P3P Lost Signal Briefly

Joined
Jun 8, 2016
Messages
328
Reaction score
77
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Last night I wanted to take night pics. I've taken off at night from my backyard only a few times. I mostly take off from there during the day. So I took off with green "safe to fly" status as I have done for many times with no issues. But last night, as the ac got around to 300', signal was lost for about 5 seconds then came back weak. It was right above me. Didn't move it anywhere, just took it up 300'. I made sure RC antennas where at correct position. Both ac and batt power were full. FW is latest. I was surprised as this never happened before. After taking a few stills, I brought it back down before anything bad happens. Just got worried there for a few seconds. Could this have been due to all the 5 & 2.4 GHz wifi users around me? It was around 9 PM so I figured all my neighbors were already home using their wifi.

On a different subject - while the ac is airborne and I launched with DJI GO then closed the app and launched Litchi, will the ac stay in the air? I would think that the ac will loose signal for a brief moment until the other app connects to it. So it should stay airborne and can be controlled after the switch. Would this be correct?
 
Losing occasional signal is "Ok" and fairly common generally speaking. This is more common in built-up urban areas where WiFi is much more heavily used. It could be the channel you're on became saturated.

The AIRCRAFT will continue to fly regardless what "Ap" you are or are not running. The controller (Transmitter/Tx) is connecting directly with the aircraft regardless of what your tablet is doing. If you make changes within an ap (DJI Go or Litchi etc) they are still communicating with the aircraft via your Tx so you can switch aps, turns aps off to your hearts content and the aircraft will sit there hovering until you tell it something new or until it hits low battery levels.
 
It was right above me. Didn't move it anywhere, just took it up 300'. I made sure RC antennas where at correct position
Even with your RC antennas correctly positioned, flying directly above is a bad spot for signal strength. Just think about how the antenna are placed on your P3 and its easy to see why.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JoBe
Thanks. Just got worried since its the first time it happened when the ac was above me. I've had it at 400' above me before and never lost signal. BigAl is correct, it could have been due to saturated channel I was on. Maybe next time I'll try it with my windsurfers and point it upwards. Ha, bet that would look funny. Above all, at least nothing bad happened and I'm good with that.

BigAl, my hunch was correct about switching apps mid flight. Thanks for confirming.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigAl07
Transmitted radio waves go in all directions, BUT can be made more directional when designed to, as in the case of the controller. In my opinion, If your bird was truly "straight up" from your position, the antennas on the controller were technically not in the optimal position, "relative to the drone", that is. Optimal position is the flat sides of the antennas pointing generally towards the bird, which is the case when it is out away from you. In your case however, with the drone directly overhead, and the antennas pointing straight ahead, that would orient them 90 degrees off relative to the drone.

Others, please chime in if I am all wrong about this.

waves.jpg
 

Attachments

  • waves.jpg
    waves.jpg
    58.3 KB · Views: 340
Last edited:
Transmitted radio waves go in all directions, BUT can be made more directional when made to, as in the case of the controller. In my opinion, If your bird was truly "straight up" from your position, the antennas on the controller were technically not in the optimal position, "relative to the drone", that is. Optimal position is the flat sides of the antennas pointing generally towards the bird, which is the case when it is out away from you. In your case however, with the drone directly overhead, and the antennas pointing straight ahead, that would orient them 90 degrees off relative to the drone.

Others, please chime in if I am all wrong about this.

View attachment 61488
Exactly right. Even if you rotate the controller so the antenna's flat sides are facing up the bird's antennas are still oriented wrong (pointed straight down).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Great_Lakes
Transmitted radio waves go in all directions, BUT can be made more directional when designed to, as in the case of the controller. In my opinion, If your bird was truly "straight up" from your position, the antennas on the controller were technically not in the optimal position, "relative to the drone", that is. Optimal position is the flat sides of the antennas pointing generally towards the bird, which is the case when it is out away from you. In your case however, with the drone directly overhead, and the antennas pointing straight ahead, that would orient them 90 degrees off relative to the drone.

Others, please chime in if I am all wrong about this.

View attachment 61488
You're not wrong. Its also what I noted earlier regarding how the antenna are placed on the P3.
 
I'm getting "Weak RC signal" messages. I'm a total newbie so please bare with me here. I'm only out about 200" away and 90" high. I've got all the newest updates. Is thus the connection between the RC and the bird? Or the RC and my mobile device? Appreciate any help.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
I'm getting "Weak RC signal" messages. I'm a total newbie so please bare with me here. I'm only out about 200" away and 90" high. I've got all the newest updates. Is thus the connection between the RC and the bird? Or the RC and my mobile device? Appreciate any help.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

GB71 did you figure out your problem?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,356
Members
104,934
Latest member
jody.paugh@fullerandsons.