Trees interfering with signal?

[JOHNVOSS]

Flying my brand new MM1 today and got some weak signal messages as close as 2800ft, DJI Fly v 1.1.10. You can see from the Airdata there were some leafless trees between me and the drone. Would trees with no leaves (late November in NY) interfere with the signal to that extent? I have not yet done a range test with no obstructions. What are your experiences with trees?


John

 

[Repaid1]

Flying my brand new MM1 today and got some weak signal messages as close as 2800ft, DJI Fly v 1.1.10. You can see from the Airdata there were some leafless trees between me and the drone. Would trees with no leaves (late November in NY) interfere with the signal to that extent? I have not yet done a range test with no obstructions. What are your experiences with trees?


John

Simple answer is a question, can you see though them? If not the radio signal can't either. You will have deflection and such, but unless it is a clear line of sight there will be degradation of signal.

 

[Starz]

Yes. Obstruction is obstruction.

 

[Meta4]

You can see from the Airdata there were some leafless trees between me and the drone. Would trees with no leaves (late November in NY) interfere with the signal to that extent?

It's quite normal.
Live trees are full of water and radio signals don't penetrate water.
More trees = more water, so while you can shoot through a few trees, if you have more trees between your antenna and the drone, you lose signal.

 

[ATP]

That is the primary reason I purchased a Mini 2 to replace my Mavic Mini 1. Anybody want a reduced price 8 month old never crashed Mavic Mini ?

 

[Bussty]

I think it's also about how far away your mini1 is I can be inside my house and still control the mini while its flying above the house so the signal is passing through the ceiling and roof just fine

 

[scro]

I think Fly version 1.1.10 had a few issues with the Mini1, particularly with weak signal messages. I experienced poor range (trees or no trees) when I updated from version 1.0.8 to 1.1.9 and then to 1.1.10. I'm now on version 1.2.1 and seem to be getting normal range again. Perhaps try updating the app?

I find trees can attenuate the signal a bit when leafless in winter, and a lot more in summer when they are full of leaves. My rule of thumb is if I'm struggling to see through the trees then so will the RC signal.

 

[JOHNVOSS]

I reverted to v 1.1.10 after experiencing the weak signal messages which did not go away until the mini was restarted in v 1.2. I have been reluctant to upgrade to 1.2.1 until it was confirmed that all the problems with 1.2 have been resolved. I sounds like you are happy with 1.2.1. Did you also have to update the firmware?

 

[PanX]

Please read: Fresnel zone - Wikipedia

 

[DanMan32]

Also wifi signals in the area can be a problem.

 

[JOHNVOSS]

Hmm fresnel zone. I'll have to read that when I'm wide awake. Meanwhile I updated to 1.2.1 and refreshed the firmware. I'll see how that works out.

 

[Bussty]

Hmm fresnel zone. I'll have to read that when I'm wide awake. Meanwhile I updated to 1.2.1 and refreshed the firmware. I'll see how that works out.

Using latest 1.2.1 DJI Fly and latest firmware and no issues - Android. Good luck!

 

[JOHNVOSS]

Flew out over water today and got to 4799ft out before the weak signal warning. I guess I'm satisfied with that. I use a dedicated phone (android) for flying and usually leave it connected to the hotspot on my other phone but today I flew in airplane mode. Next time I'll try leaving it connected to the hotspot (for the map) and see if there is any difference.

 

[Zbip57]

Hmm fresnel zone. I'll have to read that when I'm wide awake. Meanwhile I updated to 1.2.1 and refreshed the firmware. I'll see how that works out.

Bruce Simpson made an excellent video explaining Fresnel Zones on his RCModelReviews channel.

 

[Aurinko]

Bruce Simpson made an excellent video explaining Fresnel Zones on his RCModelReviews channel.

I used the formula [r=8.657*sqrt(D/f)] in the video to calculate the Fresnel zone for 2.4 & 5.8GHz:


From what I understand these height only matter when determining signal path when flying over ground & obstacles and would not affect a drone over water in any negative or positive way... I would assume that over water the effects of Fresnel zones is negligible? It's a bit theoretical question, since I don't think the drone can fly that low anyway because of the way the ground sensor works.

I don't even have a drone yet (Mavic Mini coming in mail soon), but I'm still trying to figure out the main limitations of signal strength outside the "normal" signal degradation over distance of air.