DJI Phantom 3 Standard: Range is less than 200 feet, Constant Connection Issues

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I'm having several problems that may all be related:
I experience "signal lost" status and RTH kicks in whenever I fly about 200 feet away.
I constantly have "Strong Interference: Fly With Caution" no matter where I fly (city or rural).
I almost always have either "Weak Image Transmission" or "Weak Controller Signal" alerts whenever I connect to the drone, and throughout the entire flight.
My video signal from the drone is extremely laggy and cuts in and out. I never have control loss however (the drone remains responsive to stick inputs).

I've had these problems for a few months now.

I've had my DJI Phantom 3 Standard for three years, and did not have this problem until last year. I have the latest firmware installed, and have never had a firmware update fail. I have never crashed the drone or damaged it in any way. I am flying in the same spots with the same equipment (same phone) that I had no trouble with before. The battery has been fully charged for each flight, and I have tried two batteries with the same result.

I thought maybe it was my phone (it's a 2014(?) Motorolla Moto G3) acting up, so I tried a new phone (Pixel 2) and got the same result. I thought it was the controller (I was getting weak controller signal with the drone off), so I bought a replacement controller (brand new, all the packaging still on it) and got the same result.

I have attached the flight records from the last two flights. 3/30/19 is with my original controller, and 4/7/19 is with the replacement controller. Any ideas on what is causing the problems?
 

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Have you considered downgrading the firmware to the last known version that worked normally?

I have 2 P3S’s , both on very old firmware versions (1.5.70) that fly flawlessly with no range or signal issues. One has a Itelite DBS r/c and birdside dipole antennas that does much better than a stock r/c.

Seems like you’ve tried all other options and have documented these results well. Have you done an IMU calibration since the trouble began?
 
Have you considered downgrading the firmware to the last known version that worked normally?

I have 2 P3S’s , both on very old firmware versions (1.5.70) that fly flawlessly with no range or signal issues. One has a Itelite DBS r/c and birdside dipole antennas that does much better than a stock r/c.

Seems like you’ve tried all other options and have documented these results well. Have you done an IMU calibration since the trouble began?

Is there a method of downgrading the firmware? I thought P3 standards did not allow that.

I actually didn't try an IMU calibration. The app said no calibration was required.
 
I’d try the IMU calibration first. That will insure all the components are happy and playing well together.

The P3S’s firmware can be downgraded to many versions. I’ve just stuck with 1.5.70 because it works well, plus there is none of that Geofencing garbage to worry about.
 
My P3S worked great and I maintained the updates so as to maintain my warranty status. Then it went south as you described. DJI replaced the entire main board and now it works great. I read a few other threads that theorized the last update could have damaged the board.

The difference here is I never had video issues, just lost signal at around 300 - 400 feet. Yours almost sounds like a bad connection at the antenna, either on the A/C or inside the controller.

I've never heard of downgrading a P3S.
 
Yep. There are a bunch of YouTube videos on it. I had issues when I upgraded to 1.6.80 long ago. It had the Geofencing stuff included in the update. So, I downgraded to the earlier 1.5.70 version and haven’t upgraded since. That’s been about 3 or 4 years ago.

If it ain’t broke...... ....right?
 
@DPhantom, @LarBear360 Lets keep this thread active.
@captainmilehigh I recall you on many posts about P3S signals..

Anyways...
If somebody has signal problems and RTH activates, I'm curious..
@LarBear360 sent his in for the same problem, his was under warranty.

"I constantly have "Strong Interference: Fly With Caution" no matter where I fly (city or rural)."
My opinion is ,not related and I can find it in some threads.

"I almost always have either "Weak Image Transmission" or "Weak Controller Signal" alerts whenever I connect to the drone, and throughout the entire flight.

My opinion is Weak Image is related to Strong Interference, not the releated to Weak Controller, difference in frequency's.

I really need to logoff..

Do search of member: rod_pad and rth, etc.

Rod
 
@DPhantom, @LarBear360 Lets keep this thread active.
@captainmilehigh I recall you on many posts about P3S signals..

Anyways...
If somebody has signal problems and RTH activates, I'm curious..
@LarBear360 sent his in for the same problem, his was under warranty.

"I constantly have "Strong Interference: Fly With Caution" no matter where I fly (city or rural)."
My opinion is ,not related and I can find it in some threads.

"I almost always have either "Weak Image Transmission" or "Weak Controller Signal" alerts whenever I connect to the drone, and throughout the entire flight.

My opinion is Weak Image is related to Strong Interference, not the releated to Weak Controller, difference in frequency's.

I really need to logoff..

Do search of member: rod_pad and rth, etc.

Rod
Rod....Has anyone been able to downgrade since the 1.9.02 up grade?? I was following and Saved the Posts from May 2017, when This was all being Talked about, I also saved the Links to The Google Cloud site that Has all of the Files for all of the Phantom 3 Drones..
 
Last edited:
I don't know.

Looks like you saved mostly Magic Power Stuff?
I had never used it.

My P3S got totaled when it fell out of this tree.
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You do know that @msinger has firmware archives?

DJI Phantom 3 Standard Accessories & Tips | Phantom Help

Rod
 
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Just as a FYI, I downgraded both my P3S’s from 1.06.08 back to 1.05.07 without difficulty many months ago. All thread subjects I’ve seen lean toward downgrading one firmware version at a time, and NOT jumping over any versions on the way.

Not sure if this has any validity to it or not. Just putting it out there.

My 1.05.07 versions work flawlessly, and don’t have any of the Geofencing garbage that was introduced in version 1.06.08.

As @RodPad said, @msinger has firmware archives available at the link provided above.

Good luck. [emoji106]
 
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I don't know.

Looks like you saved mostly Magic Power Stuff?
I had never used it.

My P3S got totaled when it fell out of this tree.
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

You do know that @msinger has firmware archives?

DJI Phantom 3 Standard Accessories & Tips | Phantom Help

Rod
This is a Link From Back in 2017 when It was all Being discussed,
I don't know.

Looks like you saved mostly Magic Power Stuff?
I had never used it.

My P3S got totaled when it fell out of this tree.
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

You do know that @msinger has firmware archives?

DJI Phantom 3 Standard Accessories & Tips | Phantom Help

Rod
No it Contains just about everything to do with Phantom 3 Drones....
 
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Cool, I didn't have a lot of time to do a look-see. ;)

Rod
 
Have you considered downgrading the firmware to the last known version that worked normally?

I have 2 P3S’s , both on very old firmware versions (1.5.70) that fly flawlessly with no range or signal issues. One has a Itelite DBS r/c and birdside dipole antennas that does much better than a stock r/c.

Seems like you’ve tried all other options and have documented these results well. Have you done an IMU calibration since the trouble began?

I'm also having issues with range furthest I get is 120 metres
Ac is on 1.9.20 I was going to attempt to go back to 1.5.7 to see if this fixes my range problems...
What version of the dji app do you use for 1.5.7
My version is 3.1.61 on a Samsung s9
Will I need an older version of the app and will it work on a newish phone

Many thanks
 
My GoApp is on an older version too.......3.0.0., on an IPad mini 2, and hasn't been updated for many years.

I've always thought that DJI firmware versions and GoApp versions had compatibility parameters built in to them so that if I updated the firmware, I'd have to update app versions so they would 'play well together'.........if that makes any sense.

For example, firmware version 1.5.7 does NOT have any of that 'GeoFencing' garbage. The next firmware version 1.6.08 does include GeoFencing limits. The GoApp version for the 1.6.08 firmware was horrible. It had all sorts of limits.

So I downgraded both (1.5.7 and 3.0.0) and went back to having a drone that wasn't on DJI's dog leash any longer. And I will never update the firmware or GoApp version. Ever.

As for what app works on which phone, can't really tell you. On Msinger's site 'Phantomhelp.com' there is a section on compatibility of devices, as well as previous firmware downloads to downgrade your firmware. Good luck...[emoji106]
 

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