Hi all,

Thanks for reading this:

I have the phantom 2Vision +  as of the end of October 2014.

I am unable to fly beyond 155M from the remote or 500FT roughly...
After attempting all options in the manual and advice through the seller who was getting their instructions from DJI I assume:
updating of all firmware, including the firmware on both batteries and phoneapp etc etc..

.. I was left without a working solution. I am in Europe so I have the European control settings that 'should' give me roughly 500M or 1500FT roughly- this is debatable.. but in any circumstance and location - within town with loads of power cables and wi/fi connections all over the place .. or even in nature with nothing but the satellite connections and the phantom's wifi on my phone's scans.

I've bravely done 5 test flights with every change that I've made in order to insure consistent reaults - this takes a very long time if you only have 2 Batteries, I have gone through weeks of testing before posting here.

At around 150M Distance, the connection is lost and it begins the fly home to land.

I've tested this with multiple devices.. Samsung Galaxy S4 andS4 mini, Iphone.  - same results..

I've gone as far as resetting the range extender and renaming the SSID and re-binding using the scanner.

Still have the same sad result  - At 150m to max 160m distance, the connection is lost and the fly home begins.

Now I'm confused as to what my options are in terms of warrantee or how to proceed.

Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Marios.

I have a similar but different issue.  My P2V+ is set at FCC mode, but I always cannot fly further than 290m to 300m without getting the Connection Brocken warning.  Thought I can do further in FCC mode but not.  However, my range is about twice of yours, that's logical considering FCC to EC ratio, but we both got shrinked version.  I am interested to know any comments or advices, too.

The 400m CE / 800m FCC quoted ranges will be the maximum in ideal surroundings. ie. wide open space with no trees or buildings.
If we are talking about control then the range extender and phone don't make any difference as they are only used for video.
Antenna orientation plays its part, try moving the antenna when you lose connection, from vertical to horizontal or the other way round.

Dear marios,
hi, DJI tech support will help you.
1、 Is there any airport near the flying place? 150-160m means the distance or the  height?
2、Had you try to switch S1 to Atti mode to control the copter when it fly home to land?
     

DJI-szz Posted at 2014-12-10 15:14
Dear marios,
hi, DJI tech support will help you.
1、 Is there any airport near the flying place? 150 ...

Hi DJI-szz,

Thank you for your reply!

1. I've flown not closer than 40km from an airport or any restricted air space.
    150m = Distance, the height has been roughly 30m during these tests.
    Up until now I've tried it in over 10 different locations with the exact same results.

2. Yes I have taken back control with the S1 and that works, I've only done so when the phantom is on its way back during the 'fly home'. I've taken control again and landed it myself or tried again. But does not solve the distance issue as that 160m Max barrier is still there.

FlyingDog Posted at 2014-12-10 01:19
I have a similar but different issue.  My P2V+ is set at FCC mode, but I always cannot fly further t ...

Hi there,

Sorry to hear!

There is logic in that but I wouldn't jump to conclusions until we get some actual facts about what our options are. - At least we know now, that this issue might be replicated so we can get closer to a solution.

Thanks!

johnwarr@live.c Posted at 2014-12-10 01:33
The 400m CE / 800m FCC quoted ranges will be the maximum in ideal surroundings. ie. wide open space  ...

Hi johnwarr,
Yea I've tried that - wide open space in nature vs city with loads of obstacles around, I don't believe that I've reached a large enough distance for that to have an influence. This doesn't solve the distance issue though, I have managed to gain control again - but while in full throttle in the same direction, only once that distance from the inertia is recovered by the ‘fly home’ back to roughly the 150m-160m can I regain control using S1 and the camera also.. – Sometimes the camera won’t come back online until the phantom is a lot closer.

marios@y54.com Posted at 2014-12-10 20:48
Hi DJI-szz,

Thank you for your reply!

Dear Marios,
hi,
    It sounds like the connection between the RC and copter will break when the distance is over 160m
The transmitter and receiver need to be checked.Please sent it back to the company where you buy it.The hardware of P2 V+ need to be checked.

FlyingDog Posted at 2014-12-10 01:19
I have a similar but different issue.  My P2V+ is set at FCC mode, but I always cannot fly further t ...

Dear flying dog
hi! buddy.Some info may be useful for you:
1、If you didn't lost control when can't fly futher than 290m, my opinion is that the distance limite on app had stop you to fly futher.The distance limite function is used to avoid fly away problem.
2、If you lost control while reach 290m-300m, i think the hardware need to be checked.

I had a very similar issue with my P2V+.  I could not wait to deal with DJI so I began swapping parts based various forums.  Many people suggested that there was an inconsistency in the quality of the remote TX.  I purchased a new remote and it did not solve the problem.  Next I replaced the RX inside the P2V+.  Worked like a charm - $39 fix and I was flying as the feature list claims.

Now this is just me, but at 150m away I can hardly see it, much less tell which way its pointed due to its shape, my 3d perspective is diminished and cant tell how far away from obstacles it is. If I needed to fly that far I would use ground station.

I have crashed it in to the nasty trees where I live lots of times (I used to be a tree lover) far far nearer than 150mtr simply because I thought the copter was in front of a tree when really it was not - well not enough anyway.

I think to fly 400/800 mtr is far to far away.  But like I say thats just me.  Now when I fly my helicopter I can tell which way its pointing because of its shape, Phantom is another story, and again no where near 400mtr away.

You have to admit this phantom is a serious piece of kit.

erichanson@me.c Posted at 2014-12-11 14:41
I had a very similar issue with my P2V+.  I could not wait to deal with DJI so I began swapping part ...

okay risky.. but what can I do.. have you run this information past DJI and got a reply?

umpa Posted at 2014-12-11 15:35
Now this is just me, but at 150m away I can hardly see it, much less tell which way its pointed due  ...

Interesting point, however, this seems to be getting worse as time passes, today the camera view from my phone had a massive delay and also had garbled image .. landed it .. turned it off and back on.. did calibration and started from scratch.. - it seemed fine after that. - Something is definitely up with the system.

My only concern are the delays of repair as I live in Cyprus where there are no repair locations .. it will need to be shipped and then shipped back. I'm running out of options and doing the work I do with the drone, it will come to an abrupt halt either with a crash, fly away, or be sending it in for repairs... - I'm wondering is I should get another one  delivered first... - I'm Just weighing up the costs though.

Hi,

You may have done this, but I did have what sounds like the problem you are having. But what I did was put new battery's  in the remove. But you may have the new remove with the new P2V+.

Anyway, after replacing the battery's it stop the problem. Not sure if it is the same thing or, not but for me it was.

skymaker6@gmail Posted at 2014-12-11 22:04
Hi,

You may have done this, but I did have what sounds like the problem you are having. But what I  ...

Hi Skymaker6,

I have the V2.. Got it before I saw the V3 advertised

I'm using the standard industrial AA batteries that came with the order.
I'll get some good ones and get back to you about this once I've tested them.

If this is the solution, then it is understandable how this could be one of the reasons that  the next generation remote was released for phantoms.. I might need to see about purchasing one of those.. !!

Thanks for the tip!

Which way is your antenna pointed, directly at the Phantom or 90 degrees to it?

Gerry1124 Posted at 2014-12-11 23:58
Which way is your antenna pointed, directly at the Phantom or 90 degrees to it?

Directly at the phantom at all times making sure I don't have obstacles between the controller  and the phantom.

marios@y54.com Posted at 2014-12-12 05:01
Directly at the phantom at all times making sure I don't have obstacles between the controller  an ...

The weakest signal comes from the end of the antenna,  the strongest signal comes from the side of the antenna, so if you have the antenna 90 degrees from the Phantom, and the side of the antenna faces the Phantom, you will get the best signal.  If the Phantom is directly in front of you, have the antenna pointed to the left or right and you will have better range.

Although the antenna should point skyward, perpendicular to the ground, and there are no obstacles (including range extender and phone/phone holder) blocking it, I read somewhere that the tip of the antenna radiates the weakest signal.  So if you are pointing the tip of the antenna directly at your phantom, the transmission range will be much less than if you kept it pointing skyward (as long as Phantom is not directly above you of course!).

Gerry1124 Posted at 2014-12-12 05:14
The weakest signal comes from the end of the antenna,  the strongest signal comes from the side of ...

Great points Gerry1124. Thanks for that important piece of advice.   And for the range extender you WOULD want it pointed directly at the phantom (the top flat side) during flight for maximum Wifi connection, correct?
And when you have the Phantom out in front of you, as you said, you would have the antenna pointed left or right to ensure the sides of the antenna face the phantom.  With the phone on the left side, would it not be better to have it pointed right(away from phone) just to be that much less obstructed? I know this is getting into splitting hairs but just trying to understand the maximum reception for both.

So as a default when flying, the antenna is up and angled to the right (maybe a 45 or a little less), the range extender faces straight out from the controller and lastly you keep the remote pointed directly at the phantom at all times and you are maximizing both receptions.  Does that make sense?

nordkapph20@yah Posted at 2014-12-12 09:21
Great points Gerry1124. Thanks for that important piece of advice.   And for the range extender yo ...

That makes perfect sense.

Gerry1124 Posted at 2014-12-12 10:03
That makes perfect sense.

Thanks.  Right on brother!  Happy Holidays!  

nordkapph20@yah Posted at 2014-12-12 10:28
Thanks.  Right on brother!  Happy Holidays!

If you're flying Christmas Eve and you happen to see a jolly little fat guy dressed In red and being pulled by 8 reindeer, make sure you get a video of that. ;-)

Gerry1124 Posted at 2014-12-12 10:32
If you're flying Christmas Eve and you happen to see a jolly little fat guy dressed In red and bei ...

You betcha!  I just don't want to confuse Rudy's red nose with the phantom's blinking red lights. :-)

nordkapph20@yah Posted at 2014-12-12 09:21
Great points Gerry1124. Thanks for that important piece of advice.   And for the range extender yo ...

Thanks guys,

I've also been using that method as I've seen many examples of that being the best way to do it.

nordkapph20@yah Posted at 2014-12-12 12:23
You betcha!  I just don't want to confuse Rudy's red nose with the phantom's blinking red lights.  ...

hehehe.. maybe we'll even be dodging amazon and google drones.. - or even drug cartel drones moving their goods around. .. hehehe.. the skies will be busy I'm sure!

Jingle Flights!

So you've been using that method all along and still have range issues?  Or have you switched orientation and improved?

Gerry1124 Posted at 2014-12-11 23:58
Which way is your antenna pointed, directly at the Phantom or 90 degrees to it?

That's a good point.

Hi skymaker6,

90 degrees .. not at the phantom,
I did however test it many different ways after I ran out of other options.
any direction that it is pointed, I got the same results

Hi guys
Just wanted to say my vision plus always loses its signal at around 100 - 130 metres. No where near the distance specified in the book. Clear open field, no obstacles but it makes no difference. I would never fly it more than 100-150 metres away from me anyway but it would be nice if it did the distance specified in the book. It's going in this month for another problem - perhaps I will tell them about the distance problem see what they say.

I have this same issue with my Phantom vision.  I did all the test, exactly like you did. I only get about 300 - 400 ft distance.  I tested out on a boat in the ocean with no interference around.  I checked my limits in the assistant software.  I even sent it back to my dealer and they flew it farther than 300 ft and said it was ok and sent it back.  I don't think they did any hardware test.  I almost bought a new controller, but I think Ill go the cheaper route and buy the receiver first.

nsxthao Posted at 2014-12-30 11:45
I have this same issue with my Phantom vision.  I did all the test, exactly like you did. I only get ...

i have the same issue 140 meter far open field  loosing signal go home activated

I think to fly 400/800 mtr is far to far away.  But like I say thats just me.  Now when I fly my helicopter I can tell which way its pointing because of its shape, Phantom is another story, and again no where near 400mtr away.

Isn't that what the radar function in the vision app for? So you can tell which way the craft is facing when it's beyond obvious visual range?

Taking your advices on antenna orientation, I did fly to near 500m days ago and still kept both control and Wi-Fi signals connected, and I did not go further simply because I was already hard to see my Phantom at that distance.  Thanks for all the practical suggestions, it was a great improvement over the previous 300m range that I had.

I did fly on a day which solar activities seemed calm.  Don't know how much that contributed to the result, though.