Just as the title said. My Mini 3 Pro (brand new) lost video transmission at around 350m, was flying straight over a vast lake with no trees or building that could possibly interfere the signal. Was using the smart RC.
I had the transmission settings at default (auto/dual band), and suddenly the video on my RC just froze and turned to grey, and didnt come back to life after waiting a few seconds.

I however noticed that the controls still worked as I saw the drone moving on the map. So i just flew my drone back safely. Didnt try and restart the RC because i took off from a little balcony overseeing the lake, auto RTH would surely land the drone on top of a roof or something.


Tried restarting the drone and RC afterwards, and also set the transmission to manual 2.4Ghz. Flew the rest of the day normally, but didnt dare to go beyond 300m because of this. Any ideas why this happened? Could it be a one time mishap or should i expect to encounter this more often? Thanks!

It's not unknown for a drone to lose video feed, and yet still remain controlable by the RC. I've had this happen once or twice ( not with my Mini3Pro and RC) but with my earlier drones (Mavic Pro and Mavic Mini) and like yourself, as they were still within VLOS I was able to guide them safely back to the landing point.  I seem to recall, one time it was hitting the RTH which brought the drone back automatically (Phantom4).

Blériot53 Posted at 9-18 07:47
It's not unknown for a drone to lose video feed, and yet still remain controlable by the RC. I've had this happen once or twice ( not with my Mini3Pro and RC) but with my earlier drones (Mavic Pro and Mavic Mini) and like yourself, as they were still within VLOS I was able to guide them safely back to the landing point.  I seem to recall, one time it was hitting the RTH which brought the drone back automatically (Phantom4).

Weird thing is that i never had any problems with video feed on my Mini 2 SE, and with the Mini 3 Pro having O3 i'd expected something way better than to lose feed at 350m.. but alas i hope this is just a one time glitch and not a normal occurence.

aerosw1ft Posted at 9-18 08:02
Weird thing is that i never had any problems with video feed on my Mini 2 SE, and with the Mini 3 Pro having O3 i'd expected something way better than to lose feed at 350m.. but alas i hope this is just a one time glitch and not a normal occurence.

I've had mine for about a year now, and flown it extensively. Signal dropout occurs occasionally but, as RTH is always locked in before takeoff, it always comes safely home.  Range varies widely dependent on the terrain.

Hi

clever....

I however noticed that the controls still worked as I saw the drone moving on the map. So i just flew my drone back safely. Didnt try and restart the RC because i took off from a little balcony overseeing the lake, auto RTH would surely land the drone on top of a roof or something.

But what if you had a connection loss, drone nicely in RTH, landing above HP   and   crashes....
Mayby always try to find a safe spot to takeoff from...or reset HP in flight (taking off your balcony) to a safe landing spot for a RTH.


cheers
JJB

Since you were in the balcony, my best guess is that the RC controller must have transmission interference from the building wifi router/s

Hello. The distance of image transmission is closely associated with various factors in the current environment, including the interference of Wi-Fi signals, signal transmitting power, relative direction and location of signal reception, obstructions, etc. Also, an improper remote controller antenna position may affect the video transmission signal, so it’s necessary to adjust the remote controller antenna to its best position for the aircraft.

Please keep us posted if ever you experience this issue again when flying from a different location. Have a great day ahead.

If standing near the shore line and your drone is flying over a large body of water your optimum band between the 2.4 and 5.8 would be 5.8 because its fresnel propagation radius is smaller compared to 2.4 Ghz being larger and thus it has more potential for cross interference (signal reflections. attenuation, etc.) from the water's surface at distance out there.

Standing on cliffs edge being higher up from the water's surface then 2.4 would be the better choice because better for distance compared to 5.8 and less chance for their fresnel zone to come in contact by the water's reflective & absorptive nature to these frequencies.

Theory & practical application of RF transmission is all voodoo with so many variables, LoL.....

One other point that has not been mentioned, if there is steel work in the balcony you risk magnetic interference messing up the compass and having a flyaway.

DJI Tony Posted at 9-18 20:11
Hello. The distance of image transmission is closely associated with various factors in the current environment, including the interference of Wi-Fi signals, signal transmitting power, relative direction and location of signal reception, obstructions, etc. Also, an improper remote controller antenna position may affect the video transmission signal, so it’s necessary to adjust the remote controller antenna to its best position for the aircraft.
[view_image]
Please keep us posted if ever you experience this issue again when flying from a different location. Have a great day ahead.

I was using the DJI RC and it has no external antennas, so there's nothing i can do about that. Thanks for your answer anyways.

Rej Posted at 9-18 20:57
If standing near the shore line and your drone is flying over a large body of water your optimum band between the 2.4 and 5.8 would be 5.8 because its fresnel propagation radius is smaller compared to 2.4 Ghz being larger and thus it has more potential for cross interference (signal reflections. attenuation, etc.) from the water's surface at distance out there.

Standing on cliffs edge being higher up from the water's surface then 2.4 would be the better choice because better for distance compared to 5.8 and less chance for their fresnel zone to come in contact by the water's reflective & absorptive nature to these frequencies.

Welp that seems even more complicated than I initially thought.. saw a video that basically said:

1. If you're in wide open space with less things to interfere, then use 2.4
2. If you're in densely packed areas like urban and residential, use 5.8 because it has stronger penetration but with less range.

Hence why I put my transmission to 2.4 afterwards. I was only flying from a hillside with little to no buildings.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 9-19 06:37
One other point that has not been mentioned, if there is steel work in the balconey you risk magnetic interference messing up the compass and having a flyaway.

Yeah, i didn't think about that. Will make sure to find a better place to takeoff from now on!

aerosw1ft Posted at 9-20 00:55
I was using the DJI RC and it has no external antennas, so there's nothing i can do about that. Thanks for your answer anyways.

Hi. Sorry about that the image is for the Smart Controller. Here you go:

I appreciate your patience.

aerosw1ft Posted at 9-20 00:59
Welp that seems even more complicated than I initially thought.. saw a video that basically said:

1. If you're in wide open space with less things to interfere, then use 2.4

My earlier comment was specifically in relation to the drone being over water.

Now if the open area is like a pasture/field then yes 2.4 would be preferred over 5.8 if you are attempting distance.

5.8 does not have more penetration; 2.4 Ghz is slightly better at penetrating. The  5.8 band is easily stopped by objects walls, etc pending their thickness, material makeup, etc...The reason 5.8 Ghz is better than 2.4 in residential build up areas is because you will have less chance of getting cross interference because the 5.8 has wider bandwidth and thus less busy compared to the narrower bandwidth of 2.4 Ghz.

The longer the radio wave the less it is affected/absorbed by structures and retains its energy better compared to a shorter wave and thus the longer wave can potentialy travel further in distance.