Hi all,

I have noticed that my Mavic Airs range is so and so. Like today, did 500-600 meters then video link got unstable. Nothing around. Phone in flight mode. The houses you can see in the video below is like an 500 meters away and when I tried a different direction, it was more or less the same. I have seen people do 2 km (the max under perfect conditions).




Can it be my remote that has like one bad antenna or what is your experience?
Big thanks in advance!

Do you have antennas parallel with drone antenas as seen in manual? If yes then it is probably cause by strong interference in that area, try to switch to 2.4 GHz how it will goes. Are you in CE region? If yes then with 5.8 GHz you will do maximum what you reached.

I would try 2.4 GHz to get better range.

Is it possible to change manually the 5.8GHz to 2.4 GHz? Because last days I have lost the connection with MA during a flight at an height of 150m..I was not able to raise more the drone.

Thanks for the replies!

1.) I do have the antennas parallell with drone - so more or less vertical when the drone is away. As you should with omni antennas as far as I know.

2.) I did try 2.4GHz but it was worse(!)

3.) I am in Sweden - so yes, CE. Thats why?

//Benjamin

I have done almost 1KM and probs. Use the go app to check for interference...

Are the swivel antennas on the front legs down?  Vertical,  or are they horizontal?

Randy

Crazyant, I actually have done 1.3 KM but then either 1.) the latest firmware update screw something up, 2.) The antenna is funky, 3.) I got VERY unlucky with interference a few times.

rwynant, they are of course down (I might be new to this, but not that stupid)

Thanks for the replies!

that last statement is quite clearly debatable. As shown by the hammerhead approach to flying. Max speed in sport mode right off the bat., 5.8 chosen as the WiFi option,  Quite debatable indeed. I am of course referencing the parenthetically spliced phrase in your last post.

Yeah trees are not going to help with transmission signal, you could have tried to go further you still had signal before you turned.

benis Posted at 2018-4-10 13:01
Thanks for the replies!

1.) I do have the antennas parallell with drone - so more or less vertical when the drone is away. As you should with omni antennas as far as I know.

nice to see another fellow swede in here, alltid skönt!

I did my first flight today and had some stuttering, Ill try again tomorrow hopefully with no major issus.
However starting to think buying a Mavic Pro might be better. Im not going to jump to conclusions tho I have 30 days to test this one

I sent you a friend request, might be nice to share some issues or good things since we fly in the same country and all!

benis Posted at 2018-4-10 14:27
Crazyant, I actually have done 1.3 KM but then either 1.) the latest firmware update screw something up, 2.) The antenna is funky, 3.) I got VERY unlucky with interference a few times.

rwynant, they are of course down (I might be new to this, but not that stupid)

Hi Benjamin, please kindly note that when flying 5.8GHz in CE mode, the max transmission distance is 500 meters. So referring to your video, the drone was working normally.
However, since you mentioned that the situation was worse when flying in 2.4GGHz, please check if your firmware has updated and the RC and AC firmware are in a consistency version. Then try more different open places for further testing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7M9JtfVwQE

Thanks all!

DJI Thor, do you know if the radio can change band (from 5.8 to 2.4) during flight?

Bill B, I don't really understand what you are getting at? I wanted to test the range since I have had some weird experiences regarding to that. No need to fly slow for that. The radio is set to auto - and it chose 5.8GHz.

hallmark007, the video stuttered and I did a few similar flights where I lost the connection around that range.

Flying near houses my cause interference. They act like bubbles in terms of WiFi signaling. Also, if you have more devices near the controller, consider setting them to airplane mode.

benis Posted at 2018-4-11 00:30
Thanks all!

DJI Thor, do you know if the radio can change band (from 5.8 to 2.4) during flight?

Yes it can on auto.

Hey All,

Im from Boston and Im on FCC mode on 2.4.

My MA cannot go bypass 500M before I lose him completely.  So Im considering to return that thing to the store and get Mavic 2, yes, unfortunately for double price. It's funny how they decided to put WiFi technology on 800$ drone that wont fly far at all. Also flying that thing is kinda scary, because signal start to be interrupted at around 200M, if I fly behind my house, Ill lose my drone even at 80M. This is not funny at all, I understand city interference, but Jesus, not even a quarter of distance of what the box said? Or I have to go to island where no one live and maybe Ill get to the 2k m. Short story long, if drone cannot fly, no matter how bad ass camera on him,  it wont do its job... Mavic Air does not fly in the city or populated area safely in my opinion !