Thunder affecting signal?

[Piglet3003]

Hey guys

I was flying two days ago in a thunderstorm and was about 150m up to shoot a hyoerlapse of the rain approaching.

Every now and then i wouod get a weak signal message while only 150m high and straight above me, no horizontal distance between me and the drone.

There where a few thunder rumbles but no lightning strikes in the clouds above me.

Can the thunder have a affect on signal or should I be looking at something else?

Thanx in advance

 

[Mossiback]

Where there is thunder there is lightning. It was probably inside the cloud where you could not see it. Did you have the flat sides of the antennas facing the M2 or the tips?

 

[rangemaster728]

Piglet3003:

Two initial thoughts...

1. Antenna orientation - if the aircraft is directly above you your antennas should be horizontally oriented for best signal strength.

2. If you hear thunder, there IS lightning somewhere...it’s even a question on the Part 107 exam, and lightning is a tremendous EMP burst that will disrupt the control link.

 

[jwt873]

Thunder is caused by lightning, so there had to be lightning somewhere even though you didn't see it.

Thunder is just sound, so it can't have any effect on radio signals. Lightning causes radio static.. (It's the crackling you hear on an AM radio during a storm). It possibly could cause problems with the signal to/from the Mavic.. I've never flown when there was lightning, so I can't really say if that was the problem

You mention the drone was directly overhead.. As the others point out, It appears that your antenna orientation was a bit off. Here's a video from DJI explaining it.. (Look around the 1:00 minute point for what to do when the drone is directly above)..

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[rangemaster728]

Where there is thunder there is lightning. It was probably inside the cloud where you could not see it. Did you have the flat sides of the antennas facing the M2 or the tips?

Mossiback:

You beat me by 1 minute with the reply...but then I included a picture lol...

 

[Piglet3003]

Thanx for the info so far guys.

My antennas where orientated correctly I made sure of that

 

[Shivers]

Then the lightning was disrupting your transmission. As said, it’s like a little emp to electrical devices, at least can be one. Not always, of course. Good video!! Thankfully with the newer units they have us the 5.8 band, for a little extra help.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Hey guys

I was flying two days ago in a thunderstorm and was about 150m up to shoot a hyoerlapse of the rain approaching.

Every now and then i wouod get a weak signal message while only 150m high and straight above me, no horizontal distance between me and the drone.

There where a few thunder rumbles but no lightning strikes in the clouds above me.

Can the thunder have a affect on signal or should I be looking at something else?

Thanx in advance

We fly a lot in the Storms , and have never had a weak signal with VlOS while up in the storm

. Most likely as other have mentioned it was that you did not have a good antenna position.
Keep in mind that its awkward flying directly over head and it easy to slip the controller position if only for a second and get an error.

Note: Originally when we started flying into storm , we thought magnetic interference might be an issue but were close to 200 flights in the rain and that has not been an issue either.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly you Mavic in the Rain
Coal

 

[sar104]

Then the lightning was disrupting your transmission. As said, it’s like a little emp to electrical devices, at least can be one. Not always, of course. Good video!! Thankfully with the newer units they have us the 5.8 band, for a little extra help.

I don't think that's the explanation. The RF energy from lightning is mostly down in the kHz range - there is very little at GHz frequencies. It's not going to affect the comms link with the aircraft any more than it affects your cell phone or wifi.