Lightbridge Range issues

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Bought a used phantom 2 with Lightbridge, Futaba 8TJ radio, Go pro 3 Black + and gimbal.

video is excellent on the ipad mini using lightbridge app. at about 500 feet in a rural field with no obstructions Tx signal drops to 0 but video remains 85-90 percent. I have flown stock pv2+ 1600 feet in this field. Lightbridge radio function is non existent. video is rock solid!

Futaba radio is not transmitting as RF turned off at power off. go pro wifi off. so cant blame interference. nothing else on 2.4ghz

Really frustrated as can't fly out more than 1-2 mins before failsafe kicks in.

Cant work out why Radio range is so severely limited but video is rock solid and signal strong

all wiring is as set out by DJI instructions. antennas are all connected. I would have thought video would be the issue if antennas are an issue

have I got a faulty ground unit? Could a firmware update have corrupted the radio?

any ideas?

thanks again in advance.

mo
 
mohan said:
Bought a used phantom 2 with Lightbridge, Futaba 8TJ radio, Go pro 3 Black + and gimbal.

video is excellent on the ipad mini using lightbridge app. at about 500 feet in a rural field with no obstructions Tx signal drops to 0 but video remains 85-90 percent. I have flown stock pv2+ 1600 feet in this field. Lightbridge radio function is non existent. video is rock solid!

Futaba radio is not transmitting as RF turned off at power off. go pro wifi off. so cant blame interference. nothing else on 2.4ghz

Really frustrated as can't fly out more than 1-2 mins before failsafe kicks in.

Cant work out why Radio range is so severely limited but video is rock solid and signal strong

all wiring is as set out by DJI instructions. antennas are all connected. I would have thought video would be the issue if antennas are an issue

have I got a faulty ground unit? Could a firmware update have corrupted the radio?

any ideas?

thanks again in advance.

mo

That is definitely not right. I routinely get 1500 ft easily with perfect video and control signals. Please post a picture of your setup from the bottom. I am thinking about antenna placement and installation. Thanks.
 
Thanks.

Since I took this photo I have dangled the antennas instead of having them tucked in. They are now sticking out of the bottom by a few inches.

What is puzzling is that the Video signal is rock solid in high 80% when the Tx signal drops to 0%

When I contacted the seller he told me got 800M easily - nothing has been changed apart from a few firmware updates and looks like it hasn't flown any distance since due to poor weather. Can firmware updates corrupt the unit even though it appears to work and the only symptoms is reduced range of Tx?
 

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I use the paddle antennas that came with the LB. Do you have those? They are highly recommended over the simple wire antenna. Also, I am not sure but it appears as if you have one the antennae, the front one doubled back on itself though I may not be seeing it right. Strange positioning of the anti-interference board. I installed mine inside the shell. Not sure if this causes any problem with the LB but anything is possible. I keep everything out of the way of the LB. All of the cabling looks odd and tricked out. For instance the old style (non-ribbon) LB HDMI cable. Did you do this or did someone sell it to you this way? You mention the seller but not clear on what you mean. Where did it come from and how did it get wired this way?
 
The phantom and lightbridge came assembled. You are right with the Interference board - I would have preferred it inside. Previously this setup attained a range of at least 800m but it appears a firmware update may have caused a problem as it has now exhibited this behavior. Nothing much as physically changed to reduce range. If the LB previously flew 800m with this exact setup and suddenly stops doing this with no changes to the install, crashes or anything untoward I feel that it is unlikely to be an installation issue but a hardware fault.

I am going to remove the LB and send it back to the dealer. I believe this has developed a fault and needs repair or replacement. I will post back developments

Thanks for the help
 
Does the anti-interference board actually do anything? I had a P2 v1.0 with it installed, and then I purchased the P2 v2.0 and didn't bother to install it, but I can't tell what might be affected with it not installed -- everything seems to be the same as the v1.0.
 
Not exactly sure what the interference issues are but will install it internally when LB comes back.
 
mohan said:
Not exactly sure what the interference issues are but will install it internally when LB comes back.

I never had it on my V1 but then installed it on the V2 on the inside. Not sure how much it does but it certainly doesn't do any harm in and of itself and since DJI recommends using it...

Good call on sending back the LB for a replacement. I actually got a bad one from Amazon once and sent it back. Bought the replacement from B&H. They seem to always have the freshest stock and don't resell used stuff as new which often happens on Amazon. Also, since you are obviously planning on doing some wiring re: the anti-interference board, I assume you will clean up some of the funky wiring as well :) Esp the HDMI cable, paddle antennas, and pretty much everything else. Although it looks kind of cute, you surely don't need all of the wiring harness or whatever it is covering on all the wiring, it only makes it harder to see what is going on with the wiring so hopefully get rid of that too.

Good luck and don't hesitate to PM me if you need any advice/help. I am not a genius about this stuff but I am always willing to give my $0.02 :)
 
I will keep things simple when I rewire LB
 

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