In the manual a distance of up to 12km is stated. In my practice, the maximum in forest and city is 1 km and in open country 4.5 km. Quite a difference ?!

It's you that's not being realistic.
You need to check the specs to see what they actually say.


If you check the specs again and you'll find that DJI say:
   Signal Transmission Ranges     (FCC) [6]
    Strong Interference (urban landscape): Approx. 1.5-3 km
    Medium Interference (suburban landscape): Approx. 3-7 km
    Low Interference (suburb/seaside): Approx. 7-12 km

And if you check the footnote #6 for more details, it says:
6. Data is tested under FCC standards in unobstructed environments of typical interference. Only to serve as a reference and provides no guarantee as to the actual flight distance.
Max one-way communication distance of DJI Mini 3 Pro in countries/regions of different standards:
FCC: United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and other regions. Max transmission range: 12 km
SRRC: Mainland China. Max transmission range: 8 km
CE: UK, Russia, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Macau, New Zealand, UAE, and other regions. Max transmission range: 8 km
MIC: Japan. Max transmission distance: 8 km

Labroides Posted at 12-7 04:46
It's you that's not being realistic.
You need to check the specs to see what they actually say.

Thanks but still a quite difference. Apparently DJI adjusts specs after purchase.

Yeah, only 8km for EU, this would only be attained in rural and take off from height, even then it would be hard pushed, it would only be a one way journey with the standard battery anyway...

Bashy Posted at 12-7 05:39
Yeah, only 8km for EU, this would only be attained in rural and take off from height, even then it would be hard pushed, it would only be a one way journey with the standard battery anyway...

I agree with your statement about the standard battery. A distance of 4km, taking shots and return is already quite a challenge.

exter Posted at 12-7 05:51
I agree with your statement about the standard battery. A distance of 4km, taking shots and return is already quite a challenge.

Manufacturer boasts are laboratory results in perfect conditions.  The range in real world environments is variable.  This should not be a surprise to you.  

exter Posted at 12-7 05:51
I agree with your statement about the standard battery. A distance of 4km, taking shots and return is already quite a challenge.

It will do 5.5km comfortably with the standard battery,  ;)

exter Posted at 12-7 05:51
I agree with your statement about the standard battery. A distance of 4km, taking shots and return is already quite a challenge.

I would agree. I've got 4.5K each way on standard battery, about 1 minute or so of picture taking then a return. All depends on wind and air temps etc. I will see about a plus battery, hopefully if released here or if I can find a better price in time.

primeshooter Posted at 12-7 08:06
I would agree. I've got 4.5K each way on standard battery, about 1 minute or so of picture taking then a return. All depends on wind and air temps etc. I will see about a plus battery, hopefully if released here or if I can find a better price in time.

Amazon sells it for under £100, although i am not 100% sure its an official DJI item, I'm betting its not

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. Kindly please try to fly your unit to a different location and check if you can extend the range of your unit. We strongly recommend flying the unit in an open space away from any possible interference to achieve better distance. In addition, you may refer to the statement of Labroides in post #2 about the different range base on the location and country that you are flying to. Thank you for your understanding and support.

primeshooter Posted at 12-7 08:06
I would agree. I've got 4.5K each way on standard battery, about 1 minute or so of picture taking then a return. All depends on wind and air temps etc. I will see about a plus battery, hopefully if released here or if I can find a better price in time.

The extended battery is prone to the clips cracking and wont be covered by DJI warranty

.  

DAFlys Posted at 12-8 00:47
The extended battery is prone to the clips cracking and wont be covered by DJI warranty

[view_image].

Yeah, theres that too, now if they only sold them here then you would have been covered, its like they just do not want to listen even when proof has been on their desk right from the get go. It really stretches my skin

Bashy Posted at 12-8 01:09
Yeah, theres that too, now if they only sold them here then you would have been covered, its like they just do not want to listen even when proof has been on their desk right from the get go. It really stretches my skin

Yes. I would be shipping that back within seconds of it going on sale.  

DAFlys Posted at 12-8 00:47
The extended battery is prone to the clips cracking and wont be covered by DJI warranty

[view_image].

Yeah I have seen this problem in a few places...truly crappy that. I'm sure they'd have to cover it under warranty if users in the regions these batteries are sold in, complained. That is poor design right there.

Bashy Posted at 12-7 18:44
Amazon sells it for under £100, although i am not 100% sure its an official DJI item, I'm betting its not

My thoughts too, I hope DJI release it in UK.

Here in Brazil, this brave warrior reached 11.5 km, 23 km round trip with the same battery.

primeshooter Posted at 12-8 02:31
My thoughts too, I hope DJI release it in UK.

Just seen a Q and A on that battery and the shop says yes to it being a DJI battery so you should be good to go if its not then you can return it and get ya money back easily enough as its amazon

Dirty Bird Posted at 12-8 03:21
You need to read the section of the manual that applies to range more carefully.  It doesn't say you can expect 12 km range everywhere or under all conditions.  That said if you are looking for long range you need to find a good environment with low RF where you can maintain a clear LOS between the RC & drone.

30,129' & still going.  Only turned back because the battery was down to 58%.

See here from somebody else exactly my experience as stated in the start of this topic. DJI range claim 12km not realistic
Nevertheless, for now it is workable for me

Direct from the manual -

Something you may want to read!!!

exter Posted at 12-13 09:46
See here from somebody else exactly my experience as stated in the start of this topic. DJI range claim 12km not realistic
Nevertheless, for now it is workable for me
https://youtu.be/oAHL0MCziKA

So are you able to switch from CE mode(8km) as you're in Netherlands to FCC mode (12km)? Again these are ideal perfect "lab" conditions. Truly your mileage (meters) may vary.

Dirty Bird Posted at 12-13 11:43
Again, that is the *MAX* range in FCC mode under perfect conditions.  I have flown my Mini 3 Pro in all three environments & exceeded the ranges listed in the specifications.

I think you are "banging your head against a brick wall" in this case, they see what they want to see and that's it.

exter Posted at 12-13 09:46
See here from somebody else exactly my experience as stated in the start of this topic. DJI range claim 12km not realistic
Nevertheless, for now it is workable for me
https://youtu.be/oAHL0MCziKA

A bit of a light read, sorry, got carried away lol

1stly, matey in the video is stuck behind trees for the distance he is at, also he turns to the left and looking at the radar his RC compass is not calibrated, this, in turn, tells us that he's not even facing the drone until its gets closer to him on the RTH journey, how do we know that? well, even when the  RC compass is off leading to the RC indicator being misaligned, it still turns GREEN when there is a good alignment, if its blue its a poop alignment. So thats 2 issues that didn't help his cause plus he's in a WiFi congested area.

I am in CE and the Mini 3 Pro performs a little better than the Mini 2, my village is very similar to his home location and i can get 1.2km, its the houses and trees that hamper my signal, the same as in that video. In FCC i can do around 1.5km with the exact same flight path.

In CE rural it has managed a decent 5.5km at only 31m high. That could well have been a one off, i am still to replicate that, the last time i tried using the exact same rural flight path, it could only do 3.3km. In FCC it managed only 6km. So, external factors being manmade or atmospheric play a big part in things.

Back to the problem with the RC to AC alignment, this has to be 100% spot on, there is no wiggle room. Not only that, the issue is exasperated 100% when there are objects in the way as already mentioned.

Get the RC's or other device's that you're using compass calibrated making sure the RC to AC indicators are spot on, then try your flight again and keep the top of the RC (where the antennas are located) pointing at the drone, bearing in mind that at a distance of 1500m and 120m high, the drone is only around 4 degrees off the horizon, that means that your RC should be pretty much flat and uncomfortable to view the live screen, you have to live with that if you want decent range. The further away the drone is from you, you should be lowering the angle of the RC, imaging that there is a laser dot coming out of the top of the RC, keep that dot on the AC at all times and you will get the max distance possible on that day.

Never think that you will be able to get the max specification every single time you go out, never gonna happen. Youre in CE so unless you're in FCC mode, you're hit with much lower-powered wifi from the get-go, the lab specs says 8km (CE), these will be the specs from the manufacturer of the components, of course DJI will market the max for all to see as thats what will help with sales ;)

If you're not getting anywhere near spec then you have to look at the reason why, its rarely down to software (Candian issue aside) or hardware, its pretty much either the pilot at fault (alignment) or other external factors such as interference from other radio signals or atmospherics.

As an afterthought, i wonder if "skywave" or "skip" plays any part in our signals, maybe the signal is not far away enough to have any effect? but when there is a "good skip" thats the radio waves reflecting back from the ionosphere, radio signals improve quite a bit for Ham radio, their contact distance is aided quite a bit by this. Probably a daft thought as our signal cannot even reach the ionosphere... lol