Losing video feed at 5.8Ghz much more than at 2.4Ghz

[azgeek]

I was out flying in a remote area yesterday and was having problems maintaining video signal connectivity. I read the posts with suggestion to have the video transmission settings checked to 5.8 Auto. But the first time I experience a signal breakup I noticed the frequency was at 2.4. I switched to 5.8 and that only seemed to make things worse. Signal started to break up around 5,000 ft out. I lost connection with the bird once and know that was because my LOS was blocked, but the other video signal losses were when I have sufficient LOS (or so I think). The only time where things got dicey is when I was trying to fly near a rock outcrop and losing the video feed when I knew I was close caused a bit of panic.

I'm running the P4P with an iPad Mini 4.

Am I mistaken in thinking that 5.8 should be better from a range perspective or is the advantage only when in congested areas with 2.4 interference? I don't understand why I was having more signal problems with 5.8 than 2.4. Would a range extender be on any benefit?

 

[smiller]

Am I mistaken in thinking that 5.8 should be better from a range perspective or is the advantage only when in congested areas with 2.4 interference?

The latter. Path loss at 5.8 GHz is much higher than 2.4 GHz by about 6-8 dB at 2 miles so all things being equal range will not be as good. All things are never equal and the P4P controller has +2 dB higher RF output on 5.8 GHz and that helps, and the antennas might have slightly more gain at the higher frequency, but bottom line at any significant distance path loss will more than mitigate these factors. In the real world the noise floor on 2.4 GHz can be so high in many areas that 5.8 GHz can perform better, but for the aforementioned reasons it is not necessarily better, and in a 'quiet' RF area will probably be somewhat worse.

 

[AyeYo]

Exactly what smiller said. 5.8ghz is there for urban areas with lots of 2.4ghz interference. Ask any of the FPV guys about range and they'll tell you 5.8ghz is not where it's at for distance use.

Are you manually selecting band? I always check what band has been selected before flight and I've noticed it's always on 5.8ghz in urban areas and 2.4ghz in remote areas - which is exactly what I would expect would be ideal.

 

[azgeek]

Thanks guys. I'll keep it at 2.4 in the future when I'm out in the desert. Probably look into a range extender as well.

Unfortunately ran into a totally different issue where the camera/gimbal won't go through its start-up routine and won't respond to any commands. So I really didn't get a chance to try at 2.4 today.

 

[smokinsound]

Thanks guys. I'll keep it at 2.4 in the future when I'm out in the desert. Probably look into a range extender as well.

Unfortunately ran into a totally different issue where the camera/gimbal won't go through its start-up routine and won't respond to any commands. So I really didn't get a chance to try at 2.4 today.

Bummer to hear man. You think it's related to the new firmware released? I updated my P4P+ a couple of days ago, and it's my RC is now riddled with signal interference warnings, video dropouts, and app freezing/rc restarts. No bueno.

 

[azgeek]

Bummer to hear man. You think it's related to the new firmware released?

Not in my case because I haven't updated the firmware yet because of the various problems reported. But it looks like I may have to try that to see if I can get the gimbal to behave. If not then it looks like it may be off for a DJI service repair.

 

[smokinsound]

Not in my case because I haven't updated the firmware yet because of the various problems reported. But it looks like I may have to try that to see if I can get the gimbal to behave. If not then it looks like it may be off for a DJI service repair.

Are you getting a video feed? Sounds silly, but try reformatting your SD card in the bird and restarting. See if it helps.

 

[azgeek]

Are you getting a video feed? Sounds silly, but try reformatting your SD card in the bird and restarting. See if it helps.

Thanks for the suggestion --- I've seen that work for others elsewhere. I did try reformatting a couple SD cards in the bird but that never remedied the issue.

I just got through performing firmware updates on the P4P, RC and 6 batteries. And I now have a working gimbal. I'll run it through its paces tomorrow and report back if I have any problems. I'm bummed that my DJI GO 4 settings were not saved, so I'll have to spend more time futzing around with things to get them back to where I was most familiar. Thanks, DJI.