P3S Range Tanking! - Time to be Concerned?

[dg8882]

Do you know whether your controller LED turns red when RTH is initiated? Reason for my question, on both my controllers, my LED stays green even though the app says I lost signal and RTH is initiated,

The LED status light on the controller is controlled by what it sees on the 2.4 ghz band. 2.4 ghz is two way, sending commands like taking pictures to the bird and also receiving telemetry and live feed. The 5ghz band is reserved only for control and is one way, the bird does not sent any info back over that band.
If the app says disconnected and the controller light is red, it just means you lost 2.4ghz connection. It does not mean your 5ghz is lost so you may still have full control over the bird and don't know it.
RTH will not initiate unless there is a full disconnection between controller and bird. The controller may think it is no longer connected since it is not receiving data back from the bird but RTH will not start automatically unless the bird sees it no longer has commands over the 5ghz band.

 

[HarleyKen]

Now I have a better understanding how the AC is controlled, I still want to know why I am having such a hard time. Is it a physical or environmental problem with my bird?

 

[captainmilehigh]

Are you still only getting about 600 ft over the ocean at the test site? At what altitude? Both my P3S's work better on distance flights at 400 feet altitude ( or higher if it can be done safely). Signal will drop out if I'm too low every time.

 

[HarleyKen]

It actually bounces all over the place. I can take it out about 800 ft on one attempt, then 600 on the next. At times the AC does not reconnect from RTH until about overhead.
I usually fly about 150 to 200 ft over the ocean due to the occasional helicopter flying low because of all the shark sightings as of late. The average distance at any given location is about 600 ft.

 

[captainmilehigh]

I think I would try two things...

One, maybe take a spotter with you to the beach (to watch for helos) and test at a higher altitude.

Two, borrow a controller from a friend in the area, link it to your bird, and see if there is any change.

Standard r/c's are very picky about direction too. Maybe when you are offshore you are lowering the r/c too much and cutting out the signal. Just a guess. That's why my distance flights are at 300'-400'+.

 

[HarleyKen]

Well I'm at the beach now and going to give it a shot to see what happens.

 

[captainmilehigh]

Well I'm at the beach now and going to give it a shot to see what happens.

Cool. Just make minute (itty-bitty) directional changes in the r/c during the flight and watch your signal strength bars for changes. A quarter inch change of the r/c on shore is many feet to the bird 600 feet out.

 

[HarleyKen]

Cool. Just make minute (itty-bitty) directional changes in the r/c during the flight and watch your signal strength bars for changes. A quarter inch change of the r/c on shore is many feet to the bird 600 feet out.

Ok. Range runs about 1000f at altitudes from 150ft to 495.
Video telemetry was stable the whole time. AC RTH even though light on controller stayed green the whole time. Never turned red indicating that control was never lost, but still initiated RTH. Could this be an app issue? Controller will turn red when AC is powered off indicating a true disconnect.

 

[captainmilehigh]

No idea if it could be an app issue or not. There are many here on the forum that are way smarter than me on the subject. Maybe @msinger has some ideas....how 'bout it Mike?

Wonder if it would accept a 'cancel RTH' and continue outbound? Just guessing here..

 

[HarleyKen]

I was hoping he would chime in also. But there is something I did notice. I looked back at my airdata and saw my range drop with each iOS update for Go.
Got 4900 ft with my parabolic while running iOS v. 3.1.5 and I'm up to 3.1.10 now and getting 1k or less.

 

[captainmilehigh]

That might be part of it, dunno. I'm on 3.0.0 on the app on my P3S, and 1.5.70 firmware.

Range is about a mile out with windsurfer, and right at 3 miles with my Itelite DBS. Video signal (2.4) always drops out just before control signal.

There is a way to downgrade the app to earlier versions, as I've seen threads on it recently. No idea how technical it is though. May be worth looking into.

 

[HarleyKen]

That might be part of it, dunno. I'm on 3.0.0 on the app on my P3S, and 1.5.70 firmware.

Range is about a mile out with windsurfer, and right at 3 miles with my Itelite DBS. Video signal (2.4) always drops out just before control signal.

There is a way to downgrade the app to earlier versions, as I've seen threads on it recently. No idea how technical it is though. May be worth looking into.

I thought about downgrading the app but it will update on its own back to the current version.

 

[HarleyKen]

Right now, I'm falling off the fence and looking at a P3A at B&H for $679, no tax and free shipping.

 

[captainmilehigh]

Turn your auto update off on your device. I don't auto-update any apps for that very reason. It may update to something I don't want.

 

[captainmilehigh]

Right now, I'm falling off the fence and looking at a P3A at B&H for $679, no tax and free shipping.

Yeah, you can never have too many toys......[emoji12]

 

[HarleyKen]

Is this a good deal?

DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Quadcopter with 2.7K Camera CP.PT.000160

 

[skyacramer]

Is this a good deal?

DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Quadcopter with 2.7K Camera CP.PT.000160

Yes, I think it's a steal of a deal

 

[macoman]

Yes, I think it's a steal of a deal

Not really, amazon have then official refurbished from DJI for $629.

 

[skyacramer]

Not really, amazon have then official refurbished from DJI for $629.

Even more stealy of a dealy

 

[HarleyKen]

Even more stealy of a dealy

I was seeing that also, but my P3S is a refurbed and look at it now. Can lightning strike in the same place twice?