Guys,
I am in need of some help and advise I am new with drones, I have just bought a new phantom 4 pro.. I live about 300m from a railway line is a built up town. My drone loses signal when I take it about 200m away, I get the option to fly home.. come home no problem. would the railway cause interference?

I have tried to use a cheapish samsung galazy note tablet and also my phone samsung S6 edge and same issue loses signal around the same place?  The signals strengths and sats are all good on the screen. sometimes I get poor signal before I even take off but everything seems in order I am getting a video on the screen ect.

any advise would be amazing.

thanks
Dave

Why you not go for open area to do the test fly?

I am not sure if a railway by itself would cause this issues, as I fly over/past railways all the time and never have issues. I could just be lucky though. Could it be something else in the area causing the issue?

Nelsonlee Posted at 2017-7-10 08:36
Why you not go for open area to do the test fly?

Not really about your question, but look at this... just to be on the safe side   http://dronesafe.uk/drone-assist/

Hey Smig, is the railway electric?  I live on the East coast USA and our trains are mostly electric, with high power overhead lines.  I have no doubt that if I fly anywhere near these I am taking a chance on losing control of my bird.

Mabou2 Posted at 2017-7-10 12:44
Hey Smig, is the railway electric?  I live on the East coast USA and our trains are mostly electric, with high power overhead lines.  I have no doubt that if I fly anywhere near these I am taking a chance on losing control of my bird.

Yeah mate elecric main lines city track... Like i said wve done loads of reading up, just learning but woukd like to no if its a fault or something i am doing where u guys can help

Nelsonlee Posted at 2017-7-10 08:36
Why you not go for open area to do the test fly?

I havnt had chance, but i bought the drone for vidoes and pics of things i cant do or see without it... Thats the whole point

Another question, i know rules say drone must be in line of sight, but if it goes out of sight does it lose signal again, say i am exploring abandoned building and land marks and it goes behind a building or something crosses its path will it lose signal then?

Railway lines could act as a ground plane (increase the intensity) for other EMF signals being emitted from sources such as microwave or cell towers, or even pull the RC signal and make it weaker.  A weak signal over a short distance can typically be traced to a signal in the area which is stronger than your RC and AC.  Due to harmonics, the interrupting signal does not have to be at the same frequency as your DJI equipment, just stronger.  I have had similar issues around navigation aids for boats (augmented GPS) and aircraft (VOR and NDB), which are not always identifiable by their looks.   Aeronautical navigation charts (cost approx.  $10 US) identifies nav aids, power lines, etc., are nice to have and provide a heads up before going to a new location.  A good EMF free area is the best place to test the AC range.  Around populated areas, cell phone use increases/decrease at certain times of day.  So in the morning you may get a better distance, than around noon when more people are chatting/texting with their cell phones.  

JW5255 Posted at 2017-7-10 13:19
Railway lines could act as a ground plane (increase the intensity) for other EMF signals being emitted from sources such as microwave or cell towers, or even pull the RC signal and make it weaker.  A weak signal over a short distance can typically be traced to a signal in the area which is stronger than your RC and AC.  Due to harmonics, the interrupting signal does not have to be at the same frequency as your DJI equipment, just stronger.  I have had similar issues around navigation aids for boats (augmented GPS) and aircraft (VOR and NDB), which are not always identifiable by their looks.   Aeronautical navigation charts (cost approx.  $10 US) identifies nav aids, power lines, etc., are nice to have and provide a heads up before going to a new location.  A good EMF free area is the best place to test the AC range.  Around populated areas, cell phone use increases/decrease at certain times of day.  So in the morning you may get a better distance, than around noon, when more people are chatting/texting with their cell phones.

Great advice and explanation mate thank you

do drones have to be in line of sight for remote to have a signal?

smig Posted at 2017-7-11 00:37
do drones have to be in line of sight for remote to have a signal?

Yes.  Within short range (environmentally depended) of the RC, you may be able to go behind obstacles, but experience has taught me to generally remain within line of sight.  Keep an eye on the signal strengths.  At distance, if the signals weaken, try increasing altitude.  Make sure RTH is set for the conditions too (especially return altitude), in case of total signal is loss.

I'm surprised no-one's really given you a proper answer.
Urban areas are full of sources of interference and that's what you're finding.
The P4 pro gives you two different frequency bands to operate on and this might help you to get better performance with interference.
Look up on the top of your screen.
To the left of your battery level indicator, you'll see HD and a signal strength indicator with a number above it.
Tap that and you can toggle between 2.4 GHz and 5.8GHz frequencies.
You'll probably find that one will work better than the other in your situation.

Labroides Posted at 2017-7-11 02:40
I'm surprised no-one's really given you a proper answer.
Urban areas are full of sources of interference and that's what you're finding.
The P4 pro gives you two different frequency bands to operate on and this might help you to get better performance with interference.

purfect I will give it a go, what is the difference in the frequencies?

smig Posted at 2017-7-11 03:06
purfect I will give it a go, what is the difference in the frequencies?

??
You can choose 2.4 GHz or 5.8GHz.
They are different frequencies and one will help avoid interference that is drowning out your signal on the other frequency.

smig Posted at 2017-7-11 03:06
purfect I will give it a go, what is the difference in the frequencies?

The main difference is 5GHz provides faster data transfer rates but sacrifices transmission distance, while the  2.4GHz band offers better distance performance, but may give slightly slower transmission speeds.

Good Luck

smig Posted at 2017-7-11 03:06
purfect I will give it a go, what is the difference in the frequencies?

I have found that when flying in shorter range instances I get more consistent video/downlink/uplink transmission even when in a potentially high interference area using 5GHz.  

When flying a longer distance, say mapping or filming farm land, I get a more consistent (long range) signal, but get some "burping" or lag  in the video/downlink/uplink especially the video feed with the 2.4 GHz.