Bellsprings Posted at 6-12 17:22
Fully charged battery on drone and on RC controller. Placed Mini 3 Pro out in the open on some boxes about 5 feet high. Walked to about 200 meters,  direct line of sight
, and started to lose signal, though I had still a picture. Set up my Mini 2 the same way, still had a relative good signal at 225 meters with 4 bars. Looks like there is a range problem on the Mini 3 Pro.

This is not the way to test the signal.
What's the point of placing the drone on a box?
Just fly the drone!
Signal bars may fluctuate, as long as you have good video and drone is still in control, you are all good.

The antenna placement and orientation is different in Mini 2 and Mini 3.   I won't be surprised that there are situations and locations that Mini 3 is better, and at the same time, there are situations and locations that the Mini 2 may be better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD9pa4rSWWo

Hi all,

Air Photography posted this range test. Doubles mine...

1.2 Miles / 1.9km over open ocean from a 100 FT cliff above sea level, direct LOS flying at 200 FT above sea level before losing a complete signal.
I have an original Mavic Air that does about 3 Miles 4.8 km from the same location.

I am from LV (EU) and 450m on 100 m height till RC connection is completely lost, is absolutely unacceptible for 1000€  drone

Bashy Posted at 6-10 18:29
But it raises another point. The RC needs to be hotspotted from your phone to acquire maps and use the directional indicator. Maps I get, they can be downloaded and cached, but surely you should be able to use the directional indicator using the controllers own GPS without connecting to a phone or WiFi first?

Not to use the direction indicator, that's based on the compass in the controller from what I've been told and as you can calibrate the controller's compass then that sounds about right to me. You need to hotspot to get the maps downloaded if you haven't already cached them prior to leaving home, i.e. by opening the app and then going into live view and zooming in to the locations that you're going to fly. NOTE; that's the live view map, NOT the Fly Safe map you can enter from the top left on the 1st screen of the app. You prob know that though but it doesn't hurt to mention it again in case others read it that are not aware of that....

I know the directional indicator is based on the compass but I've done a few compass calibrations where it says it's "normal" but the indicator is still off by at least 90 degrees. Only works correctly when hotspotted from my phone. Don't know why this is.

nixuspix Posted at 6-14 08:33
I am from LV (EU) and 450m on 100 m height till RC connection is completely lost, is absolutely unacceptible for 1000€  drone

Same distance as I get here south of Sweden

nixuspix Posted at 6-14 08:33
I am from LV (EU) and 450m on 100 m height till RC connection is completely lost, is absolutely unacceptible for 1000€  drone

I have the same problem................. but others on here will tel you it is PERFECT!

nixuspix Posted at 6-14 08:33
I am from LV (EU) and 450m on 100 m height till RC connection is completely lost, is absolutely unacceptible for 1000€  drone

Completely lost my connection around 400-450 m distance in urban area! here in Canada
and seems it s basically a hardware issue and won't be fixed via firmware update!

Someone experiencing range issues and speculating on why that is. Don't know if I buy into the theory DJI are purposely limiting the signal strength to test how it goes first in terms of overheating etc. He is confident it will be boosted in further updates. Hope he's right but I don't know. If this was the case surely everyone would be experiencing difficulties?

So sending this drone 5000m away = experiencing range issues ? that is so much better than CE already, I would love to have those kind of issues lol.

Meuhbat Posted at 6-15 10:43
So sending this drone 5000m away = experiencing range issues ? that is so much better than CE already, I would love to have those kind of issues lol.

I know me too! I think he was referencing back home where he lives which is very different from the flat fields of Ohio where he is doing this test. Maybe his Mini 3 isn't as forgiving when it comes to obstacles and interference as previous drones.

Meuhbat Posted at 6-15 10:43
So sending this drone 5000m away = experiencing range issues ? that is so much better than CE already, I would love to have those kind of issues lol.

Man if mine was that good in CE i wouldn't have any complain! If i am lucky i get 900 feet

M J Posted at 6-15 09:38
Completely lost my connection around 400-450 m distance in urban area! here in Canada
and seems it s basically a hardware issue and won't be fixed via firmware update!

Double check that you have FCC, don't just assume that it is just because we are in Canada.

I found that my drone was sometimes in CE mode especially during satellite lock or if I start the drone in a covered area.  It is supposed to switch to FCC, but a few times, it did not; not until I restart the drone (not sure if there is any other way).

Once in FCC mode, I have no problem going to 2,000+m in GTA, haven't tried beyond that.

FlyBoo Posted at 6-14 09:07
I know the directional indicator is based on the compass but I've done a few compass calibrations where it says it's "normal" but the indicator is still off by at least 90 degrees. Only works correctly when hotspotted from my phone. Don't know why this is.

Just as an FYI, whilst the indicator may be off by 90º if you have good alignment the arrow on the indicator still turns green, so you can still be somewhere close...

Disclaimer; seen as Bigplumbs does not want me posting in this section but i don't care, i do not own this Mini 3 Pro, i am parting with my wisdom and knowledge.

You should always know where you drone is. There is no need to worry about the direction indicator as it is very unreliable. Just point you controller where you know the drone is

Bashy Posted at 6-15 17:53
Just as an FYI, whilst the indicator may be off by 90º if you have good alignment the arrow on the indicator still turns green, so you can still be somewhere close...

Disclaimer; seen as Bigplumbs does not want me posting in this section but i don't care, i do not own this Mini 3 Pro, i am parting with my wisdom and knowledge.

All that would be fine if you had any wisdom or indeed knowledge

patrick51 Posted at 6-15 12:16
Man if mine was that good in CE i wouldn't have any complain! If i am lucky i get 900 feet

I have a friend in NZ which is CE and can confirm they have reached 6000m is very random how some do and some don't get good range. Looking forward to testing this myself but maybe with someone taking the Mini 3 pro for a ride on a bike :-)

Bigplumbs Posted at 6-15 22:17
All that would be fine if you had any wisdom or indeed knowledge

You just cannot help yourself can you, amazing what some folk are like hiding behind a keyboard.   

Bigplumbs Posted at 6-15 22:17
All that would be fine if you had any wisdom or indeed knowledge

Aren't you the one who thinks a UK electricity weighs more than US electricity or something?
What a joke of a thread
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=266771
So everyone can have a quick laugh again

b_ron Posted at 6-16 06:43
Aren't you the one who thinks a UK electricity weighs more than US electricity or something?
What a joke of a thread
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=266771

Ha ha, nice repeat, made my day, again, thanks...

normal with ce i get around the 1000meters with the rc or n1 controller(almost the same) over water i get les signal but wit the fcc trick with the n1 controller i can more then 3 km without problems this

Happy to report that after debating even opening the box for the last week, I've done two test flights with my M3P around downtown and have been able to fly everywhere I normally do with my MA2 with no loss of signal bars even if I turn around facing away from the drone. This is in the US with the DJI RC.

03 and trees or wifi?  tell it to these guys:  

I haven't done a range test yet, but so far it's flying farther than my Mavic 2 Pro when I fly from my front doorstep through the valley that I live in. I was pleasantly surprised that I could fly further down the valley than a drone that costs twice as much.

I have had a several DJI drones and currently have a Air 2. Received the Mini 3 pro and was so excited. Flew my usual flight path and lost signal within 300 meters.  Flew a different direction and it literally gave me a current over discharge  error.  So disappointed

Have started a return but no response from DJI in 5 days.  

Back to the Air 2 which is a tank.  (Although I must say a recent update lowered speed by quite a bit - I fly on sport a lot to get to my favorite photo spot and it’s noticeably slower- I suspect to increase battery life and reduce heat)

I finally got to Greenland last week and overall very impressed with the drone in general in terms of image quality, portability, ease of use and reliability in unusual conditions (flying over ice caps / glaciers etc)

My only niggle again was the inconsistent range. Now my drone did not perform as badly as the folks getting disconnects after a few hundred meters with FFC models, but it seems pretty random how far it's willing to go. I took my flights from a hilltop over a completely wild and remote area, no major radio interference, perfect LOS with no obstacles at all between controller and drone.

Max distance I got was 3.2 kilometers with two bars of signal left which was pretty good. Most flights started giving signal warnings and disconnects at 1 to 1.4 kilometers which was very disappointing considering it was close to perfect conditions for signal. It was a bit of a shame because my battery life was good and because it was a wild uninhabited area I was willing to push it further and record more but the signal was not playing ball.

Another weird thing was that my drone stayed in CE mode while in Greenland despite connecting ok to GPS and giving me updates about local restrictions etc. I might be wrong but despite being Danish territory I thought Greenland was FCC along with the rest of geographical North America? Maybe the M3P is not switching modes, something that I have heard with some Canadian (and possibly US) units? I'll admit I was hoping it would switch to FCC so I could try out that fabled stronger signal then we are allowed here in Europe.

I will probably post some of the pics and videos here at some stage if people are interested.

FlyBoo Posted at 6-27 10:08
I finally got to Greenland last week and overall very impressed with the drone in general in terms of image quality, portability, ease of use and reliability in unusual conditions (flying over ice caps / glaciers etc)

My only niggle again was the inconsistent range. Now my drone did not perform as badly as the folks getting disconnects after a few hundred meters with FFC models, but it seems pretty random how far it's willing to go. I took my flights from a hilltop over a completely wild and remote area, no major radio interference, perfect LOS with no obstacles at all between controller and drone.

Useful information but given where you were I would rather see the footage which is what this drone is all about

Hello from Canada,
I received my DJI Mini 3 Pro today. Was excited to try it out for the first time. Though sadly I have the same range issues as others have mentioned, the maximum I can get is 380 meters after which it goes straight to RTH mode.
I am using the DJI RC (w/ Screen) and the area is a suburban place. I have the Mini 2 as well, and that thing can go 1.5 kms in the same area so something has to be wrong with the new guy.
Have reached out to DJI support and haven't had any luck in specific details.
Also, from what I have found out. DJI just has one SKU of the Mini 3 Pro, so the FCC vs CE decision is basically done on the go after checking the location. That's where the issue is I feel.
Right now, I am stuck as I do not know if I should keep the drone and wait for an update to arrive or should I just return this one and hope that the replacement will not have the same issue.
Hoping to find a solution.

fans2d9fea24 Posted at 6-30 21:44
Hello from Canada,
I received my DJI Mini 3 Pro today. Was excited to try it out for the first time. Though sadly I have the same range issues as others have mentioned, the maximum I can get is 380 meters after which it goes straight to RTH mode.
I am using the DJI RC (w/ Screen) and the area is a suburban place. I have the Mini 2 as well, and that thing can go 1.5 kms in the same area so something has to be wrong with the new guy.

Keep it and wait. Any exchange is very likely to be the same

Another update: v01.00.0201 promises: Optimized the anti-interference ability and the transmission distance of the image transmission system.

Tried my Mini Pro 3 in the outback this week - zero interference issues as was open plains.  600m was all I could get before return to home.  Watching for updates as well.

same here the Netherlands,

DJI mini 3 pro smart controller range is a disaster, max 500m from my backyard. Yes i know my backyard is not the best place but i simple compare it with my old HUBSAN zino mini pro at same place --> 4km. Unfortunately i dont think it will be solved by a new firmware update. If somebody have some tips please let me know.

Regards The Netherlands

Interesting thread. I am far from reaching the theoretical max even in great conditions, but I've topped out close to 4km so far with decent signal. This was with me up on altitude though, so no objects interfering.
In more typical scenarios I've pushed it to 1.5 ish before it started properly dropping out. I still had RC control, but no video feed.

Not sure why so many people experiencing this short range. This is my second mini 3 as I sold the previous. current firmware on the bird too and it flies a fair distance out.

GLOBAL HAWK Posted at 9-11 03:01
Not sure why so many people experiencing this short range. This is my second mini 3 as I sold the previous. current firmware on the bird too and it flies a fair distance out.

Curios why you sold your 1st Mini 3, only to get another Mini 3?

jitter Posted at 9-11 00:55
same here the Netherlands,

DJI mini 3 pro smart controller range is a disaster, max 500m from my backyard. Yes i know my backyard is not the best place but i simple compare it with my old HUBSAN zino mini pro at same place --> 4km. Unfortunately i dont think it will be solved by a new firmware update. If somebody have some tips please let me know.

No tips that can help at this time. Our only hope is creation of hardware mod of some sort that will mitigate this issue.

I live in New York City and my Air 2S can still reach 1-2 km before signal gets really bad, my guess is there are something in your region that generates lots of noise. Try somewhere away from city and see how far you can get -

Flormo2002 Posted at 9-11 05:23
Curios why you sold your 1st Mini 3, only to get another Mini 3?

Yes, I sold the first Mini 3. I ended up getting an Air 2s. I didn't sell the Mini 3 for any reason of poor performance, I was just offered good money and decided to push it away for an Air 2s.

My original Mini 3 was running as it should from day one as is my new unit which I didn't pay for as it was part of bundle freebie with a new cinema camera body we purchased for work. Would I have purchased a mini 3 again......NO. If we didn't get it for free I wouldn't have purchased one again. They are just too light in weight for windy environments and we really need drones that are more robust in heavy wind.

Anyways, my original and freebie 2nd Mini 3 both flew up to 3km range, didn't go further as I have no need to. I am still surprised that people are still having issues.

I think it would be helpful when people are posting about issues like this that they state if they are using a CE or FCC drone, from what I've read it makes a huge difference