Newbie - range concern

[johnbrowning]

Just got my Vision 2+ and flew it this weekend, absolutely incredible, and amazingly easy to fly. Thanks to the posts on this forum i had no glitches, problems, etc.

Here's my question - is it possible the LOS range on the controller is only about 1,300 feet??

I was flying at night, clear sky, straight up in the air, and when i got to about 1,300 feet, i kept getting an error message on the DJI iPhone app that i had lost connection to the controller. We could see the lights flash yellow. I was a little nervous, and so i brought it back down.

So, is 1,300 feet or thereabouts the limitation on the 5.8 controllers?? Or maybe bad batteries (didn't think of that until now, was using the batteries that came in the box, but this was only my fourth or fifth flight).

Thanks in advance

John

 

[CRankin]

Good question... I was flying around a 280+ acre farm property a few weeks ago and ran into a few times when it went out of control range. While I didn't pay much attention to the reported distance in the app, it just "felt" like the Phantom's range wasn't quite while I thought it should be. I had assumed it was something I wasn't doing right at the time, and thought that I just needed to do a little bit of research around the best position for the antenna, etc. when flying... just make sure it wasn't user error. I still can't conclusively say whether or not it was, but I'm now looking into what options (i.e. antennae) are available to increase flight control range.

 

[johnbrowning]

Thanks for the reply, if you find anything, please post again.

There has to be other posts on this topic, I just couldn't find any, and there are probably posts about how to increase range.

I knew the P2 (non-vision) with the 2.8 controller would have better range, but i just didn't expect that short. I was going to rig up a wifi extender, now i realize that with the vision the wifi range is more than the controller. (Again, if this is all correct, I've only had it for a few days, so don't want to be definitive at this point).

John

 

[DrJoe]

1300 is all that bad, but you've got a few potential issues:
1. You are in CE mode, not FCC mode. Check this easily by turning on your control transmitter. If it beeps twice, your in FCC mode and this is not an issue.
2. Your antennas are not down the legs properly. Make sure the are gently pulled down the legs as far as they can go.
3. Your flying in an area of high interference. I fly in NJ and I can get 1300-1500 feet easily. Sometimes, I can get to 2600 feet with great control ( I bought FPVLR.com Stage 1 kit that extends video only range). Its always sketchy for me past 1500 feet, sometimes great, sometimes control loss. I plan on getting FPVLR.com's control antenna to increase range.

But really, I can barely see the thing that far out, and I like to have my eye on it. If a tree/house/other object blocks direct line of sight to the Phantom, it will effect range quite a bit (but it sounds like you know this).

 

[Dirty Bird]

Here's my question - is it possible the LOS range on the controller is only about 1,300 feet??

I was flying at night, clear sky, straight up in the air, and when i got to about 1,300 feet, i kept getting an error message on the DJI iPhone app that i had lost connection to the controller. We could see the lights flash yellow. I was a little nervous, and so i brought it back down.

As has been noted, make sure you are in FCC mode (two beeps on controller power on). I would test the included batteries, or install a fresh set just to be sure. Check the antenna in the Phantom to make sure there are two routed down the legs. Lastly, you mention you were "straight up in the air." Do you mean directly above yourself? In this case, your controller antenna would need to be horizontal to the ground but, even it if is, you are in the weakest point of the Phantom's reception cone. Just like pointing the tip of the antenna directly at the Phantom is the controller's weakest point, the tip of the Phantom's antenna are pointing straight at you when it is directly overhead. Try flying at 100-200' altitude, laterally away from yourself, with a clear LOS to the aircraft. What sort of range do you get then?

 

[johnbrowning]

Ahh... very interesting on the flight perspective. Yes, it was directly above me, and so you're right, the antennae were pointed straight down, straight at me.

I hear two beeps when it turns on, so FCC mode not the issue.

Probably a combination of batteries and perspective, i'll have to try out lateral and see what happens then.

Thank you all...

John

 

[PhantomPhyler]

I can't speak to altitude as I've only tried up to 600' or so, but I can tell you that I am using a stock P2V+ and I use the range booster app described here:
http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=13496

and at 350' altitude, I've gone 2200' over my neighborhood with lots of WiFi interference and never lost control or video.