Smart controller disconected during flight

Photoman482 · Jan 23, 2020

I was flying for the first time today with the SC. More throw on the sticks which I guess is fine. Nice and bright.
Maybe a half mile away the controller disconnected. The only thing between me and the drone were trees without leaves. Is this normal? It never happened with the stock controller in the same situation. I turned it off and restarted it and it immediatley did the "connection lost, RTH" thing.

Moose1967 · Jan 23, 2020

Depends on how much interference there was at the time - really hard to tell with such little detail. Was the controller fully charged, were the antennas pointed properly, were u orientated properly.

Photoman482 · Jan 23, 2020

Moose1967 said:
Depends on how much interference there was at the time - really hard to tell with such little detail. Was the controller fully charged, were the antennas pointed properly, were u orientated properly.

No towers of any kind. Fully charged. I was pointed in that direction. Orientation was correct. I was under the impression the SC has better range, etc. than the stock controller? I guess I'll have to fly a few more times and see.

Deleted member 3792 · Jan 23, 2020

Photoman482 said:
No towers of any kind. Fully charged. I was pointed in that direction. Orientation was correct. I was under the impression the SC has better range, etc. than the stock controller? I guess I'll have to fly a few more times and see.

And your regular phone didn’t have bluetooth connection to anything? Bluetooth is often a cause of disturbance.

Oneball 1971 · Jan 23, 2020

I did notice when I got my SC it didnt have the same range as stock controller.

Photoman482 · Jan 23, 2020

Viking said:
And your regular phone didn’t have bluetooth connection to anything? Bluetooth is often a cause of disturbance.

My Iphone did have bluetooth on but it has when I used the stock controller.

Photoman482 · Jan 23, 2020

Oneball 1971 said:
I did notice when I got my SC it didnt have the same range as stock controller.

I thought the Smart Controller was supposed to have better range? Probably should have just gotten a Crystal Sky . I only got the SC because my Ipad craps out in the cold and it's not bright enough.

jzilla80 · Jan 23, 2020

So even after your power cycled the SC, and restarted the Go4 app, it still showed as disconnected?

Did you have FPV video during any of this signal lost time?

When your AC got closer, did you attempt to use your SC sticks at all, or did you let RTH handle the entire landing? If you tried the sticks, did the AC respond at all?

I ask because Im trying to determine which issue you endured:
1) SC actually completely lost the link with your AC
(The SC keeps its RC link with AC even if Go4 app is never started, or is stopped, reset, etc)
OR
2) The much more likely and, IMO, less unsettling occurance of your Go4 app freezing up?
(Which can occur after the CPU has had consistent high usage, which the Go4 app does, and with the SC being somewhat of a weak device, specs-wise, this is a possibility, even though the Go4 app on SC has been optimized for it.)

Oneball 1971 · Jan 23, 2020

Photoman482 said:
I thought the Smart Controller was supposed to have better range? Probably should have just gotten a Crystal Sky . I only got the SC because my Ipad craps out in the cold and it's not bright enough.

If your search "Smart Controller Range" there are some threads that come up on when the smart controller first came out and people commenting on less range than stock.

Photoman482 · Jan 23, 2020

jzilla80 said:
So even after your power cycled the SC, and restarted the Go4 app, it still showed as disconnected?

Did you have FPV video during any of this signal lost time?

When your AC got closer, did you attempt to use your SC sticks at all, or did you let RTH handle the entire landing? If you tried the sticks, did the AC respond at all?

I ask because Im trying to determine which issue you endured:
1) SC actually completely lost the link with your AC
(The SC keeps its RC link with AC even if Go4 app is never started, or is stopped, reset, etc)
OR
2) The much more likely and, IMO, less unsettling occurance of your Go4 app freezing up?
(Which can occur after the CPU has had consistent high usage, which the Go4 app does, and with the SC being somewhat of a weak device, specs-wise, this is a possibility, even though the Go4 app on SC has been optimized for it.)

I had only been flying for 30 min. After I recycled, I didnt notice if it said disconnected. I just heard the beeping and saw the RTH. I did not attempt to use sticks. Since this was the first time this ever happened, I was kind of freaking out. Pretty new to drones.

It's a weak device? For $749.00?! I wanted something that would work in cold weather and was brighter than my Ipad. Didnt hear great things about the Crystal Sky but I'm rethinking.

Aerial-Pixel · Jan 23, 2020

Photoman482 said:
I was flying for the first time today with the SC. More throw on the sticks which I guess is fine. Nice and bright.
Maybe a half mile away the controller disconnected. The only thing between me and the drone were trees without leaves. Is this normal? It never happened with the stock controller in the same situation. I turned it off and restarted it and it immediatley did the "connection lost, RTH" thing.

Make sure you have the Antennas pointed correctly. If the drone is out away from you they should be pointed down like this:

Photoman482 · Jan 23, 2020

Photoman482 said:
I had only been flying for 30 min. After I recycled, I didnt notice if it said disconnected. I just heard the beeping and saw the RTH. I did not attempt to use sticks. Since this was the first time this ever happened, I was kind of freaking out. Pretty new to drones.

It's a weak device? For $749.00?! I wanted something that would work in cold weather and was brighter than my Ipad. Didnt hear great things about the Crystal Sky but I'm rethinking.

Aerial-Pixel said:
Make sure you have the Antennas pointed correctly. If the drone is out away from you they should be pointed down like this:
View attachment 91766

the first and second are confusing. It was 1/2 mile away and I had it on fig 2. Is this right?

Aerial-Pixel · Jan 23, 2020

The flat surface of the antennas should be facing the drone not the "tips"
The difference between the left figure and the middle one is on the left they are showing if you hold your controller vertically you should have the antennas pointed up. If you hold the controller horizontally you should have them pointed down.
I have the Smart Controller and haven't had any issue with transmission range at all. Perhaps try flying in a different area, maybe there was just something weird going on at that location.

Photoman482 · Jan 23, 2020

Aerial-Pixel said:
The flat surface of the antennas should be facing the drone not the "tips"
The difference between the left figure and the middle one is on the left they are showing if you hold your controller vertically you should have the antennas pointed up. If you hold the controller horizontally you should have them pointed down.
I have the Smart Controller and haven't had any issue with transmission range at all. Perhaps try flying in a different area, maybe there was just something weird going on at that location.

I hold it horizontally so they were pointing down. The Mavic CS guy says for optimum range, hold it vertically??? I can't imagine who holds it that way. I can't. I have flown in this location 4 or 5 times, but I won't be anymore because I got kicked out. It's a park with ballfields but there are farms nearby. A guy pulled up and politley asked me to leave. Said I wasnt supposed to be flying there and the police caught a young guy flying his drone and looking in windows. These are the people that ruin it for everyone else. I'm a photographer and have to add this tool into my biz. Should have done it sooner. I live near DC and you just can't fly but a few places. I'm basiclly learning to fly the thing right now. Doing well but practice makes perfect. Should have become a dentist!

Aerial-Pixel · Jan 23, 2020

Photoman482 said:
I hold it horizontally so they were pointing down. The Mavic CS guy says for optimum range, hold it vertically??? I can't imagine who holds it that way. I can't. I have flown in this location 4 or 5 times, but I won't be anymore because I got kicked out. It's a park with ballfields but there are farms nearby. A guy pulled up and politley asked me to leave. Said I wasnt supposed to be flying there and the police caught a young guy flying his drone and looking in windows. These are the people that ruin it for everyone else. I'm a photographer and have to add this tool into my biz. Should have done it sooner. I live near DC and you just can't fly but a few places. I'm basiclly learning to fly the thing right now. Doing well but practice makes perfect. Should have become a dentist!

You are doing it right then. I always fly with my controller horizontal and antennas down, unless I'm flying directly above me then I flip them up.

Rattydude77 · Jan 23, 2020

Iv been 4.5 miles with my smart controller and zoom with no problems

Mossiback · Jan 23, 2020

Photoman482 said:
I had only been flying for 30 min. After I recycled, I didnt notice if it said disconnected. I just heard the beeping and saw the RTH. I did not attempt to use sticks...

A look at the logs should show the reason for the RTH. If you had been flying for 30 minutes it would most likely be a low battery RTH.

stormtheCOCKpit · Jan 24, 2020

Photoman482 said:
I was flying for the first time today with the SC. More throw on the sticks which I guess is fine. Nice and bright.
Maybe a half mile away the controller disconnected. The only thing between me and the drone were trees without leaves. Is this normal? It never happened with the stock controller in the same situation. I turned it off and restarted it and it immediatley did the "connection lost, RTH" thing.

That is a bummer! I wanted to get the SC too until I saw the price. I hope it starts working properly it looks great!

stormtheCOCKpit · Jan 24, 2020

Viking said:
And your regular phone didn’t have bluetooth connection to anything? Bluetooth is often a cause of disturbance.

Quick question for you .... sorry to hijack thread. I am new to this .... are you supposed to turn off BLUETOOTH when flying the Mavic Mini?

markschacht1 · Jan 24, 2020

stormtheCOCKpit said:
Quick question for you .... sorry to hijack thread. I am new to this .... are you supposed to turn off BLUETOOTH when flying the Mavic Mini?

MY understanding is that if you're using a phone as your display, it should be in airplane mode.