So I bought my phantom 3 standard approx. 2 months ago when I first bought it it was flying flawless easily getting out to 3,000 ft and flying high. I fly out in the country so I know nothing is interfering with my signal. As of lately my P3 refuses to keep it's signal after 500 ft, and it is lost. I've done a bit of research and believe it may be my antenna reciever (Antenna of the front right leg) also known as part "069" for the P3 standard. I am not entirely sure if this is the case and if it needs to be replaced or not. Please share your thoughts, THANKS!  

Hello edgarg210，did the RTH function activate when the drone reached about 150 meters ? Did you test it in other environments or adjust RC and antenna position at that time?

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-5-24 11:04
Hello edgarg210，did the RTH function activate when the drone reached about 150 meters ? Did you tes ...

Yes the RTH did activate and I changed the RC antenna positioning. Still did not help.

edgarg210 Posted at 2016-5-24 11:49
Yes the RTH did activate and I changed the RC antenna positioning. Still did not help.

Did you test it in different places? Was it the same result?

'I am not entirely sure if this is the case and if it needs to be replaced or not. Please share your thoughts, THANKS!'

What reason do you have for suspecting the antenna? It is a simple passive device and extremely unlikely to be faulty.

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-5-24 07:11
Did you test it in different places? Was it the same result?

You are always posting the same in all other topics. It is not related with the place or the position of the antennas. This problem started with the firmware update to 1.5.70 and many people facing the same problem. Also your last firmware did not solve it. It can be your low end product but it is not advertised with a range of 150 meters.
Most of us was happy with it as it was able to fly 500 - 700 meters before all this started. But now you do not have a solution for that. And all you can say is position your antenna disable beginners mode etc.
THIS IS A PROBLEM STARTED WITH YOUR FIRMWARE UPDATE. Just send the procedure to get our Phantom 3 to its stock version.

titanflyers55@g Posted at 2016-5-24 16:18
Guys let me tell you.. as we can see.. there is  problem with the 1.6.80 firmware. and mine is also  ...

Be sure that it is not only 1.6.80 i face it when i upgraded to 1.5.70 and still continues with 1.6.80 update. When i google it i see posts who faced the sames several moths back with the previous firmware updates. I have some friends who has no issues with 1.6.80 but there are also many people who have problems.
It seems that it is not behaving same for everybody. They are on the lucky side and we are the luckless. Also as far as i see DJI is not going to give any support. Just they will say the same things until you become tired of this shit. Then you will start to search to modify your antenna to gain more range.

... or send it to DJI to repair (warranty) ... as I'm going to do now.

cekabu Posted at 2016-5-24 13:43
Be sure that it is not only 1.6.80 i face it when i upgraded to 1.5.70 and still continues with 1. ...

I have 2 P3S here. No1 on 1.6.80 and No2 use 1.2.40+.  No2 has the orginal fw which came with it, no updates. No2 can go up 600m away at 100m attitude then the signal is lost and RTH start. this is the number for No1 link to helthydrenes share .  It looks like it more how it't updated or just luck how it works. On DJI homepage it say 500m max so both ar ok.

rentner_im_alte Posted at 2016-5-24 10:32
... or send it to DJI to repair (warranty) ... as I'm going to do now.

send it for repair wont do anything,.. it is a firmware issue...  they know it.. .. dont send it for repair...  sell it   .. and get something else...  just don't buy DJI anymore.

gullisig Posted at 2016-5-24 22:57
I have 2 P3S here. No1 on 1.6.80 and No2 use 1.2.40+.  No2 has the orginal fw which came with it,  ...

500m max is only for the ceiling (flying up), not for distance in other directions.

Not A Speck Of  Posted at 2016-5-24 16:40
500m max is only for the ceiling (flying up), not for distance in other directions.

So both Manual and Specs are wrong? " FCC:1000m ; CE: 500m (outdoors unobstructed, aircraft's altitude at 400 feet (120m))"  Manual FAQ1.

I'm having this similar problem. I am flying in the same areas but with the new firmware and boom my distance is 40 percent less and getting "interference" warning ALL THE TIME.

Since everyone is having troubles after UPDATING.....

Stop updating until the updates have been out for a few months.  

Many NEVER update their Phantoms and those people usually seem the most satisfied.

"If it ain't broke........."

I have P3P which I bought in Singapore...
Before update I had range roudnabout 300 meters height and 300-400m distance

After update I have 150 meters height and 150 meters range.

I have just few flights until now, and I´m very pissed because marketed range of this bird
should be 500m height and 3km distance.
I´was flying over area with very small interference (beach, and over the sea).
Antennas pointed properly and not in beginner mode.


Now I bought antenna from Ebay and I hope I will get better range, what do you think?

vranjesmijo@yah Posted at 2016-5-25 05:32
I have P3P which I bought in Singapore...
Before update I had range roudnabout 300 meters height and ...

Then something else is wrong.  I'm on the very latest firmware and Go App.
This is a screen shot of my flight record from 5/14/2016.  504+ meters = 1654 feet.

This was NOT the limit of distance - it was the distance to the abandoned railroad trestle I flew.  I DID have a video transmission issue, but hat was because I had the settings in the HD wrong.  That is corrected.

gullisig Posted at 2016-5-25 11:47
So both Manual and Specs are wrong? " FCC:1000m ; CE: 500m (outdoors unobstructed, aircraft's alti ...

No, the manual and specs are not wrong -- you're confusing 'altitude' with 'distance', as well as 'rules' vs. 'specifications'. Here are all the relevant specs:

• The FAA has rules for 120m (400') altitude max. That's not a law and the P3 UAVs are not hard-coded to stop at that level. It's just a good rule that you should follow. Also, that's just the FAA (as in just the United States, not the entire world). This is the max that you should set in your Go app, but the craft can go higher.
  
  
• The DJI hard-coded maximum altitude (above Home Point) is 500m (1640ft). You shouldn't fly above 120m in FAA controlled airspace, but you could.
  
  
• The distance a P3P is specified to be able to fly horizontally (max transmission distance from remote flying away from you in any direction other than up or down) is 5km (3.1 miles) for FCC compliant devices, 3.5km (2.1 miles) for CE compliant devices. Most of us don't get that far, but it's certainly father than the 500 meters of 'altitude' that you are referencing above.
  
  

Okay?

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-5-24 12:11
Did you test it in different places? Was it the same result?

Yes I tried it in different places, no luck. As I said I usually fly out in rice fields and can reach 1000m minimum now I can't seem to get passed 150m

I don't know what is wrong than.... :-(

I hope we will get software upgrade ASAP with better range...
Like this, my P3P is useless I would than rather buy cheap syma quad with range like that...

Hi,

Phantom 3 standard here.  I noticed after upgrading to the latest firmware (1.6.80) that my maximum altitude does not seem to be what it was before.  I fly in the same locations frequently (close to 100 flights).

Horizontal distance seems to be ok ( I usually keep it pretty close ), but once I reach about 100m altitude, I lose the video feed.  I can still control the bird, the new versions of the software try to RTH.  I will try a distance test at a lower altitude.  I don't suspect any loose or intermittent connections, it is solid at lower altitudes.  From what I can see, there are no new Wifi networks in the area.

I have always gotten the "Warning, Strong Interference" messages, but never experienced a disruption.  I upgraded the Go app this morning, hopefully the situation will improve.

Many thanks to DJI for a GREAT product!

Rob

1.5.70+  I bet is the same as 1.6.80 just renamed by DJI because they don't want to admit to their screwup or deliberate range loss.

Well glad I checked and posted before I went in and actually started switching out antenna's. You would think for what we are paying we'd be getting a good quality product.

edgarg210 Posted at 2016-5-26 08:09
Well glad I checked and posted before I went in and actually started switching out antenna's. You wo ...

You are welcome to go buy a better one if you like. Good luck with that.

edgarg210 Posted at 2016-5-26 06:09
Well glad I checked and posted before I went in and actually started switching out antenna's. You wo ...

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.But such a short distance is possibly related to the receiver's damage. And it is recommended to get in touch with our tech support and send the drone and RC to our service center for diagnosis.

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-5-26 05:47
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.But such a short distance is possibly related to the hardware i ...

phantom 3 standard here. i have sent already and come back without any solution. they said drone has not any problem but my range is max. 300mt after upgrading firmware. Please tell us why some drones has 1000, 1500, 2000 mt. range in US and why we have only a few meters in EU. is this is a FCC and CE issue? the transmitting power must be selectable by user and it must be under user's responsibility. i am not happy with max. 300mt decreased range after 1200mt.

Not A Speck Of  Posted at 2016-5-25 16:53
No, the manual and specs are not wrong -- you're confusing 'altitude' with 'distance', as well as  ...

I will learn this all at the end.
But the 120m rule make sense as other planes are supposed to stay over ca 155m or 500 feet.

Thanks for the advise.

Same problem with me

This is an old thread.  

Could you give us more details about what's happening with you specifically?