Loosing connection to aircraft with a difference

[Djfez2001]

So I have recently purchased a P3SE 2nd hand fully tested and was working as you would expect.

I wanted to up the range so tried to out it into FCC mode this didn't work.

Since reverting back I can't get it to fly more than 80m away before the controller and the phone show loss of connection and the aircraft starts rth. Problem is even when it gets close it won't reconnet. I have to land and restart controller and app.

I've already reinstalled app after clearing it bit does anyone else.have any ideas ?

 

[PhantomPain]

So I have recently purchased a P3SE 2nd hand fully tested and was working as you would expect.

I wanted to up the range so tried to out it into FCC mode this didn't work.

Since reverting back I can't get it to fly more than 80m away before the controller and the phone show loss of connection and the aircraft starts rth. Problem is even when it gets close it won't reconnet. I have to land and restart controller and app.

I've already reinstalled app after clearing it bit does anyone else.have any ideas ?

80 meters is really low.
Do you have view contact?
When I flew over a forest in CE mode and lost sight it also lost connection and started RTH.

I suggest to try the fakeGPS method.
The modded apps didn't work for me, I mean they didn't change to FCC.

I used the second option in this thread and it finally works:
Switch to FCC mode in Europe, and fly miles instead of just 300 meters with P3SE

The connection is now more stable.
You can read about my experience there at page 24.

 

[Djfez2001]

Thanks for the info, I tried the 1st method mentioned on the link you suggested and it didn't work but will now try the 1st.

I think the issue was me trying to use it in my street at home as it was losing signal at around 80-100m but it's a populated area and i guess with lots of interference although the aircraft was always in sight.

I took it out yesterday and managed around 500m and it was cloudy but this was out in the middle of nowhere with no obstructions.

Hopefully, i get the bird into fcc mode and get some decent range.

Have you upgraded the antennas on your controller or just using standard and whats your maximum clear flight range so far?.

Thanks so much for your reply.

 

[PhantomPain]

I couldn't even reach 500m before I used the FakeGPS method to switch the AC from CE to FCC.
So the behaviour is totally normal for your drone.
I am living in the countryside and here are little interferences.
In a city the signal will be relfected too much and other radio signals will also weaken the connection to your drone.

You will not only achieve a decent range, if your AC is in FCC mode the video connection will be much more stable than before.
That is the biggest advantage for me.
It was a joke in CE mode and I couldn't comprehend the "hype" about DJI drones. I think now it is really usable.
It is not DJI's fault. It is the law which they have to obey.
They had to trim the signal strengh through the apps.

I did not upgrade my antennas, they are stock.
Yesterday I had my first flight in FCC mode and I was blown away by the signal strength.
When I last watched the distance in the app, it was 2.8km away from the starting point and it was absoloutly cloudy, btw.
What is now my limit are the batteries.
It was pretty windy and it had to struggle back home.
The drone was in RTH mode and wanted to land on the field far away so I had to keep it manually up to get it back to me.
But I could bring it back to where it startet.
So please have that in mind. I was lucky it wasn't over water.

If after that you still want to upgrade your antenna, watch out to buy the right ones for the P3SE. P3 Advanced and P3 Pro do have different remotes.
I`d recommend the ones from ARGtek.
They are about 70€ but then you have a real connection to connect maybe even better antennas.
Here you can see how to install them and how they compare to the stock antennas.
High Power Expert ARGtek GM5

Good luck with switching and flying!

 

[Djfez2001]

I couldn't even reach 500m before I used the FakeGPS method to switch the AC from CE to FCC.
So the behaviour is totally normal for your drone.
I am living in the countryside and here are little interferences.
In a city the signal will be relfected too much and other radio signals will also weaken the connection to your drone.

You will not only achieve a decent range, if your AC is in FCC mode the video connection will be much more stable than before.
That is the biggest advantage for me.
It was a joke in CE mode and I couldn't comprehend the "hype" about DJI drones. I think now it is really usable.
It is not DJI's fault. It is the law which they have to obey.
They had to trim the signal strengh through the apps.

I did not upgrade my antennas, they are stock.
Yesterday I had my first flight in FCC mode and I was blown away by the signal strength.
When I last watched the distance in the app, it was 2.8km away from the starting point and it was absoloutly cloudy, btw.
What is now my limit are the batteries.
It was pretty windy and it had to struggle back home.
The drone was in RTH mode and wanted to land on the field far away so I had to keep it manually up to get it back to me.
But I could bring it back to where it startet.
So please have that in mind. I was lucky it wasn't over water.

If after that you still want to upgrade your antenna, watch out to buy the right ones for the P3SE. P3 Advanced and P3 Pro do have different remotes.
I`d recommend the ones from ARGtek.
They are about 70€ but then you have a real connection to connect maybe even better antennas.
Here you can see how to install them and how they compare to the stock antennas.
High Power Expert ARGtek GM5

Good luck with switching and flying!

Want to give you a big thank you for your advice, got the drone into FCC tonight via 2nd method and will give it a test fly on the first good day of weather and report back

 

[PhantomPain]

Nice to hear it worked out for you.
We have to thank the dude who found out the routine.
It makes totally sense how this works but you have to hit on the idea.

Don't forget to disable auto-updates for the app, like me.

And yep, the weather...
Since having the drone I now really care what the weather is like.
It is still too dark to fly after work and so I can only fly on the weekends for now.
And if it is rainy or too windy I have to wait another week and that sucks because I am still finding out which version of the app is working best.
I am really looking forward to the summer, hoping for better lighting resulting in prettier pictures/ vids.
Btw. if you are interested in how the picture settings in the app are working, I found this video helpful (the whole channel also):

 

[Djfez2001]

so took drone out yesterday in wind, i prob shouldn't have flown but was eager to try FCC mode after changing, got to about 850m away and it lost signal, it was fairly clear weather so kind disappointed but will give it another go. Was hairy as due to the wind as aircraft could not come back to me as the wind picked up a lot since the start of the flight, had to hop in the car and manually pick up signal to bring drone in just before the battery died and it was ball hair away from manually descending into a river due to low battery. bad day but good ending, hopefully i can get better range another day, phew

 

[chatikib]

so took drone out yesterday in wind, i prob shouldn't have flown but was eager to try FCC mode after changing, got to about 850m away and it lost signal, it was fairly clear weather so kind disappointed but will give it another go. Was hairy as due to the wind as aircraft could not come back to me as the wind picked up a lot since the start of the flight, had to hop in the car and manually pick up signal to bring drone in just before the battery died and it was ball hair away from manually descending into a river due to low battery. bad day but good ending, hopefully i can get better range another day, phew

What kind of configuration are you using? Android or iPad/iPhone?

 

[Djfez2001]

Android , I'm going to try an iPhone next but whether here has been awful so not been able to fly

 

[PhantomPain]

so took drone out yesterday in wind, i prob shouldn't have flown but was eager to try FCC mode after changing, got to about 850m away and it lost signal, it was fairly clear weather so kind disappointed but will give it another go. Was hairy as due to the wind as aircraft could not come back to me as the wind picked up a lot since the start of the flight, had to hop in the car and manually pick up signal to bring drone in just before the battery died and it was ball hair away from manually descending into a river due to low battery. bad day but good ending, hopefully i can get better range another day, phew

I told you to be careful. That sounds quite similar to my experience when I first had it "unlocked". But without the river. OK 850m is not 2800m but if you began with 100m-500m it is almost double the range. There was not obstacle in between me and the drone and I stood a bit higher than the field the AC flew in. I tried flying directly over a forest near me, but I lost the signal at about 350m. So the trees took some range.
The weather here is shitty and totally windy. So I didn't even take off on the weekend.
It is about time for my tinyhawk to arrive, so I can fly indoors.

One thing to know. The app doesn't show the actual no-flight-zones.
I was quite surprised that there are so many restrictions here in Germany.
Look at this:
Map2Fly