Hi all, first time drone owner here. Received my Mavic Pro Fly More 5 days ago (Australia, ordered 29/9). Have taken it out for half a dozen flights. Am currently having serious dramas with the range. Can't seem to fly much further than 40 to 50ish meters high or far before the signal (video and RC) drops out, and the drone auto-triggers Return To Home. Have attempted in various locations. No obstructions. Beginner Mode is off (have double checked) and the drone is set to RC, not Wifi (have tested in both settings). Antennas on remote are folded out correctly. Have attempted multiple times and still the same problem, it can't get past around the 50m mark before losing signal and Return To Home. Contacted DJI Chat Support, they asked me to do an IMU and Compass calibration, did both, problem still persisted, they gave up and asked me to email in my problem. Have done that and now waiting for reply... If anyone has any suggestions, let me know! Until then... I guess mine's faulty. Sucks because all the other features and functions seem to work a treat, just can't fly it very far. PS: Had a look at my flight logs... they show an error that often comes up randomly: "Cannot Switch Flight Mode. Turn on "Multiple Flight Modes" to enable Atti and Sport modes" Don't know if that has anything to do with my dilemma... If anyone knows anything, has tips or things I can try, or is having the same drama, let me know!

Really stupid suggestion but is the selector switch set to RC or WiFi? Seeing as how I don't have mine yet I don't know if it's even possible to use controller while in WiFi mode instead of just phone. But short range sounds like their WiFi mode.

Nivag75 Posted at 2016-11-5 13:19
Really stupid suggestion but is the selector switch set to RC or WiFi? Seeing as how I don't have mi ...

Nah, fair question!
I mentioned it in my original post though - "Drone is set to RC, not Wifi (have tested in both settings)." ;)

Bizarre.  Following.  There is a setting in the DJI Go App that enables multiple flight modes.  If it's trying to switch to ATTI, could be for some reason it wants to drop out of GPS mode, but isn't allowed to by this setting.  But if no GPS, it wouldn't know how to reliably RTH.

Hopefully, Ken or support have more ideas than I.

Hi,

same with mine, after some testing I tried another cable, plugged in the standard USB Port at the bottom of the RC ... with that, I have a stable connection

Do you have an iPhone or Android in use ? In my case it was an iPhone 6s

What are the various locations you flew in?  Please upload your logs to healthydrones.com and link them here as it will provide a substantial amount of information regarding your problem.

As simineon says cable might sort it, there was this problem with P4 and different cable did help, although it was with Android. You probably have but just checking is your firmwear and software up to date, I know new firmwear upgrade is out.

Did you try disabled Maximum distance ? .......  

I am interested in where you are flying.  Is it in a rural area, urban or something in-between.  How are your antenna's aligned?  What device are you using?  40-50m is not usual for this craft.  Have you contacted dji.com/support?

I have the same problem keeps saying the same error around 400ft.

Wonder how your antennas were pointed. You will loose a lot of signal DB when the end of the antennas are pointed towards the aircraft.  The flat side should be facing towards the craft for optimal signal.

They only can go one way  so I'm not sure what you're saying.

Hi everyone, thanks for your responses.

Simineon - I'll have to test a different USB cable today. Will let you know how I go!

method007 - I'll explore uploading flight details if the USB cable fix doesn't work. Thanks for your response!

hallmark007 - Hi there! I've done all firmware and app updates that I know of, have kept it 100% up to date.

F.C Drone City - It definitely isn't the problem. As I said, drone is dropping out of signal, not hitting a self-imposed distance restriction. Have checked through those settings already.

Tahoe Ed - Hi there. I've flown in a number of different spots. I live in a regional town, quite a large town. Have flown relatively near the CBD (in a safe spot, obviously), about 10 minutes out of town (still near housing), about 20 minutes out of town, and once out in some fields pretty far away from anywhere. Exact same problem everywhere, location doesn't seem to affect it. I've contacted the DJI Support online chat, they asked to do some calibrations, after that didn't help, they didn't know what the problem was and asked me to email in. I've done that, waiting on a reply.

fans280eacb3 - You're getting much more distance than me right now!

Nees - No worries. Even with the antennas wrong, surely it can reach more than 40 to 50 meters away. But I've tested them in a number of positions, doesn't really seem to be helping much...

Hi,
today I flew with an USB-to-Lightning cable connected to the USB port of the RC.

No disconnections, nothing at all

For sure it is a loose connection in the RC-to-Lightning cable

One other thing might be worth trying is alternative SD card, it seems ridiculous but some things the SD does can have curious effects - or try taking it out completely if no other is available.

fans280eacb3 Posted at 2016-11-6 07:40
They only can go one way  so I'm not sure what you're saying.

Here's an example of how they should not be:

fans280eacb3 Posted at 2016-11-5 17:40
They only can go one way  so I'm not sure what you're saying.

For antenna orientation, if you are flipping the antennae straight out from folded position, you are foing it wrong. You should unclip the first antenna and rotate it 90 degrees so that it is straight upb if the controller were flat on a table. The 2nd antenna should swing up 90 degrees in the opposite direction, leaving both antennae straight up, and parallel. If you hold the controller in hand, at an angle so you are facing the screen, adjust the antennae so that they are vertical, and keep them parallel. If they are simply flipped out from their folded position, range will be limited.

Simineon Posted at 2016-11-6 12:55
Hi,
today I flew with an USB-to-Lightning cable connected to the USB port of the RC.

What does the cable have to do with the RC signal?

CabinPete Posted at 2016-11-7 08:23
What does the cable have to do with the RC signal?

This cable transmits the video signal (and various other information) from the RC to the smartphone. When this connection disconnects theres no video on your smartphone and the message that the mavic triggered an RTH appears.

Update: have tested with a different lightning cable. Problems still persisted.
Took video if it helps, this time cut at 30m high...

Still waiting for a solution from DJI email support too.

I have similar issue but mine says Weak Remote Control and then RTH triggers? I truly think this is bigger problem that we all think.. I'm sending mine back for exchange

fans280eacb3 Posted at 2016-11-8 09:23
I have similar issue but mine says Weak Remote Control and then RTH triggers? I truly think this is  ...

Yep, mine's the same.
DJI got back to me, have asked me to send it in for repair. So yeah, got shipped a faulty product, and now i"m going to lose it for an undisclosed amount of time without any compensation. Sad days.

PS - thanks everyone for your replies! In my case, it seems I was shipped a faulty product. DJI have asked for me to send it in for repair, and haven't offered any form of compensation. Not a great start to my experience as a DJI customer...

3m06OLhEvEGE Posted at 2016-11-8 08:52
Update: have tested with a different lightning cable. Problems still persisted.
Took video if it hel ...

Hi, could you please adjust the antenna as the image indicate?
Also you could refer to the video tutorial of Phantom series.

I had the same problem today. Any word in getting your drone back? I might just have to send mine in too. I really don't want to, but if I can't fly the drone far whats the point right ?