I'm Confused.....

Goldsaum82 · Jul 20, 2016

I recently read that many of you out there with the P34K are only getting 400m-600m stock distance. Before buying this bird, I confirmed with a DJI representative that its maximum distance (unobstructed) is 1200m (FCC). That said, I bought one because 1200m is more than enough range for my needs.

Needless to say, I'm going to be pretty d*mn frustrated if this thing doesn't go beyond 1000m. Can any of you out there who own a 4K confirm this?

It would seem to me that failing to travel 1200m would be false advertisement.

msinger · Jul 20, 2016

Did you try flying in a barren area that has absolutely no potential interference?

Goldsaum82 · Jul 20, 2016

msinger said:
Did you try flying in a barren area that has absolutely no potential interference?

I've only owned it 5 days and haven't had the chance to push its range limits. I'm simply wondering if this is going to be an issue before I try to reach 1200m and end up hugely disappointed.

msinger · Jul 20, 2016

Where have you been flying it?

Goldsaum82 · Jul 20, 2016

msinger said:
Where have you been flying it?

Just locally. I've had zero issues with range and or FPV, however I've kept it within 150m at all times. As I said, I'm just curious to see what type of range people are getting in unobstructed areas. I plan on taking it to a rural area this upcoming weekend. This is where I will need around 1000m range.

N017RW · Jul 20, 2016

So you're worried about something you haven't tried or confirmed yet?

In addition to physical obstructions, which will always be a factor but can be seen, range is affected by local Radio 'density'.
Called interference it's just other devices competing for the spectrum. The less competition the better your signal to noise ratio will be and this will increase range.

Goldsaum82 · Jul 20, 2016

N017RW said:
So you're worried about something you haven't tried or confirmed yet?

In addition to physical obstructions, which will always be a factor but can be seen, range affected is local Radio 'density'.
Called interference it's just other devices competing for the spectrum. The less competition the better your signal to noise ratio will be and this will increase range.

Yes. I understand the basics of how competing devices impact interference rate(s). I'm simply concerned that my bird is not going to live up to distance expectations. This concern is based on what many owners are reporting on this site. As I asked in my first post, can anyone out there who owns the 4K actually confirm that they've been able to get 1200m range. If so, we're you still able to use FPV without problems. Thanks!

BigAl07 · Jul 20, 2016

Range is affected by many... MANY factors. Keep in mind the DJI marketing department used IDEAL conditions to get those #'s. Same goes for the car you drive down the road that states 35mpg highway. Very rarely do we see those numbers because they were done in a controlled situation with a trained driver trying to get optimal fuel economy.

My current set-up (P3Pro with modified antennae) "Could" go up to 8 or 9 miles in a perfect situation but where I live and fly I routinely get 4-5 before running into loss of signal. Actually flying one certain direction I only get a mile but that's because the signal can't penetrate the mountain in front of my house which is entirely understandable.

The whole point is if you were to get 1000m out of advertised 1200m that would be pretty solid in most instances.

Goldsaum82 · Jul 20, 2016

I agree that 1000m out of 1200m would be totally acceptable. However, in reading your reply, your P3Palso has Lightbridge (hard to compare to Wifi). Again, I'm curious to hear feedback from P34K owners.

By the way, 8-9 miles is insane! Do you still get video feed that far away? That's so awesome.

BigAl07 · Jul 20, 2016

Goldsaum82 said:
I agree that 1000m out of 1200m would be totally acceptable. However, in reading your reply, your P3Palso has Lightbridge (hard to compare to Wifi). Again, I'm curious to hear feedback from P34K owners.

By the way, 8-9 miles is insane! Do you still get video feed that far away? That's so awesome.

I agree night and day difference but I was trying to express how the "advertised #'s" may not reflect real world #'s. I've never achieved the advertised miles but yes at the 4+ range I had full video until the very end.

flpholt · Jul 20, 2016

really worried about range and haven't even tried to fly it out to see if it will go that far .don't complain until you try it out first and see what you get .