Wiz33 Posted at 5-29 21:48
I was lucky not to take a hit on this one and this is from when I first got the Mini, I literally got it the day before I left for my trip to Asia and this is probably my 5 or 6th flight so it was a bit scary.

https://youtu.be/Xy6GjGrwurU

I cannot believe that you didn't get taken out and that you actually stuck with the flight, wow

Perhaps the birds just fly close to provoke or warn the potential enemy? I noticed that sort of activity here too with pigeons. They dont seem to strike but more fly close in an intimidating way to warn off the uninvited drone.

GLOBAL HAWK Posted at 5-29 22:25
Here in Australia we have Magpie. Flying a drone during their nesting period is absolutely asking for trouble. They will and have attacked, taking drones out of the sky as the birds are very agressive. It has been known that in msny cases where they have damaged peoples eyes by clawing their faces. I was filming some footage a couple of years ago for real estate and one came right for the mavic rendering the job a no go as the bird had a nest in the tree in front of the house i was filming. Now if I was a km away that would have been worse for me as the distance negates any form of spacial awareness and 99% of the time the flyer goes into panic mode because you can only see whats in front, not on the left, right or behind. By having the drone closer within visual sight, you can already see more of what the bird is going to do and anticipate an escape route in sport mode ( in some cases not even sport mode is fast enough).

Just one of my experiences.

Very Very true again. This in my view is the biggest reason for not flying too far

GLOBAL HAWK Posted at 5-30 00:01
Perhaps the birds just fly close to provoke or warn the potential enemy? I noticed that sort of activity here too with pigeons. They dont seem to strike but more fly close in an intimidating way to warn off the uninvited drone.

Well the Oyster catcher hit my drone

Bashy Posted at 5-29 19:26
1.8k at 30 odd meters high isn't overly bad for CE but comparing that to my Mini 2 quite frankly is embarrassing for it's predecessor, it should have the same or better range, after all, the Mini 2 was far better than the Mini 1, its how it works with DJI, as a rule, and its what we've come to expect...

...but no, it's not about the range perse, it's not like we are going to be hitting 3km every time we fly or even ever, that's not the point, the point of the matter is, that's it's not as good as the Mini 2, that's where the issue lies (for me anyway) and I cannot buy it in good conscience and on a whim that DJI will improve it in this area, they may well do and at that point, I will re-evaluate. If the CAA decide on another 2 years before then, then i think the Air 2s will win this fight as i have my A2 CofC and can fly anywhere as long as i am 50m away from peeps. Once the next 2 years are up then i will see what the Mini 5 is like if i haven't already got a new Mini.

Great points!

Mini 1: the range/connection was awfull!
Mini 2: The range/connection was awesome
Mini 3: The range/connection is in some cases as bad as the Mini 1, but nowhere near the Mini 2!

Come on DJI, fix this!

Today I had similar issue - coupled with motor problem at the same time... it was just stationary and it all all kicked off... i was standing 4M away from the drone with the RC... and suddently it did its own thing  - lost signal and hit a wall and crashed into a canal - LOST FOREVER...

I had bought it a week ago.

There is something wrong with these drones if this happends - a lot of hard earned money wasted - Thank you DJI

To add my little experience with the mini 3 with RC, the drone seems sensitive to its orientation relative to the RC : I went towards a small building/castle ~900m away with full signal (80m height), once there I circled around it reaching 1050m, and the signal dropped to 3 sometimes 2 bars when the drone was facing me, then regained full signal after completing the turn. But the correlation is not direct as the drone went above the building and above trees, so this might have an influence (but it was unobstructed).
Another factor is the trees, I went on a lake and made a turn behind trees, I had full signal until a sufficient amount of trees made me lose the video signal around 400m so I climbed to regain it.
Line of sight and proper aim is very important for signal quality beyond a couple hundred meters. I don't have another drone to compare. I hope I can test it at longer range soon (meteo + don't have the fly more combo yet).

japan16 Posted at 6-2 06:13
Today I had similar issue - coupled with motor problem at the same time... it was just stationary and it all all kicked off... i was standing 4M away from the drone with the RC... and suddently it did its own thing  - lost signal and hit a wall and crashed into a canal - LOST FOREVER...

I had bought it a week ago.

You upload your flight log contained in your device, some members here will go through them and give you a more accurate summary of what happened. Drones don’t just fly off for no reason.
Just click on link below and follow instructions come back here and post links to your flight log.

You could also start up a new thread for your case.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

japan16 Posted at 6-2 06:13
Today I had similar issue - coupled with motor problem at the same time... it was just stationary and it all all kicked off... i was standing 4M away from the drone with the RC... and suddently it did its own thing  - lost signal and hit a wall and crashed into a canal - LOST FOREVER...

I had bought it a week ago.

It sounds like a classic case of magnetic interference, turning on the drone next to something that's magnetically charged will produce your flight's characteristics.

You need to follow the instructions in the reply above this one so it can be determined.

I'd like to chime in and say that i lost signal at 300m out in an urban environment with the current firmware at the date of this post using dji fly 1.6.1. Other urban areas range from 500-800m before RTH is activated. These same areas had no issue with the mini 2 which flew much further. So there is indeed some sort of signal problem with the mini 3 though i don't think its hardware related, more like firmware as others have suggested in this post. I have been able to go 1500-1900m in other locations but it is semi urban or higher in elevation where theres less noise. DJI, please look into these range issues as they are critical failures and not something to be overlooked.

MXss Posted at 6-4 18:30
I'd like to chime in and say that i lost signal at 300m out in an urban environment with the current firmware at the date of this post using dji fly 1.6.1. Other urban areas range from 500-800m before RTH is activated. These same areas had no issue with the mini 2 which flew much further. So there is indeed some sort of signal problem with the mini 3 though i don't think its hardware related, more like firmware as others have suggested in this post. I have been able to go 1500-1900m in other locations but it is semi urban or higher in elevation where theres less noise. DJI, please look into these range issues as they are critical failures and not something to be overlooked.

Have you tried manually selecting 2.4ghz?

Bashy Posted at 6-4 18:33
Have you tried manually selecting 2.4ghz?

I will try to do more tests and manual channel selection but its clear to see that alot of users on here and alot of youtubers are experiencing some sort of range issue significant enough to mention in their videos.

MXss Posted at 6-4 18:42
I will try to do more tests and manual channel selection but its clear to see that alot of users on here and alot of youtubers are experiencing some sort of range issue significant enough to mention in their videos.

I agree, a lot are, but without me seeing a video of the screen so i can see the Flight Attitude radar and a video of the person holding the controller, i can't really say either way, but i do think that this MM3P is very sensitive to alignment, i.e. very directional, more so than previous models. I have seen 2 videos of tests where there's a 2nd video showing the person holding the RC and its not good, its like they are trying to control the space station seen as the antenna on the DJI-RC is pointing into space.

2 things...

1, You need to make sure the compass in the DJI-RC is calibrated, then you need to start using the Flight Attitude Radar, it has an indicator on there that shows the RC's direction in relation to the drone, it also shows the direction your RC is pointing by the little blue arrow on that indicator. once a good horizontal alignment is achieved the blue arrow will turn green, just make sure its 100% pointing to the drone indicator on that radar, tiny adjustments is all that's needed once its green. You can flit back and forth between map and radar but the radar is your friend. Just keep checking that radar cause you will move even if its a tiny amount, at a distance that tiny amount is multiplied tenfold.

2, Try to imagine where the drone is in relation to yourself, at 500m and at say 50m high, its not going to be that many degrees above the horizon, even that distance and 120m its still going to be lower than you tend to think, so when you're holding the DJI-RC at a nice comfortable viewing angle of what, 45º or more? so you can see the screen ok, this ain't gonna work. Once you have number 1 above sorted, you then need to keep an eye on the signal indicator at the top of the screen (like you normally would), So lower the top of the RC so its points lower towards the horizon, but you need to be able to gauge how low, remember this though, the horizon is less than 5km away from your standing position, a little further the higher the drone goes. Make adjustments in tiny increments, then wait a second or 2 whilst watching the signal meter and see what it does, if its goes up then back down, you went too far, if nothing happens, you didn't adjust enough, if it goes up, then try another tiny increment in that same direction, if it drops then tiny back the other way etc, you get the idea.

Once you've sorted 1 and 2 above you will be able to get the best possible out of the drone, and not necessarily range either but the signal itself. The weather is something to consider too, i managed to get my record in foggy conditions, i flew under the fog at 17m rising to 27m at the turnaround spot, i think the signal was bouncing off the fog like riding a wave

Bashy Posted at 6-4 19:31
I agree, a lot are, but without me seeing a video of the screen so i can see the Flight Attitude radar and a video of the person holding the controller, i can't really say either way, but i do think that this MM3P is very sensitive to alignment, i.e. very directional, more so than previous models. I have seen 2 videos of tests where there's a 2nd video showing the person holding the RC and its not good, its like they are trying to control the space station seen as the antenna on the DJI-RC is pointing into space.

2 things...

Thanks for the info!

IF this is not fixable by some sort of firmware update and is just a natural product of the antenna design in the DJI RC then I will be very saddened by the fact and will seriously talk to DJI about getting a refund or swap to a RC N1 controller as this is not cool with such an expensive drone. Signal transmission is probably the most important thing in these drones and if its just meh or extremely inconsistent in the urban areas I need to use it in, then that is a serious problem!!! I use my mini 2 and just love the signal quality and i don't have to always worry about controller orientation and still get the distance that I need.

MXss Posted at 6-4 22:43
Thanks for the info!

IF this is not fixable by some sort of firmware update and is just a natural product of the antenna design in the DJI RC then I will be very saddened by the fact and will seriously talk to DJI about getting a refund or swap to a RC N1 controller as this is not cool with such an expensive drone. Signal transmission is probably the most important thing in these drones and if its just meh or extremely inconsistent in the urban areas I need to use it in, then that is a serious problem!!! I use my mini 2 and just love the signal quality and i don't have to always worry about controller orientation and still get the distance that I need.

Sadly, i think its the drone itself or the fw because there's not much difference if any with the N1, from what i have seen so far...

patrick51 Posted at 5-30 07:30
Great points!

Mini 1: the range/connection was awfull!

Not true the Mini 3 range is perfectly fine

I had a few flights so far and I can't say I'm seeing any range issues.  
Comparing to the original Mavic Pro, the M3P is on par, or slightly better.
I was worried at first, hearing all the stories, but I'm happy with range.  
The battery is actually the limiting factor.

However, there does seem to be a switching issue with FCC and CE.
So if your expecting the M3P to be in FCC mode, it may be in CE mode.

Power on the M3P then go into your transmission settings.
Make sure the 1KM value is above the -90 line, not at the line.

I find that 90% of the time, I power on the M3P and it starts in FCC mode, then switches to CE mode when satellites get a lock.
Power cycling the MP3 pro fixes the issue.

Not sure what is causing this, but seems to be a bug.

Dragonfyr Posted at 5-18 04:51
Here's another example of the signal problem. https://youtu.be/i0w05TcOQvk

I mean, look at the comments on that video, literally everyone is having signal issues right away!

I agree DJI fix major problems or I will demand refund

djiuser_goYFhooBnc3d Posted at 6-8 13:16
I agree DJI fix major problems or I will demand refund

You wont get a refund unless you return within 14 days.

Bigplumbs Posted at 6-5 00:24
Not true the Mini 3 range is perfectly fine

For you perhaps, but you've self-declared that you do not go further than 500m VLOS

+1 to the range problems. Got mine a month ago and had a chance to fly a-lot in that month in different countries. The drone has very bad transmission range, I lose contact with the drone after 500-800 meters while it is said to have a much bigger range in the specs. I have tried it in 10+ different locations being in city, in the mountains, on the seaside and ect. Most of the time I lose signal on 500-800 meters range, and once I was succesfull to reach more than 1 km. range as I understand it depends on the place I fly in, but that is not near the marketed range. I even tried a test with my older drone the phantom 3 pro that is quite old and it did better than the mini 3 pro. DJI fucked up hard on somewhere on this drone and I'm hoping that enough people talk about that so they take responsibility, otherwise not buying DJI products anymore. *Using the RC controller.

Dragonfyr Posted at 5-18 07:11
What? That makes no sense.

DJI list/sell the mini 3 Pro with a range of 18,000 meters. But loads of people can't get past 500 meters without a signal issue.

Sadly it is true.

djiuser_goYFhooBnc3d Posted at 6-8 13:16
I agree DJI fix major problems or I will demand refund

Demand all you want it wont help one bit

Had a hard time the last day, ok: the remote was not directed to the aircraft, but that was unexpected… lost control under 100 meters distance.

Kalleno Posted at 6-17 11:43
Had a hard time the last day, ok: the remote was not directed to the aircraft, but that was unexpected… lost control under 100 meters distance.

Both those photos show 100% RC signal 5 white bars.

hallmark007 Posted at 6-17 11:49
Both those photos show 100% RC signal 5 white bars.

Yes, checked the log again. It drops one bar for a second but is still in good connection. But why it had loosed connection and triggered RTH?

Weird.

yes but there is the red alert which says „signal to controller lost“

Kalleno Posted at 6-17 12:45
Yes, checked the log again. It drops one bar for a second but is still in good connection. But why it had loosed connection and triggered RTH?

Weird.

Im not sure why, the white bars are your signal indicators and they look good. Maybe check or post flight log it might show why.

Same here, having signal issue at 300m-500m distance. Signal start to lost. DJI need to do something.

EdwvLVXnmeVZ Posted at 6-5 23:57
I had a few flights so far and I can't say I'm seeing any range issues.  
Comparing to the original Mavic Pro, the M3P is on par, or slightly better.
I was worried at first, hearing all the stories, but I'm happy with range.  

This no longer works after the new firmware update. Drone is stuck in CE mode after the Home Point is updated.