Phantom 3 Standard range mod , let's do it together...

bigdog21782 · Jul 17, 2016

motigchelaar said:
Here is what I did on the DRONE-side using a WINDOWS system:

Turn on the Remote Control

Turn on the Drone

Connect your Windows device to the WiFi signal of the Remote Control

Open a Windows command prompt (Start -> Run -> "cmd")

Make note of the current directory for your Command Prompt window. It is typically set to "C:\Users\<your username>".

Type in "ftp 192.168.1.2" followed by Enter

Type in user name "root" followed by Enter

Type in password "Big~9China" followed by Enter

You should see a "230 Login successful." response

Type in "cd /etc/init.d/" followed by Enter

You should see a "250 Directory successfully changed." response

Type in "type binary" followed by Enter

You should see a "200 Switching to Binary mode." response

Type in "get rcS" followed by Enter. Note that the S is a capital S...

The "rcS" file will be downloaded into the current directory for your Command Prompt window (see step 5)

Now we start editing the file on your Windows device...

Start the Notepad++ editor and open the "rcS" file

Note:
Do NOT use the Windows Notepad editor (!)

In Notepad++, using the menu structure at the top of the screen, verify that the file encoding is set to "Encode in UTF-8" (Encoding -> "Encode in UTF-8"). This should already be selected but it does not hurt to verify...

Scroll down to line 61 and change it:
From: "#telnetd -l /bin/ash &"
To: "telnetd -l /bin/ash &"
So you remove the #-character from the beginning of the line

Now ADD the following lines to the end of the file:
iw reg set US
iw dev wlan0 net tx power limit 2700

Now save the file and close Notepad++

Now you need to upload the modified file to your drone...

Back in your FTP-session... Type in "put rcS"

You should see a "226 Transfer complete" response

Terminate your FTP session: Type in "bye" followed by Enter

You should see a "221 Goodbye." response

Now restart the drone.

At this point you have modified the drone to enable telnet, set the region to US to enable FCC mode and you have configured the WiFi driver to use a maximum transmit power of 27dbm.

When the drone is back online, you can use telnet to connect to the drone. I recommend using Putty. When you have established a telnet session to the drone at IP address 192.168.1.2 you can use the command "iwinfo" to see the active WiFi parameters. Look for the line that starts with "Tx-Power:"

Now, if your drone does not come online anymore you may have made a typo whilst modifying the rcS file. So be careful.

I hope this helps.

Thank you so much for your help motigchelaar, that has made it a lot clearer.

Sent from my Letv X500 using PhantomPilots mobile app

x11freak · Jul 17, 2016

Seems the drone is remaining on 17dbm... country US, FCC mode seems ok. Controller is in 27dbm. Updated the rcS file on drone and controller (change "GB" to OK and add the 2 iw commands at the end of the file).

Any idea why the drone remains 17dbm?

Here's some output:

controller:
/etc/init.d # iwinfo
wlan0 ESSID: "PHANTOM3_055b9f"
Access Point: 60:60:1F:05:5B:9F
Mode: Master Channel: 6 (2.437 GHz)
Tx-Power: 27 dBm Link Quality: 70/70
Signal: -20 dBm Noise: -95 dBm
Bit Rate: 57.7 MBit/s
Encryption: WPA2 PSK (CCMP)
Type: nl80211 HW Mode(s): 802.11abgn
Hardware: unknown [Generic MAC80211]
TX power offset: unknown
Frequency offset: unknown
Supports VAPs: yes PHY name: phy0

wlan0.sta2 ESSID: unknown
Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
Mode: Master (VLAN) Channel: 6 (2.437 GHz)
Tx-Power: 27 dBm Link Quality: 70/70
Signal: -10 dBm Noise: -95 dBm
Bit Rate: 43.3 MBit/s
Encryption: none
Type: nl80211 HW Mode(s): 802.11abgn
Hardware: unknown [Generic MAC80211]
TX power offset: unknown
Frequency offset: unknown
Supports VAPs: yes PHY name: phy0

/ # iw reg get
country US: DFS-FCC
(2402 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
(5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 17), (N/A)
(5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS
(5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
(57240 - 63720 @ 2160), (N/A, 40), (N/A)

Drone:
/ # iwinfo
wlan0 ESSID: "PHANTOM3_055b9f"
Access Point: 60:60:1F:05:5B:9F
Mode: Client Channel: 6 (2.437 GHz)
Tx-Power: 17 dBm Link Quality: 70/70
Signal: -5 dBm Noise: -95 dBm
Bit Rate: 86.7 MBit/s
Encryption: WPA2 PSK (CCMP)
Type: nl80211 HW Mode(s): 802.11abgn
Hardware: unknown [Generic MAC80211]
TX power offset: unknown
Frequency offset: unknown
Supports VAPs: yes PHY name: phy0

/ # iw reg get
country US: DFS-FCC
(2402 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
(5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 17), (N/A)
(5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS
(5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
(57240 - 63720 @ 2160), (N/A, 40), (N/A)

Adrian Ling Di Yeuan · Jul 17, 2016

PapaTita said:
New Feature.

Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using PhantomPilots mobile app

[WIKI][/WIKI]

PapaTita said:
New Feature.

Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using PhantomPilots mobile app

Not working anyway! It doesnt allowed me to click the "Update to 27dbm and Scan Channel!.All the STEP 1 and STEP 2 is appeared grey.

I have been successfully make the update to 27dbm, after restarting, it shows back to 17dbm. Please fix it bro.

Adrian Ling Di Yeuan · Jul 17, 2016

It says complated and enjoy new mod, but after that , when i checked again using iwinfo, it still 17dbm bro

motigchelaar · Jul 17, 2016

x11freak said:
Seems the drone is remaining on 17dbm... country US, FCC mode seems ok. Controller is in 27dbm. Updated the rcS file on drone and controller (change "GB" to OK and add the 2 iw commands at the end of the file).

Any idea why the drone remains 17dbm?

I don't know (yet). You obviously managed to get telnet enabled. So, you can execute the required commands manually whilst in a telnet session:

Connect to the drone using telnet
execute "iwinfo" to confirm the drone is using 17dbm
execute "iw dev wlan0 set tx power limit 2700" to set the drone to use 27dbm
execute "iwinfo" again. It should now be using 27dbm

If this works then you may want to double-check your "rcS" file for typos. Especially for the last 2 lines you added. Easiest way to do that is by issuing the command "cat /etc/init.d/rcS". That will dump the content of the "rcS" file so you can review it.

Let me know what you get. I have some additional ideas if this does not solve it for you.

x11freak · Jul 17, 2016

motigchelaar said:
I don't know (yet). You obviously managed to get telnet enabled. So, you can execute the required commands manually whilst in a telnet session:

Connect to the drone using telnet

execute "iwinfo" to confirm the drone is using 17dbm

execute "iw dev wlan0 net tx power limit 2700" to set the drone to use 27dbm

execute "iwinfo" again. It should now be using 27dbm

If this works then you may want to double-check your "rcS" file for typos. Especially for the last 2 lines you added. Easiest way to do that is by issuing the command "cat /etc/init.d/rcS". That will dump the content of the "rcS" file so you can review it.

Let me know what you get. I have some additional ideas if this does not solve it for you.

I'll double check everything when I have some time, but am pretty sure no typo was made... Executing the commands manually is something i'll try as well.
I've some decent Linux knowledge, so perhaps i'll find something as well.
Really appreciate the help.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

x11freak · Jul 17, 2016

x11freak said:
I'll double check everything when I have some time, but am pretty sure no typo was made... Executing the commands manually is something i'll try as well.
I've some decent Linux knowledge, so perhaps i'll find something as well.
Really appreciate the help.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

Problem found... when entering the command "iw dev wlan0 net tx power limit 2700", it returned the help output, so something was wrong...
exact command is : iw dev wlan0 set txpower limit 2700
So I've put that as last line in the /etc/init.d/rcS file and the drone remains 27dbm now!!

As soon as I start DJI GO app, the country is back on UK and txpower is set to 17 again, i can manually put it back in FCC and 27dbm mode though (and remains unchanged, so the app only seems to change it on startup). If I have more time, I'll look further into this.

Funny thing, seems the blinking of the LEDs is also controlled by a shell script? I see this running process (have a look at what's inside haha):
459 root 1384 S {djiled.sh} /bin/sh /sbin/djiled.sh

doctor_pin · Jul 17, 2016

x11freak said:
Problem found... when entering the command "iw dev wlan0 net tx power limit 2700", it returned the help output, so something was wrong...
exact command is : iw dev wlan0 set txpower limit 2700
So I've put that as last line in the /etc/init.d/rcS file and the drone remains 27dbm now!!

As soon as I start DJI GO app, the country is back on UK and txpower is set to 17 again, i can manually put it back in FCC and 27dbm mode though (and remains unchanged, so the app only seems to change it on startup). If I have more time, I'll look further into this.

Funny thing, seems the blinking of the LEDs is also controlled by a shell script? I see this running process (have a look at what's inside haha):
459 root 1384 S {djiled.sh} /bin/sh /sbin/djiled.sh

maybe you have to enter the same values on the remote control

x11freak · Jul 17, 2016

doctor_pin said:
maybe you have to enter the same values on the remote control

What do you mean? RC is same but keeps 27.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

motigchelaar · Jul 17, 2016

x11freak said:
Problem found... when entering the command "iw dev wlan0 net tx power limit 2700", it returned the help output, so something was wrong...
exact command is : iw dev wlan0 set txpower limit 2700
So I've put that as last line in the /etc/init.d/rcS file and the drone remains 27dbm now!!

Yep. Good catch. My typo. I have corrected my posts.

x11freak said:
As soon as I start DJI GO app, the country is back on UK and txpower is set to 17 again, i can manually put it back in FCC and 27dbm mode though (and remains unchanged, so the app only seems to change it on startup). If I have more time, I'll look further into this.

Do you mean it changes back for the drone or for the remote? Or both? The Windows app made by PappaTita handles the remote. I have not seen my drone change back to CE mode yet. Could be a firmware thing. I have my remote on the latest firmware but the drone is on an older version.

Alejandrobs · Jul 17, 2016

motigchelaar said:
Yep. Good catch. My typo. I have corrected my posts.

Do you mean it changes back for the drone or for the remote? Or both? The Windows app made by PappaTita handles the remote. I have not seen my drone change back to CE mode yet. Could be a firmware thing. I have my remote on the latest firmware but the drone is on an older version.

You have the drone in 1.5.7 and the rc in 1.6.8 and the windows app work good???? Please tell me to do or not. Thanks

x11freak · Jul 18, 2016

motigchelaar said:
Yep. Good catch. My typo. I have corrected my posts.

Do you mean it changes back for the drone or for the remote? Or both? The Windows app made by PappaTita handles the remote. I have not seen my drone change back to CE mode yet. Could be a firmware thing. I have my remote on the latest firmware but the drone is on an older version.

Only changed back on the drone. I'm On the latest firmware on both.
Need to check if the same happens when I start litchi... But don't have much time for the moment.
Remote was also done with the app.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

motigchelaar · Jul 18, 2016

Alejandrobs said:
You have the drone in 1.5.7 and the rc in 1.6.8 and the windows app work good???? Please tell me to do or not. Thanks

Correct. I have the drone on 1.5.7 and the remote on 1.6.8...
This may mean that with a drone on firmware 1.6.8 it may be required to have the "watchlog.sh" script on the drone as well. I have not tried this yet and the Windows tool does not currently patch the drone. It only patches the remote.

motigchelaar · Jul 18, 2016

x11freak said:
Only changed back on the drone. I'm On the latest firmware on both.
Need to check if the same happens when I start litchi... But don't have much time for the moment.
Remote was also done with the app.

I think that when you look carefully in the log of your remote (/var/log/messages) you will find that the remote DID change back to CE-mode but the "watchlog.sh" script quickly changed it into FCC mode again... That is the purpose of the whole patch you applied with the Windows tool.

I have the drone on 1.5.7 and the remote on 1.6.8...

This may mean that with a drone on firmware 1.6.8 it may be required to have the "watchlog.sh" script on the drone as well. I have not tried this yet and the Windows tool does not currently patch the drone. It only patches the remote.

bigdog21782 · Jul 18, 2016

motigchelaar said:
I think that when you look carefully in the log of your remote (/var/log/messages) you will find that the remote DID change back to CE-mode but the "watchlog.sh" script quickly changed it into FCC mode again... That is the purpose of the whole patch you applied with the Windows tool.

I have the drone on 1.5.7 and the remote on 1.6.8...

This may mean that with a drone on firmware 1.6.8 it may be required to have the "watchlog.sh" script on the drone as well. I have not tried this yet and the Windows tool does not currently patch the drone. It only patches the remote.

Hey guys, I had the same thing happening, I have fixed it by overwriting the djiled.sh file on the drone with the one from the updater and put the watchlog.sh file onto the drone into the usr/sbin/ folder all works perfectly now.
Also I'm on 1.6.80 and dji go 2.7.2 for Android.

Sent from my Letv X500 using PhantomPilots mobile app

Dronefriend · Jul 18, 2016

Is there a trouble-free way to do this permanently (until next firmware, at least) yet?

Great work people.

x11freak · Jul 18, 2016

bigdog21782 said:
Hey guys, I had the same thing happening, I have fixed it by overwriting the djiled.sh file on the drone with the one from the updater and put the watchlog.sh file onto the drone into the usr/sbin/ folder all works perfectly now.
Also I'm on 1.6.80 and dji go 2.7.2 for Android.

Sent from my Letv X500 using PhantomPilots mobile app

Sounds like a good plan... will try this on the drone asap. Thanks for the feedback!

motigchelaar · Jul 18, 2016

bigdog21782 said:
Hey guys, I had the same thing happening, I have fixed it by overwriting the djiled.sh file on the drone with the one from the updater and put the watchlog.sh file onto the drone into the usr/sbin/ folder all works perfectly now.
Also I'm on 1.6.80 and dji go 2.7.2 for Android.

That is indeed all it takes to introduce the "watchdog.sh" on the drone as well. This is described in the instructions somewhere in this very long thread - but the Windows patch tool currently does not yet patch the drone for you. At least, it looks like it does not.

x11freak · Jul 18, 2016

motigchelaar said:
That is indeed all it takes to introduce the "watchdog.sh" on the drone as well. This is described in the instructions somewhere in this very long thread - but the Windows patch tool currently does not yet patch the drone for you. At least, it looks like it does not.

Yup, this works like a charm... At first I thought it was the DJI GO app that changed it back to CE mode, but seems this is not the case. As soon as there was a gps lock, everything (on the drone) returned to CE mode. So the watchlog.sh is needed as stated before. Thanks for all the help guys!

dan84uk · Jul 18, 2016

Finally took it outside of my town today, on top of a 500m hill. With this fcc mod, antennas moved to rear and front, and alfa panels on the controller, i got to 1700m, not a single video breakup, still at full strength, i only turned round because im a wimp, and there were 5 birds of prey around.