As the title suggests,

took my P3A out this evening, gorgeous evening no wind got 700 metres out (approx 40m up) and it started indicating that there was a weak image. As you can imagine, keeping my cool of course i started heading back to where i was. Would i be right in thinking this is due to image transmission being on auto, was it because the signal was unstable and should i have done the customer channel 20 trick?

Firmware up to date on controller, iOS app, Phantom & Battery

Sorry to hear this.  Since you are in the UK...  I assume your drone is using the lower power CE mode.  (No way to set this...)

Many factors can affect range.  Terrain and other radio traffic are the two main causes.  If you are in an urban environment it's very difficult to get away from other 2.4 gHz signals that will reduce range.  Sun spot activity can also affect range.  

Were you out in open country or in an urban environment?

i would kept going i see weak signal on my i1 all the time and keep going

Hi tchavalas,

thanks for the reply.

Mostly open country, I was near a race track but it wasn't being used at the time. I guess there could have been some radio traffic which caused the interference. Do you suspect that in more remote areas of county away from urban areas the range would be better?

Grrrrrr, I want the same as FCC, I dont want to be governed by software, I want full use of the aircraft as I did with my P2

Yeah this isn't great, as a rookie it's not something you consider when purchasing a drone. Of course I did home work on features and CAA legislation but after reading through the specs and seeing the potential distances available I didn't consider it would be restricted I mean we're talking 3/4 of a KM here...

Chris, I'm not sure I'd take your advice I'm afraid. The thought of loosing signal and the P3 hovering somewhere I know it's rough location or worse still crashing puts me off this! Thinking about it, what I'm talking about is a week video transmission this isn't and RC connection issue but the two go hand in hand. If you can't see where your going then you can't fly...

Jon.hopkins.1@o Posted at 2015-5-12 06:35
Chris, I'm not sure I'd take your advice I'm afraid. The thought of loosing signal and the P3 hoveri ...

I think what he means is that he doesn't stop flying as soon as it says weak signal as it will indeed keep going with the live feed still intact while saying weak signal. Plus you always have Return to home. I lose connection all the time and have no problem as RTH works great.

Thinking back I don't think it was essentially a clear environment, I guess if the drone or any drone for that matter drops behind even just a few trees it will distort the signal. I'm going to go out again tomorrow and attempt a clear flight and report back for anyone else under CE restrictions who may be interested.

Thanks for the suggestions

Was it unstable video or signal bars were low?  If it was unstable video enable hardware encode. It's on the first page of the settings that worked for me.

buzzcbr@gmail.c Posted at 2015-5-12 05:48
Grrrrrr, I want the same as FCC, I dont want to be governed by software, I want full use of the airc ...

no need for FCC mode at all because the Phantom3 can do 6000m in CE mode.

Daninho Posted at 2015-5-12 08:57
no need for FCC mode at all because the Phantom3 can do 6000m in CE mode.

Well.... In very optimal conditions perhaps (and going higher than you should). I have seen the video. I'm just saying - don't expect it. And be careful. That flight in the video was very risky (main risk; equipment loss).

Daninho Posted at 2015-5-12 08:57
no need for FCC mode at all because the Phantom3 can do 6000m in CE mode.

6000m ? - thats 6k and I dont thinks thats possible.

Do you mean 600 m, because I flew that today and it was still going, but I called it back.

No, he means 6000m, 6060 to be exact (search for the vid on YouTube)

Couple other things that can make a big difference is to make sure the transmitter antenna are not pointing at the bird... they need to be more perpendicular.  Also, the further out you go, the higher you need to be to make sure fewer obstacles.

Go up at least 100m before attempting distance. That will help.

Jon.hopkins.1@o Posted at 2015-5-11 16:35
Chris, I'm not sure I'd take your advice I'm afraid. The thought of loosing signal and the P3 hoveri ...

which of the two motors models do you have? I have had the newer one and the image transmission worked likes a champ. The second one I have has the other  model of motors and keeps giving the weak image error.

buzzcbr@gmail.c Posted at 2015-5-11 15:48
Grrrrrr, I want the same as FCC, I dont want to be governed by software, I want full use of the airc ...

You aren't governed by software. You're governed by your laws!  They are there for a reason.  Just because you don't know what those reasons are, or don't agree with them, doesn't make them any less important.

Actually in CE mode the range is 3.5km.

Way too many variables to know what the issue was but your P3 can go a lot further than that.
1st thing to check is your antennas - point the flat sides toward the Phantom.
Varying height and environmental conditions will change things.
Obstacles will definitely have an effect.

Get some practice with RTH so you understand it.