Just curious what I can expect from such sophisticated equipment here in Canada ... Not that I need to push the limits or fly my bird where no man has gone before, but I would like to know what's under the hood. I'm recently testing new addition to my fleet, mighty M200 that is. Today did first long range flight ... Perfect conditions, VLOS maintained all the time ...
2250 m one way, lost connection, RTH to the rescue ... I'm not impressed, needless to say.

I know the M200 is pretty big, but almost  a mile and a half LOS? I'm jealous of your eye sight

mixchief Posted at 2018-3-17 07:43
I know the M200 is pretty big, but almost  a mile and a half LOS? I'm jealous of your eye sight

OK, so it's a matter of interpretation ... Perhaps I should use the term of BVLOS (Beyond The Visual Line Of Sight), recently coined in this community. What I mean is the line between two points; specifically : the straight path between a transmitting antenna (as for radio or television signals) and a receiving antenna when unobstructed by the horizon or any solid object whatsoever ...

Now, knowing what I mean, do you have any related knowledge to share with me?

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-3-17 21:18
OK, so it's a matter of interpretation ... Perhaps I should use the term of BVLOS (Beyond The Visual Line Of Sight), recently coined in this community. What I mean is the line between two points; specifically : the straight path between a transmitting antenna (as for radio or television signals) and a receiving antenna when unobstructed by the horizon or any solid object whatsoever ...

Now, knowing what I mean, do you have any related knowledge to share with me?

As with all Quad Copters range varies with interference. I own an Inspire 1 and have had some very frustrating moments where in a quarter mile I lost all communication, considering 3 blocks away there was a massive cell antena I guess I couldn't ask for more. However in the South American countryside while on vacation visiting a huge lake I had over a mile and not a hiccup. That was as far as I was willing to go, RC transmitter LOS is not the only factor affecting your range and can vary from day to day, in the same location over Biscayne Bay in Miami I've had disconnects in half mile and another day was able to cross to the other side just short of a mile at this location. Where you tested, did you check your signal strength and noise? that will give you a good idea of what is causing your limited range.

mixchief Posted at 2018-3-18 01:39
As with all Quad Copters range varies with interference. I own an Inspire 1 and have had some very frustrating moments where in a quarter mile I lost all communication, considering 3 blocks away there was a massive cell antena I guess I couldn't ask for more. However in the South American countryside while on vacation visiting a huge lake I had over a mile and not a hiccup. That was as far as I was willing to go, RC transmitter LOS is not the only factor affecting your range and can vary from day to day, in the same location over Biscayne Bay in Miami I've had disconnects in half mile and another day was able to cross to the other side just short of a mile at this location. Where you tested, did you check your signal strength and noise? that will give you a good idea of what is causing your limited range.

Now we're talkin', that's what I call The Response! Thank you. So, bottom line is that DJI birds - in general - are not able/willing to fly not even near the specified range ... If I assume that my Chevy Silverado speedometer is scaled absurdly up to 200 km/hr for whatever reason, If I assume that perfect conditions are not possible to achieve, the specified maximum 7 km range of DJI radio communication is equally absurd without serious mods and hacking. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Said that, shall we consider an average mile as a relatively safe range for standard, off the shelf set-up?
Finally, how do you actually examine the state of available radio communication at particular place? Please elaborate.

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-3-18 13:27
Now we're talkin', that's what I call The Response! Thank you. So, bottom line is that DJI birds - in general - are not able/willing to fly not even near the specified range ... If I assume that my Chevy Silverado speedometer is scaled absurdly up to 200 km/hr for whatever reason, If I assume that perfect conditions are not possible to achieve, the specified maximum 7 km range of DJI radio communication is equally absurd without serious mods and hacking. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Said that, shall we consider an average mile as a relatively safe range for standard, off the shelf set-up?

a mile has been my experience with the Inspire, at first it was rough to get past 3500 FEET, now afterr last fw updates and the struggle with the app of late I've been able to go a mile but nt willing to go beyond LOS, call me chicken but not only is a lot of money invested,(granted half or less than you) but if there is an issue and the bird hurts someone I would not be able to forgive myself, even if I'm lucky to escape prosecution. I did not say that DJI is making false claims, you'll find others here and in other sites not to mention youtubers that make some amazing claims, but frankly I don't believe them, Most that have YT videos of absurdly far flights are in very remote areas which probably have little if any interference, but I can't make the math add up in terms of battery life in flights of multiple miles in real world where there is even the slightest wind.

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-3-18 13:27
Now we're talkin', that's what I call The Response! Thank you. So, bottom line is that DJI birds - in general - are not able/willing to fly not even near the specified range ... If I assume that my Chevy Silverado speedometer is scaled absurdly up to 200 km/hr for whatever reason, If I assume that perfect conditions are not possible to achieve, the specified maximum 7 km range of DJI radio communication is equally absurd without serious mods and hacking. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Said that, shall we consider an average mile as a relatively safe range for standard, off the shelf set-up?

"If I assume that perfect conditions are not possible to achieve, the specified maximum 7 km range of DJI radio communication is equally absurd without serious mods and hacking. Please correct me if I'm wrong."


Back when DJI made these claims, the Go 4 App and FW had better communication (IMO) So, you are correct, I think if you are on the latest FW and using the latest Go4 App, the range will be more limited. Of course, if you can fly in the best conditions with no interference, you will get much more distance than bad conditions.

Are you using the Patch antenna ?  if you are maybe try the Omni stick antennas ..

All the best
Rich

mixchief Posted at 2018-3-18 14:51
a mile has been my experience with the Inspire, at first it was rough to get past 3500 FEET, now afterr last fw updates and the struggle with the app of late I've been able to go a mile but nt willing to go beyond LOS, call me chicken but not only is a lot of money invested,(granted half or less than you) but if there is an issue and the bird hurts someone I would not be able to forgive myself, even if I'm lucky to escape prosecution. I did not say that DJI is making false claims, you'll find others here and in other sites not to mention youtubers that make some amazing claims, but frankly I don't believe them, Most that have YT videos of absurdly far flights are in very remote areas which probably have little if any interference, but I can't make the math add up in terms of battery life in flights of multiple miles in real world where there is even the slightest wind.

Oh, I'm far from complaining or having urges for stupid challenge with no reason, I just want to know what's under the hood of the system I just slapped $9K for. Anyway, I did more tests today, experimenting with frequency switching. With 5.4 GHz  I was able to reach fair distance of 3.5 km without a single glitch and didn't feel like pushing for more, frozen fingers aside. Much better, I can live with that. I believe that the area - although beyond city suburbs - is heavily polluted with stray radio signals. I could see at least 5 cell towers in proximity.  

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-3-18 18:52
Oh, I'm far from complaining or having urges for stupid challenge with no reason, I just want to know what's under the hood of the system I just slapped $9K for. Anyway, I did more tests today, experimenting with frequency switching. With 5.4 GHz  I was able to reach fair distance of 3.5 km without a single glitch and didn't feel like pushing for more, frozen fingers aside. Much better, I can live with that. I believe that the area - although beyond city suburbs - is heavily polluted with stray radio signals. I could see at least 5 cell towers in proximity.

good for you, I'm also assuming the systems on the M are of higher grade than the ones on the I, I can't change frequencies on the I1 and if I can I don't have a clue how, because I haven't seen the setting LOL.

RichJ53 Posted at 2018-3-18 18:44
"If I assume that perfect conditions are not possible to achieve, the specified maximum 7 km range of DJI radio communication is equally absurd without serious mods and hacking. Please correct me if I'm wrong."

Rich, at this moment I'm experimenting with standard Cendence/CS configuration and stick antennas, nothing fancy. Today was much better anyway, reached 3.5 km with no problem and quit pushing further.
Switching to 5.4 Ghz helped a lot here.  

Oh, this bird is a joy to fly ... When she passes above at full throttle it sounds like a WWII fighter ...

Cheers, Brother Rich ...

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-3-18 19:13
Rich, at this moment I'm experimenting with standard Cendence/CS configuration and stick antennas, nothing fancy. Today was much better anyway, reached 3.5 km with no problem and quit pushing further.
Switching to 5.4 Ghz helped a lot here.  

6500ish feet range on lightbride2 is the average I got before switching to a directional  antenna. Lots of good ones on the market now, and with the Cendence the mod would be hassle free

Lildoo Posted at 2018-3-19 03:08
6500ish feet range on lightbride2 is the average I got before switching to a directional  antenna. Lots of good ones on the market now, and with the Cendence the mod would be hassle free

That's what I would expect with standard stick antennas, didn't even got the Cendence patch antenna yet to experiment with. Anyway, long distance flights is not really my thing, just want to know what's under the hood if I ever need to fly far. Thanks for info ...