Hi All. As far as im aware the Australian Mavic Mini is the FCC version with a 4km range. Yesterday i was flying out in the country (middle of nowhere on private property) and the maximum distance i could get was approx 500m (when the controller lost contact with the drone). At times the video signal (black screen on the iPhone XS) would drop out at 350-400m and the RTH would initiate. Im surprised the distance was so low as there is very little interference out here. I will try switching Airplane Mode ON today as i have read that will help. But im not sure that will make an 8x difference

What distances have people experienced with their MM that has been purchased in Australia? Besides it being a bit windy I would have thought the conditions yesterday and location would have been perfect for max distance.

Wow, I’m with you. I would have figured way better given the circumstances you were flying in. I am from the USA, yes, but I have always wanted to visit Australia. Please do keep us updated!!

Yeah it caught me by surprise when the video signal dropped out at such a short distance. I think my heart stopped beating till the RTH popup appeared and the MM started to return. Thats now happened another 5 times so im glad the loss of communication RTH feature works VERY well. Very similar conditions this morning so i will try with Airplane Mode ON and report back. It will provide a very good back to back test in an environment with little interference.

I get marginal 3.5 k @ 90 m altitude in open country without interference, airplane mode and wifi off. 2 k is sweet when unobstructed view.

oldhasbeen Posted at 12-23 15:06
I get marginal 3.5 k @ 90 m altitude in open country without interference, airplane mode and wifi off. 2 k is sweet when unobstructed view.

+1 I'd try it with the phone in airplane mode

just checking if the aerials are at 70 - 90 deg to controller, flat panel sides pointing at the AC.
also are there a lot of trees in the LOS to the drone


Which model Mini do you have, looks like you might have the CE version, given the 500m range limits your experiencing

https://www.gearbest.com/blog/ho ... -model-mt1sd25-9131

If you have the CE model then you should be able to change the frequency to 2.4ghz manually in the app and this should improve the range
I believe the FCC model is locked to 5.8ghz

lannes Posted at 12-23 15:24
+1 I'd try it with the phone in airplane mode

also just checking if the aerials are at 70 - 90 deg to controller, flat panel sides pointing at the AC.

Agree to both yours and oldhasbeen's comment. Adding to it, altitude also plays an important role to have unobstructed view with Antenna facing them at their strongest.

Keep in mind what others have suggested. I have yet to have mine out to any distance as the taughted 4KM. Finding a good place to attempt it here is a task of itself, lol!!

Hi. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused you. With regards to connectivity issue. I would recommend to please try doing a compass calibration and do a firmware refresh using the DJI Assistant 2 to isolate the issue. In addition, I will be posting an official DJI tutorial video on the best practices for flying your drone. Please keep us posted for further assistance. Thank you.

lannes Posted at 12-23 15:24
+1 I'd try it with the phone in airplane mode

just checking if the aerials are at 70 - 90 deg to controller, flat panel sides pointing at the AC.

Thank you for the suggestions. The model number suggests its the FCC model and the frequency is locked to 5.8Ghz. I have been flying with the antennas at 90deg. I walked away from the house and with Airplane Mode button pressed (wifi and BT off) i got 900m (LOS nothing between) then it dropped signal and initiated RTH. Sitting in the exact location as yesterday with Airplane Mode button pressed (wifi and BT off) i got 550-600m (appeared to be slightly better but not a big difference).

DJI Paladin Posted at 12-23 16:14
Hi. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused you. With regards to connectivity issue. I would recommend to please try doing a compass calibration and do a firmware refresh using the DJI Assistant 2 to isolate the issue. In addition, I will be posting an official DJI tutorial video on the best practices for flying your drone. Please keep us posted for further assistance. Thank you.

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

Thank you. I have watched the video and can confirm my antennas were positioned correctly. Can you please confirm the MM mode sold in Australia is the model that should have a 4km range? The location im in has nothing but paddocks so i feel this is the perfect location for max distance.

Freerange Posted at 12-23 16:26
Thank you. I have watched the video and can confirm my antennas were positioned correctly. Can you please confirm the MM mode sold in Australia is the model that should have a 4km range? The location im in has nothing but paddocks so i feel this is the perfect location for max distance.

Does your MM serial start with 1SZ , the one on the box it came in?? If so it is fcc model. You can also tell my looking in the battery compartment of the mini and on the controller for big white letter CE. If you don’t see CE any where it is FCC version

The model is 1SZ.... and no CE on the Controller or inside the battery compartment. The only CE is on the battery, but i assume the batteries are the same between FCC and CE models.

I’m from Australia to in Queensland. Where I fly I’ve done 3.5km no problem.

Freerange Posted at 12-23 17:25
The model is 1SZ.... and no CE on the Controller or inside the battery compartment. The only CE is on the battery, but i assume the batteries are the same between FCC and CE models.

They are the same between the two mate. The batteries that is.

Kaadee Posted at 12-23 17:29
I’m from Australia to in Queensland. Where I fly I’ve done 3.5km no problem.

Kaadee, is that 3.5km out and 3.5km back or 3.5km total round trip? If it’s a 7km round trip that’s awesome. I seriously dont know what im doing wrong to get so much less distance.

Freerange Posted at 12-23 17:53
Kaadee, is that 3.5km out and 3.5km back or 3.5km total round trip? If it’s a 7km round trip that’s awesome. I seriously dont know what im doing wrong to get so much less distance.

Are you running an android phone by chance? If so you might be able
To download “WiFi analyzer lite” from the play store and see if there is anything in the WiFi band to interfere. Of course it would only show you what’s in range of your phone though. If you’re using an Apple device, I haven’t found an app that does the same thing yet.

JodyB Posted at 12-23 18:02
Are you running an android phone by chance? If so you might be able
To download “WiFi analyzer lite” from the play store and see if there is anything in the WiFi band to interfere. Of course it would only show you what’s in range of your phone though. If you’re using an Apple device, I haven’t found an app that does the same thing yet.

Im using Apple. The only wifi network is in the house and thats 2.4ghz, not 5.8. The closest house is about 2km away.

Well it doesn’t necessarily have to be someone home router WiFi. It could come from anything that might happen to be using that band of frequencies or even close to them if they transmit enough power to bleed over into the ones that your on.

I'm sure AU is CE and not FCC.
model number MT1SS5 is FCC

model number MT1SD25 is CE

Outside of the EU other than USA & Canada it's still going to be a CE but won't say CE beacuse CE is only used in the EU.
The model number is under the battery flap to the right and very small.

Seems like I read another post where one of the DJI mods said that Australia was an FCC territory. I could be wrong, I have slept since I read that post.

I'm from Australia. Tried flying it more then 1km away and lost footage..

grahamjohnson10 Posted at 12-23 18:28
I'm sure AU is CE and not FCC.
model number MT1SS5 is FCC

Mine is definitely the MT1SS5 model.

If I remember correctly there was a discussion of Australia and FCC and DJI confirmed Australia has the FCC model RC. This was talked about when the Mini was first announced close to a couple of months ago.

fansa029aa8c Posted at 12-23 19:22
If I remember correctly there was a discussion of Australia and FCC and DJI confirmed Australia has the FCC model RC. This was talked about when the Mini was first announced close to a couple of months ago.

Actually, neither CE or FCC conformity is applicable to Australia, CE is European and FCC is the United States. Australian does have an agreement to except CE conforming items however.

Geebax Posted at 12-23 19:31
Actually, neither CE or FCC conformity is applicable to Australia, CE is European and FCC is the United States. Australian does have an agreement to except CE conforming items however.

It's the model number as in my posts above that explain what you say.

grahamjohnson10 Posted at 12-23 19:34
It's the model number as in my posts above that explain what you say.

The first three digits of the serial number will also tell you if it’s fcc or CE. It seems he has a. FCC model so the next question is if Australia is slated by DJI as CE or FCC.  If it’s CE then FCC models power is being reduced to CE power to conform to those standards. That would explain the 500m distance though as that does fall into the CE range.

Here is the forum discussion I mentioned earlier regarding Australia & FCC. DJI confirmed it is FCC.

https://forum.dji.com/thread-201433-1-1.html

The Mini in Australia is the FCC variant, however in Australia, China and a few other places it switches to a SRRC mode which limits the 5.8ghz bandwith channels, and effectively limits the max range to 2.5kms as opposed to the 4 advertised in full FCC mode.

Inanis Posted at 12-23 20:32
The Mini in Australia is the FCC variant, however in Australia, China and a few other places it switches to a SRRC mode which limits the 5.8ghz bandwith channels, and effectively limits the max range to 2.5kms as opposed to the 4 advertised in full FCC mode.

That’s the part I didn’t know. I knew I remembered that being FCC model. But it’s effectively limited to CE range. Which is crazy. Might as well give them CE version to begin with.

I’ve flown my drone out that far. And I just flew before. Went around the north pine dam. Great footage

When I fly I’m using my iPhone 11 Pro Max. I have made sure that I kept facing the drone.

Kaadee Posted at 12-23 21:35
When I fly I’m using my iPhone 11 Pro Max. I have made sure that I kept facing the drone.

Kaadee, Whats the furthest you have flown from the home point? Have you changed any settings?

I’m interested in how far kaadee can get too. You should be getting close to 2.5 KM if what we suspect is true about the aussie FCC version using CE rules.

JodyB Posted at 12-23 22:54
I’m interested in how far kaadee can get too. You should be getting close to 2.5 KM if what we suspect is true about the aussie FCC version using CE rules.

I would be extremely happy with 2.5km range

Freerange Posted at 12-23 22:58
I would be extremely happy with 2.5km range

I know. That’s why I’m so perplexed at the moment. I think we’re getting off track with the whole fcc/CE thing. Although it would be nice to get that straight so we know what kind is range you should be getting. But for know we could just assume somewhere in the 2-2.5 KM range in ideal conditions.

You don’t get any WiFi interference warnings do you? Just video loss? Does it loose telemetry when that happens?
Also, have you tried looking at the 5 GHz channels to see if you are on an optimal channel?

I get a week signal warning about a second before the video link drops out. I can still view distance and height values when the video link is gone. I have kept the channel on auto, will try looking at this. Saying that, its in the country there is nothing out here to produce a signal to interfere.

Freerange Posted at 12-23 23:41
I get a week signal warning about a second before the video link drops out. I can still view distance and height values when the video link is gone. I have kept the channel on auto, will try looking at this. Saying that, its in the country there is nothing out here to produce a signal to interfere.

I'm assuming both your RC and AC are the MT1SS5 and MR1SS5 models and not a mismatch

Both of mine are MT1SS5 / MR1SS5, which means FCC , but limited to SRCC

lannes Posted at 12-24 02:27
I'm assuming both your RC and AC are the MT1SS5 model and not a mismatch

Both of mine are MT1SS5, which means FCC , but limited to SRCC

Lannes, how do you know it’s limited to SRRC? What country are you flying in?

Freerange Posted at 12-23 23:41
I get a week signal warning about a second before the video link drops out. I can still view distance and height values when the video link is gone. I have kept the channel on auto, will try looking at this. Saying that, its in the country there is nothing out here to produce a signal to interfere.

So the telemetry link is still there, it's just loosing video link. I'm sorry, but did you tell us at what altitude you were flying at? If it was relatively low altitude it could be possible to raise altitude and get better signal. I know that sounds crazy, but it does work in a lot of situations. Just got to be sure your not elevating into some wind. Given your circumstances I really feel like you should be getting better distance, a lot better. And I do apologize, I know I'm hitting you with a lot more questions than answers, but you seem to know where I'm going with them and that helps considerably.

Freerange Posted at 12-24 02:53
Lannes, how do you know it’s limited to SRRC? What country are you flying in?

I'm in W.A.

I read somewhere that FCC is limited to SRCC power levels in Australia, not sure how correct this is,
but given how conservative we are here, I suspect this would be the case.