Flew my m2z at the family farm for the first time today. I had full bars on my cell phone but my drone kept getting disconnected. Initially it said my RC needed to be updated but it's already on the latest (same with the drone itself). When I finally was able to have it take off the gray screen of death kept appearing and luckily it was able to RTH. Just curious if anyone has had this happen and how you fixed it. I suspect that it was the lack of satellite s but then again my phone had no issue getting reception throughout so I don't know what's causing this.
Signal loss
- Thread starter Termin8or
- Start date
JDawg
Well-Known Member
JDawg
Well-Known Member
Well that is an issue I am not familiar with and I would never take off if that was the case. Someone will weigh in that knows more than me but that is weird.
To be clear, the number of available satellites is nearly mid screen on the top of the DJI Go app on the phone itself. Did you see the number of GPS satellites that you had before take off. If you didn't have good satellite reception then the home point may not have been recorded but you were able to RTH so the GPS position was good at take off. Did you hear "the home point has been recorded, please check it on the map" voice before take off?
Was the cable pushed all the way into the phone from the controller?
Sat strength has little to do with connection between RC and AC, and connection between RC and mobile device.
First, you'll want to distinguish a loss of connection between RC/AC and a broken connection between RC and device/app.
The disconnect message is different in both cases but can be misunderstood if you're not aware of the difference.
If the AC signal was lost, the RC itself will display "connecting". If you instead see telemetry, you still have control.
In that case try using the bottom USB port (be sure to remove the short one from the side port) with a better cable.
If you did lose signal with the AC, it should RTH back within a minute or two. The first minute the AC backtracks.
Be sure your RC antennas are perpendicular to the AC. Typically that would be pointing up, not out, since the AC would be out away from you.
First, you'll want to distinguish a loss of connection between RC/AC and a broken connection between RC and device/app.
The disconnect message is different in both cases but can be misunderstood if you're not aware of the difference.
If the AC signal was lost, the RC itself will display "connecting". If you instead see telemetry, you still have control.
In that case try using the bottom USB port (be sure to remove the short one from the side port) with a better cable.
If you did lose signal with the AC, it should RTH back within a minute or two. The first minute the AC backtracks.
Be sure your RC antennas are perpendicular to the AC. Typically that would be pointing up, not out, since the AC would be out away from you.
JDawg
Well-Known Member
Not getting into semantics, OP said “everything on the screen was N/A”. That should be enough to ground anyone.
Phone screen?
It is important to check for GPS satellite primarily because of issues with fly aways. I agree with you that the N/A isn't what you want to start a flight.
Last edited:
Sorry i'm pretty new at this but what is the usb port you are referring to on the RC?
Good job position was correct at take off otherwise RTH may have been a different story
ff22
Well-Known Member
I will chime in with some questions or ideas? First, what device are you using, Android, Iphone, tablet?
Next it sounds as if you were looking at cellphone reception BARS. That has nothing to do with the phone and controller "talking" to each other. The cable provides that link. Also, the phone does not really talk to the drone either - the controller does - it uses the antenna on the controller to send/receive from drone. The controller is the intermediary between the device (phone, tablet) and the drone. The phone provides a nice visual interface but it can be dispensed with and you can control the drone from only the controller - BUT they have to be in contact with each other.
Hope this helps somewhat.
There is a USB port at the bottom of the controller. To use this port you must take out the other cable that connects to the charge port of the controller. See the manual.
JohnC
Well-Known Member
Sounds from how you describe it that you are having problems with your 'phone' as a display.
The request to do firmware updates was probably linked to your battery, as a new flyer you may may not realise that each flight battery has firmware in it too, it is sometimes updated when the aircraft or remote is updated, not always. After you update the firmware its a good idea to put each battery in, reboot and see if they need an update too.
In your description, its not clear which type of device you are using, but to clarify, it does not need a cell service to operate the drone. Unfortunately to help you further we need to know what device you are using, its fair to say that Android devices are not all equal and some just don't work well with the drone. Apple devices tend to be less trouble because its effectively one OS closely tied to the hardware, like it or not that's the way it is.
'Grey screen of death' tells us very little without some additional info, as already discussed, if you have 'CONNECTING_' displayed on the controller you have indeed lost connection to the drone, if you have telemetry then you have lost connection to your display. Either scenario has a different set of fixes.
Its quiet apparent that you have not really read through the manual, maybe you read the quick start but not the full one? Sounds dull but you need to read it thoroughly, then come back with the things we have asked you for and we should be able to assist you better.
Flying on a farm should not give you the connection challenges that urban flying does, unless you have a lot of radio/tv masts near it.
Thanks for all the advices! I was using a Galaxy note 9 and the phone was plugged into the RC using the appropriate cable from the RC micro USB charging port on the left side of the RC to my phone. Should I have instead connected the phone via the full sized USB port on the bottom of the RC instead? I wish I had a software to record the whole screen but I was focused on just getting the drone back to home as it seemed like I was going to lose it. Just to repeat though - I had never had connection issues in the air prior to yesterday's flights hence why I thought the RC to phone connection wasn't the issue.
JohnC
Well-Known Member
Yes, in theory that should be fine, however, some have found that the lower USB port (on the underside of the RC) to be more reliable. It is also a more substantial connection port. The side one is a little fragile and very easy to damage. You really have to double check the connector is going in the right way up or it damages the connector.
If you get a USB-A to Micro-USB and connect to the bottom port and see how that goes. Don't forget to unplug the cable from the side connector as that will stop the lower port from working.
You might want to have a look at this thread :
How do you get the Note 9 to connect to the go 4 app?
From what you describe, 'I was focused on just getting the drone back' would suggest that the controller had a good connection and you visually flew it home. BTW this is a good thing to practice, flying the aircraft visually rather than focusing on the screen. From my RC days it was always best to fly facing the direction of travel, so if the drone is coming towards you turn your back on it and look over your shoulder, this keeps the sense the right way round! (left is left, right is right).
So short story is you had lost the connection to the device (phone) by the sound of it, try a new cable in the bottom port. Let us know how you get on. You could also post the log file from the flight and one of the data gurus will be able to tell you if the controller and aircraft were in communication or not.
(google phantom help and that will get you where you need to be to extract the data)
If you get a USB-A to Micro-USB and connect to the bottom port and see how that goes. Don't forget to unplug the cable from the side connector as that will stop the lower port from working.
You might want to have a look at this thread :
How do you get the Note 9 to connect to the go 4 app?
From what you describe, 'I was focused on just getting the drone back' would suggest that the controller had a good connection and you visually flew it home. BTW this is a good thing to practice, flying the aircraft visually rather than focusing on the screen. From my RC days it was always best to fly facing the direction of travel, so if the drone is coming towards you turn your back on it and look over your shoulder, this keeps the sense the right way round! (left is left, right is right).
So short story is you had lost the connection to the device (phone) by the sound of it, try a new cable in the bottom port. Let us know how you get on. You could also post the log file from the flight and one of the data gurus will be able to tell you if the controller and aircraft were in communication or not.
(google phantom help and that will get you where you need to be to extract the data)
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