Dave Maine
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- Jan 27, 2018
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I used to fly frequently in a large park in Cambridge, MA, in a large park ringed by apartments and condos. WiFi problems were a constant problem with the Phantom 3 4K, Mavic Air, and Phantom 4 adv. Frequently the effects were present starting at 600 ft out. Sometimes you could clear them by climbing to 400 ft, mostly not. Shifting flight direction sometimes helped, sometimes not.
The problem was easily seen using a laptop with a software program which measured the WiFi signal environment. These measurements consistently detected more than 50 active wireless sources. Their signal strength equaled or exceeded the drone and controller frequently. Only the RF pairing allowed any operation to work at all.
The outgoing control signals would generally be more robust, and work further out than the video returns. Drone WiFi operation will always be problematic in urban environments due to the physics of radio frequency transmission. Ocusync, Lightbridge, and other DJI inventions may make minor improvements, but they won’t change the underlying physics of interference. Blaming DJI for this problem is totally irrational.
In any case, data is needed to evaluate what happened scientifically, rather than emotionally.
The problem was easily seen using a laptop with a software program which measured the WiFi signal environment. These measurements consistently detected more than 50 active wireless sources. Their signal strength equaled or exceeded the drone and controller frequently. Only the RF pairing allowed any operation to work at all.
The outgoing control signals would generally be more robust, and work further out than the video returns. Drone WiFi operation will always be problematic in urban environments due to the physics of radio frequency transmission. Ocusync, Lightbridge, and other DJI inventions may make minor improvements, but they won’t change the underlying physics of interference. Blaming DJI for this problem is totally irrational.
In any case, data is needed to evaluate what happened scientifically, rather than emotionally.