Hi All, this post is a culmination of a couple random, poorly tittled posts.  I'm frustrated and looking for ideas.

I have a MM which I have been flying for a few months and a MP2 Zoom which I just started flying.  I'm having issues with interference with both drones and I have no doubt that it is user error.

A little information about my unique situation.  I fly my drones from an electric wheelchair (diving accident since 1981).  This brings in some obstacles to deal with:

• I'm flying from a sitting position
• I'm sitting in a 24volt high powered chair with large brushed motors.  While I'm not blaming the interference on my chair it can't be discounted, I have been told for years that the electronics do not interfere with radio control transmissions.  In many cases I have proved manufactures wrong.  as you all know, electronics can be very "glitchy".
• The muscles in my hands don't work. to get around this I wear a stainless steel hand brace that allows me to grasp small items such as remote control sticks.  While mostly stainless, it also contains some aluminum and magnetic steel.  My point of bringing this up is that the brace is very close to the controller's antennas.
  

To make things more complicated, I live in an area where I'm flying over water in almost every direction.  This makes RTH terrifying.  Given all this iformation I'm just simply trying to best reduce the risk of losing my drones in the water.


Mavic Mini - She's been good to me.  That said I can get interference errors 300 feet out (with nothing between me and the drone) or 1,000 feet.  Once in a while I get gutsy and push through the error and everything is ok.  other times I can't.

MP2 Zoom - I just started flying her on Saturday.  I had higher hopes with her because of the Occusync.  Within about 400 feet out and 100 feet high I got errors.  I didn't push it for obvious reasons.

Again, not blaming these issues on anything other than user error.  with that said, i have a few questions.

My DJI Go app only shows 2.4 gh.  It does not show the option of selecting "Dual" for switching between 2.4 and 5.8 gh.  I bring this up because most youtube videos I have watched show the dual option.  Is this normal?

Could my sitting position be an issue with aligning the antennas with the drone?  I don't think this is the case as the trajectory looks correct (based on altitude of drone)

Could the chair be causing interference?

Could the metal hand brace be causing interference as it is very close to the antennas?

Love my drones, just trying to get to the bottom of my problems.

Thanks so much for any input you experts can give.

I understand all the normal caveats...point antennas to the drone, turn off WiFi, no large metal structures around...

JP

When you say point the antennas at the drone, you don't
literally mean that right? If so that's your issue, the antennas
need you be pointed up and the controller facile the direction the
drone is in. That should get you better range.

To make things more complicated, I live in an area where I'm flying over water in almost every direction.  This makes RTH terrifying.  Given all this iformation I'm just simply trying to best reduce the risk of losing my drones in the water.
To gain RTH confidence, you could do some test flying on/over solid ground if you can find a park or some open area.
Fly out 100 feet and turn off the controller
Watch Failsafe RTH do its magic.
(move the wheelchair 15 ft away from the launch point before switching off the controller so the drone doesn't land on you)
When you see how reliable it is, it should help with confidence.


Again, not blaming these issues on anything other than user error.  

Interference is radio/wifi interference and it it's not user error.
It's very common in urban areas or if you are flying near motors (I see it all the time flying from a boat)

Could my sitting position be an issue with aligning the antennas with the drone?  I don't think this is the case as the trajectory looks correct (based on altitude of drone)
How you sit wouldn't have any effect on antenna orientation.
How you hold the antennas relative to the drone is all that's important.


Could the chair be causing interference?
Electrical activity in the chair might be a source of interference.
Could the metal hand brace be causing interference as it is very close to the antennas?
The metal won't cause any signal interference or have any effect on control signal.
Magnetic steel parts could cause compass interference - but only if they are close enough to the compass in your drone.

Interference is something that many flyers encounter because of their flying environments.
If the source is close to the launch point, it usually disappears when the drone is further away.
At worst, interference might swamp the control signal and initiate Failsafe RTH.
It won't ever cause the drone to fly off.

Woe Posted at 9-8 18:12
When you say point the antennas at the drone, you don't
literally mean that right? If so that's your issue, the antennas
need you be pointed up and the controller facile the direction the

Hi Woe, yes, when I say point the antennas at the drone I was referring to the face of the antenna, not the tip

Hi Labroides,

Yes, I'll test the RTH in a safer area.  Generally speaking, can I expect RTH to be precise enough to land on the same 5 x 5 ft table it took off from?

Let me clarify what i meant about flying from a sitting position.  I have mounted the controller and Ipad on a piece of plywood that stays on my lap.  The antennas are 90 deg in relation to the controller.  as the drone increases in altitude, the LOS with the drone changes.  I would think this would not happen to someone standing, holding the controller who can just angle it back so that the face of the antennas are better aligned with the drone.  see picture.



Are you able to comment on my 2.4 gh question?  I am not able to see a dual option in my settings that others seem to refer to

I appreciate your insight.

JimmyPickles Posted at 9-9 09:15
Hi Labroides,

Yes, I'll test the RTH in a safer area.  Generally speaking, can I expect RTH to be precise enough to land on the same 5 x 5 ft table it took off from?

Jimmy,

      Your picture is key to the problem.  I can almost guarantee that your interference is coming from the monitor that is next to the antennas.  I've tested much smaller monitors which will knock down the range by a factor of 5.  The interference can be from a direct radiation to the antenna or even via the cable connected to the monitor.  I suggest you test this by flying with the monitor turned off and away from the antennas.

JimmyPickles Posted at 9-9 09:15
Hi Labroides,

Yes, I'll test the RTH in a safer area.  Generally speaking, can I expect RTH to be precise enough to land on the same 5 x 5 ft table it took off from?

Generally speaking, can I expect RTH to be precise enough to land on the same 5 x 5 ft table it took off from?
Not using regular RTH, consumer GPS doesn't give repeatable accuracy to that degree.
Sometimes it might be on the table, and sometimes it would miss by a couple of feet.

It might be possible with the Precision Landing feature as long as the area surrounding the table was suitable for precision landing.

Let me clarify what i meant about flying from a sitting position.  I have mounted the controller and Ipad on a piece of plywood that stays on my lap.  The antennas are 90 deg in relation to the controller.  as the drone increases in altitude, the LOS with the drone changes.
I don't see that as a big issue if the drone is out in front of you at some distance.
I (and I suspect most users) don't tip the controller up much anyway and usually hold it more or less horizontal.
If you were flying high up straight above you, that's a different issue as it's the worst angle for maintaining signal due to antenna geometry.
But if the drone is out in fromt of you at a distance, that shouldn't be a problem.

Are you able to comment on my 2.4 gh question?  I am not able to see a dual option in my settings that others seem to refer to
Sorry .. I don't have a Mavic to check that.
On my drone, I can tap the screen where it shows 2.4 GHz to manually select 5.8, but I find that 2.4 works better anyway for my flying over water.