Phantom 3 Standard Range issues

[Andy Roberts]

Hi all...Phantom newbie UK flyer here. Having an issue with my P3S. Brought it a week ago and once unboxed and connected up it did a firmware update. Not sure what has happened but I can fly it away from me 600 feet plus with no issues at all, but as soon as it goes 100+ feet up I lose video feed and the ability to take photos etc as the app screen goes grey. It prompts me to RTH due to signal loss, but I'm still able to fully control the bird and can continue in any direction or manually fly it back to me. The video feed comes back when it gets closer to me (30-50 foot up). My app shows plenty of wifi signal etc but lose all video and can't get the really pretty, high altitude pics I was wanting. I've even tried a parabolic reflector, but that makes no difference at all to the signal issue.
I'm flying in an open field (6acres) with no houses within 150 metres of me. Ive checked all the settings and have my flight limits set at 500m. I've looked into manually rolling back the firmware but can only do this one version back, and from what I've read, this issue happened with the previous firmware update. Just wondering if any other P3S owners are experiencing this and if anyone has managed to fix it??

I have considered taking it back and paying the extra £250 to get the Advanced, but the store have said unless there is a fault that they can see for themselves after testing, that I can't swop it.


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[Davey B]

Same issue here I was going to take mine back but started looking into it and it looks like it's the latest firmware that has broken it. Hopefully they'll get an update out ASAP.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Davey B...have you downloaded the old firmware 1.5.7 and installed it on your bird?? See my post above as it made a huge difference. Now getting 250m range away from me and 300 foot up. Guess that's the best we're going to get. However if you work out 250m away from you forwards and 250m away from you backwards that does give you the 500m range that DJI quote. Maybe it's some cleaver wording on the specs. !!!


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[Andy Roberts]

Go to this link:

DJI Phantom Accessories & Tips - Phantom Help

Scroll right to the bottom (archive section)

Download 1.5.7

Put your SD card in a PC

Delete the .bin fine on the SD

Replace with the 1.5.7 version you downloaded (make sure you put it in the root directory of the SD card, not in any folders.

Put the SD card in the phantom and power everything on as normal

It should start beeping etc after a few seconds. Let it finish the upgrade (see app for progress)

Then you should be good to go for the 250m I'm getting.

You will get the in app notifications saying update firmware, but ignore them for the moment until we see a new version that defiantly works!!!


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[Davey B]

Thanks for that. I wasn't aware that you could downgrade, I thought that they didn't allow you to do that.

I'll get onto that tonight when I get home and let you know how I get on. Many thanks

 

[Andy Roberts]

You appear to be able to down grade one version of firmware. Don't think it's particularly well documented (like most things DJI). Worked for me anyway. Look forward to hearing your results!!! Shout if you get stuck!


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[Davey B]

Cheers, will do.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Don't expect miracles though... Like I said 850 feet away and 300 up. After that I lose video. Still have full control of the phantom, just no live view. It's better than before. Also when you go on YouTube and see these mad altitude and range flights, they are always in "ideal locations" with no civilisation for miles around and no interference from Wifi.

I kind of like this range as at least I can still see it (just about), kind of scared about flying a £400+ piece of kit out of site and relying on software and the grace of God to bring it back!!!!!

It's certainly good enough for me for now, the P3S is quite under rated compared to the Adv/Pro, but it's £250 cheaper and for a first proper drone is more than capable!!

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[Davey B]

Put that older firmware on and it's definitely better. Still having a few problems with litchi tracking but I can actually use the aircraft now which was struggling to do. Cheers

 

[Andy Roberts]

Well that's an improvement at least. Suppose we've got to wait now for the next firmware update. Not going to rush to install it though. Think I'll wait a week or so and keep an eye on the forums. If DJI put out an new firmware and we upgrade, we can only go back one version if it doesn't work, which will obviously take us back to the current 1.6 version and we'll be back to square one with no options available!!!


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[Davey B]

Was flying it today and range was terrible, going to get a replacement.

 

[Andy Roberts]

Gutted!! Really hoped that would have worked!! Be interesting to hear what a new one with original firmware is like!


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[Davey B]

I flew another p3s a couple of weeks ago before I got mine and didn't have these range issues so I think it's something up with the bird

 

[Phax]

I had a P3S and I got it to about 1000 ft away and about 350 ft up and had no problem but that was like 6 months ago and lots of firmware ago

 

[Andy Roberts]

Hi Phax,

I can't say how good it was when I first got it (2 weeks ago) as in my naivety and thinking new firmware=better performance and improvements, I didn't check forums for any issues with the latest firmware (1.6.8) and downloaded it before first flight. Results, as you can see at the beginning of this thread, were disappointing to say the least, but after reading loads of posts on the issue I tried rolling back to fw v1.5 and am getting 800+ feet range and 300+ feet altitude with good video feed. Would love to see what this thing can do when the firmware works properly!!!


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[Phax]

Hi Phax,

I can't say how good it was when I first got it (2 weeks ago) as in my naivety and thinking new firmware=better performance and improvements, I didn't check forums for any issues with the latest firmware (1.6.8) and downloaded it before first flight. Results, as you can see at the beginning of this thread, were disappointing to say the least, but after reading loads of posts on the issue I tried rolling back to fw v1.5 and am getting 800+ feet range and 300+ feet altitude with good video feed. Would love to see what this thing can do when the firmware works properly!!!


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I ended up getting a P3A because of the extra range and better camera(60 fps at 1080 instead of 30fps) and I have had my p3a 4000 feet away from me, it was an open field tho

 

[Andy Roberts]

Did you ever get a replacement Davey B?? If so any better?


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[Davey B]

I bought it through a friend who works for a shop so I got a staff discount and he took it back today but you have to contact dji to get a replacement and they need screen shots of app and firmware version I'm using so I'm going to get it back tomorrow and do an online chat with them tomorrow.

 

[drunkpenguin]

Are you guys flying LOS? I just bought mine last weekend and updated first to whatever the latest firmware is. I'm getting braver with every flight but I've had mine 1500' away from me at 400' up several times with zero issues. I live in the country and have nothing between me and it however.

 

[Davey B]

I flew a friends a few weeks ago in the country and had no issues at all, went a long way without losing signal. The one I bought is useless, it's either a MAJOR issue with the firmware or it's a hardware issue. I'm thinking hardware since I downgraded it to the previous firmware and still had issues.