Mini 3 Pro range? What's your experience been like?

[Chaosrider]

@saltydrone just need to clarify your statement in your post#17 above when you said no set altitude, actually there is a 400ft maximum height limit in place ,so i am assuming you meant no set minimum altitude AGL

I get the 400 ft warning all the time, and I just dismiss it, because I get it when I'm climbing up the side of a mountain.

What I didn't originally realize was that in addition to that warning, there's a way for the user to set the max altitude in the settings, but not above 500 m. I've noticed that some updates leave the settings in weird conditions.

I wonder if that could be part of the issue here?

Thx.

 

[old man mavic]

@Chaosrider its always good practice before an update to make a note of your preferred settings ,because they will go back to factory during an update ,that way you can after the update check to see if they have changed, things like RTH height max distance metric or imperial can become altered as well as others i havent mentioned

 

[Peterson]

High desert location with near zero humidity this guy I use to fly with in New Mexico (MP2) in flat desert no trees, buildings or people for about 30 miles in any direction use to routinely fly 22,176 feet distance and still maneuver craft well. Would auto RTH at about 23,760 feet. Usually at about 300 ft AGL to clear power lines. BTW that would be 4.2 and 4.5 miles for those of us that can't do the conversion in our heads. Also for those wanting to put their two cents worth in it was his own ranch and land and there were no known flight paths anywhere near his property. Just putting things in perspective.

 

[old man mavic]

regardless of whether it was his land or not doesnt really make any difference ,and you obviously know it was outside of the rules ,thats why you mentioned it,just putting things in perspective

 

[saltydrone]

@saltydrone just need to clarify your statement in your post#17 above when you said no set altitude, actually there is a 400ft maximum height limit in place ,so i am assuming you meant no set minimum altitude AGL

No, the 400' limit applies to drones 250g+. Only 900.06 of the Canadian Aeronautical Regulations apply :
"No person shall operate a remotely piloted aircraft system in such a reckless or negligent manner as to endanger or be likely to endanger aviation safety or the safety of any person."

Notice the word "should" regarding altitude, etc:

https://tc.canada.ca/sites/default/files/2020-06/drones-less-than-250g-en.png

 

[MarkO]

It'll be another month or so (according to DJI) when I get my mini 3 with standard controller. I've gotten 3 miles both with my original Mavic and also with the mini 2. This is flying up in the mountains with great clear range and minimal interference, The reviews form folks from the US and have other drones has got me concerned to say the least, and if I get similar results, I'll likely be returning it.

 

[Chaosrider]

@Chaosrider its always good practice before an update to make a note of your preferred settings ,because they will go back to factory during an update ,that way you can after the update check to see if they have changed, things like RTH height max distance metric or imperial can become altered as well as others i havent mentioned

Sometimes they get reset, and sometimes they don't. That seems to be less of a problem recently, compared to a year ago.

I haven't seen an update recently, but I might not, since I set it to auto-update.

Yours is a good suggestion, but I generally just go fly. Worst case, it will keep me from doing what I want on any given flight, and then I'll have to bring it back and do the setting re-setting. I profoundly hate changing settings in-flight, which is why I resisted the (extremely valuable) advice to take the FPV off in Normal, even when I intend to fly in Manual, and do the switch in the air. Which I did, and I'm glad I did.

At this point I might be able to take-off in Manual with the FPV successfully, but I certainly couldn't have initially.

Still, you are right, so I'll start paying at least a wee bit more attention to that.

Thx.

 

[Chaosrider]

Speaking of range...

Suppose someone wanted to do video surveillance of construction sites in a mountainous area, and range and endurance are two of their biggest concerns. Relatively rapid launch is also important to them.

What drone would you folks recommend for that? Not a Mini, for sure, but what are some of the factors to consider in selecting a drone for that mission?

Thx.

 

[shadow3467]

Going to be doing a range test today afternoon if the weathers good, will try to record video and post it here if possible

 

[akdrone]

I caught this nugget from the Mini3 manual: Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi of the remote controller for optimal video transmission.
Pls 44 and 45 of full user manual. Might be of interest for folks having problems to give a try and see if it makes any difference if they have wifi/bluetooth on.

 

[shadow3467]

I caught this nugget from the Mini3 manual: Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi of the remote controller for optimal video transmission.
Pls 44 and 45 of full user manual. Might be of interest for folks having problems to give a try and see if it makes any difference if they have wifi/bluetooth on.

That's very weird... I wonder why the controller's own capabilities would reduce or effect transmission

Will try it

 

[cap7ainclu7ch]

These issues are making me reconsider going for the fly more Air 2S kit with the smart controller for $1500 instead. I just would love the smaller size/quietness of the M3P.

 

[mavicn00b]

That's very weird... I wonder why the controller's own capabilities would reduce or effect transmission

Will try it

Shouldn't be a problem with the Ocusync system as the hardware should simply hop to another less connected frequency.

 

[Alx]

Im in a CE country so I turned mine into FCC mod (RC N1) to get a better range, 5 bar at 2km in urban area , very stable in 5.8ghz. Before that i tried without in CE Mod dual-band, signal drop hardly after 1km + very inconsistent from 4 to 1 bar and from 1 to 4 bar randomly 2 second later (classic low range CE).

 

[Chrislaf]

It's honestly such a shame because EVERYTHING else about the Mini 3 Pro is just so good

But it's just not acceptable paying this much and getting this low of a range

Couple of questions:
What did you buy your drone for? The Mini 3 Pro is a camera drone.

Have you read the rules and regulations as they pertain to drones in Canada and specifically to your class of drone? Here is the link for the Transport Canada website where you you will find all the info you need. I suggest you take some time to become familiar with the regulations before you either lose your drone or put other aircraft in danger.

Chris

 

[Rchawks]

I seen elsewhere on this site, it was suggested to do a factory reset and update to fix the issue, for the smart rc.

 

[KS-6]

I did two flights today, one at 3,000' foot distance / 400' feet AGL, the other at 1 mile distance, 400AGL along an ascending hill. The only time it went orange and down momentarily to one bar less than a full readout was when the line of sight had powerlines between the controller and the bird on the one mile jaunt, hence climbing the hill to keep it at 400 AGL over the position. Take off elevation was 7,500' feet.

Otherwise it was very solid overall. I'm still trying to suss out the image quality, it seems pretty inconsistent, might be wind, might be focus point, possibly both. Here is a shot from the 1 mile stretch about 1,000' feet away at 300' AGL...

 

[shadow3467]

Couple of questions:
What did you buy your drone for? The Mini 3 Pro is a camera drone.

Have you read the rules and regulations as they pertain to drones in Canada and specifically to your class of drone? Here is the link for the Transport Canada website where you you will find all the info you need. I suggest you take some time to become familiar with the regulations before you either lose your drone or put other aircraft in danger.

Chris

I know what the rules are, I don't regularly fly as far away as I can

But if I'm getting terrible signal at 100m in the air, then going behind even a single tree will be detrimental to the signal. Range = signal strength

Also as far as I understand, VLOS in Canada is just a safety precaution, don't think it's a law is it?

 

[akdrone]

just took 2 flights and got 1500ft when the screen went blank. Recharging the batteries to keep testing. Possibly I touched something or did something but cant imagine. There was a left pointing arrow in the upper left corner that I hit (controller with screen built in) and the view came back so I'm hoping it's pilot error and not some problem with the drone itself.

 

[shadow3467]

Uploaded today's test to youtube

As you can see, around 2:08 at 800m the signal plummets for no reason. It's literally 55m in the air, above a farmland with nothing electronic near it and NO obstructions between the RC and the drone. Also note as seen by the compass, the entire time I am pointing directly at the drone with the RC.

Signal completely loses at 2500m and return to home is initiated

This happens several other times in the video, the flight has consistent signal drops all over the place beyond 1000m

Now I know alot of people are going to say 2000m is great range, but keep in mind this was literally in the middle of nowhere over wide open farmland. This is not impressive. Also, if I were to drop altitude from 100m to something like 50m I would lose way more signal.

Tomorrow I will try to do a test in a more populated area and post the results.