Moaning Mini

[christianbeccy]

I don't fly my Mini that often, in fact since the weather is pretty crappy here in the UK, I haven't flown it for a few months. When I do, it's usually within my 1 acre garden. Yes there are trees, but I rarely fly far, usually just upwards. It's a quiet area, houses all around, but nothing out of the ordinary. No industry, no significant radio masts.

It's a nice day today. Snow on the ground, but not overly cold and not a lot of wind. The UAV Forecast app has it as 'Good to fly'. I wanted to do a snowy overhead shot, so went straight up, but by 60m it was already moaning about too much wind (possibly), but also about WiFi interference, so I took a quick 1 minute video, then brought it down again.

My Mini is always moaning about something. If it's not 'Strong Winds', its 'Signal Strength' or 'WiFi interference'. I know it's a basic drone, but my expectations aren't that complex. Am I doing something wrong? It's a CE model, out-of-the-box configuration. I know CE isn't as good as FCC, but have I missed out on any tips/tricks to improve how this thing behaves?

 

[Repaid1]

Given how and where you fly, I wouldn't be too worried about it. Just note warnings and fly on...get what you want for video and pictures and bring her on down if conditions don't seem favorable for the little girl

 

[slup]

You know ... the UAV app just contain forecasts not the actual circumstances just where you fly. Furthermore all fields in the app is possible to configure ... for your particular drone model for instance. So with that said ... just because the UAV app says "Good to Fly" doesn't mean that it's correct.

Then ... flying just straight up over your head isn't at all any good for the reception. Even if you point the RC antennas correctly against the AC (flat side against AC) that is still no good ... for the AC & RC antennas to work in the best way they should be parallel (the AC antennas are in the front legs in a vertical position I believe) & that is hard to achieve here.

Also when flying in an urban environment WiFi disturbance, especially on the 2.4GHz band will be a real hazzle if you are in CE mode ... if you have the possibility, go with 5.8GHz & try that out instead.

 

[christianbeccy]

You know ... the UAV app just contain forecasts not the actual circumstances just where you fly. Furthermore all fields in the app is possible to configure ... for your particular drone model for instance. So with that said ... just because the UAV app says "Good to Fly" doesn't mean that it's correct.

Then ... flying just straight up over your head isn't at all any good for the reception. Even if you point the RC antennas correctly against the AC (flat side against AC) that is still no good ... for the AC & RC antennas to work in the best way they should be parallel (the AC antennas are in the front legs in a vertical position I believe) & that is hard to achieve here.

Also when flying in an urban environment WiFi disturbance, especially on the 2.4GHz band will be a real hazzle if you are in CE mode ... if you have the possibility, go with 5.8GHz & try that out instead.

Am I able to switch to 5.8Ghz?

 

[slup]

Am I able to switch to 5.8Ghz?

Yep ... Transmission tab, hit manual & click on the lowest channel bar within the 5.8GHz band.




Hit OK in the pop-up & the WiFi will then restart & you are good to go again within a couple seconds.

 

[christianbeccy]

Yep ... Transmission tab, hit manual & click on the lowest channel bar within the 5.8GHz band.

View attachment 123667


Hit OK in the pop-up & the WiFi will then restart & you are good to go again within a couple seconds.

View attachment 123668

Great! I'll try it, Does it retain the setting or do I have to look at it every flight?

 

[slup]

Great! I'll try it, Does it retain the setting or do I have to look at it every flight?

It should retain it ... but always good to check so you have low interference in the chosen channel (a low green bar) if you're on manual.

The thumb rule regarding choice of WiFi band is:

2.4GHz for better penetration & longer distance ... but more prone to interference & gives slower data transfer
5.8GHz for less interference & higher data rate transfers (better live view) ... but worse penetration & distance.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

With regards to wind, switch the camera to fpv and then do a slow 360deg yaw spin. It's quite informative as to what the mini is having to do to fight the wind. I actually fly like this quite often just for the tilted horizon. Also read the threads about gimbal tilt and speed limitations.
If you get loads of warnings about all sorts of things a video screen recorder app may be of use to you. Alternatively if you DO NOT have v1.2.something installed on the phone try downloading CsvView and use that to browse the warnings. I forget which column they are in but think it is fairly far right.

 

[old man mavic]

@christianbeccy ,in light of your response to my post ,i have deleted your post and all of those related to it including mine so we can have a fresh start