Mini 3 Pro Range Test?

Scoobychief · May 21, 2022

mroek said:
I also did my own little test yesterday. Flew out to 2 km and back. Did start breaking up at 2 km, but it was just a test, and I will most likely never fly that far again. I just wanted to put my mind a bit at ease.

was that in urban area or rural.. in urban i get 750m loose signal and the drone returns home

mroek · May 21, 2022

Scoobychief said:
was that in urban area or rural.. in urban i get 750m loose signal and the drone returns home

It was in a rural area, starting from a reasonably high point (around 150 m above sea level), so not much interference. There is a cell tower not too far from the location, though.

jackalope · May 21, 2022

Macinfo said:
Not sure the analogy really works... but I get the point... I just don't think that flying what is well beyond VLOS is a great idea..

I think the most interesting thing would be if DJI actually came out and showed in a video how they determine the range they put in the specs. However, I will not be holding my breath..

You must not want to photograph anything that's more than a few hundred feet from where you can drive or walk to. For people who are doing things like photogrammetry (drone mapping and 3D modeling) it's necessary to fly far beyond VLOS. The regulations don't make sense and haven't caught up to drone capabilities.

I do get that some people buy drones just to see something go up in the air and yeah for them they would have a lot of fun keeping a tiny drone close enough to see

Cymru · May 22, 2022

Given no consumer drones have true detect and avoid and most dont even have any form of transponder themselves i'd say the drone capabilities currently have nowhere near caught up to what would be required for beyond visual range flight (which is essentially VFR flight without being physically present).

Anyone requiring EVLOS or BVLOS can get the required qualification, authorisation and hardware needed in most countries.

Captain Stavros · May 23, 2022

Scoobychief said:
was that in urban area or rural.. in urban i get 750m loose signal and the drone returns home

My successful long range test was in an urban area. Funnily enough over the weekend I couldn't get more than 800m. The range is inconsistent, in my experience, with both remotes. It's a shame that, for the time, we only have 1 battery and no spares to transfer between for proper comparisons.

Macinfo · May 23, 2022

EpicFlight said:
And that's what you think. There are many fellow pilots that feel just the opposite. For this reason, in part, the FAA is developing rules for BVLOS flight.

Try not to be so narrow in your thinking. There are additional risks flying BVLOS, but they can be mitigated. Just because you have no interest doesn't mean others shouldn't be considered.

If you read my reply, I said "well beyond VLOS", I am sure everyone with potentially very rare exceptions loses visual site of their drone... or flies to capture something interesting that they can see, but your're not going to have a eyes on your drone.

I am not saying never ever... my thinking is not narrow, its more safety related..

EpicFlight · May 23, 2022

Macinfo said:
If you read my reply, I said "well beyond VLOS"

Not sure why you think "well beyond" makes a quark of difference to the point I was making. Just to be clear, well beyond VLOS was included in my point, so was way way way way way beyond VLOS.

Macinfo said:
I am not saying never ever... my thinking is not narrow, its more safety related..

That's narrow thinking I was referring to. Why do you think BVLOS flight can not be done safety?

RogerDH · May 23, 2022

EpicFlight said:
Not sure why you think "well beyond" makes a quark of difference to the point I was making. Just to be clear, well beyond VLOS was included in my point, so was way way way way way beyond VLOS.

That's narrow thinking I was referring to. Why do you think BVLOS flight can not be done safety?

I should think that a minimum requirement for a BVLOS-safe drone would be a 360° camera system with AI scanning for other aircraft -- similar to obstacle avoidance but at a much greater range.

Macinfo · May 24, 2022

EpicFlight said:
Not sure why you think "well beyond" makes a quark of difference to the point I was making. Just to be clear, well beyond VLOS was included in my point, so was way way way way way beyond VLOS.

That's narrow thinking I was referring to. Why do you think BVLOS flight can not be done safety?

If you can’t figure it out yourself, I’m not going to explain it to you.

Jorgeo65 · May 24, 2022

Jorgeo65 said:
I took mine out for its 1st flight today, it wont stop raining here in NSW Australia, but it stopped long enough to get 1 flight in today. you have nothing to worry about, connection was fantastic, I did a bit over 1km run and had full bars all the way, could of gone a lot further but storm clouds were coming and i played it safe. when i turned it to come home it lost a couple of bars, but only for a second, I think the new firmware fixed problems those influencer's were having with connections. you can see the utube video I did on my channel, this is the link.

For anyone interested I have conducted 3 range connection tests on the mini 3 and new controller.
I can say with confidence it has passed all tests, it did over 3km before I lost a couple of bars, could of gone to a least 5k, but it was unnecessary for me, I never go past 1km, but With all the controversy about range problems I had to see for myself, and it passed with flying colours, at least here in Australia.
I'm so happy I sold my mav 2 for the mini, the new controller makes things so much easier, and I think I will b using the mini much more then the mavic.
I won't bother posting my utube here, it will upset to many people, even though the 3km test was conducted on private property. We are living in times where we are over governed and governments that claim they are keeping us safe, in reality just like to impose their power over us. If the us government cared about its people they wouldn't of sent 60 billion to Ukraine for weapons, imagine what 60 billion could do for its own people.
Anyway, thats my rant for today, sorry for going off subject. Conclusion is mini 3 and new controller is a great product.

mavicn00b · May 24, 2022

Id be curious to know if the what band people testing are flying on? In Europe/CE region on 5.8Ghz I wouldnt expect the quad to get very far due to the lower power however on 2.4 It may go a little further despite the congestion on the band.

In USA, either band would be fine.

In Australia, its a little bit of a mixed bag. On the 2.4Ghz band the drone operates much like Europe/CE however in the 5.8Ghz the power levels are closer to that of the USA/FCC so may find the range substantially better as that band typically has much less congestion.

On the Mavic 2 series with O2 they utilise both bands with data link running on one band and video link on another however I'm not sure if thats been extended to the Mini 2/3

RogerDH · May 24, 2022

Jorgeo65 said:
... We are living in times where we are over governed and governments that claim they are keeping us safe, in reality just like to impose their power over us...

It's easy to carp about it, but there is exactly one reason that air travel is almost unbelievably safe: the FAA.

EpicFlight · May 24, 2022

RogerDH said:
It's easy to carp about it, but there is exactly one reason that air travel is almost unbelievably safe: the FAA.

Nope.

Raffaello_IZ0QWM · May 25, 2022

Now I post two videos more.
One is comparative with MINI 2:

https://tinyurl.com/3s3hhktp

And one is a very long, long range test

https://tinyurl.com/a8xvvryv

MaximusCZ · May 25, 2022

Raffaello_IZ0QWM said:
Now I post two videos more.
One is comparative with MINI 2:

https://tinyurl.com/3s3hhktp

And one is a very long, long range test

https://tinyurl.com/a8xvvryv

**** thats really far! Which battery did you fly on (smaller one or "plus" one?), and what was the actual flight time?

Raffaello_IZ0QWM · May 25, 2022

MaximusCZ said:
**** thats really far! Which battery did you fly on (smaller one or "plus" one?), and what was the actual flight time?Oh

Oh they are not made by me. I found on Internet.

MaximusCZ · May 25, 2022

Well then the range test has pretty much 0 value for anyone here... You should state that fact at the video description too

jackalope · May 25, 2022

RogerDH said:
I should think that a minimum requirement for a BVLOS-safe drone would be a 360° camera system with AI scanning for other aircraft -- similar to obstacle avoidance but at a much greater range.

If your Air 2S or similar size drone is where airplanes are flying, you can't see it so VLOS doesn't have any benefit. You also would not be able to gauge height and proximity visually. Humans just don't have that ability. ADS-B is helpful because it shows you the height and location of aircraft

Wreckhunter · May 25, 2022

jackalope said:
If your Air 2S or similar size drone is where airplanes are flying, you can't see it so VLOS doesn't have any benefit. You also would not be able to gauge height and proximity visually. Humans just don't have that ability. ADS-B is helpful because it shows you the height and location of aircraft

Providing the aircraft has the box onboard not all of them do.I find its about 50% of aircraft have it when flying
my air 2.So helpful yes,but not a cure all by any means.

jackalope · May 25, 2022

Wreckhunter said:
Providing the aircraft has the box onboard not all of them do.I find its about 50% of aircraft have it when flying
my air 2.So helpful yes,but not a cure all by any means.

But my point is seeing the drone isn't any better. If I'm flying at 400 feet or lower and an airplane is about to hit it, I will not even see the plane until it's too late unless it was like wide open farmland or ocean, and even then I wouldn't be able to tell whether it's at the same height. It's just geometry