Mini 3 Pro Range Test?

boldblue737 · May 17, 2022

More discussion and examples of range tests here in this outstanding video about the new RC controller. I've cued it up to the appropriate part but the entire video is worth a watch. The news remains not good.

David_D · May 17, 2022

Victhor said:
Tested at almost 3000m altitude (the limit for the large batteries)
1st test, standard battery and DJI RC: 5830m (battery limit)
2nd test, large battery and standard controller: 5319m (signal limit, and still 45% battery left when landed)
He could have gone a bit further, but he didn't want to risk too much. He says both controllers started to have poor signal at the same distance. It is interesting that in the second flight the drone was moving sideways (instead of straight forward) for no reason, so he switched of "lateral flight" option, and then it was fine.

Thank you. It is interesting to see the Mini 3 Pro can reach this range in this test while other tests from others can reach only about 1-1.5km. Wondering if the height (3000m) has anything to do with it ?

RogerDH · May 17, 2022

Scoobychief said:
Appauling range from mini 3

That's a bit difficult to understand. Could you please provide a summary?

Paradigm · May 17, 2022

Another disappointing result.

David_D · May 17, 2022

Another video (UK urban - flying at 40m height) which shows the transmission signal is not good on the Mini 3 Pro.

cap7ainclu7ch · May 17, 2022

Do we have any tests in areas that have the stronger transmission rates? Seems like its just the US?

MarkO · May 17, 2022

Stupid question, but is the Mini 2 remote compatible with the mini 3?
Flight distance is my biggest concern. Shouldn't it be at least the same as with the mini 2?

boldblue737 · May 18, 2022

MarkO said:
Stupid question, but is the Mini 2 remote compatible with the mini 3?
Flight distance is my biggest concern. Shouldn't it be at least the same as with the mini 2?

It is compatible. I would think distance should be the same but early reports are it is not, perhaps the antenna in the drone was changed in a way that negatively affects range. We will have to see more detailed tests in the coming days and see the difference between the mini 3 in Europe vs the USA (Europe has reduced range due to radio strength laws.)

leebroath · May 18, 2022

So another option could be, once the RC Pro is able to work with the Mini 3 Pro

We should see far better ranges and less signal drops?

george formby · May 18, 2022

Mini 3 Pro drone antennas are horizontaly polorised.
Non screen RC are verticle.
Not ideal when looking for signal strength.

David_D · May 18, 2022

george formby said:
Mini 3 Pro drone antennas are horizontaly polorised.
Non screen RC are verticle.
Not ideal when looking for signal strength.

Do you know if Min2 drone antennas are horizontally or vertically polarised?

mavicn00b · May 18, 2022

Sounds like we got a real winner on our hands with the premium RC.

/s

george formby · May 18, 2022

Mini 1 and 2 are verticle as are their controllers.

c64-dev · May 18, 2022

george formby said:
Mini 3 Pro drone antennas are horizontaly polorised.
Non screen RC are verticle.
Not ideal when looking for signal strength.

Where are the antennas located in the M3P?

Raffaello_IZ0QWM · May 18, 2022

Hi folks,
so I opened the DJ RC and I found these antennas.
They look like monopole antennas with the ground plane on the top and some adaptation to have the radiation lobe more on the front.
Only one of them transmith.
The drone I have also tested but not opened. Only two antennas transmit but not at the same time.
If it is a monopole keep in mind that the radiation pattern is similar to this onw

David_D · May 18, 2022

Raffaello_IZ0QWM said:
Hi folks,
so I opened the DJ RC and I found these antennas.
They look like monopole antennas with the ground plane on the top and some adaptation to have the radiation lobe more on the front.
Only one of them transmith.
The drone I have also tested but not opened. Only two antennas transmit but not at the same time.
If it is a monopole keep in mind that the radiation pattern is similar to this onw

Thanks. Do you mean with the DJI Smart Controller has 2 antennas inside but only one of them transmits at a time (ie. both transmits but only one working each time) ??

cyborg · May 18, 2022

someone flew 5kms in FCC

globetrotterdrone · May 19, 2022

cyborg said:
someone flew 5kms in FCC

Unfortunately, my sister-in-law is not reachable, otherwise she could translate Vietnamese, but as said, he did this in FCC with about 5 km in range. Thumbswayup

One thing to notice about Vietnam: it is not only heavily congested with motorbikes but has an ubiquitous amount of cell towers for mobiles.

Given that, I see the need for FCC mod going strong.

Raffaello_IZ0QWM · May 19, 2022

David_D said:
Thanks. Do you mean with the DJI Smart Controller has 2 antennas inside but only one of them transmits at a time (ie. both transmits but only one working each time) ??

I think you mean the DJI RC (New DJI RC with Mini 3). From what I measured, it has only one antenna that can transmit. I never seen in my tests the other transmitting.

Even on the drone I only saw two antennas in transmission but not at the same time. They never switched while it was on in test, the only way to switch the TX was to switch the drone off and on.
But I don't know in flight how it behaves and what makes it prefer one antenna or the other in transmission.

I will do further tests

cyborg · May 19, 2022

globetrotterdrone said:
Unfortunately, my sister-in-law is not reachable, otherwise she could translate Vietnamese, but as said, he did this in FCC with about 5 km in range. One thing to notice about Vietnam: it is not only heavily congested with motorbikes but has an ubiquitous amount of cell towers for mobiles.

Given that, I seen the need for FCC mod going strong.

yess.. if it can go 5km with FCC mode, I am sold