Struggling with limited range with RC screen controller

[WildcatDave]

Hey guys. Really enjoying the Mini 3 Pro for all of the advantages and ease of use it has, especially with the new controller with the built-in screen. Not having to hassle with a phone and being ready to fly in 60 seconds is pretty cool.

However I've been having some issues the last couple shoots with very limited range. Today I just did a real estate photo shoot for a new build community and so I had to get pretty far out to do some fly-ins and I was getting down to one bar and losing signal at only about a half mile out. This is on flat ground and I was pointing the controller at the drone.

That brings up another limitation with this kit, if you are not pointed directly at the drone and you are at any moderate distance at all it immediately drops signal. I do miss the better signal strength and connection quality that the regular controller had with my mavic air 2.

Anyway looking for some input if people have found any ways to make this better. It's a bit disappointing considering the range they list is not even remotely achievable in what I would consider our good to great circumstances on flat ground with no obstructions in the middle of the desert with direct line of sight pointed at the drone.

Another little point to this, it will go from full five bars to four to three to two to one in a couple hundred feet so you don't get much warning you're about to run out of signal strength. And then the drone just kind of hovers. What I've been having to do is spin it 180 hopefully as the display starts to stutter and then fly back towards me so I don't lose the little bugger.

Sorry all of the above is a bit of a ramble as I wanted to get this up quick while I was on site and not wait till I got home. Looking for any and all advice or tips or opinions.

 

[CanadaDrone]

The first thing to do is make sure it's not dropping down CE mode, Check this by going into the "transmission" tab and if the -90 dBm/MHz line on the left hand Y axis is below the "~1KM" mark on the right hand Y axis, you're in FCC mode. In CE mode that -90dBm/MHz line is parallel with the "~1KM" mark. Check it periodically after you take off as well to make sure nothing has changed. Some M3P's seem to be switching to CE mode on their own, probably a bug. Your signal dropping off so suddenly makes it sound like it's dropping into CE mode, so rule that out first.

Regarding the importance of the controller orientation, DJI's materials specifically tell you to keep the end of the RC pointed at the drone at all times, whether that means tilting it upwards, downwards, etc. so it's by design and likely the price paid for having nice, clean internal antennas. It's more important the further the drone gets away from you, but I guess there has to be some reason to buy the RC Pro at 4x the price You still need to do that with the RC Pro, but it's easier to simply adjust the external antennas so that the flat parts are facing the drone.

There is also a menu option that determines what the drone does when it loses signal - sounds like yours might be set to "hover" based on your description of what happens when you lose signal. You may want to change that to "Return to Home", which I believe is the default. Set the RTH height above the tallest obstacle in your flying area.

If you're still having major range issues in FCC mode, take the drone out somewhere that there is unlikely to be any interference and check if you still have the same issue. If you do, it could be either the drone itself or the RC that may need a warranty replacement. Also make sure you are running the latest FW on both the drone and controller as they did address some early range complaints with updates.

 

[harleymhs]

Not sure why you are having issues. I just took my Mini 3 Pro to over 11,000 feet the other day.. Up to par with my Air 2s

I read that mostly Canada has this issue. I thought the latest firmware fixed this issue. I never had an issue with range from day 1.. Good Luck

 

[redserv]

What I have noticed it depends on where you fly your bird. It's normal to go 10000 feet in one location and 800 feet in another. Wifi interfere and cell towers etc can mess with the radio frequency of your RC and drone and lower your transmission rate. Try a couple of locations and see what you get

 

[harleymhs]

What I have noticed it depends on where you fly your bird. It's normal to go 10000 feet in one location and 800 feet in another. Wifi interfere and cell towers etc can mess with the radio frequency of your RC and drone and lower your transmission rate. Try a couple of locations and see what you get

I fly in MANY areas here in NY and never had a bad signal ! EVER.

 

[YVRGUY]

DJI now have both my Mini 3 Pro and my RC. Yes, it does sound like many of you are getting great signal strength from afar…not I.

First time I sent in my RC because of poor signal strength and the transmission tab did not show ‘dual mode’ , 4.5 ghz , 5.8 ghz, or dual signals on the graph below.

It only displayed ‘manual / auto’ with auto highlighted and manual being unable to hi light.

When I received the remote back from DJI the same problems existed…poor signal and same info on transmission tab.

DJI in the beginning felt it had to be the RC. Now they have both since they suspect it may be the drone and not the RC.

I live in Canada…I don’t think that’s the problem. . It’s been a very frustrating ordeal…I’m being very patient, and I really want to get out and enjoy this bird. What I did get to experience with the Mini 3 Pro and the new RC with integrated screen was super.

I’m giving DJI’s R&D the room right now to investigate the problem

 

[WildcatDave]

Thanks for the input everybody I will check these suggestions and report back.

 

[harleymhs]

DJI now have both my Mini 3 Pro and my RC. Yes, it does sound like many of you are getting great signal strength from afar…not I.

First time I sent in my RC because of poor signal strength and the transmission tab did not show ‘dual mode’ , 4.5 ghz , 5.8 ghz, or dual signals on the graph below.

It only displayed ‘manual / auto’ with auto highlighted and manual being unable to hi light.

When I received the remote back from DJI the same problems existed…poor signal and same info on transmission tab.

DJI in the beginning felt it had to be the RC. Now they have both since they suspect it may be the drone and not the RC.

I live in Canada…I don’t think that’s the problem. . It’s been a very frustrating ordeal…I’m being very patient, and I really want to get out and enjoy this bird. What I did get to experience with the Mini 3 Pro and the new RC with integrated screen was super.

I’m giving DJI’s R&D the room right now to investigate the problem

I think your problem is that you are in Canada .. check out air photography on you tube . Sean explains the issue and how you can correct it, he also lives in Canada . Check him out he has a video on his channel explaining what’s going on and it’s plain to see. Good luck

 

[CanadaDrone]

I don't think it has anything to do with Canada. There are people in the USA and elsewhere also reporting range issues. Both the USA and Canada get the FCC version of the drone as default.

If you have range issues after the latest FW, and if you've confirmed it's in FCC mode, it's either the flying location or a defective drone OR remote.

I live near the largest drone shop in Canada and they told me they have had only two Mini 3 Pro's returned due to range issues. One was replaced, the other one no fault was found and DJI told them to wait for the next FW update, whatever that means. If this was some sort of widespread Canada-specific problem, I think those numbers would be a lot higher. I also have no range issues with my M3P, but I don't do range tests or fly out of VLOS.

 

[timc995]

Not sure why you are having issues. I just took my Mini 3 Pro to over 11,000 feet the other day.. Up to par with my Air 2s

I read that mostly Canada has this issue. I thought the latest firmware fixed this issue. I never had an issue with range from day 1.. Good Luck

I'm Canadian and the problem is not specific to Canada. I have flown in Central America as well, and find the behaviour the same in both countries (both are FCC, btw). In my opinion, the issue is that the mini 3 pro doesn't handle interference nor poor line of sight well.

I live in an urban area... lots of trees, houses, other wifi. I generally lose signal at 500-1000m (1500-3000 feet). On the other hand, if I launch from about 3km south, I can fly over Lake Ontario. There I have reached distances of 5.5km (18000 feet) when flying along the shore in an area which I can see the shore from my launch point. When I flew in Central America, I took off from an altitute of about 200 metres on the side of a rural mountain. From there I was able to fly over the nearby town (about 3km), and continue out to the Pacific... I reached 7.2km (24000 feet) before I turned around due to battery concern, and I had 4 of 5 signal bars at that distance. On the other hand, when I go from the same spot in the opposite direction (towards other houses), I could only get about 2km. It's all about signal integrity.

I also have a mini2, and when I fly that using the N1 controller, it is far less picky about signal issues. It's 'bad environment' performance is much better in relation to its 'perfect environment' performance than the mini 3 pro.

 

[WildcatDave]

Hey everybody thought I would report back after a flight today to let everyone know it seems like I'm having no issues. I did do an update of the batteries, drone and controller last night and I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

I went ahead and did a test today after I was done with my regular shoot and flew about 3/4 of a mile from where I was stationed and still had full signal strength on the DJI RC screen. I assume everything is working and I was just either having some odd issues with previous shoots or possibly there was something adjusted in the firmware that was not listed in the change log.

Anyway back to your regular channels looks like this is a done deal and things are good to go.