Struggling to get mini 2 over 2,000 feet distance

[blackbandit]

Hi everyone. I just bought my first drone a mini 2 this week. I’m in awe of it and having a lot of fun. Only trouble I seem to be having is I can’t fly it past 2000 feet without losing signal. The land I am traveling on is relatively level to me elevation wise. I have full satellite coverage and am flying around 200-300 feet. Any suggestions for what I can do to troubleshoot?

thanks!

 

[Repaid1]

Hi everyone. I just bought my first drone a mini 2 this week. I’m in awe of it and having a lot of fun. Only trouble I seem to be having is I can’t fly it past 2000 feet without losing signal. The land I am traveling on is relatively level to me elevation wise. I have full satellite coverage and am flying around 200-300 feet. Any suggestions for what I can do to troubleshoot?

thanks!

First and foremost, take it to several places and test it. May be the Noise Floor might be a bit high where your flying now. That is the quickest test. If it goes further one place and not the other you have your answer and your model is fine.

 

[Tony McDrone]

Welcome to the forum.

Are there trees or buildings that could be interfering with your antenna? Are you pointing the antenna/phone holder at the drone?

 

[blackbandit]

So I tried it again in the complete opposite direction and distance was still not good. I was holding the controller at a 45 degree angle at the drone. There are trees around me but in direction I sent drone up the second time I was relatively unobstructed. My settings say auto for the band. I even wondered if I somehow got the European version and I see an fcc sticker inside battery carrier (is that the only way to check?)

I love the drone but was expecting more from the range. Many of the videos on YouTube appear to have similar topography from me. I don’t need to go 4 miles but would at least like to go 2 without much issues.

Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks again.

 

[Teebee]

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.

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

 

[Lastrexking]

So I tried it again in the complete opposite direction and distance was still not good. I was holding the controller at a 45 degree angle at the drone. There are trees around me but in direction I sent drone up the second time I was relatively unobstructed. My settings say auto for the band. I even wondered if I somehow got the European version and I see an fcc sticker inside battery carrier (is that the only way to check?)

I love the drone but was expecting more from the range. Many of the videos on YouTube appear to have similar topography from me. I don’t need to go 4 miles but would at least like to go 2 without much issues.

Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks again.

There isn’t a European version - there’s only one version. The transmission settings (FAA/CE) are determined by the location of the drone using GPS.

 

[kidroc]

So I tried it again in the complete opposite direction and distance was still not good. I was holding the controller at a 45 degree angle at the drone. There are trees around me but in direction I sent drone up the second time I was relatively unobstructed. My settings say auto for the band. I even wondered if I somehow got the European version and I see an fcc sticker inside battery carrier (is that the only way to check?)

I love the drone but was expecting more from the range. Many of the videos onYouTube appear to have similar topography from me. I don’t need to go 4 miles but would at least like to go 2 without much issues.

Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks again.

Turn off Bluetooth and WiFi on your phone you can leave phone data on to have maps try it out if haven’t already.

 

[Jet skier]

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.

Below is the flight data from a test in a suburban environment. Im sure there's probably plenty of interference, and it was low enough to have lost line of sight, but still would expect to get more than 200m without completely losing signal?


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

It needs to have a somewhat clear line of sight drone to controller without too many obstructions perhaps you’re standing between two buildings or a cluster of trees. I live in the middle of Minneapolis and I can get about 6 to 7000 feet

 

[Scoobychief]

i take it in the fly app that it isnt set to 2000ft max and that you have adjusted the sliders for max altitude and max flight????

 

[xterior67]

All seems to be out of line of sight. Thought had to keep in sight.

 

[krodgerson]

Nothing to do with the secret bunker at Wood Norton is it????

 

[DanMan32]

i take it in the fly app that it isnt set to 2000ft max and that you have adjusted the sliders for max altitude and max flight????

OP said he was getting poor signal message. If it was max distance setting, it would say maximum distance reached.

 

[blackbandit]

OP said he was getting poor signal message. If it was max distance setting, it would say maximum distance reached.

I checked max distance and it is set to max. I am going to try turning off Bluetooth and then WiFi on phone to see if that helps. Will report back. Happy thanksgiving!

 

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!

 

[blackbandit]

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?

 

[blackbandit]

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?

Just had a thought but would turning off my WiFi router help? When I fly I’m within 15 feet of it and it’s pumping out 5ghz and 2.4 ghz signals.

 

[Dbez1]

Drive to a different location try it.

 

[DanMan32]

Just had a thought but would turning off my WiFi router help? When I fly I’m within 15 feet of it and it’s pumping out 5ghz and 2.4 ghz signals.

Could be!

 

[blackbandit]

Could be!

Ehh I turned the router off and no luck. I’ll do some more testing tomorrow in a new location as well as with range extenders.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

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

Perhaps.......read the CAA rules........, unless things have changed recently flying over built up areas is not allowed in which case post flight tracks over them is questionable.