Help - Boat Interference

[mstarr388]

Hi All,
I tried to do some searching but couldnt find any issues quite like this one. So I have had my P3S for a couple of weeks now. I do a lot of filming over the water and from boats (fishing etc).

The following has happened to me on 2 occasions, only while flying from a boat.

P3S takes off fine, flys fine and responds to all my control inputs. It flys for maybe 5 minutes or so. Then I get a "Strong Interference Detected" message, along with other communications signals (weak controller signal etc). The P3S then just stops flying forward (towards me). So, picture I am on a moving boat and flying the P3S next to me to get a shot. Then it all of a sudden seems to hit an invisible wall and wont go forward anymore. The weird thing is, it will respond to all my other commands, pivot left and right, strafe left and right, and even fly backwards. Then when I try to have it fly forwards again it gets to the same point and acts like it hit the wall again. I have had to turn the boat around to retrieve it both times.

Does anybody know what that would be? Could it be the boat GPS or Radar? Maybe the P3S thinks its approaching an airport or something and sets up a geofence barriers?

Can I solve this going to P3A or P4 (strongly considering P4 for speed).

Thanks!

 

[stuk34]

How far have you travelled in the boat....Has it not just reached the edge of the max flying distance from the point where you started the flight from?

 

[mstarr388]

Is the max flying distance set from the point or flight origin? I thought it was a max flight distance from my location? The drone is never more than 600 feet away from me.

If I misunderstood that, then this could very well be the case. Is there a way to disable that? Sorry for the seemingly stupid question.

 

[Meta4]

Could it be the boat GPS or Radar? Maybe the P3S thinks its approaching an airport or something and sets up a geofence barriers?
Can I solve this going to P3A or P4

GPS won't cause any interference to anything and you can easily find out if it's radar by turning the radar off.
Your Phantom doesn't set up a geofence barrier anywhere - it only responds to whatever geofence areas that have been progtammed into the firmware.
Radio interference is your problem - and Lightbridge will usually have more punch than wifi.

 

[jdelamarter]

same issue, worked great off dock, then went on boat and had issue calibrating "metal interference" moved to front of boat and it was fine. Took off flew around then it hit a wall, had to turn around and pull under it. Up down worked normal, back, spin everything but forward

 

[IronReel]

This is really interesting about the "wall" it's hitting. Have you tried writing/contacting DJI support for this? This must be happening to others as well.

I'm still so new to all this but have you tried putting on Follow mode and seeing if it travels with you fine in that mode?

 

[BigAl07]

It sounds like you are hitting a "Max Distance" barrier. The launch point is where the distance would be measured from. I don't have a P3S but that's my questimate.

 

[Pharm]

Go into the DJI Go app settings and make sure you have max distance turned off.

 

[mstarr388]

From the sounds of it, its probably the setting on max flight distance. I assumed it was a max flight distance from me, not from the home point, so thats my fault.

Either way, I am still going to upgrade to either the P3A or P4. I am leaning towards P4 for the speed, slow motion, and active track feature. Would be really nice to have the P4 circle a moving target autonomously. I do a lot of fishing, so the boat is always moving.

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[BigAl07]

You can get most of what you're asking for (maybe all of it) out of a P3A or P3P using Litchi and have some $$ left over to buy other goodies with.

Even with those other models of Phantom you'll have to make sure what you're doing and make needed changes because distances will be from start point. If it's a GPS enabled device you can change the home point on the fly.

 

[mstarr388]

I think I would rather just disable max flight distance and set the RTH feature to hover instead of RTH. If there is ever a loss of signal I can circle boat back to retrieve it.

Thanks for all the info. Great help.

 

[jeganx]

Have you tried changing to ATTI mode? I think it happened to me once in my P3 4K when I set home lock flight mode. So when I pull it back, it stop after it gets close to me and can't fly closer. I immediately change it to ATTI and fly it back manually.

 

[RodPad]

This was interesting, I like the setting RTH to hover when you moving in a boat. Yes sounds like Max distance,but wouldn't you get a Max distance message on the App? If it is Max distance, then instead of follow me, reset your home position. Wasn't there a Dynamic Home option, or was that just on the P2's.

 

[mstarr388]

I did see a max flight distance reached, but I was also getting strong interference detected messages so I was very confused, considering it was only 200 feet away from me when I got the max distance message.

Dynamic home option would be great to know.

 

[RodPad]

I did see a max flight distance reached, but I was also getting strong interference detected messages so I was very confused, considering it was only 200 feet away from me when I got the max distance message.

Dynamic home option would be great to know.

Ok, yeah I get what your saying about the interference part, Did they basically come up at the same time?

Rod

 

[mstarr388]

Yes they were coming up at the same time.

 

[RodPad]

Dynamic home point?
Search Results for Query: dynamic home point | DJI Phantom Drone Forum

Here is some stuff, not sure about the P3, Yet.

 

[mstarr388]

Thanks. Good info. I spent some time researching today and I have decided to go with the 4. The added speed is a huge bonus, being able to track/follow while running at 30-40 MPH will be awesome. Slow motion is a big plus too.

 

[RodPad]

WOW, 30 to 40, still have to subtract the head wind
Do you have to factor in Knots, or do you tie a Knot in a fishing line to your Phantom, then you can just reel it in if it tries to fly away.
I now know where the term fly fishing came from.
You can learn History here also.

Rod