Range Anxiety - What's your comfort range?

The law is 400 ft AGL and LOS! I stick to this but am guilty of testing the range. 5800 ft out and back in the middle of nowhere along the foothills of Colorado. I got the long range thing out of my system and will stick to the laws from now on.
 
I'm trying to do some research . Which laws are you referring to and also the penalties that go with them . Thank you
 
For safety's sake I only fly long distance at home as I am in the middle of a quarter million acre stretch of National Forest. I would also consider long distance testing over large bodies of water. I maintain 400 foot AGL throughout the flight. Longest flight is 8600 feet so far. Completely stock bird and transmitter. I live on the highest hillside in the area so I do have uninterrupted radio LOS. I fly until I lose video then return.
 
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The law is 400 ft AGL and LOS! I stick to this but am guilty of testing the range. 5800 ft out and back in the middle of nowhere along the foothills of Colorado. I got the long range thing out of my system and will stick to the laws from now on.
Nothing wrong just stick to under 400ft I do long test around 4km weekly now our drones are nothing compare to government military drones.
 
Hehe, I think he did say 8 mile round trip, and that 9 minute video only record up to mid way trip, which is 4 miles in 9 minutes.
Look at post #58. I mapped it out, halfway is only 2.25mi, and if he came back straight across the water, the round trip is more like 4mi.
 
I feel like crying now. Stock bird and remote with windsurfers only got 3800 ft out before losing video.........and I didn't have my back to the bird. :(
 
I used Mission Planner to plan a mission that I knew would take the p3 out of range because of trees. It was scary but it followed the mission and eventually came in range of my my controller on the way back. Fun to watch the video afterwards knowing it was doing what I told it to but with no control of it. So long story short it was only a mile away but because of the trees I had no control and it came home to daddy. Haha good stuff.
 
I feel like crying now. Stock bird and remote with windsurfers only got 3800 ft out before losing video.........and I didn't have my back to the bird. :(
bad area-- did you have good LOS
 
I'm wondering what an experienced flyer considers a "safe" range to fly with the phantom 3 in a suburb area? (Single and two level houses)

I've had my Phantom pro for 3 days now and I have about 15 flights under my belt.

Admittedly I'm still a wimp with it because I don't want to lose it our crash it and I'm not 100% comfortable with its abilities.

It would help me to understand what is in your mind when your flying when it comes to range.

Do you ever have situations where your signal goes from 4 bars to nothing and you can't get it back?

Just not sure what to expect.

Thanks for any advice.
The best situation is to have line of sight, or open terrain without signal obstructions. City areas with lots of signals being emitted to interfere are not good for best range. Look at some of the range record videos on the web - one guy flew off the side of a mountain for 7-8 miles and returned with 2% battery left! Wow. That's way more than I'd try. But understand how signals flow and what blocks them, and the follow practices to ensure they are able to be sent and received for success.
 
The best situation is to have line of sight, or open terrain without signal obstructions. City areas with lots of signals being emitted to interfere are not good for best range. Look at some of the range record videos on the web - one guy flew off the side of a mountain for 7-8 miles and returned with 2% battery left! Wow. That's way more than I'd try. But understand how signals flow and what blocks them, and the follow practices to ensure they are able to be sent and received for success.
I watched that video I really doubt anyone can beat that.
 
bad area-- did you have good LOS
Some trees that are about 70 to 80ft. A lot of wooded areas surrounding me with me standing out in the middle of an acre of open area. I'm thinking there were a few Power Lines that follow the road out there may be interfearing. Also a few random houses that may have wifi. Were somewhat limited on where we can fly here playing hopscotch between airports and DC. I may try more over the water since that is (mostly) legit to fly over. I'm just worried about it going down in water. Makes recovery much harder.
 
If calibrating my compass near the power line tells me there's to much electromagnetic interference should that change the way I fly?

Or is the GPS lock good enough to keep me out of trouble?

I'm not trying to fly over them -- just in my yard which is about 60-100 feet away. I'm trying to figure out what parts of my yard I should avoid and I don't really know how reliable the p3 is with compass issues int he sky.
 
I just stay plenty high enough over them. I don't have much choice in a few places I go. I'm pretty sure they could have some to do with interference. I would recommend avoid high voltage completely.
I spend a lot of time now on Google maps looking for more cool locations now. Where I am it's woods, water, or off limits for the most part.
 
Some trees that are about 70 to 80ft. A lot of wooded areas surrounding me with me standing out in the middle of an acre of open area. I'm thinking there were a few Power Lines that follow the road out there may be interfearing. Also a few random houses that may have wifi. Were somewhat limited on where we can fly here playing hopscotch between airports and DC. I may try more over the water since that is (mostly) legit to fly over. I'm just worried about it going down in water. Makes recovery much harder.
You need to try to maintain Line of sight-- If you start losing video-- ascend to a higher altitude-- the further away you get with those trees, the higher you need to be.
 
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