P4 Range?

Ozziebattler said:
View attachment 47719 Just went out and did a run turned around at this distance as i didn't want to run my new battery down to low (landed with 38%) only lost 1 bar on the video and if i moved the RC around slowly i could get it back, it will do the 3.1mls easily i think. This was rural area very low WiFi. Did the flight in GPS mode with all the sensors turned off roughly 30-31 mph,very brisk side wind i feel you can get a better out & back av. speed with a side wind. This was all stock
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Considering your max height displayed of nearly 400 feet, in a rural area with no wifi, you might as well be using Google Earth for images, and you are precariously close to exceeding 400 feet AGL just to maintain signal. My W323 P3P can fly at 50 feet out to 5 miles with full video. P4 is a major disappointment and a significant downgrade from the original W323 P3P. The P4 battery doesn't even come close to delivering on its promised 28 minute flight time.
 
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JakeMaxxUAV said:
Hey guys, we just added the ItElite antenna to our lineup if you want to boost your range. Check us out at Maxx UAV - Use coupon code LUCKY7
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How do you deal with the low power output of the video FPV feed from the P4, which is already 20% less than the original W323 P3P? The transmitter mod can't do anything to amplify the low power video signal sent out by the aircraft. It is very limited on improving video reception because any amp on the video receiving side also amplifies the noise, so the signal to noise ratio is not changed.
 
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GadgetGuy said:
Considering your max height displayed of nearly 400 feet, in a rural area with no wifi, you might as well be using Google Earth for images, and you are precariously close to exceeding 400 feet AGL just to maintain signal. My W323 P3P can fly at 50 feet out to 5 miles with full video. P4 is a major disappointment and a significant downgrade from the original W323 P3P. The P4 battery doesn't even come close to delivering on its promised 28 minute flight time.
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I have a P3P that goes alot further than that at lower AGL too, and i wasn't saying that its better it was just a starting point for distance so people had something to go by. You forgot to mention that i was flying at night too.
 
Ozziebattler said:
I have a P3P that goes alot further than that at lower AGL too, and i wasn't saying that its better it was just a starting point for distance so people had something to go by. You forgot to mention that i was flying at night too.
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Fair enough! Want to sell your P3P? ;) I need another one with those capabilities! :D
 
JakeMaxxUAV said:
Stock range I was able to get 5132 feet. I'm in a crowded wifi area. I then installed an ItElite Antenna and two Sunhan boosters and got 11386 feet. Could have went further but had a strong headwind on the return flight, so I wanted to make sure I'd make it back haha! But landed with 40% battery life left.
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Man I've tried the DBS antennas before.... I would love to try got boosted ones from MaxxUAV. I just looked it up and it looks like the best boosted antenna setup I've seen!

Might have to pull the trigger!


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
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TheLightSpeedz said:
Man I've tried the DBS antennas before.... I would love to try got boosted ones from MaxxUAV. I just looked it up and it looks like the best boosted antenna setup I've seen!

Might have to pull the trigger!


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
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Circular polarization is far more powerful. Consider the FPVLR v2 with 3.0A boosters, if you want the best.
 
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John Locke said:
I think I have no choice with my P4 to get my normal distance expectations, I'll have to boost it. Are you talking about the sunhans 3W amplifiers.
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Indeed, I am talking about the Sunhans 3W amplifiers, installed on the FPVLR v2 antenna rig. I'm going to retest the P4 tomorrow, after pairing it with my long range modded transmitter, but the single internal battery will unfortunately be the true limiter, even if the FPV holds up. All my other birds have battery mods with two externals. However, even if I only get 16 minutes again, I can still test 4 miles out and back, to find out at what distance and elevation the video starts becoming unstable.
 
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GadgetGuy said:
Indeed, I am talking about the Sunhans 3W amplifiers, installed on the FPVLR v2 antenna rig. I'm going to retest the P4 tomorrow, after pairing it with my long range modded transmitter.
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All I need is two miles. The windsurfer would support that easy with my P3. Those two reflectors would easily fit in my backpack, super convenient. The FPVLR setup is too bulky, I have one of those for my Q500 with the sunhans amps, which it ok because the Q500 is too big to backpack anyway. However I'm very interested in your tests today to surmise just how bad the P4 Lightbridge has been detuned in the craft. If the craft transmission power has been reduced more than the 20% we believe (less than .598W), your tests should confirm it, since you also have a newer P3 that has .598W from the craft, right?
 
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Again, if you are unhappy with how Lightbridge has been detuned and feel that DJI needs to increase the power and range, email:
[email protected]

Being the CEO, it might get some attention of a lot of us complain.


John Locke said:
All I need is two miles. The windsurfer would support the easy with my P3. Those two reflectors would easily fit in my backpack, super convenient. The FPVLR setup is too bulky, I have one of those for my Q500 with the sunhans amps, which it ok because the Q500 is too big to backpack anyway. However I'm very interested in your tests today to surmise just how bad the P4 Lightbridge has been detuned.
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I'm interested in seeing the range you get as well with a boosted RC setup. I predict you'll have no issues.

Fpvlr is way too bulky in my opinion. Definitely not convenient. I'm probably going to get a DBS amped setup which looks much better and gives plenty of range. 4 miles is plenty more than I need anyway.


GadgetGuy said:
Indeed, I am talking about the Sunhans 3W amplifiers, installed on the FPVLR v2 antenna rig. I'm going to retest the P4 tomorrow, after pairing it with my long range modded transmitter, but the single internal battery will unfortunately be the true limiter, even if the FPV holds up. All my other birds have battery mods with two externals. However, even if I only get 16 minutes again, I can still test 4 miles out and back, to find out at what distance and elevation the video starts becoming unstable.
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Davphys said:
Fpvlr is way too bulky in my opinion. Definitely not convenient. I'm probably going to get a DBS amped setup which looks much better and gives plenty of range. 4 miles is plenty more than I need anyway.
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I suggest you try DBS without the amp first. Having to charge another battery for the amps is a hassle, plus it's additional bulk and weight.
 
Good! Let the guy at the top get an outcry from many customers. I'll bet the issue will get addressed with a critical mass of people emailing him.

Please share his email with as many people as possible on the boards, DJI forum, and Facebook groups and encourage those having these issues to speak up!!

We did this for GEO and it is now being changed. We can do this for our crippled birds now too!!!


John Locke said:
Very good suggestion, and I will be emailing him after I do more extensive testing, side by side with my P3.
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True. I bet that in itself will get good range. Fdr drone mods has a good mod as well with no amp that seems to have great reviews.



John Locke said:
I suggest you try DBS without the amp first. Having to charge another battery for the amps is a hassle, plus it's additional bulk and weight.
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We need lots of people to email him! Don't just sit back and think others will. The more the better!

We can get this issue solved. Please sure his email and encourage others to do the same thing. Keep it brief and to the point.

robinb said:
Good suggestion.
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Davphys said:
Again, if you are unhappy with how Lightbridge has been detuned and feel that DJI needs to increase the power and range, email:
[email protected]

Being the CEO, it might get some attention of a lot of us complain.
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Here is the email I sent:

Hi Frank,

I recently sold my Phantom 3 Pro to buy a Phantom 4 and it has less range! This is extremely disappointing! Please ask your team to fix this. The Phantom 4 should be an upgrade, not a downgrade.

Signed,
Anthony/loyal DJI customer
 
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