Phantom 3 Standard Range Issue is a Common Problem

Today, I think it can be either one.
I believe I was the first to post the problem.
I spent a lot of time back tracking looking at my flights and loading them on Healthy Drones. I pin-pointed the problem was related by timing of a firmware update. I found I couldn't fly some of the same flights I had done before the update. Also I was holding the remote as solid as possible with the Phantom hovering signals would jump Good, Bad ugly. I decided it wasn't a loose connection at least in the remote. They don't tell you what they fix under warranty, or they didn't then.

Phantom 3-Std Weak Remote Signal
 
Thanks Rod, so if I check the cables inside the remote, for streaching, tightness, perhaps broken or losse connections, and find all is 100% then its a firmware issue and not some other physical issue,
just thinking as I type, if the cables in the remote where not fitted to a good quality standard, perhaps also the cables inside the phantom could be dodgy in some way, that is, they start out ok, but after a little use, they easily become loose and a bit, hit and miss on the making the best connections. So you get a scenario of , sometimes its 100% good and next minute its crap and so on........ ? A possibility would you think. ?
Would a firmware / update issue not be a constant problem, rather than an intermittent one , which seems to be what im getting, IE; within minutes it goes back and forth from a perfect signal to a signal loss repeatedly.
 
Hum, lets call in dirk, and if he has some thoughts.
 
Ya know I have been lucky and not had any issues till this last IOS update but I do read all what folks have been having to deal with like Rod .
I'm still in my mind think a lot has to do with what they are using for cables and stuff like this one member found
bad connection.jpeg If he hadn't looked real close he wouldn't have seen it was not on correctly as it was covered .
Not all of our's are put together the same ether . When I got over 6500'stock way back that was good and now look at the newer ones .
Going twice that . I'm still stumped to be honest just what cause's these issues .
I haven't did the lasted firmware and not sure I am till I must .
 
If anyone who has done a mod to their new P3 standard , which is running with the latest update, and changed the 3 cables in the Remote Control could let us know if they are having similar Range issues like other new Standard owners with stock Remotes , or not,
then this might narrow it down to being a cable / connector issue in the RC. And not the firmware.

I know that, like the classic car community im involved in, you dont get much feedback from car owners whos cars that are running 100% , but a lot from those having problems , and looking for solutions, but its of great help to others to hear what you've done ,or not done in some cases , no matter how small, to get yours 100%.
I know there are a lot of other things that can affect signal loss, (and it depends on where you fly it) ,
but with more reports from users, good & bad, and getting a much bigger picture of whats happening world wide, we should be able to look at the results and make a better decision on whats casing this range problem .
So lets hear from anyone whos flying a new P3 Standard with up to date firmware. Good & Bad
Thanks.
P.
 
If anyone who has done a mod to their new P3 standard , which is running with the latest update, and changed the 3 cables in the Remote Control could let us know if they are having similar Range issues like other new Standard owners with stock Remotes , or not,
then this might narrow it down to being a cable / connector issue in the RC. And not the firmware.

I know that, like the classic car community im involved in, you dont get much feedback from car owners whos cars that are running 100% , but a lot from those having problems , and looking for solutions, but its of great help to others to hear what you've done ,or not done in some cases , no matter how small, to get yours 100%.
I know there are a lot of other things that can affect signal loss, (and it depends on where you fly it) ,
but with more reports from users, good & bad, and getting a much bigger picture of whats happening world wide, we should be able to look at the results and make a better decision on whats casing this range problem .
So lets hear from anyone whos flying a new P3 Standard with up to date firmware. Good & Bad
Thanks.
P.
I'm flying 1.2.4 I think is the number, so I wouldn't be of any help. I'm of the mind that if you get firmware that works, don't just keep upgrading. I bought this thing last sept and thought it was like everything else I have purchased, but unfortunately it wasn't. Every 2 weeks or so, a new update was coming down the pike. I upgraded until someone on here said they weren't required, just suggested. So I stopped, and that's when my troubles stopped. As far as the number of the software I'm running, I get update notices of needing to upgrade to 1.3.5. They can keep sending em, but I'm not buying.....LOL
 
Just installed a dbs last night. I am running the current firmware. No problems. Massive distance improvement in high interference areas now!


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
My range issues took place immediately after updating the firmware in late September. I tried two different transmitters and there was no difference. I had to send it to DJI for repair and as usual they don't tell you what they did to repair it when it is under warranty. It has to be a firmware issue because they did not take the shell off during the repair as the red stickers were not cut or replaced. My range has never been great since then, but now that I have installed the DBS Mod on my spare transmitter, I have been able to go 4900 feet from the home-point over flat farmland. That leads me to believe the issue was not completely corrected since some are getting way more range than I am getting stock.

I love my Standard, but i wish DJI would step up to the plate and offer a real fix to the issue.
 
Just installed a dbs last night. I am running the current firmware. No problems. Massive distance improvement in high interference areas now!


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
What range are you getting now with the DBS Mod?
 
Hi I bought a p3s out of the box i got decent height and distance. After a week of it been put away I took it out to fly I don't get more then 15meters of distance.is this a firmware issue or a contributed issue ? This is really disappointing
And one know how to fix this
 
Hi I bought a p3s out of the box i got decent height and distance. After a week of it been put away I took it out to fly I don't get more then 15meters of distance.is this a firmware issue or a contributed issue ? This is really disappointing
And one know how to fix this
Did you update the firmware between flights?
Are you getting an error message?
If so what is it?

Added: Sorta similar?
Phantom 3S Distance ???
 
Last edited:
Hi I bought a p3s out of the box i got decent height and distance. After a week of it been put away I took it out to fly I don't get more then 15meters of distance.is this a firmware issue or a contributed issue ? This is really disappointing
And one know how to fix this

What version of app and aircraft is it.
 
Mine runs a red banner across the start screen. Doesn't go away for a couple of minutes. Says update new firmware 1.3.5, update now. If you don't have the latest, it'll tell you.
 
It beginning to look like 1.3.50 is causing the issue...
Please keep adding to this...
The more feedback we get , the bigger & better picture we get of what is happening world wide.
& who knows, maybe get the attention of the manufacturer, DJI.
 
Had a quick flight today, may have gone further but done 75mtr altitude and 200mtr distance,
twice the red banner came up briefly, saying weak remote signal, once it said lost signal, though i never lost remote control of it at anytime,
and screen view froze at around 50 mtrs range.
That was in an open field, though it did have a power line nearby, I was flying away from it.
This is much better than my previous flights, flew for about 12 mins untill I got a low battery warning, it wasn't fully charged,
If I wasn't using the app, I wouldn't have noticed anything was wrong, it done exactly as I wanted it to.
Now im thinking is it interference from my own home wifi & others near by , when I flew beside the house.
 
The wifi interference issue escapes me, how it exactly effects reception anyway. I know it happens, being in the middle of an RV park with hundreds of motorhomes, all within a 1/8 mi of me, and a wifi tower blasting signal 150' away, and who knows how many of the rigs have their own wifi. I can see a list as long as my arm on the pc when I go to hook on for internet, and the parks is way down the list as far as power is concerned. So I think errant wifi signals interfere with mine, as a matter of fact, I don't even fly it close to the park. To many people who don't move very fast enough to get out of the way if it loses signal, but mainly because I always have trouble getting it hooked up at the park. Best just to avoid trouble on two fronts I guess.
 
Those of you who have a P3S, does this sound familiar? You get the Phantom. Excited, you do all the stuff you are supposed to do and make your first flight. It goes great! better than you had dreamed of. Then, you get the notice about doing a firmware update. You think, " This will probably make it even better" , so you do the update. And, now your P3S is a piece of junk. You can get no range. It goes RTH all the time. Even just hovering in 1 spot the signal fades in and out. The constant rth makes you want to smash the drone with a rock. Oh, and the fpv video works fine.

A LOT of users are reporting this problem. Dji is certainly aware of it, but officially there is no problem. So, we are at their mercy until they do a firmware fix. It will help if everyone with this problem makes a lot of noise on the Dji website. Report it in the forums. The mods are Dji employes and report to HQ.[ModEdit: this forum or it's staff are in no way part of DJI] The more people who report it, the faster we get it fixed.

As a workaround, I have removed the 5.8 ghz built in antenna ( will void your warranty ) , installed a pigtail with a bulkhead connector, installed where the stock antenna was, and purchased on ebay a 5.8ghz bi-directional 5 watt amplifier.It came with an antenna and a power supply.You can run it on a small gel cell motorcycle battery if you like. Pretty easy job to set up. If anyone wants to do this and needs instruction, let me know. I get over 2000 feet out and have been up to nearly 1000 feet with no signal loss and no rth. Healthydrones.com shows my signal score at 100% all the time.
 

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