Mavic Mini, first flight, first scare!

[Aragon]

Yes, it is a residential area. yes, no open space around me. Yes, my location to broadcast the signal was far from good...
But, the flight was a simple fly straight up, do a quick 360, come back.
At 66m high, 17m distance, in perfect clear view, AC lost connection to RC and started RTH!!
I caught it back online at altitude of 15m!
Yup, 5Ghz in EU the range is not good.

 

[LeSchmoo]

I did a similar thing, got up to about 35M and the wind caught it (just enough to get the heart beating)! Waiting for all three batteries to charge so I can head of to a park (before it gets dark).

 

[old man mavic]

wi fi has never been very good in city or urban areas with lots of buildings and interference around,also wet trees will absorb the signal much better than dry ones i know its difficult but wait till you can go to an open area good luck

 

[Aragon]

Yeah, patience was never one of my virtues! ?

So after my heart returned to normal, and I no longer needed to think of a good story to explain to my neighbor why an aircraft landed on his roof... I tried again...

And again, anything above 35m wifi goes nuts, RC/AC start complaining of interference, RC lost connection again, but this time I was ready for it, so it just went down 2 meters before I regain control.

But it was worth it, just for this picture!!

 

[scooot]

Yeah, patience was never one of my virtues! ?

So after my heart returned to normal, and I no longer needed to think of a good story to explain to my neighbor why an aircraft landed on his roof... I tried again...

And again, anything above 35m wifi goes nuts, RC/AC start complaining of interference, RC lost connection again, but this time I was ready for it, so it just went down 2 meters before I regain control.

But it was worth it, just for this picture!!View attachment 85323

After reading this?I might cancel mine ?

 

[Andart]

I did a similar thing, got up to about 35M and the wind caught it (just enough to get the heart beating)! Waiting for all three batteries to charge so I can head of to a park (before it gets dark).

Change ghz to the 2.4

 

[scooot]

Change ghz to the 2.4

He can’t he is in Europe

 

[Aragon]

I thought about that, but I'm not sure if that wouldn't be jumping from the pan into the fire. I knew this is a residential area, but was not expecting it to be that bad, 5Ghz is still the cleanest band.

 

[Chris Baish]

Yes, it is a residential area. yes, no open space around me. Yes, my location to broadcast the signal was far from good...
But, the flight was a simple fly straight up, do a quick 360, come back.
At 66m high, 17m distance, in perfect clear view, AC lost connection to RC and started RTH!!
I caught it back online at altitude of 15m!
Yup, 5Ghz in EU the range is not good.

The RC signal directly (or nearly directly) above is often weak with WiFi drones and often improves as you start to fly away. This is down to the directional nature of the signal and is to be expected. Used to be the same with my Mavic Air. In the DJI guidance they recommend you align your antennae differently when flying above vs. when you are flying at distance.

 

[Chris Baish]

 

[DanMan32]

It's USA via FCC that doesn't have 2.4.
No idea why.

 

[Aragon]

The RC signal directly (or nearly directly) above is often weak with WiFi drones and often improves as you start to fly away. This is down to the directional nature of the signal and is to be expected. Used to be the same with my Mavic Air. In the DJI guidance they recommend you align your antennae differently when flying above vs. when you are flying at distance.

Correct, and I was lucky that I read that before. When I lost connection the first time I quickly changed the antennas orientation, and it helped.
On the second fly, the antenas were aligned all the time.

 

[floyd]

Now we'll genuinely find out the good, bad, pro, and con about this drone via folks who handed over their hard-earned money and have no stock in DJI.

 

[hiflyer201]

It's WIFI...get used to it. It has severe limitations

 

[old man mavic]

It's WIFI...get used to it. It has severe limitations

thats true, but those limitations are based on location and background interference, and vary all the time ,and those same limitations also apply to all lower end drones that dont benefit from occusync

 

[Fizzbang]

If you are going straight up, the drone aerials are vertical and above you?
The controller aerials should parallel to the drone aerials not at 90 degrees to them.
Since the onboard aerials are vertical and above, it is difficult to be parallel to them unless there is some horizontal distance between the drone and the controller.

I tried to draw this but failed.. Hope some of it makers sense.

 

[Chris Baish]

If you are going straight up, the drone aerials are vertical and above you?
The controller aerials should parallel to the drone aerials not at 90 degrees to them.
Since the onboard aerials are vertical and above, it is difficult to be parallel to them unless there is some horizontal distance between the drone and the controller.

I tried to draw this but failed.. Hope some of it makers sense.

I posted a diagram further up to illustrate this very point.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yes, it is a residential area. yes, no open space around me. Yes, my location to broadcast the signal was far from good...
But, the flight was a simple fly straight up, do a quick 360, come back.
At 66m high, 17m distance, in perfect clear view, AC lost connection to RC and started RTH!!
I caught it back online at altitude of 15m!
Yup, 5Ghz in EU the range is not good.

On the Mini, I thought Europe and CE was 2.4Ghz only, and U.S. and FCC was 5.8Ghz only. Don't you mean 2.4Ghz?

 

[Thomas B]

If you are going straight up, the drone aerials are vertical and above you?
The controller aerials should parallel to the drone aerials not at 90 degrees to them.
Since the onboard aerials are vertical and above, it is difficult to be parallel to them unless there is some horizontal distance between the drone and the controller.

I tried to draw this but failed.. Hope some of it makers sense.

I posted a diagram further up to illustrate this very point.

For all round best reception DJI recommends orienting the flat side, not the top, at the aircraft... on the M2P The antenna ar almost vertical inside the front legs.... the best signal will be sent from the flat side of the controller antennae oriented toward the bird, not pointing at it. The latter is actually the poorest for communication.
You can’t change the drone (easily) so just follow the directions in the online, 69 page, DJI manual.

 

[Simmo]

On the Mini, I thought Europe and CE was 2.4Ghz only, and U.S. and FCC was 5.8Ghz only. Don't you mean 2.4Ghz?

Nah, see the specs. CE is both bands.

• Transmission Power (EIRP)
• Model MT1SS5
  5.8 GHz: <30 dBm (FCC); <28 dBm (SRRC)
  Model MT1SD25
  2.4 GHz: <19 dBm (MIC/CE)
  5.8 GHz: <14 dBm (CE)