Signal on mini 3 seems awful. I am getting worried.

[EpicFlight]

Legally I’m afraid you can’t. Your friend owns the property. Once you are 1cm off the ground you are in airspace which is under CASA jurisdiction and they say you can’t fly beyond VLOS.

@Remote Pilots Australia is sadly correct.

However, if you remain less than 1cm above ground there are no regulations at all, and you're free to do your range test, well out of visual range.

Just be sure you do not exceed 1cm altitude above ground... The fine for being BVLOS between 1 and 2cm is enslavement of your first child. 2-3cm and they roast your dog and feed it to some wild pygmies.

So please be careful.

 

[cah]

If you want to do a legal signal distance test, then just turn the drone on, get a friend on a bike to cycle off with it (ideally somewhere still in line-of-sight so trees/buildings aren't a factor and monitor the signal.

 

[mavicn00b]

@Remote Pilots Australia is sadly correct.

However, if you remain less than 1cm above ground there are no regulations at all, and you're free to do your range test, well out of visual range.

Just be sure you do not exceed 1cm altitude above ground... The fine for being BVLOS between 1 and 2cm is enslavement of your first child. 2-3cm and they roast your dog and feed it to some wild pygmies.

So please be careful.

Someone's been watching too much Top Gun Maverick

 

[EpicFlight]

Someone's been watching too much Top Gun Maverick

Never seen it.

However, Top Gun Mavic is not to be missed!

 

[Bussty]

If you want to do a legal signal distance test, then just turn the drone on, get a friend on a bike to cycle off with it (ideally somewhere still in line-of-sight so trees/buildings aren't a factor and monitor the signal.

Why have we not thought of this sooner!

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

However, if you remain less than 1cm above ground there are no regulations at all

Well, actually I was rounding up to the nearest cm.

You must remain below .001cm AGL to be exempt from regulatory restrictions

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

The fine for being BVLOS between 1 and 2cm is enslavement of your first child.

Hang on, let me get this straight

If I fly outside the limits they take my children away and make them work? If only the wife and I had known this.

Sorry guys, can’t hang around. I have to go see if I can get my Mavic 2 to 3000m AGL and say goodbye to my teenagers ….

 

[Jorgeo65]

Cheers what type of Samsung do you have?

S11

 

[cap7ainclu7ch]

Thanks for this information, take my hat off to you! Just did a test and you are spot on with regards to how the DJ RC is held affecting the signal.

When holding naturally (large hands) i was covering the back of the controller and using fingers along the top. Just tested whilst holding the controller a lot more gently and the signal difference is noticeable.

The difference when holding the controller so fingers do not pass the rubber grips on back is about 2 bars extra at range than when holding the controller 'naturally'!

So need to hold the controller with care, don't wrap fingers round top or past the grips on the back - signal markedly improved. Also make sure the controller is pointed at the drone both in elevation and bearing.

That's it, now absolutely happy with the Mini 3.

Wonder if it would be worth 3D printing some sort of grip that helps separate your hands from the more sensitive locations of the controller. Sounds like it could help. Just something that slides onto it and gives you a natural grip a bit further away.

 

[test2000Anafi]

Lol so people had their fingers clamped around the top with the antenna symbols, and wondering why they could not break line of sight by multiple kilometres?

Lessons learned I guess.

The actual range is insane btw. I have seen 12KM in non FCC areas which is to the point of the mini not being able to return. Really excellent

 

[SpinItUp]

So need to hold the controller with care, don't wrap fingers round top or past the grips on the back - signal markedly improved. Also make sure the controller is pointed at the drone both in elevation and bearing.

Just goes to show how bad an idea it was to put them behind chunky parts of plastic.
Would be interesting to see where the antennae are located inside with pictures. (waiting for a teardown on youtube).


Thanks for the headsup!

 

[Cymru]

FWIW ive got the RC-N1 with mini and what i have noticed is the signal compared to my Occusyc 2 Mavic 2 pro is *MUCH* more susceptible to being blocked totally by foliage and obstructions.

Drone and operator in exactly the same locations as my M2P and the M2P gets weaker but still works, the Mini 3 disconnects and starts RTH (in one instance at 248m).
Happened to me a few times yesterday with stray bushes getting in the way.

Whether this is an OS3 thing or a Mini 3 though i don't know.

Clear path line of sight i noticed no real difference in signal strength albeit out to about 550m which is the furthest ive gone.

 

[Jorgeo65]

FWIW ive got the RC-N1 with mini and what i have noticed is the signal compared to my Occusyc 2 Mavic 2 pro is *MUCH* more susceptible to being blocked totally by foliage and obstructions.

Drone and operator in exactly the same locations as my M2P and the M2P gets weaker but still works, the Mini 3 disconnects and starts RTH (in one instance at 248m).
Happened to me a few times yesterday with stray bushes getting in the way.

Whether this is an OS3 thing or a Mini 3 though i don't know.

Clear path line of sight i noticed no real difference in signal strength albeit out to about 550m which is the furthest ive gone.

I found it to be the opposite, I flew my mini 3 at 4 locations my mavic 2 had problems with reception. connection was better 3 out of the 4 areas, in 1 area where there is a lot of interference, they were about the same.

 

[SpinItUp]

Well there's the Antennae

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Well there's the Antenna
View attachment 148993

Not exactly where I expected but still where we have out fingers a lot of the time both holding the controller and manipulating the controls on the front. Less than optimal anyway.

 

[SpinItUp]

When I was taking it apart the ANT0 (white wired antenna) came away from the terminal crimp so this doesn't say much for the build quality. I have soldered it back into the crimp now.

Those Antennae are certainly not Pro and the whole controller feels like it is from a Ficher Price toy store.

 

[test2000Anafi]

Those Antennae are certainly not Pro

What is the range on the Pro antennas anyway? is it that much further than 12 kilometres?

 

[mavicn00b]

When I was taking it apart the ANT0 (white wired antenna) came away from the terminal crimp so this doesn't say much for the build quality. I have soldered it back into the crimp now.

Those Antennae are certainly not Pro and the whole controller feels like it is from a Ficher Price toy store.

They should have the same EIRP as an RC with dipole antenna. Being soldered directly to the board just means less signalloss as they don't have to run any wiring. The issue of antenna and subsequently the RC orientation remains though considering the inbuilt screen is in a fixed orientation and may encounter direct sunlight depending on situation.

 

[SpinItUp]

They should have the same EIRP as an RC with dipole antenna. Being soldered directly to the board just means less signalloss as they don't have to run any wiring. The issue of antenna and subsequently the RC orientation remains though considering the inbuilt screen is in a fixed orientation and may encounter direct sunlight depending on situation.

They are not soldered directly onto the board they use the same connector as the other type of aerial.
MY attachment shows how the wire pulled away from the crimped end/connector terminal.
The mini3 aerials are a weird H-box with a gold layer that takes the wire and then leads to the gold stripes over the box-like shape. Totally inadequate for urban flying.

 

[SpinItUp]

What is the range on the Pro antennas anyway? is it that much further than 12 kilometres?

If you have a launchpad the height of or exceeding other buildings in the environment you're not going to encounter much interference