What's with the range of these?

[3putts]

Sorry, this is not about the Phantom, but curious as to the range of these Mavic models. This article is from Popular Mechanics.

The 6 Best Drones for Filmmaking and Flying, Whether You're a Beginner or a Pro

Take to the skies with our recommendations.

www.popularmechanics.com

 

[dirkclod]

It varys from model to model ,where you are at and condition’s.
We have a sister forum you can look at and look at them.
. DJI Mavic Drone Forum
Also for the other models you might look in here also.

Drone Pilots Community

Drone Discussions, Forum and Help for Syma, Altair, Blade, Eachine, Hubsan, Holy Stone, Potensic, JJRC, Snaptain, Walkers and Xiaomi Drones

dronepilots.community

 

[Meta4]

Sorry, this is not about the Phantom, but curious as to the range of these Mavic models.

The DJI website provides specs for all their drones.
You'll find the range there.

 

[Starz]

Based on the range numbers listed in that less than accurate article, the word gullible comes to mind.
2.5 miles on a mavic mini? Silly.

 

[dirkclod]

Based on the range numbers listed in that less than accurate article, the word gullible comes to mind.
2.5 miles on a mavic mini? Silly.

No it’s not.where I am it’s no issue. Like I said before Meta posted
it depends on conditions. But you should know that Starz. What
i find silly with thier #’s is flight time. I have yet with any I have had
last as long as they list.

 

[Starz]

So you have a mini that can run 2.5 miles?
If I’m lucky, 1/2 mile. Not a ton of interference in this area.

 

[dirkclod]

So you have a mini that can run 2.5 miles?
If I’m lucky, 1/2 mile. Not a ton of interference in this area.

Nice place to fly. I have water then nothing but the hills here with cut overs and pine trees. You know I’ve always played with wifi models
and guess I’ve just learned how to milk them.
Pretty sure you having a mini you’ve seen this thread.

Official Mavic Mini Range Leaderboard!

THE FOLLOWING RANGE COMPETITION INFORMATION AND FORMAT IS BASED ON FEEDBACK FROM MANY FOLKS WITH A VESTED INTEREST IN THIS. I ENCOURAGE DEBATE AND OPINIONS BUT BE SURE TO CONFORM TO THE FORUM GUIDELINES. TROLLS WILL BE REPORTED. Community Rules Official Mavic Mini Range Leaderboard RULES OF...

mavicpilots.com

 

[Boston Rob]

I have no knowledge of range on Mavics; I fly a P3P and most of my work is over water in bay, estuary, or a river tracking rowing shells. I use the antenna range extenders which are merely 3D printed plastic covers formed in a half-cylinder that have HVAC reflective tape on them and they slip over the antennas on the Phantom controller. They work GREAT and change the omnidirectional antenna into a unidirectional antenna. You have to keep the controller antennas pointed at the drone but I've gotten over 2 miles with range extenders. With drone in a hover just 50 meters away, if I turn my back on the drone I cannot control it so these work well. I see these are made and offered for the Mavic; Amazon.com: Signal Booster Range Extender for DJI Mavic Mini/Pro/Air/Spark Transmitter Signal Remote Controller Antenna Amplifier Range Extender: Toys & Games

I have no clue about their effectiveness on the MAVIC, but for my P3P they have been extremely effective and completely eliminated problems I had when I was 1500 meters plus out with the aircraft getting control and video signal drop out where the feed comes back all pixelated, jiggity, frozen, black screen. On my controller, they look like this:

 

[Starz]

So from those videos, I just need to find some flat, barren, unoccupied land and I could be a record holder!
I’ll look around.

 

[3putts]

No it’s not.where I am it’s no issue. Like I said before Meta posted
it depends on conditions. But you should know that Starz. What
i find silly with thier #’s is flight time. I have yet with any I have had
last as long as they list.

I have a P3P and live within 1/2 mile of the ocean. A lot of my flying is from property owned by friends that overlooks the ocean. I have flown out 3.1 miles, could not see the drone and hustled back. The battery was below 50%. Parts on my old body puckered until I heard that familiar sound. Decided to stay within a reasonable range and within sight.

 

[xmtrdr]

I have found with my Phantom 4 that the range varies from where I am flying from. I depends on how much WiFi and 2.4gHz and 5Ghz is in the area. The best I got was 0.75 miles. Also line of site is important. Any man made or natural obstruction can vary the range. The biggest limitation is what how far can you maintain visual contact of your drone!

 

[R Martin]

No it’s not.where I am it’s no issue. Like I said before Meta posted
it depends on conditions. But you should know that Starz. What
i find silly with thier #’s is flight time. I have yet with any I have had
last as long as they list.

I came close on a brand new battery but have found that with use, you can pretty much halve their max flight times and it will be right within a minute or two both ways.

 

[xmtrdr]

I came close on a brand new battery but have found that with use, you can pretty much halve their max flight times and it will be right within a minute or two both ways.

Flight time has a lot of variables playing on it. Winds, number of satellites, How fast you are flying, how much you are recording or snapping! I run to about 30% and average about 20 to 24 minutes per battery!

 

[R Martin]

Here, there is always something conspiring against you. It's either to hot, to cold, or really windy. But as long as you don't fall into a location with a lot of multipathing, the GPS signal is great.

 

[xmtrdr]

Here, there is always something conspiring against you. It's either to hot, to cold, or really windy. But as long as you don't fall into a location with a lot of multipathing, the GPS signal is great.

Wind seems to be the biggest where I am. We can't for get the cold in the Winter. I usually put the drone away in the winter! Multipath isn't the biggest issue I get. I run into a lot of WiFi channel traffic!

 

[R Martin]

Wind seems to be the biggest where I am. We can't for get the cold in the Winter. I usually put the drone away in the winter! Multipath isn't the biggest issue I get. I run into a lot of WiFi channel traffic!

I hear you. We can usually get a few flights in almost all the way to Christmas but then the temp drops below my minimums and the winds pick up. Flight in the spring is really challenging depending upon which aircraft I launch. Summer is just months of 100+ heat. With all the Covid-19 problems this year. I am hoping to get my first flight in next week. After that, if it goes well, I'll almost be flying daily until late August.

 

[crash1sttime]

Flight time has a lot of variables playing on it. number of satellites,

Out of curiosity, how do satellites affect flight time.?

 

[R Martin]

Out of curiosity, how do satellites affect flight time.?

They don't. If you are really interested this following link is a simple overview of how the system works and its strengths and weaknesses:

GPS.gov: GPS Overview