Hi, first post here

I own a Phantom3 Std, and have been using it without problems for several weeks. Suddenly one day while flying it began to lose signal in very erratic ways, and while being very close to the remote: maybe 30-40meters of altitude and just above me. Every single flight now has the same problem: as soon as I take off and fly around 40 meters, the app begins to warn about weak signal and, with the drone hovering without movement, maybe it loses it completely and begins flying home, then recovers 4 green bars, it weakens again, and so on.

This happened from one day to another, without any crash between the last normal flight and when it began failing. No firmware updates (it runs the last one) or anything.

i tried re-pairing the remote, calibration, IMU calibration but nothing helps. It looks like a problem with the antenna, but it bugs me that it began working like this from nowhere.

Any ideas?
Thanks!

Did you try rebooting your phone/tablet?

Dr. Acula Posted at 2016-3-5 03:26
Did you try rebooting your phone/tablet?

Yes, this have been happening since a couple of weeks ago

Also to note, it happens in the middle of nowhere, where there are no wifi, tv, radio signals, and also in the city

Here are a few things to try.
If you are using an iPhone, make sure all other Apps are closed.
turn off the bird and the controller
Set the phone to airplane mode, then turn on the WiFi
Turn the remote on first, make sure you are locked to the controllers Wifi (I also delete other Wifi joined connections just in case).
Turn the bird on and after the calibration, just let it sit there for a few minutes while it gets all the GPS signals and such connected.

After take off, do a straight line of sight flight at or around 200 feet or 60 m.

Also note, there are two range extenders for the Phantom 3 standard. Argtek and the DBS mod.  I did the Argtek and now have a solid 1.5 mile range. Other with the DBS have reported even further.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product ... _detailpage_o07_s00

If you feel that your antenna is the cause, here are some pictures to help you pop open the controller and know where to  look.

Ok, I tried a couple things:

* Opened the RC: everything looks ok with the antennas. The three of them are firmly connected and glued
* Opened the drone (quite hard to do): both antennas are also firmly attached to the circuit, and with the white glue on its place.
* Followed all steps described above

Then made a test flight, and the problem persists. Here is a video showing the problem: as you can see, the drone is only 40m right above me, and signal comes and goes. As soon as I go a little up, it loses signal completely, and when I bring it down it recovers. But most of the time is just hovering, and signal changes a lot

ashitaka Posted at 2016-3-5 12:12
Ok, I tried a couple things:

* Opened the RC: everything looks ok with the antennas. The three of t ...

Just a thought, but you have said a number of times that the aircraft is right above you, this is a dead spot for the antennas, you might read the tutorial on antenna positioning.

Geebax Posted at 2016-3-5 09:18
Just a thought, but you have said a number of times that the aircraft is right above you, this is  ...

No, its the same if I go a little bit forward. And the strange thing is that I've used the drone for several weeks without any problem, so I can clearly see that this is not a normal behaviour. And it began from one day to another without any reasonable cause

Might  be of some  help.  Cheers -Donnie

     Make sure you are flying in airplane mode on the Device ,  this setting might improve performance.  Also sorry if I missed it , have you tried other locations? Even in remote areas can be strange anomalies.  Perhaps try and delete and Re-Install the GO app.  Might help ?

Try another device as well,  worth a shot and the DJI go app is a breeze.   This is tough especially because it happened suddenly.  I dont know a lot about the standard but wanted to see if we could stimulate a solution.  

edit *****Best of Luck ,I just watched your video.  You are right above you when this happens., worst possible location . notice when you move transmitter horizontal signal improves? .  watch the video on antenna orientatation .  Also there was a warning of strong interference.  change sites and be mindful of the antenna.  
Cheers- donnie

There have been some known problems with short range on the Phantom 3 Standard. If the basics don't work, contact DJI and have them fix it.

ashitaka Posted at 2016-3-5 09:12
Ok, I tried a couple things:

* Opened the RC: everything looks ok with the antennas. The three of t ...

From the video, we can see that there is strong interference on the remote controller, so the signal bar decreased frequently. There are many 2.4G signals in the city, please try to change your flight environment and make sure there is no other 2.4G signal interference.  Also, try to adjust the direction of the remote controller, let the side face to the aircraft landing gear.

Scratching my head on this one.

OK, try this (maybe you have already).  Make sure to be at least 15 feet away from your bird before take off.  Try raise up to about 150 feet.
If that works, try to fly away and see how far you can go.

Also, Is the DJI Go app MC settings with beginner turned off and set maximum flight altitude set to at least 120 and the maximum distance turned off?

Only last things I can think of before I would say a hardware issue.

Donnie Posted at 2016-3-5 12:48
Make sure you are flying in airplane mode on the Device ,  this setting might improve performan ...

" Make sure you are flying in airplane mode on the Device "

Heaven forbid I might contradict your advice, but turning on airplane mode also disables cellular operation, and that means you will not receive any map information. However, on many devices it is possible to disable WiFi, which might cause problems, but only if the spectrum is jammed full of other WiFi signals.

  Hi there ashitaka,

  I have a P3S and had similar issues flying in an area with many wifi signals (2.4 and 5.8) and also some power lines ... Couldn´t this be your case?

  Check the wifi sources close to me when I had this issue (first one relates to 2.4 sources and second one to 5.8):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... VE/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... zA/view?usp=sharing

  Cheers

I hear people saying to put your device in airplane mode.  But I thought the RC was using GPS from the device.  IF you turn airplane mode on it would cut GPS off?

arock387@gmail. Posted at 2016-3-6 08:30
I hear people saying to put your device in airplane mode.  But I thought the RC was using GPS from t ...

I believe putting the aircraft in airplane mode is tackling it the wrong way.

The RC is only using GPS from the device in certain situations, most of the time it is not using it at all. However 'airplane' mode turns off any function in the device that transmits, like cellular operation, Bluetooth or WiFi, and it does this in one action for convenience.

GPS does not transmit, it is a receive only function, and is not switched off in airplane mode (at least not in my device).

As far as operation of the Phantom is concerned, it still may need cellular operation in order to receive map information, it might even need Bluetooth if you have an external GPS device like a Garmin tethered to it, but it does not normally need WiFi working. And WiFi is the one function that may interfere with reception from the aircraft, so if you think it may help, you can turn off WiFi separately, but leave cellular and Bluetooth running.

Geebax Posted at 2016-3-4 23:50
" Make sure you are flying in airplane mode on the Device "

Heaven forbid I might contradict your ...

Who cares about Map Information, It is a Standard for Pete's sake, not gonna go that far.  The OP is having range issues.  The SUGGESTION among many offered was to TRY and see if it Might  help.  After more information was presented this is a RC transmitter Antenna orientation issue.    Not every SUGGESTION is going to work, its a process.  Also, dont fixate on my posts to critique, other forum members made the same  SUGGESTION as well.  I am sure if you look hard enough, I may make an error (No one is perfect) , but than if I did and was called out on it CORRECTLY , I would have the balls to apologize.  Espescially  if I was arrogant about it .

Heaven Forbid .....

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm gonna try all of this on the following days, in different locations, and I'll share the results

ashitaka Posted at 2016-3-7 15:20
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm gonna try all of this on the following days, in different l ...

Good luck!

Donnie Posted at 2016-3-8 06:03
Who cares about Map Information, It is a Standard for Pete's sake, not gonna go that far.  The OP i ...

Then please, pretty please, do not advise people to switch on airplane mode, as it is going to solve the issue. Airplane Mode switches off WiFi, and in a P3 Standard, WiFi is the only link between the RC unit and the Phone or tablet. So put the phone into Airplane Mode and you can't run the Go App.

And I don't fixate on your posts, far from it, mostly I ignore them. And while you are about it, don't get angry with me, it makes you look like a petulant child.

Geebax Posted at 2016-3-7 16:37
Then please, pretty please, do not advise people to switch on airplane mode, as it is not likely to ...

Did I just miss fight club?

Anyway, either option has shown no change in airplane mode for my standards range, and also I have reached 2 miles now, so it is possible to extend the Phantom 3 standards range.

I do laugh that while flying I will get a text, or a call sometimes.

So airplane mode on or off does not make a difference with the range issue at hand.
I really think the OP's RC antenna is messed up.  His 2.4ghz FPV is at full strength, yet the RC signal is dancing.  With that, it seems not an interference issue (maybe), but possibly the main wire since the OP's checked the connections and they are good.

I would say if are able to, exchange for a new bird, or order a replacement mod to fix the issue and extende your range.

Geebax Posted at 2016-3-7 15:37
Then please, pretty please, do not advise people to switch on airplane mode, as it is going to solv ...

" Pretty Please "  I like that, Now we are getting somewhere.

-donnie