Week signal transmission. How far can I expect.

Quick Cal · Aug 9, 2017

I'm still getting my feet wet with my new P3P. So tonight was my first time flying it very far with using just the monitor.

I tried to make it to my Sons house. I got the "week transmission signal". The screen glitched a couple of times. I still had video. But the the transmission signal would go in and out.

I was so close,,,lol. I could only see the back of his house. Then there was a train coming I wanted to film. But I was too scared to get any closer.

BTW. I was at 2200 feet. Is that normal for the outskirts of a city. I know there is a lot of wifi between me and him.

Then I tried to make it to a big lake. Just couldn't get close enough. I got the same week signal at 1500 feet.

I thought these things were supposed to go like 3 miles. Am I doing ok for where I was at. Or could I have an issue. Thanks.

macoman · Aug 9, 2017

I only have a standard but I always thought the P3 advanced or professional, because they have lighbridge and not wifi would not affect them like the way it affect to the standard. Not idea why you are not getting farther distance.

Phill2 · Aug 10, 2017

Quick Cal said:
I'm still getting my feet wet with my new P3P. So tonight was my first time flying it very far with using just the monitor.

I tried to make it to my Sons house. I got the "week transmission signal". The screen glitched a couple of times. I still had video. But the the transmission signal would go in and out.

I was so close,,,lol. I could only see the back of his house. Then there was a train coming I wanted to film. But I was too scared to get any closer.

BTW. I was at 2200 feet. Is that normal for the outskirts of a city. I know there is a lot of wifi between me and him.

Then I tried to make it to a big lake. Just couldn't get close enough. I got the same week signal at 1500 feet.

I thought these things were supposed to go like 3 miles. Am I doing ok for where I was at. Or could I have an issue. Thanks.

My P3P goes 3km in areas without interference.
I don't have any built up areas to fly in so I don't know if it would be any different.
How high were you?
The higher you fly the better the range you will get.
I always fly at 120m (400') for distance flights

macoman · Aug 10, 2017

Phill2 said:
My P3P goes 3km in areas without interference.
I don't have any built up areas to fly in so I don't know if it would be any different.
How high were you?
The higher you fly the better the range you will get.
I always fly at 120m (400') for distance flights

Hold on a second... Does the lighbridge have the same interference as the Wifi standard? I always thought that lighbridge never have interference unless you are close to power lines.

Neon Euc · Aug 10, 2017

If signal is blocked by buildings or trees then it will fade like WiFi

Numone · Aug 10, 2017

Any built-up areas can give signal problems, due to signal reflections and wifi interference. So get to an unblocked, zero interference area for the very strongest and most stable signals. But even here, you can get issues. I flew in any area recently that I've flown dozens of times before without a single issue, in on this day, it was a nightmare - I couldn't get more than 1500' out or 200' up before I totally lost signal, so I gave up. Two days later, it was back to normal. Obviously what I should've done was to get in here and tell everyone how dreadful my 3A had suddenly become due to the latest FW update, and my life had become unbearable, so I'm flogging it for any price and buying a far more reliable Parrot Bopop...

Phill2 · Aug 11, 2017

macoman said:
Hold on a second... Does the lighbridge have the same interference as the Wifi standard? I always thought that lighbridge never have interference unless you are close to power lines.

I get interference near high voltage lines

Quick Cal · Aug 13, 2017

Well I think I might have figured part of it out.

USER ERROR!!

I didn't have the antennas pointed right. I had them pointed at the ac,,,,lol.

I just tried to make it to my Sons house again. I did it with no problem. I went to 3000 feet. I didn't want to push it any farther. So I guess technically I should be able to go farther. But this is not the best are to hit max performance. It was plenty far enough. For now,,,lol. BTW. I had a clear line of sight,,,no trees or anything at that altitude.

But I also tried to make it to the same Lake again. I did make it to 2500 feet I think and got the week signal. But there were trees in the way. So that doesn't count.

I'm thinking of a windsurfer. But there's so many knock offs. Are there any that work better than others. Thanks.

Numone · Aug 13, 2017

Quick Cal said:
Well I think I might have figured part of it out.

USER ERROR!!

I didn't have the antennas pointed right. I had them pointed at the ac,,,,lol.

I just tried to make it to my Sons house again. I did it with no problem. I went to 3000 feet. I didn't want to push it any farther. So I guess technically I should be able to go farther. But this is not the best are to hit max performance. It was plenty far enough. For now,,,lol. BTW. I had a clear line of sight,,,no trees or anything at that altitude.

But I also tried to make it to the same Lake again. I did make it to 2500 feet I think and got the week signal. But there were trees in the way. So that doesn't count.

I'm thinking of a windsurfer. But there's so many knock offs. Are there any that work better than others. Thanks.

This one is excellent. Frankly, as there isn't an "official" DJI windsurfer, they can't be considered as "knockoffs"! It's a bit of plastic with a copper or aluminium foil... they are all pretty much of a muchness. Yes, you can pay 5x as much, but you won't get any more performance, just a bigger card bill...