While testing my new drone, I set the loss-of-signal instruction to 'hover'.  This is what happened:

1.  When the image signal dropped to zero mbps (or very close), the drone stopped responding to commands and began to hover.
2.  At the same time, however, the RC signal remained solid (different frequencies).
3.  Strangely, throughout the hover I still had a reasonably clear video image with the bitrate ranging between 0 & 2 mbps.  At no point did my video feed stop or disappear.
4.  Not only was the drone unresponsive to joystick controls, pressing the RTH button also had no effect.
5.  When the battery eventually dropped low enough, the auto RTH was triggered and the drone returned.

The above scenario happened twice - at two different locations.  Except during the second occurrence I altered the angle of the controller while the drone was hovering, which caused the video bitrate to increase to 3 mbps - when all of a sudden my control returned.   

So, we have an odd situation where the RC signal is solid, and the video image, whilst poor, is still present, yet the drone won't respond.  Under normal conditions the drone is quite flyable with video under 3 mbps. Yet once the trigger occurs, and the drone begins hovering, it would seem that the video bitrate needs to rise to at least 3 mbps for it to disengage.  Can anyone confirm that?

My main concern, however, is the drone not responding when I press the RTH button on my controller.  I knew it would return eventually - when the battery ran down, but the fact that I couldn't get it to come back when I wanted it to, meant that a significant portion of my flight had been wasted - quite unnecessarily.

I don't think the hover setting (on loss of signal) should disable a manual RTH if the RC signal is still present.  What are your thoughts?  Has anyone else had a similar experience?

And on a related topic:  Does anyone know why the Avata uses 5.8 Ghz (only) for the image feed?  Away from wi-fi interference, 5.8 Ghz will almost always be weaker than 2.4 Ghz.

Hi, there. Sorry to hear about this situation. May I confirm if you have a video reference to this incident? You may upload the video through Google Drive or Dropbox then provide the link here. Regarding the transmission query, When the DJI Avata image transmission frequency is in automatic mode, DJI Avata can automatically switch between 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz when receiving signals during flight. The transmission signal only uses 5.8 GHz, which cannot be used in some countries that restrict 5.8 GHz. In Manual mode, the default frequency is 5.8G, which cannot be switched. I hope to hear from you soon.

DJI Gamora Posted at 12-25 03:39
Hi, there. Sorry to hear about this situation. May I confirm if you have a video reference to this incident? You may upload the video through Google Drive or Dropbox then provide the link here. Regarding the transmission query, When the DJI Avata image transmission frequency is in automatic mode, DJI Avata can automatically switch between 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz when receiving signals during flight. The transmission signal only uses 5.8 GHz, which cannot be used in some countries that restrict 5.8 GHz. In Manual mode, the default frequency is 5.8G, which cannot be switched. I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks for responding.  I have the screen-feed video, but no on-screen telemetry as I use Goggles v2.  Do you need to see the flight record?

I wasn't suggesting a malfunction.  We just have an unusual situation with the Avata having one frequency for the video transmission and potentially a different frequency for the control.  The drone instructions indicate that loss of video will trigger RTH, irrespective of the control signal strength.
My main concern in this post is the inability to manually trigger RTH (i.e. by pressing the button on the joystick) once the hover-on-loss-of-signal has been triggered.  I can understand why joystick controls would be disabled once video feed stops, but manual RTH should still be an option.  In my opinion, this is something that should be rectified in a future firmware update.

The other issues that I experienced once 'hover' was triggered - that is, video retention (albeit with low mbps), and an inability to regain control (i.e. hover-mode disengage) until the video bitrate went back up to 3 mbps - just need further clarification.

DJI Gamora Posted at 12-25 03:39
Hi, there. Sorry to hear about this situation. May I confirm if you have a video reference to this incident? You may upload the video through Google Drive or Dropbox then provide the link here. Regarding the transmission query, When the DJI Avata image transmission frequency is in automatic mode, DJI Avata can automatically switch between 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz when receiving signals during flight. The transmission signal only uses 5.8 GHz, which cannot be used in some countries that restrict 5.8 GHz. In Manual mode, the default frequency is 5.8G, which cannot be switched. I hope to hear from you soon.

Also, the last question in my original post remains unanswered.  The question is why is the Avata's video feed only available in 5.8 Ghz?  Other DJI drones - like my old P4Pv2, are dual-frequency, and can switch between the two, but use the same frequency for both video and control signals.

In my experience, 5.8 Ghz is great when you need to avoid wi-fi interference, but otherwise for distance and penetration is the weaker of the two frequencies.  Because the video feed is locked to 5.8 Ghz, the strength of that signal is essentially the limitation of the drone - it doesn't matter how strong your 2.4 Ghz control signal is, when 5.8 Ghz gives out, your drone's coming home.  Unless I misunderstand how it works - and that's a distinct possibility, I'm just wondering why the Avata is designed this way?

GTHero Posted at 12-25 18:00
Also, the last question in my original post remains unanswered.  The question is why is the Avata's video feed only available in 5.8 Ghz?  Other DJI drones - like my old P4Pv2, are dual-frequency, and can switch between the two, but use the same frequency for both video and control signals.

In my experience, 5.8 Ghz is great when you need to avoid wi-fi interference, but otherwise for distance and penetration is the weaker of the two frequencies.  Because the video feed is locked to 5.8 Ghz, the strength of that signal is essentially the limitation of the drone - it doesn't matter how strong your 2.4 Ghz control signal is, when 5.8 Ghz gives out, your drone's coming home.  Unless I misunderstand how it works - and that's a distinct possibility, I'm just wondering why the Avata is designed this way?

Thanks for responding. In order to review the unusual behavior that happened, our corresponding team will require a video of reference if available. Otherwise, we could only suggest flying in an open area with strong GPS signals and away from interference. Furthermore, the image transmission logic is explained previously that this will remain at 5.8 GHz when in manual mode. Should you have further concerns, please let us know.