1000m far. With the Signal extender! I tried 2.4G, 5.8G, all firmware updated,tried both my iPhone 7+ and Amazon Fire HD8. They did the same thing. I flew it at suburb areas of Daytona Beach and ‘kinda Urban areas of Oshkosh, WI.
I tried using both USB port and micro usb port. I cleaned the port with a blower.Still the max range was like1000m with lots of interference. Any clues?

Welcome to the UAS community.
Please realize there are federal regulations and safety concerns that you must be aware of. A good place to start would be here:

Getting Started

www.faa.gov

Good luck and safe flying

joecnc2006 · Dec 11, 2019

theDRONEranger · Dec 11, 2019

Controller antennas always aimed in recommended position?

joecnc2006 · Dec 11, 2019

Patch antenna yes is directional, omni is not

Mavic Air Head · Dec 11, 2019

jaewon_aviation_kr said:
I’m a newbie drone pilot who used to take aviation photographs.
I really enjoy the quality performance of the Mavic Air. However, the range is not satisfying at all. The official spec says it can go up to 4km. Mine loses connection when it goes 1000m far. With the Signal extender! I tried 2.4G, 5.8G, all firmware updated,tried both my iPhone 7+ and Amazon Fire HD8. They did the same thing. I flew it at suburb areas of Daytona Beach and ‘kinda Urban areas of Oshkosh, WI.
I tried using both USB port and micro usb port. I cleaned the port with a blower.Still the max range was like1000m with lots of interference. Any clues?

To be honest, Visual Line of Sight at 1,000 m on a Mavic Air is probably all but impossible. I can only do it with strobes, which technically might not meet the FAA criteria of an "unaided eye", since it is clearly an aid and should the strobes fail......... For the time being strobes are accepted by the pilot community, but I haven't seen anything in the regs saying it qualifies for VLOS compliance (not that I've done a deep dive about it).
I fly in extremely remote areas and have been able to extend out to about 4km, anytime I have dared to, but conditions have to be optimum to spot the AC, and if I glance down at the screen it can be difficult to re-acquire the bird as quickly as regulations seem to demand.
That said, range is certainly an attractive quality and it weighed heavily in my decision to buy the MA, but from a regulatory perspective there is a high degree of risk of flying in violation which would be an issue if something happens that leads to personal injury or property damage. After you read enough here you'll see the possibility of higher risk of losing your aircraft. There is certainly a thrill of actually flying at great distances, but in reality worrying about having enough battery to RTH if you encounter unexpected contrary winds on the return flight and other issues related to extreme distance make it less attractive for me. I've found most of my flights are less than 1km away, with occasional 400' altitude flights to 2 km. I'd recommend flying within the limits your conditions offer and deciding just how essential and practical higher range is for your use. If you need it then the best option is the amplified RC mentioned above.

Starz · Dec 11, 2019

jaewon_aviation_kr said:
I could buy renewed Phantom 4 but I was not considering about the range since all the youtube videos were about how good the range was for Mavic Air

Range on a phantom 4 is not as good as a phantom 4 pro. There is a tread on the phantom site that provides a good amount of info on those. An inspire1 GL658 does help with the p4. The Mavic air does do a snitch better with the sr panel from my experience.

theDRONEranger · Dec 11, 2019

Welcome to the wonderful world of being a drone pilot. Please take a few minutes, if not already, and review the pertinent areas of FAA.gov. While there is no VLOS limit for a recreational pilot, it is helpful to use a strobe as an aid. Review the subject areas of this forum and you will be presented with a plethora of very useful data. Another great area to garner very useful info is MAVICHELP.COM
Again, welcome aboard!

Starz · Dec 11, 2019

joecnc2006 said:
You say with a signal extender do you mean just the parabolic ones which slide over the existing antennas or have you actually done the controller mod and installed a patch antenna?

Parabolic extender is a help, but really doesn’t gain much ground.
Yes, I’ve done several of the various mods.

razoraerial · Dec 11, 2019

jaewon_aviation_kr said:
I’m a newbie drone pilot who used to take aviation photographs.
I really enjoy the quality performance of the Mavic Air. However, the range is not satisfying at all. The official spec says it can go up to 4km. Mine loses connection when it goes 1000m far. With the Signal extender! I tried 2.4G, 5.8G, all firmware updated,tried both my iPhone 7+ and Amazon Fire HD8. They did the same thing. I flew it at suburb areas of Daytona Beach and ‘kinda Urban areas of Oshkosh, WI.
I tried using both USB port and micro usb port. I cleaned the port with a blower.Still the max range was like1000m with lots of interference. Any clues?

Seams to me about right. Oshkosh It will even get blocked at county at that range. You could buy different setup for boosting it