Mini 2 control distance

Slawaw · Jan 22, 2022

I tried it, it's boring

heywood_youdroneme · Jan 22, 2022

photo2be said:
Hi, I can't really understand why you who are doing "range tests" have to fly far away... why don't you just fly much shorter distance fwd and back many times?

nder

Is it that hard to believe I want to test the limits of this thing to see how far out I can go and get shots?

Slawaw · Jan 23, 2022

In order not to lose the drone on long-distance flights, the tracker saves.

Bodkin's Best Photography · Jan 23, 2022

PascalG said:
The longest distance I ve flown was a 4 miles/ 6.2 km round trip in sports mode. 10’ 30” flight landed back on the boat with 17% battery

View attachment 142053

Try it in normal mode. Sport eats battery quicker.

Greatfullded · Jan 24, 2022

heywood_youdroneme said:
I've gotten 5 miles in a pretty flat but not perfect area with few obstructions. I could have gone further than I did based on battery. I can usually get 2-3 miles even with a couple of obstacles around. With a forest around or serious obstacles and interference I can still usually get at least a mile.

This little drone can really get out there! Some tips: I noticed I get a lot better range when I put my phone in airplane mode. And make sure you're holding the controller properly. Maybe get the Yagi-Uda device to add to your controller. I've noticed that interference from wifi will be a big factor in range, including your own.

Thats the best tip i read in awhile.. and makes sence.. Put your phone on Airplane mode... cause i get messages, news flash, earthquake sensor readings.. I live in Los Angeles.. ect... this way your phone is dedicated to the drone and not pinging out to recieve messages and other stuff.... Thanks ..

RogerDH · Jan 25, 2022

Bodkin's Best Photography said:
Try it in normal mode. Sport eats battery quicker.

That reminds me, there was some talk a while back about doing some tests to find the optimal speed to get optimal distance, but I never saw any results posted. I had assumed that DJI would set the auto-RTH speed to whatever they had determined to be optimal, but after reading some of that discussion, I'm not so sure -- I think it's possible that max speed is optimal. I set up a waypoint mission in Dronelink to fly in a square until low-power RTH, intending to rerun at different speeds, but I didn't get around to running it yet -- maybe this spring. Has anyone done any quantitative testing?

Slawaw · Jan 25, 2022

RogerDH said:
That reminds me, there was some talk a while back about doing some tests to find the optimal speed to get optimal distance, but I never saw any results posted. I had assumed that DJI would set the auto-RTH speed to whatever they had determined to be optimal, but after reading some of that discussion, I'm not so sure -- I think it's possible that max speed is optimal. I set up a waypoint mission in Dronelink to fly in a square until low-power RTH, intending to rerun at different speeds, but I didn't get around to running it yet -- maybe this spring. Has anyone done any quantitative testing?

I have tested for Mavic Air and Mavic Pro. The lowest battery consumption for level flight is 48 km/h.
On the Mavic Mini, I set a horizontal speed of 48-52 km / h using the free section of the Dron-Hacke program.
g_config.mode_sport_cfg.tilt_atti_range / default =

RC_Adik · Jan 25, 2022

The M2 manual indicates that 17kph, (km/h) or about 15.5ft/s provides max flight time. I would think a circle would be a better test than a square FP to test.

Slawaw · Jan 25, 2022

Is there a concept of "far" and "long"? It took me 26 minutes to fly 10 km and return.
At a speed of 17 km / h in 30 minutes I will fly 4.25 km and return back. It is not enough))

RogerDH · Jan 25, 2022

RC_Adik said:
The M2 manual indicates that 17kph, (km/h) or about 15.5ft/s provides max flight time. I would think a circle would be a better test than a square FP to test.

Maybe, but that might be something else to test. Anyway, the point of contention is that max flight time does not necessarily mean max distance traveled. I was mainly interested in maximizing mapping mission distances and in knowing the best speed for a bee-line home when power is low, so I thought a square would be better than a circle.

seadoodude · Feb 4, 2022

I did a range test under several scenarios, longest flight was 16,400 feet.

Greatfullded · Feb 4, 2022

ashyt16 said:
I'm finding it slightly difficult to accept 5 miles.
That would mean 5 miles out 5 miles back. Just can't see how the battery could sustain such a flight even on the best of days. It would absolutely be on the wire and would require zero obstacles.
Km's sure.

My thoughts exactly, if i even came close to 5 miles, my drone flight would be a Kamakazi flight into the ground, what next testing how high can your drone sustain a dead props situation ?? If your going to need a drone to fly that kind of distance u need to get a drone for such task. Its nice to know that the mini 2 can do that in a perfect inviroment ect but not all batteries are the same in holding charge too so its back to the perfect situation and with my luck my battery would go dead and my drone lands in a sewer treatment plant.

Slawaw · Feb 5, 2022

I'm trying to find the economical speed for the Mini 2 by test. Today it's 38 km/h. The Mini 2 is very different from its Mavic Air and Mavic Pro (50 km/h) ancestors.

Slawaw · Feb 5, 2022

I flew 6.5 km today. No problem. But it's just cold.

Dushash · Feb 5, 2022

Slawaw said:
I flew 6.5 km today. No problem. But it's just cold.

Are you using custom made 3500 batteries from 2S for Mini2? I'm in Canada and I want to buy something like that, but can't find it on ebay. I watched several videos how to make them, but it's always some info missing and involves precise soldering too. Plus no info on what exactly to buy to make such custom battery. I know about link with some guy in Netherland selling it, but it's private message only and then you have to deal with paying using weird process. Would be much easier for me to just buy it from ebay, but I can't find anything yet. I saw some Chinese alibaba pics, but alibaba takes months to deliver to Canada and then if something goes wrong it takes forever to fix it.

Slawaw · Feb 5, 2022

Dushash said:
Are you using custom made 3500 batteries from 2S for Mini2? I'm in Canada and I want to buy something like that, but can't find it on ebay. I watched several videos how to make them, but it's always some info missing and involves precise soldering too. Plus no info on what exactly to buy to make such custom battery. I know about link with some guy in Netherland selling it, but it's private message only and then you have to deal with paying using weird process. Would be much easier for me to just buy it from ebay, but I can't find anything yet. I saw some Chinese alibaba pics, but alibaba takes months to deliver to Canada and then if something goes wrong it takes forever to fix it.

I made it myself from elements with Aliexpress. On the kitchen)

edfrombama · Feb 6, 2022

Good morning to all-
I'm the OP on this little discussion. I have enjoyed reading all of the comments expressed so far. It's obvious this site has some intelligent people and some good drone flyers.
I took my little drone out this frosty, chilly morning- I do so love early Sunday mornings for flying- fewer things going on, less wifi interference, usually just a quiet time.
Anyway, I took off and flew my standard path. I will not report how far I was able to get the little bird to fly, but this morning was my personal best out and back flight. When I got back to launch point, the drone was going into emergency landing from low battery- I played it just about as close as I want to do.
But the point is, this little bird works so well. The controls are smooth and present very little lag, The bird responds to control, and the information presented on the controller is accurate and very helpful to me.
I wish all of my tools- cars, boats, fishing gear, cameras- worked as well as my Mini 2.
In fact, I'm considering buying another Mini 2. I really don't want a lot more from a drone, so I don't think the upcoming Mini 3- whenever that occasion comes about- will be of much attraction to me. but I surely do want to have a Mini 2 ready to fly at all times.

You all be safe and keep well- Ed

Dushash · Feb 6, 2022

Today I flew Mini 2 in Canada at 2F (-17C) temperature with wind 18mph with gusts 30mph. I flew it at 200ft altitude going as high as 350ft and occasional descents to 100ft. Used a x3 zoom in 2.7k video and also used x4 zoom in 1080p video recording. Total flight time 18 minutes and landed with 21% battery. All stock, no mods.
Mini 2 is extremely capable drone. I am very much amazed how tough it is. Handled this extreme weather without issues. Cold wasn't the problem at all. I monitored battery temperature and it stayed at 75F. I did have to switch to Sport mode at one point going head against wind. In N mode it was slow flying against wind, but was still flying ok, probably could have kept N mode, but wanted to test Sport mode. I can't even imagine what kind of wind will stop Mini 2 in Sport mode. Has to be way more than 30mph gusts that I experienced and Mini 2 handled it just fine in Sport mode.

So far the only condition I am curious about is snow and rain. I'm sure it will handle them too, but I don't want water to get inside it, so I'll skip this test until I get some rain skin covers or something.

Also, I encountered my wife playing with dog outside in the field and this drone is so quiet that she didn't even noticed it when Mini 2 was hovering about 100ft from her sideways and about 90ft altitude. Dog haven't noticed it either. It was windy so I think drone noise was somewhat subdued, but still this is amazing drone - probably the only one from DJI that has such "stealth" capabilities. Well there's SE too, but I think Oculus technology alone is worth buying Mini 2 for.

I have fly more package and me and my kids already have 27 flights. They fly indoors with propeller guards while I fly outdoors. We bought it used for $400 and I'm glad I chose Mini 2 instead of more expensive drones. I was considering Air 2S, but it would have been larger, noisier, more expensive and I would fly less for sure with it, especially indoors.