Hello all.

Just wanted to take a temperature of people that are experiencing a loss of signal while flying well within line of sight.  I am flying in a city and I can easily see my drone when I fly wthin my line of sight.   

At times I can fly over 2000 feet away and have a great connection, other times I can fly in the same direction and lose signal and it will fly in GPS mode back to me and I re-establish connection just fine.

I understand there could be interfernece with just about anything in the city.  But I was wondering if others have experienced the same thing while within line of sight.


Just to clarify, when I lose connection I'm usally only 400 to 700 feet away, other times I lose connection while my drone is hovering 3 feet off the ground right in front of me.  It's so random.

Hello and good day remote.aviator. I am sorry for the trouble and thank you for reaching out. I hope that you can get the best information from our valued DJI co pilots with regards to this matter. For us to be able to isolate the issue can you please fly you drone to a different location to test if the issue will still persist? Please check the location where you are flying your drone if there are metal structures that can interfere with the signals of the said drone. In addition I will be posting an official DJI tutorial video on Remote Controller Antenna Best Practices. Thank you.

DJI Stephen Posted at 6-7 13:10
Hello and good day remote.aviator. I am sorry for the trouble and thank you for reaching out. I hope that you can get the best information from our valued DJI co pilots with regards to this matter. For us to be able to isolate the issue can you please fly you drone to a different location to test if the issue will still persist? Please check the location where you are flying your drone if there are metal structures that can interfere with the signals of the said drone. In addition I will be posting an official DJI tutorial video on Remote Controller Antenna Best Practices. Thank you.

Hi DJI Stephen.

Thank for your reply.  

I already follow all the rules mentioned in this video and went above and beyond making sure they are always pointed in the right direction.

I understand there are times I'm on a peir that use to be used for docking big ships.  I do get remote controller errors from connecting to my drone there.  So there is probably a lot of old rebar in the cement.  That is expected.

For the most part, I'll fly in an area that is consistently near perfect with no loss of connection while in LOS and have the antenna's pointed correctly.  I think out of the 15 times I flew here, so far I lost connection 2 times, sometimes when it's very close and it's really odd.

Today I went to that same spot and for the first time I got the "MAG INT" on my controller.  The only thing that was going on different is there was a guy "weed whipping" across the street and I really don't think that would interfere would it?

I do live in the city of Philadelphia and there are a lot of people that live in the city.  I just wish there was a way I could measure the radio or magnetic interference before I fly since there seems to be inconsistencies.

There was one time I was in a park and I probably flew at least 1,900 feet away and I kept line of site easily.  I flew around for about 15 minutes and started heading back.  I was about 300 feet away in LOS and the antenna's pointed correctly when I lost connection.  That blew my mind.

Every time I go up, I don't know if it's going to be safe anymore and I'm wondering if I have faulty equipment or I'm just having bad luck.  Maybe today there is more interference than other days, I just don't know.

I know DJI sells their better controller that has a brighter screen to make it more easier to see in the day time.  It's suppose to have a better radio signal, but at this point where i live in the city, I'm not sure if it's worth it and if I'll have the same issue.

I just passed my Part 107 Exam and I'm just waiting for TSA to finish their background check, so I should be getting my temporary license I can print until the FAA sends me the official one in the mail.

I plan on start making money on the side and see how it goes.  I will probably end up buying an DJI Inspire 2 eventually.  It seems most people I know have better luck with those for some reason.
I attached a picture of my surrounding area.

DJI Stephen Posted at 6-7 13:10
Hello and good day remote.aviator. I am sorry for the trouble and thank you for reaching out. I hope that you can get the best information from our valued DJI co pilots with regards to this matter. For us to be able to isolate the issue can you please fly you drone to a different location to test if the issue will still persist? Please check the location where you are flying your drone if there are metal structures that can interfere with the signals of the said drone. In addition I will be posting an official DJI tutorial video on Remote Controller Antenna Best Practices. Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7M9JtfVwQE

Calibrating seems to do the trick as far as MAG INT goes.  I guess I should calibrate before every flight.  Just need to figure out the LOS problem