Losing signal to remote

[jordan225171]

Is there any tricks or anything I can do. To keep the remote losing signal with the drone... I could be in a open field no interference.and I’ll lose signal 100 feet up and away from the remote. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated thank you... also does RTH kick in automatically if the signal is weak with the rc for a long amount of time????

 

[msinger]

Here are some things to try:

• Always point the front of the remote controller at your Phantom
• Position the remote controller antenna like this
• Enable airplane mode on your mobile device and then turn Wi-Fi back on
• Keep all other electronic devices away from your Phantom remote controller
• Make sure no obstacles come between your Phantom and remote controller

 

[syotr]

Is there any tricks or anything I can do. To keep the remote losing signal with the drone... I could be in a open field no interference.and I’ll lose signal 100 feet up and away from the remote. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated thank you

Are you losing connection with the remote and having no control of the drone or are you losing video or having the phone/tablet shutting off. If you are consistently having a disconnect with the remote control at this distance, you need to get it fixed or replaced. If it is just the mobile device, you may need a better device or cable or something.

 

[jordan225171]

I always have have control have the drone. It’s just always telling me on my tablet weak signal for the rc. But I don’t lose control of the drone. It just scares me when I see that I don’t want the drone to just fly away... I don’t lose video either...

 

[jordan225171]

Here are some things to try:

• Always point the front of the remote controller at your Phantom
• Position the remote controller antenna like this
• Enable airplane mode on your mobile device and then turn Wi-Fi back on
• Keep all other electronic devices away from your Phantom remote controller
• Make sure no obstacles come between your Phantom and remote controller

I’ll give a try thank you very much

 

[Fly Dawg]

It is quite important, especially so with a standard, that you maintain the antenna correctly in relation to the aircraft. Just yesterday, there was a "fly away" determined to be due to that very issue. You can generally lose downlink and you will be ok. But once the uplink goes, RTH will kick in within 3 seconds. Don't panic and cancel the RTH in an instance like that, and your bird will come back.

 

[Fly Dawg]

Addendum: In the above instance, the op regained signal just long enough to cancel RTH, then lost signal immediately again.

 

[smackc4]

Yes, in normal flight mode it will come home (So long as you FIRST 'Calibrate compass' where you ARE FLYING RIGHT NOW) ALWAYS DO IT.

Had same range issues at first, MANY attempts at things (including buying ARG antenna kit, to very little gain) but best solution seemed to be down-grading to an older FIRMWARE version, and not the latest.

 

[Fly Dawg]

(So long as you FIRST 'Calibrate compass' where you ARE FLYING RIGHT NOW) ALWAYS DO IT.

Contrary to that thought, you should NEVER need to calibrate the compass for each flight. The only reason you would need to do so is IF you are having directional issues, or if you change your flight location by several hundred miles. Continually re-calibrating can cause issues. This has been proven many times. Even DJI has recognized this and adjusted the manuals accordingly.

 

[LarBear360]

Yes, in normal flight mode it will come home (So long as you FIRST 'Calibrate compass' where you ARE FLYING RIGHT NOW) ALWAYS DO IT.

Had same range issues at first, MANY attempts at things (including buying ARG antenna kit, to very little gain) but best solution seemed to be down-grading to an older FIRMWARE version, and not the latest.

What firmware are you currently using?

 

[smackc4]

Contrary to that thought, you should NEVER need to calibrate the compass for each flight. The only reason you would need to do so is IF you are having directional issues, or if you change your flight location by several hundred miles. Continually re-calibrating can cause issues. This has been proven many times. Even DJI has recognized this and adjusted the manuals accordingly.

REALLY? - I didn't know that... I'll have to hunt down a copy of the updated manual.
I just figured it safest, so it knows exactly where to return to home! (& not the last location it was calibrated at, which in my case can be 100 kilometres away!)...or where I live a few miles away.

As I've experimented with firmware charges so often, I do also calibrate (once) the IMU when doing so with a different app or firmware.

...I thought these the most logical first steps for the posters problem anyway.

 

[Fly Dawg]

I'll have to hunt down a copy of the updated manual.

Save you a step or two.....

 

[msinger]

There's no need to calibrate the compass in every new location. If you want to do it though, it certainly won't cause any harm.

For better compass advise, check out the Compass Calibration Guide.

 

[smackc4]

Save you a step or two.....

View attachment 94273
View attachment 94274

cheers!

 

[120CCPM]

REALLY? - I didn't know that... I'll have to hunt down a copy of the updated manual.
I just figured it safest, so it knows exactly where to return to home! (& not the last location it was calibrated at, which in my case can be 100 kilometres away!)...or where I live a few miles away.

From your post, it seems you think that RTH needs an accurate compass reading to return home. This is wrong and right at the same time: it's wrong because RTH is a GPS-based functionality, with the AC knowing where it is (current position) and where it needs to go (Home Point). It is right because the AC needs to know which direction it is facing, in order to properly navigate back to the Home Point.
Minor compass errors won't affect RTH, as the flight controller would compensate for them exactly as it does if there is some wind.

 

[smackc4]

Ok.
... then I was always following DJls original instructions and doing it at every location, which has now been pointed out that they have updated their advice.
I was thinking that it couldn't possibly do any harm regardless?

 

[smackc4]

From your post, it seems you think that RTH needs an accurate compass reading to return home. This is wrong and right at the same time: it's wrong because RTH is a GPS-based functionality, with the AC knowing where it is (current position) and where it needs to go (Home Point). It is right because the AC needs to know which direction it is facing, in order to properly navigate back to the Home Point.
Minor compass errors won't affect RTH, as the flight controller would compensate for them exactly as it does if there is some wind.

Also I assumed since it uses GPS; it was like any other GPS that actually refers to your exact position on the globe and returns to that exact position...

 

[msinger]

I was thinking that it couldn't possibly do any harm regardless?

Right. You cannot do any harm by doing a compass calibration often. The worst that'll happen is that the calibration will fail if you attempt it near a magnetic metal object.

 

[Fly Dawg]

Also I assumed since it uses GPS; it was like any other GPS that actually refers to your exact position on the globe and returns to that exact position...

Correct, however the compass is for directional travel. Yes, GPS can tell you the location, but if the compass is incorrect the Phantom has no way of knowing which direction to travel to get to that location. In pure easy to understand language. There are are lot of calculations involved.

 

[smackc4]

Right. You cannot do any harm by doing a compass calibration often. The worst that'll happen is that the calibration will fail if you attempt it near a magnetic metal object.

Ok. I mention "causing any problems" component because someone said to do so too often can cause problems - maybe they just mean magnetic interference..