I have had my P3P for about two weeks now and the max flight distance I have been able to achieve is 4,000 ft before losing video and controller signal. I have used my droid turbo and galaxy tablets, current on all firmware, uninstalled/reinstalled go app and can not find anywhere on any forum an answer that seems to work. I have tried in two separate locations about 30 miles apart, both flying straight out over cornfields at 300-400' altitude. I have watched / read the antenna aiming directions to insure I'm not doing anything wrong there. Any suggestions? I am desperate, I had about the same range with my older P3S. I have not done the 32 channel mod but can't imagine that would help me get back the 2/3+ range I am missing vs advertised. I also have flown wifi on/off airplane mode on/off etc and always auto channel select. Are there any tests I can perform to narrow this issue down?
P3P max flight distance = 4,000ft
- Thread starter Chrisj4269
- Start date
I was going to mention obstructions, but I see you already said over cornfields. I don't have the answer but I can tell you that I flew my stock P3P for 1.26 miles (Over 6,000 ft) and still had all video and radio control. Flat sides of antenna pointing towards the bird. I was too chicken to push it out further.
Sorry this isn't an answer but I agree you should be able to go further.
Sorry this isn't an answer but I agree you should be able to go further.
Just to add to your distance query, I flew a mission yesterday, flat fields far as you can see, got out about 2,000-2500 ft. & lost signal, RTH initalted minutes later. Hum, I moved about 2 miles, area looked exactly the same, flat fields, some tree lines, got out to 6500 ft & only turned around cause AC entered a small village. Now, why a move to a similar location got me twice the distance, all I can think of it towers on border of fields, are they microwave , telephone, don't know.
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2016
- Messages
- 559
- Reaction score
- 395
I do not own a P3P. I have a P4. Either way, they are similar regarding the only - and easiest - advice that I can offer.
Others have claimed occasional range issues with both of these systems after certain DJI Go updates and/or while using certain versions, and I would suggest trying out Litchi if you have not as of yet. One thing that causes folks to be cautious of Litchi is all the talk about its Waypoint mode and the possible complexities involved in properly planning, setting up, and flying an autonomous mission. Some folks figure it out right away, and others have serious issues including loss of their copter due to a crash. Because of this - understandably - some folks are a bit leery of trying it, especially because you have to pay for it.
Litchi has all the other modes as well, and in my experience, they are all rock solid. I use it almost exclusively, and I use GO 4 for the purpose of any updates and other maintenance tasks like IMU calibrations and whatnot.
So give Litchi a try if you have not. It may serve you better regarding distance, and if it does not, and you are absolutely sure that the areas where you fly have no significant signal disruptions of any kind, you may want to consider returning the copter for a replacement.
That is a good thought, I may give that a try.
As an update, I did another test today. In the middle of nowhere (nearest powerline >0.5m) and got exactly 2,098 ft before RTH was activated. Antennas aimed exactly as directed and even let it hover on the signal border while I attempted to make adjustments to strengthen signal with no luck. Got it back, charged it up, added the 32 channel config file, flew again this time out to 10k' though it took alot of flying around when I started losing signal. RTH was eventually activated. I am OK with the nearly 2 mile flight in general but I am not OK that I had to use a non "stock" channel, stop adjust etc, and all of that only got me to slightly over 1/2 of the advertised range in what I know couldn't be better conditions. I am so frustrated, all of my flights at this point have been trying to adjust things to make it go over 2k feet which is ridiculous. I would really like to be able to fly around and get pics/videos of neat things, not just troubleshoot my brand new P3P. Any help would be so greatly appreciated.
As an update, I did another test today. In the middle of nowhere (nearest powerline >0.5m) and got exactly 2,098 ft before RTH was activated. Antennas aimed exactly as directed and even let it hover on the signal border while I attempted to make adjustments to strengthen signal with no luck. Got it back, charged it up, added the 32 channel config file, flew again this time out to 10k' though it took alot of flying around when I started losing signal. RTH was eventually activated. I am OK with the nearly 2 mile flight in general but I am not OK that I had to use a non "stock" channel, stop adjust etc, and all of that only got me to slightly over 1/2 of the advertised range in what I know couldn't be better conditions. I am so frustrated, all of my flights at this point have been trying to adjust things to make it go over 2k feet which is ridiculous. I would really like to be able to fly around and get pics/videos of neat things, not just troubleshoot my brand new P3P. Any help would be so greatly appreciated.
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2016
- Messages
- 559
- Reaction score
- 395
I don't know very much about different frequency ranges and what can interfere with the other, but it may be possible that where you are flying, there is some type of non-standard and long range interference (e.g. not simple internet WiFi) such as microwave, radar, aircraft Transponder interrogation, or even HAARP interfering with the stock frequency range of your copter. Now, with the larger list of frequencies, you may have solved the problem.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong here, because I am not 100 percent sure, but I think when you load the 32 channel config file and set selection to Manual on one given channel, it remains on that channel during the flight. If you set it to Auto - and this is where I am not totally sure - I think I read that it only toggles between the stock frequencies, meaning that Auto is as if you did not do the mod. So here's my concern - and I did do this mod on an earlier version of Go. When I am at a location and channels 25-32 report as all clear in Go and I select 30, I do not know what interference may be out at 2 miles. If there is something that interferes with it out there, the system will not toggle to find a clearer channel. No big deal, and it returns I guess. On the other hand - and I'm not trying to sell Litchi - when I began using it, the signals were much more reliably stronger.
In your case however, since I don't believe the 32 channel mod is available in Litchi, you may want to just keep doing what worked.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong here, because I am not 100 percent sure, but I think when you load the 32 channel config file and set selection to Manual on one given channel, it remains on that channel during the flight. If you set it to Auto - and this is where I am not totally sure - I think I read that it only toggles between the stock frequencies, meaning that Auto is as if you did not do the mod. So here's my concern - and I did do this mod on an earlier version of Go. When I am at a location and channels 25-32 report as all clear in Go and I select 30, I do not know what interference may be out at 2 miles. If there is something that interferes with it out there, the system will not toggle to find a clearer channel. No big deal, and it returns I guess. On the other hand - and I'm not trying to sell Litchi - when I began using it, the signals were much more reliably stronger.
In your case however, since I don't believe the 32 channel mod is available in Litchi, you may want to just keep doing what worked.
Just wanted to provide an update for anyone interested. I relinked the control to my bird and without using the 32channel mod (removed config file and set to auto) I flew out to 6.5k' before any warning which I was able to bring back full HD signal with slight antenna adjustment. I am not certain why I would need to relink but it appears to have made a huge difference. Any thoughts on that?
After my first weekend with my P3P, I managed a run out to 11,300 feet. This was over farmland basically with good line of site, few obstacles to interfere, etc. I actually still had a fair signal, but that was just way too far for comfort, so I RTH'd at that point. I doubt I'll go out that far again, but I wanted to see what it could do stock. I can't go nearly that far in other directions.
So I had a good run (~8.5kft) right after re linking but every flight after was ~2.5-3k again with my absolute farthest being 6kft which I did in an extremely remote area. I'm talking straight over a corn field with no more than three houses within a 5-10 mile radius. Amazon is sending me another P3P after working with their tech team yielded similar results. I'm not sure what the issue is but am really hoping this one is better.
Also I should note that my signal always goes from full to nothing. Never has been a slow drop off. This goes for both TX and FPV. FPV usually goes first but within a couple hundred feet I loose TX also. Just going along with full signal then nothing
