No Signal/Weak Signal at close range/intermittent maximum altitude warnings as low as 30 feet and as high as 150 feet/Phantom 4 Advanced+

[monkeyassault1980]

I just purchased a Phantom 4 Advanced+. I am getting weak signal/no signal/aircraft disconnected warnings even when the aircraft is very close. Sometimes this happens when the aircraft is just a like 50-75 feet away. Sometimes I can get out as far as 2500 feet. When the aircraft gets disconnected it has always activated RTH and returned to me. I have recalibrated the compass and IMU but not joy.

I have also tested the drone at various locations to make sure radio interference is not an issue. FYI i am trying to fly on very rural parts of Lamma Island in Hong Kong where interference from Wi-Fi is not an issue. The same problems pop up no matter where I fly.

I also get intermittent maximum altitude reached warnings as low as 30 feet and as high as about 150 feet. Oddly, I can hit the stick to increase altitude and the aircraft will usually resist a bit and then go as high as I want or as high as my weak RC and video signal will allow.

This drone is brand new and I have had these problems from day one.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

S I M P L E return it and get another...you should not and to fiddle around with it as you have paid lots of money for it...hope the place has a good exchange policy.Good Luck.

 

[monkeyassault1980]

S I M P L E return it and get another...you should not and to fiddle around with it as you have paid lots of money for it...hope the place has a good exchange policy.Good Luck.

I bought it from DJI's online store. I think I will call them tomorrow and see about an exchange. I have read a lot of horror stories about this issue and I am afraid they are just going to send me another messed up drone. :-( I will let you know how it pans out.

Thank you very much for your advice.

 

[olfart]

I have had those problems when I had my phone in my pocket while using a tablet for flying. The phone has a strong enough signal to interfere with the tablet's wifi, and that causes the flight limitations and signal strength warnings.

 

[monkeyassault1980]

I have had those problems when I had my phone in my pocket while using a tablet for flying. The phone has a strong enough signal to interfere with the tablet's wifi, and that causes the flight limitations and signal strength warnings.

Thank you for your kind suggestion. I thought this might be a problem so I took my drone out for five different flights from take-off points in undeveloped parts of Lamma Island in Hong Kong. No beans. The range issues are still there. I even turned off the Wi-Fi in my remote and put it into airplane mode.

 

[monkeyassault1980]

FYI the maximum altitude/maximum distance problem has been dramatically reduced. I recalibrated the controller, the controller compass IMUs, AC compass, and gimbal. Something took and this aspect of the problem is pretty much a non-issue now.

Unfortunately, the signal quality, range issues are still there. I can lose connection to the aircraft when I have the antennae set-up properly with the drone lined up between them with VLOS. Sometimes this happens dozens of feet away, sometimes hundreds of feet away, and sometimes a few thousand feet away. The best range I have been able to get out it so far is 7,000 feet and that was under absolutely ideal conditions in an ideal location. Of course, the controller lost all contact at that point and the drone initiated automatic RTH.

I noticed one strange thing, which may or may not be relevant, if I stop the AC and let it hover to take some pictures when I come across something interesting, I will often lose contact or get a weak signal warning when I start moving the drone moving again.

FYI, I was able to achieve 15,000 feet to 20,000 feet distances until loss of signal with my plain old Phantom 4 that was replaced by the Phantom 4 Advanced+. I thought I was getting an upgrade!

I am have written and called DJI for a fix or a replacement. They have not been very responsive. In fact, support was very condescending and they said that this is due to me no positioning the antennae properly or forgetting to point the RC at the aircraft. I am a very, very unhappy camper at this point.

 

[olfart]

I'm out of guesses. Sorry about that. Good luck with Dji.

 

[monkeyassault1980]

DJI agreed to replace my drone but they are making me wait and wait. This has been a very bad experience.

 

[solsystem]

I don't know if you have resolved your P4 Advanced distance issues, but I have made numerous distance tests with my older P4 and my Advanced. The older P4 without a doubt gets better range than the P4 Advanced, although the specs don't bear that out. I can easily get well over 20 K with my P4, but with the P4 Advanced I can never get more than 15 K under perfect conditions....I don't know why this is, but I have tested this more than once to know the P4 has a stronger connection....