VIDEO DROPOUT / INTERFERENCE W/ ITELITE DBS ANTENNA

[BobPhoto]

Hey There.
New to the forums, but they've been really helpful so far. I'm a new DJI pilot, coming in from the 3DR Solo world. Recently picked up a used P3P that was set up for long range video transmission. It came with the Itelite ITE-DBS02 antenna installed on the transmitter. No mods to the body of the P3P itself.

Here is a video of the problem I'm seeing. Shortly after takeoff, there is video interference which causes the DJI GO app to blank out. Video freezes, gets blocky, and blanks out. You'll see below. I'm hesitant to keep flying as I can't see the shots I'm getting, so I keep pulling it back and landing. This has happened twice in the same location. It's a concrete drainage basin in an urban area with lots of infrastructure nearby as well as a great many residential WiFi networks.

Any ideas would be great. Having the video drop out within 10 feet of the RC kind of defeats the purpose of this bird.

Thanks!!

 

[w1r3d]

I would be checking that all the cables and connections are making contact

 

[BobPhoto]

I would be checking that all the cables and connections are making contact

@w1r3d would you start with antenna to transmitter, internal modified antenna connectors, or gimbal / camera to P3P video transmitter?
Thanks!

 

[Droner66]

If the connections seem good I would try a different location. I have the itelite mod on my P3P remote and have not had any issues.

 

[Dronason]

Hey There.
New to the forums, but they've been really helpful so far. I'm a new DJI pilot, coming in from the 3DR Solo world. Recently picked up a used P3P that was set up for long range video transmission. It came with the Itelite ITE-DBS02 antenna installed on the transmitter. No mods to the body of the P3P itself.

Here is a video of the problem I'm seeing. Shortly after takeoff, there is video interference which causes the DJI GO app to blank out. Video freezes, gets blocky, and blanks out. You'll see below. I'm hesitant to keep flying as I can't see the shots I'm getting, so I keep pulling it back and landing. This has happened twice in the same location. It's a concrete drainage basin in an urban area with lots of infrastructure nearby as well as a great many residential WiFi networks.

Any ideas would be great. Having the video drop out within 10 feet of the RC kind of defeats the purpose of this bird.

Thanks!!

I have a similar issue with also modded antennas, but I am not sure it is related to them.
Both antennas show good impedance.
I have replaced all SMA cables with no change.
What is strange is that in the Go app, it says that signal level for video and RC are ok. The P3P fly nicely, but no video after a short distance is reached.
My next steps will be:
- Try with another RC
- Try with my PHA
Should tell me at least who to blame.
Will report result.

 

[GaryDZ]

I have the same antenna on my P3A. I have experienced the same problem at close range. Since the antenna is directional, you should make a point to aim it directly at the bird which is more difficult to do when it is close. I'm not saying you might not have another problem, but that was my issue.

 

[Dronason]

Never had any issue at short range with my antenna (Itelite DBS 02.2 extender) in the past.
Bellow 30ft (10m) orientation had never been really an issue if there is no obstacle.

 

[BobPhoto]

Thanks for your suggestions, all.
I'll check the connections, then move locations, give it a shot and report back.

Bob

 

[BobPhoto]

Had a chance to open up my transmitter this morning and everything seemed in order. Antenna connections were fine, and the coax runs were unobstructed. A little bit of a tight turn near the board-side connections, but seemed fine and secure.

Tested with the P3P upstairs, and then I walked all the way down to the basement. Did not experience any interference or dropouts, then went into the garage. So we're two storeys down through wood, tile, and plumbing. DJI GO app showed full strength on radio and HD transmission "bars". Started to get a little interference, so I checked the HD transmission / receive settings. The unit was channel hopping like crazy in "Auto" mode. All over the place trying to find a stable WiFi channel. I bet this could have been the source of the issue as it happens just after I fire everything up.
Maybe my enthusiasm to get in the air should be tempered a little bit while the system locks on to a stable WiFi channel for video.

When I manually selected a stable WiFi channel for video transmission based on the graph of stable / unstable channels, any interference issues went away.

Thanks again for the help. Any comments or opinions on the above are welcome.

Bob

 

[LarBear360]

Is your video from the SD card in the Phantom or a cached copy from your device? Also, what device are you using?

 

[BobPhoto]

Is your video from the SD card in the Phantom or a cached copy from your device? Also, what device are you using?

Hey @LarBear360 . The video is from the cached capture onto my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Verizon).
Just reviewed the video on the SD card, and it is clean without any issues.

Thanks!

 

[Brockrock]

LarBear beat me to it, so I credit him with this question. The monitoring device you are using during flight could also be the issue. Make sure it is compatible. If not, it will struggle to process running DJI Go while also presenting real time video, and the results can include Go crashing, video dropout, and general instability. Over the years, Go has gotten a lot more burdensome on devices.

 

[BobPhoto]

LarBear beat me to it, so I credit him with this question. The monitoring device you are using during flight could also be the issue. Make sure it is compatible. If not, it will struggle to process running DJI Go while also presenting real time video, and the results can include Go crashing, video dropout, and general instability. Over the years, Go has gotten a lot more burdensome on devices.

Hmm. That kind of sucks if it ends up being the problem. What's the most stable monitoring device these days with enough horsepower to host DJI GO and not get bogged down?
I also have a Xiaomi MI PAD 2 that I could test to see if it holds up better.

 

[Brockrock]

I had an iPad Air2 that began to struggle with Go4, so I bought the latest iPad Pro 10.5” and all those issues are now solved. I also have an itelite antenna mod and it is important to aim it toward the copter if you are flying with the panel antenna. I don’t know anything about android but if you can shut down all other apps in the background while flying, that is suggested.

 

[Brockrock]

Here’s a link you may find useful. Best Tablets and Phones for DJI GO (Updated Daily) - Phantom Help

 

[BobPhoto]

Here’s a link you may find useful. Best Tablets and Phones for DJI GO (Updated Daily) - Phantom Help

Just found that link!! Thanks for pointing me in that direction. Was a big help. My Samsung is supported.
I'm leaning toward channel hopping. I'm in an area with a lot of WiFi traffic.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Video freezes, gets blocky, and blanks out.

Based on what you're describing, I would tend to agree with @LarBear360 and @Brockrock, it sounds like your device could be at the center of the video issue, but I'm also having a hard time believing an S7 Edge is struggling to keep up with the Go app. One question I have is, does the device get extremely warm when running the Go app? If yes, that would tend to confirm that the device is having trouble keeping up. Regardless, I would still suggest using a more powerful device at least temporarily to see if that resolves your video problem. One other suggestion, if you have the option in the app to reduce the video transmission rate, that should help as well. Good luck.

 

[LarBear360]

I've seen these issues before in other threads and the one common denominator is the Samsung S series. Here's a solution but the thread ends there. Don't know if it really works. Samsung Galaxy S7 issues

 

[BobPhoto]

I've seen these issues before in other threads and the one common denominator is the Samsung S series. Here's a solution but the thread ends there. Don't know if it really works. Samsung Galaxy S7 issues

Followed that thread's advice and when I installed the APK, and opened the app, it immediately gave me a popup to update to the latest version of DJI GO.

Back to square one. I'll try the Mi Pad 2 and see if it's any better.

 

[LarBear360]

Followed that thread's advice and when I installed the APK, and opened the app, it immediately gave me a popup to update to the latest version of DJI GO.

Back to square one. I'll try the Mi Pad 2 and see if it's any better.

10-4. Try that and a different cable, if you have one.