Hi guys.

The fake GPS and FCC workaround is not working anymore. I have ground tested that.

The transmission control reverts automatically from FCC (11 channels) to CE (13 channels) as soon as the drone gets connects with satellites and knows its true geographical position.
Android phone set to airplane mode = Useless.
Fake GPS works normally and send google maps exactly where it says = Useless.

I tried the workaround indoor and it remained to FCC mode as long as the drone could not validate its true position.

This is very frustrating. The distance I can fly my drone is reduced to 1/4, in city proximity 200 and not with stability.
Practically the drone is almost useless now.

I have DJI fly version 1.1.0 and everything updated to the latest firmware.


Any help to force my drone to work with FCC transmission back again will be deeply appreciated and helpful.  

Thank you.

Get the 4Hawks directional antenna booster, or at least some omni directional extended antenna..   In either case, you'll have to crack open your transmitter to remove the stock antenna, and  install some SMA connectors.

1. downgrade your AC + RC + Batt firmware back to 0.400 using DJI Assistant 2
2. use DJI Fly v1.0.8 (search on google)

There is a workaround.
1. Set USA fake location
2. Connect to the drone indoors or the drone covered with aluminium foil --> the connection will reset to FCC
3. When you get out, connect the remote controller to the drone without the phone connected to the controller.
4. Start the drone with the sticks command
5. Connect the phone to the controller.

When you want to finish flying, bring the drone to the land location, disconnect the phone and land manually with the remote.

This hack doesn't work on Mavic Mini,  if you have the CE version you don't have the right hardware to enable FCC.

DAFlys Posted at 5-4 00:34
This hack doesn't work on Mavic Mini,  if you have the CE version you don't have the right hardware to enable FCC.

There is a fairly comprehensive Youtube video showing it does actually work (Italian but with English subtitles if needed) but won't give the same results as full FCC version. The 5ghz power did get boosted by a useful amount.

FCC version operating in FCC area = best
FCC version operating in CE area = second, power is reduced but still way ahead of CE version drone
CE version operating in FCC area = third, 5ghz power is boosted but does not match FCC version operating in CE area
CE version operating in CE area = worst

It may be that recent firmware has blocked this form working as suggested by original poster though

itchyeyeballs Posted at 5-4 00:57
It may be that recent firmware has blocked this form working as suggested by original poster though

it did not

Android : Using fake Gps RUNNING ..... let the remote link to drone first without the phone cable .... put it to fly inmediatly before it take the home position .. then you can connect the cable to the RC

Before take off , retire the cable from the Phone

i can get 2000m+ without the fcc hack in the uk, i find it best to take off from an area higher than your intended flight path with clear line of sight

Bezik Posted at 5-4 01:32
i can get 2000m+ without the fcc hack in the uk, i find it best to take off from an area higher than your intended flight path with clear line of sight

At 2000m range, we're 100% talking about the 2.4 band for your CE model. And the 2.4 band is not affected at all by the FCC mode on the CE model. The only improvement FCC mode does on the CE model is increase the range of the 5.8 band (from 500m to about 1200-1300m according to tests online). As long as you're flying in an interference-free environment, there's no need or point to get the FCC mode on the CE model.

im guessing the take off area is the most important part of this as ive flown well over 500m across my local town with many houses and factories but always take off from a small sports field on the outskirts

Bezik Posted at 5-4 02:32
im guessing the take off area is the most important part of this as ive flown well over 500m across my local town with many houses and factories but always take off from a small sports field on the outskirts

That performance seems to be better than most of the reports of CE drones that I have seen. Mine struggles @300 meters over an open rugby field with clear line of sight.

itchyeyeballs Posted at 5-4 03:30
That performance seems to be better than most of the reports of CE drones that I have seen. Mine struggles @300 meters over an open rugby field with clear line of sight.

Yes I have found the same thing, I tested in an open field and range wise i can get 2500ft in 5.8 and around 3000ft in 2.4 mode, im going to test this hack and see if it does work.

I’ve never understood this obsession with FCC for CE models, I’m able to fly out 1300m before video gets choppy, well beyond VLOS

TDZHDTV Posted at 5-4 03:41
I’ve never understood this obsession with FCC for CE models, I’m able to fly out 1300m before video gets choppy, well beyond VLOS

Your lucky, for myself and a lot of others going beyond 150m is a bit of a lottery even if flying in a relatively low interference area.

I've not tested a very remote area due to lockdown but the CE youtube range tests seem to imply 900m to 1km max over open farmland.

Most users just want a reliable signal out to 4/500m whilst flying in a semi-rural area.

I believe the "obsession" with the FCC drone comes from the majority of people seeing US users flying their drones. Most people don't realise the CE version is different and base their buying decision on what they have seen then discover the difference later.

Both these flights with no range extenders or fcc hacks and over houses




this one maxed out at 2000m as id forgot to reset the max distance to unlimited after the new firmware update



distance doesn't seem to be an issue

itchyeyeballs Posted at 5-4 03:30
That performance seems to be better than most of the reports of CE drones that I have seen. Mine struggles @300 meters over an open rugby field with clear line of sight.

Have you found an area with longer range?

TDZHDTV Posted at 5-4 03:41
I’ve never understood this obsession with FCC for CE models, I’m able to fly out 1300m before video gets choppy, well beyond VLOS

Well, I would say two things to that:
1. At 1300m, you're talking about 2.4. Which, again, is not improved by FCC mode. If you fly into an area that is sufficiently "quiet" in the 2.4 band that you can use it, then it will be fine. But if you have to switch to 5.8, the CE model is a joke with a 500m *max ideal* range. There are tons of city range tests where the Mini is dropping signal at 150-200m, way before going out of VLOS.
2. This might be just me, but it annoys me to know the drone is physically capable of more and it's just turning itself down. It just grinds me ))

Bezik Posted at 5-4 04:14
Both these flights with no range extenders or fcc hacks and over houses

from what i can see for your flights, they are high (at 120m easily) and not over densely populated wifi spots. So i'd consider that very much in normal or optimal signal strength conditions. While I've had flights like these well at 4000m even over the sea (with my enhanced wifi mavic air 1). But at the same time, when near to RF congested areas such as offices with multiple hotspots or high rise buildings you will really begin to lose signal at even  at less than 400m. Suppose its the user's fault for flying there, but its understandable if he tries to get a few more dB's of TX /RX power via FCC hack. Whether that's legal or not is entirely a different question.

Deucalion Posted at 5-4 04:41
Have you found an area with longer range?

Not yet, after lockdown

My local area is similar to @bezik though.

Over all...   the CE mini is quite capable in a rural setting on 2.4ghz..
The little parabolic mirrors actually do work, as does boosting the DB via changing the antenna.

Bezik Posted at 5-4 04:14
Both these flights with no range extenders or fcc hacks and over houses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dATb3I9tGUA

Hey friend, nice flight.

If my Drone could not go 2.000 under these conditions I would return it as defective to dji.

Over sea I have the same results.

My problem manifests in congested areas.
I live in Athens/Greece, so maximum distance here (Ce mode) no matter what I do (on top of mountain, direct contact, etc) is 350m tops.

Nikos, the same is Sofia, Bulgaria - 300-400 meters.. I could push it to 2 km in extraurban areas in 2.4GHz mode.

Hi All, yesterday I did 1200 meters easily without any hack, just with range extender mirrors. I could have flown further, the weak signal appeared only once. I will retake this test to reach 2 km soon.

My CE MM could reached 1500 meter on 5.8GHz with a cheap parabolic reflector, tested numerous time in my housing area with heavy wifi interference.
Without the parabolic reflector, I can't even pass the 300 meter range.

I have flown even further with no FCC hack.

Lankosher Posted at 5-20 00:01
I have flown even further with no FCC hack.

https://youtu.be/0tNCS5sWcLk

do you know what 5.8 Ghz is and what the FCC hack is?

sbonev Posted at 5-20 00:09
do you know what 5.8 Ghz is and what the FCC hack is?

I don't really know how to treat your question, elaborate more so I'll try answering it adequately.

Lankosher Posted at 5-20 01:44
I don't really know how to treat your question, elaborate more so I'll try answering it adequately.

well you state you went 2100 m away without FCC hack...well FCC hack works on 5.8 Ghz...2.4 by default can get you to more than 2000 m, so your achievement is not on topic and has nothing to do with the FCC hack.

sbonev Posted at 5-20 05:04
well you state you went 2100 m away without FCC hack...well FCC hack works on 5.8 Ghz...2.4 by default can get you to more than 2000 m, so your achievement is not on topic and has nothing to do with the FCC hack.

Who told you I did it at 2.4 GHz?

Lankosher Posted at 5-22 01:30
Who told you I did it at 2.4 GHz?

where in the video it is shown it was on 5.8??? So you are stating that manually chose an 5.8 Ghz channel and used no range extenders nor antenna modifications?

You guys are so lucky if you are able to fly longer then 1000m. CE version of MM in the CE area(Ukraine) gives me 750m at most in straight sight conditions at 5GHz. Usually, it is only 200m-300m, which is just sucks

sbonev Posted at 5-22 01:59
where in the video it is shown it was on 5.8??? So you are stating that manually chose an 5.8 Ghz channel and used no range extenders nor antenna modifications?

It didn't state it was at 2.4 either so your conclusion was a bit farfetched. Anyway, by default CE uses 5.8 GHz, at least in my case, every time I check it uses 5.8 GHz. The only enhancement I used it was the parabolic reflectors to improve the directionality of the beam.

Lankosher Posted at 5-22 03:53
It didn't state it was at 2.4 either so your conclusion was a bit farfetched. Anyway, by default CE uses 5.8 GHz, at least in my case, every time I check it uses 5.8 GHz. The only enhancement I used it was the parabolic reflectors to improve the directionality of the beam.

You are doing really well to get more than 4 times the stated CE 5.8Ghz max distance.  Another poster reported the same thing in another thread, you must have gotten lucky and have some kind of FCC/CE hybrid drone

Lankosher Posted at 5-22 03:53
It didn't state it was at 2.4 either so your conclusion was a bit farfetched. Anyway, by default CE uses 5.8 GHz, at least in my case, every time I check it uses 5.8 GHz. The only enhancement I used it was the parabolic reflectors to improve the directionality of the beam.

by default doesn't mean always...by default in the city usually does, in the countryside it will default to 2.4 Ghz, if most of the channels are free. if you haven't seen it you cannot claim it was on 5.8. Better test again. I also use the parabolic reflectors and also have flown to 1.4 km, though i consider this more an exception than a rule, as the max range specification is 500 m. In any case more than 4 time will be more than luck and is kind of unrealistic, i am most certain it was in 2.4 Ghz

sbonev Posted at 5-22 05:04
by default doesn't mean always...by default in the city usually does, in the countryside it will default to 2.4 Ghz, if most of the channels are free. if you haven't seen it you cannot claim it was on 5.8. Better test again. I also use the parabolic reflectors and also have flown to 1.4 km, though i consider this more an exception than a rule, as the max range specification is 500 m. In any case more than 4 time will be more than luck and is kind of unrealistic, i am most certain it was in 2.4 Ghz

I had checked it before I flew, anyway, it's my word against yours and I don't have a print screen to prove it or I indeed have a hybrid drone as suggested here. In that case lucky me guys
Wish you luck with your flights.

itchyeyeballs Posted at 5-4 00:57
There is a fairly comprehensive Youtube video showing it does actually work (Italian but with English subtitles if needed) but won't give the same results as full FCC version. The 5ghz power did get boosted by a useful amount.

FCC version operating in FCC area = best

Hi itchyeyeballs! I think i found the answer to my dji fpv system short range issue if everything you say is true. I'm in Cambodia and by default it's CE (Hong Kong) mode. I'm having so much trouble trying to fly my drone long distance. I have tried to unlock to FCC and use 1200mV max power output, but my drone can't fly away without losing signal. I get 8CH after hacking into FCC mode, but the distance seems in CE mode in CE area as you mention, the worst! I was kinda hope i can fly my digital video racing drone up to 1km or more or at least 3-400m

Take another phone and install dji fly 1.1.2 then do the same procedure with fake gps now it will work
Then go back to your phone where you will have installed the latest version of dji fly
Turn on the drone and the radio but do not connect the cable and once the drone and the radio are connected, start the motors slowly with the levers tilted inwards
Now connect the cable you will see that you are in FCC even when you hook the satellites

ichan.id Posted at 5-3 10:00
1. downgrade your AC + RC + Batt firmware back to 0.400 using DJI Assistant 2
2. use DJI Fly v1.0.8 (search on google)

It worked. Thank You!

Bought Mavic mini 6 months ago,and have not updated firmware
I fly my CE Mavic mini  in FCC mode.
Initially set with android phone and fake gps to USA, I put it in manual 5.8 on 149, you are in FCC if 11 numbers ,as CE has 13...…I now fly with iPad, with no need to use fake gps.
Start mini and remote with iPhone or iPad “NOT” connected to remote, as soon as remote connects to mini, (4 solid lights) pull back both controls to start props,only then connect iPhone/iPad to remote, finally you MUST  push left stick up to take off...not DJI fly takeoff on screen
Landing..you must remove cable connection to remote ,just prior to landing.
After landing switch off power to remote and mini.
If you forget, you will have to reset with android.
I fly in 5.8 mode with silicon brass rod yagi’s over semi rural land, which does have WiFi interference breakups on some parts of the flight path......I can reach 3,500 to 4,000 meter depending on the weather
Been experimenting with yagi parabolic together, that so far set my longest distance, away from any buildings,I’m sure I could go further.
I have not updated to latest firmware because of posts suggesting  fake gps no longer works...and I’m not going to test to find out !
My M2z CE has the NLD patch  for  FCC ,which was added before later firmware updates stopping and preventing rolling back to install the patch,so it’s permanent.
It can reach 7,500 meter with same setup as mini, ( SC..5.8 yagi combo same flight path) before battery limit (and nerve 58%) suggest time to head home.
I feel for those with terrible range regardless of location, my mini was initially poor, and re goggles were pathetic, before being sent back and repaired reluctantly by DJI.
They now go as far as the M2z....
Once the mini especially ,is dialled in properly, it becomes pretty amazing, even though it looks like a toy...friends can’t believe what it can do, when watching video of the flight on a 4k tv.
P.s  Study the flight path pre fight, and make sure you have a sunshade/hood for a clear view.