Struggling to get mini 2 over 2,000 feet distance

[Deleted member 103366]

I just bought my first drone a mini 2 this week.

I would suggest that as a newbie testing range limits, whilst understandable, is perhaps not the wisest thing to do, ditto flights at altitudes of 200-300ft.
Antennae orientation is shown on page 32 of the manual, it appears that a line from the back of the controller to the drone should pass throught the antennae

 

[Steven Panter]

Just went out for another test. Had phone on airplane mode and was able to go a little further. I tried multiple directions and was able to hit 3600 feet distance at 360 foot altitude. Signal is good up to 3000 feet then goes from white to red quickly. It’s like it hits a wall. I would think if my surroundings were bad it would decrease steadily as I progressed. Any other things I can check before I try driving to another location and testing again?

I may have to try this

 

[Outdoorfreak.dk]

I live in Denmark (Europe) and my 3rd time out with the mini2 i flev 1,6 km(5249 feet) and 100 meters high(328 feet)with no problems at all.
Just minor glitches when turning 180⁰ going home no problems whwn flying over powerlines...

 

[Myha]

I am pleased that I saw this post as the OcuSync 2 was making me consider purchasing the Mini 2.
I don't normally fly BVLOS, but the standard Mini 1 is hopeless without the AlienTech 2.4G Pro fitted.
Over the Bristol channel I can easily get 2-3km range, but this new drone sounds like it also needs a an external amplifier.

This is not good news for CE use of Mini 2.

 

[blackbandit]

My range extender came in and helped quite a bit. I have tried in different directions and have had some success going away from heavy trees. Will try on a spot where I am elevated with a clear line of site and report back.
One side not is the feature where it stops you from flying into airspace with incoming aircraft. Good on dji for putting that in to the software. I feel more comfortable not messing things up with this safety check.

 

[Repaid1]

My range extender came in and helped quite a bit. I have tried in different directions and have had some success going away from heavy trees. Will try on a spot where I am elevated with a clear line of site and report back.
One side not is the feature where it stops you from flying into airspace with incoming aircraft. Good on dji for putting that in to the software. I feel more comfortable not messing things up with this safety check.

I was not aware it actually did anything other than warn you there was aircraft, you have seen this feature work? It actually stopped you?

 

[blackbandit]

I was not aware it actually did anything other than warn you there was aircraft, you have seen this feature work? It actually stopped you?

Yes. It was surprising but it stopped me from progressing. It said aircraft in area and started beeping at me. It allowed me to backtrack and it went off.

 

[Repaid1]

Yes. It was surprising but it stopped me from progressing. It said aircraft in area and started beeping at me. It allowed me to backtrack and it went off.

Thanks for that report and info

 

[Arnold LeVine]

Any chance you have a friend with another RC? Link up and see if it improves. Or try your RC with his mini2.
I don't have a mini, but with my M2P and P4P there is some settings for auto switching 2.4 and 5.8, as well as auto channels. Does the mini2 have this function?

 

[photo2be]

I might be having similar issues - still need to do more testing, but having tried my mini 2 in a few places, it certainly seems like I'm getting nowhere near the range of some of the videos I'm seeing on youtube, with similar surroundings.

For example:

And:

Im a newbie, so might just have the wrong expectations? I'm holding the transmitter at the recommended angle... Any advice appreciated!

Hi! Is it your flightvideo from Strandvägen in Stockholm?? WOW! WOW!

 

[DanMan32]

Yes. It was surprising but it stopped me from progressing. It said aircraft in area and started beeping at me. It allowed me to backtrack and it went off.

I assume you're referring to ADS-B and not geofencing. Stopping because of a detected aircraft isn't good since it doesn't account for altitude. At least it didn't for early reviews, perhaps that was fixed in firmware/app?
Assuming not changed, if you're at 100ft and other aircraft is at 600ft, your aircraft shouldn't stop.

 

[TOPDOG9000]

Same thing here hoping someone can help. I just purchased a Mini 2 and it’s an awesome little drone. I previously had a Phantom 3 Advanced and was expecting the range to blow that away. So far all the flights have been about the same or worse than the phantom 3. I haven’t been able to go past 3,000ft range without losing signal to the remote and using RTH. I do have lots of trees on my property but I wasn’t expecting this short of range. Just kind of bummed out with the range. I guess I’ll have to go somewhere else to test it with no obstructions and see if it can do much better or if it’s fault. Anyone have any luck making it better? I’ve watched videos of people flying in a city or densely populated area and they were way over 3,000 ft…..more like 18000…I know 6mile range is ideal conditions but how am I only getting .5 mile?

 

[RogerDH]

... I have tried in different directions and have had some success going away from heavy trees. Will try on a spot where I am elevated with a clear line of site and report back...

... I do have lots of trees on my property but I wasn’t expecting this short of range. Just kind of bummed out with the range. I guess I’ll have to go somewhere else to test it with no obstructions and see if it can do much better or if it’s fault.

Well, you didn't say what altitude you were flying, but if you're flying that far beyond visual line of sight, I should think it's hard to tell if your controller can see your drone through the trees.