place with interference - need some advice

xrider · May 27, 2020

hello pilots..

need some advice of how can i fly my p3 safely as i want to fly in a port with a cell tower and marine radars.. it says "strong radio interference" and sometimes camera tilts the horizon witch means "magnetic interference" .. how can i fly without thinking a possible accident??

i ve faced flyaways because compass errors in the past but.. i dont wanna have such a "game" again..

ive purchased windsurfers for better signal but its quality seem the same as without them.. whats the next step??

thanks
xrider

REL · May 27, 2020

Have you considered flying in the questionable area via a Litchi waypoint mission ? It is my understanding that the mission would continue following the drones GPS system even if loss of control via the RC to the AC. I have experienced perfect results when the RC/AC connection was lost and well as screen feedback when flying a the drone on the opposite side of a building which also blocked line of sight. I'm not sure if the RF interference that is your concern would also scramble the drone's ability to navigate via GPS or not ?

xrider · May 27, 2020

REL said:
Have you considered flying in the questionable area via a Litchi waypoint mission ? It is my understanding that the mission would continue following the drones GPS system even if loss of control via the RC to the AC. I have experienced perfect results when the RC/AC connection was lost and well as screen feedback when flying a the drone on the opposite side of a building which also blocked line of sight. I'm not sure if the RF interference that is your concern would also scramble the drone's ability to navigate via GPS or not ?

yes.. my concern is emi or else rfi.. and i dont fly missions.. everything is done manually.. but you know.. losing signal and having troubles with compass isnt so good even in atti mode.. so.. i want to reduce as much as i can the possibility of losing control because of interference.. if there is anything that i can do.. im going to give it a try..

Meta4 · May 27, 2020

xrider said:
need some advice of how can i fly my p3 safely as i want to fly in a port with a cell tower and marine radars.. it says "strong radio interference" and sometimes camera tilts the horizon witch means "magnetic interference" .. how can i fly without thinking a possible accident??

I suspect you are worrying about nothing.
Interference is just part of flying in urban and industrialised areas but it doesn't cause your drone to fly away.
At worst, it might cause a loss of signal which would trigger RTH.
Marine radar and the cell tower won't have any effect on your drone.
Camera tilt does not mean magnetic interference.

xrider said:
i ve faced flyaways because compass errors in the past but.. i dont wanna have such a "game" again..

That sounds like you didn't get an understanding of what caused those incidents.
If you don't launch from a magnetically bad area, you won't have any compass problems

xrider · May 28, 2020

Meta4 said:
That sounds like you didn't get an understanding of what caused those incidents.
If you don't launch from a magnetically bad area, you won't have any compass problems

i dont launch from metal things over under or near it or its compass.. as i said i ve faced the "party" up there caused by a faulty compass witch in the end died midflight.. it didnt crashed.. ive catched it.. but you know.. place that happened was in a port and from then i dont feel so confident to fly in ports as ive got terrible video lag and lag in commands.. it seem that im trying to make a video or take photos with wrong way.. and i cannot understand my fault.. thing is that i have work to must be done and i cant understand why video lags (antennas facing drone constantly) and lags in commands..

Meta4 · May 28, 2020

xrider said:
i dont launch from metal things over under or near it or its compass

Reinforced concrete is full of steel.
Launching from reinforced concrete surfaces is probably the most common cause of compass issues.

xrider said:
.. as i said i ve faced the "party" up there caused by a faulty compass witch in the end died midflight.. it didnt crashed.. ive catched it.. but you know.. place that happened was in a port

The meaning of this is not clear but the compass is extremely reliable.
You would have to fly very close to any steelwork (<2.5 metres) for it to have any effect on your compass.

xrider said:
and from then i dont feel so confident to fly in ports as ive got terrible video lag and lag in commands.. it seem that im trying to make a video or take photos with wrong way.. and i cannot understand my fault.. thing is that i have work to must be done and
i cant understand why video lags (antennas facing drone constantly) and lags in commands..

Video lag is probably due to running the app on an under-performing phone or tablet.
Updating your viewing device would probably fix that.

I've never observed any of the issues you are concerned about when flying in port areas.

Avocet · May 29, 2020

REL said:
Have you considered flying in the questionable area via a Litchi waypoint mission ? It is my understanding that the mission would continue following the drones GPS system even if loss of control via the RC to the AC. I have experienced perfect results when the RC/AC connection was lost and well as screen feedback when flying a the drone on the opposite side of a building which also blocked line of sight. I'm not sure if the RF interference that is your concern would also scramble the drone's ability to navigate via GPS or not ?

This is some questionable advice methinks. While the OP is not terribly clear or detailed about what is happening, if you lose GPS functionality for instance, a Litchi mission will also experience some sort of failure, waypoint mission or not.

REL · May 29, 2020

Avocet said:
This is some questionable advice methinks. While the OP is not terribly clear or detailed about what is happening, if you lose GPS functionality for instance, a Litchi mission will also experience some sort of failure, waypoint mission or not.

You may be correct. That was just my opinion, just like this is yours. My thinking is that you are more likely to experience an RC to AC interference than a drone to satellite (GPS) interference. Thank you for your input. It is welcome.

jimlips · May 30, 2020

Meta4 said:
Reinforced concrete is full of steel.
Launching from reinforced concrete surfaces is probably the most common cause of compass issues.

The meaning of this is not clear but the compass is extremely reliable.
You would have to fly very close to any steelwork (<2.5 metres) for it to have any effect on your compass.

Video lag is probably due to running the app on an under-performing phone or tablet.
Updating your viewing device would probably fix that.

I've never observed any of the issues you are concerned about when flying in port areas.

FANTASTIC nighttime photo! Which drone is that? I'm guessing a P4?

Meta4 · May 30, 2020

jimlips said:
FANTASTIC nighttime photo! Which drone is that? I'm guessing a P4?

Yes ... P4 pro

Avocet · May 31, 2020

REL said:
You may be correct. That was just my opinion, just like this is yours. My thinking is that you are more likely to experience an RC to AC interference than a drone to satellite (GPS) interference. Thank you for your input. It is welcome.

If one loses GPS, you better: switch to ATTI with LOS and be able to fly in that config; hope that GPS is the only issue. Losing GPS for whatever reason is NOT always apparent either. Just sayin ...

REL · May 31, 2020

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Avocet said:
If one loses GPS, you better: switch to ATTI with LOS and be able to fly in that config; hope that GPS is the only issue. Losing GPS for whatever reason is NOT always apparent either. Just sayin ...

Again ..... my point is that interference ...and the subsequent loss of AC control..(the concern of the OP) is more likely to happen RC to AC than it is satellite to AC.
It seems that the more experienced here feel that the OP may have some other issue than the environment that is the source of his concern.
I don't have any data to back up my theory about loss of signal between RC to AC vrs, GPS (AC to satellite) but would love to hear some input from those with more experience about the subject, since we clearly disagree,

Meta4 · May 31, 2020

REL said:
my point is that interference ...and the subsequent loss of AC control..(the concern of the OP) is more likely to happen RC to AC than it is satellite to AC.

This is correct.
Interference isn't going to have any effect on GPS reception and loss of GPS would be unlikely and is probably the last thing the OP would need to worry about.

Avocet said:
If one loses GPS, you better: switch to ATTI with LOS and be able to fly in that config; hope that GPS is the only issue.

If your Phantom loses GPS, it's already in Atti Mode without having to switch.
I'm not sure why you'd be so concerned about losing GPS though.

Avocet · Jun 1, 2020

Meta4 said:
This is correct.
Interference isn't going to have any effect on GPS reception and loss of GPS would be unlikely and is probably the last thing the OP would need to worry about.

If your Phantom loses GPS, it's already in Atti Mode without having to switch.
I'm not sure why you'd be so concerned about losing GPS though.

No concern about losing GPS ... hasn't ever happened to me. And thank you for pointing out that ATTI mode would self-initiate in the unlikely event of GPS loss.