The Official "My P4 Range Is Too Short" Thread - Don't Start New Range Threads!

[John Locke]

Woohoo!
Just popped my 10,000 feet initiation!
Using windsurfers, though I'm still not sure if they really work...but went out in an area/direction that I've been having good luck with. Today I just said screw it ...go for it. In the past I was stopping at 3K, then 5K. Made it to 10K and then turned around. Didn't get the weak video/RC warning.
On the way back I switched to sport, and wandered a little bit instead of directly back....
Then I got the weak video warning, weak RC warning then BAM aircraft disconnect warning!
Pressed the RTH button, held it down. Didn't hear any confirmation beeps, but eventually screen on my ipad came back on showing RTH in progress.
Once it got closer and over safer terrain I switched back to manual.
For me learning lesson is once again that range/signal has so many variables attached to it.
And....definitely getting some mods - antennae and boosters!

Your experience is very similar to mine with P4, that's why I went another direction.

My first Phantom, P3P, never lost control signal before the video signal, but with P4 that would often happen, control and video would go out together. I think if the control signal is broken, for some reason that disconnects the video downlink signal, even though it has full bars for video downlink, I don't know why this occurs. However, with P3, if video signal is dropped you would always have control of the aircraft, most of the time with full bars for control signal. This does not include situations where going behind a building or mountain would severe both control and video (I've never done that though). So I grew to have an expectation for Lightbridge performance based on my P3P that I bought July 2015. Although P3P has had a range of other issues, range hasn't been one of them. After flying P3P for 9mos I know what it's capable of in a variety of environments fpr range.

So when I bought my P4 I was disappointed from the get-go with limited range. I wasn't expecting more range than P3P, I was expected the same range. I use Windsurfer all the time, they do work, extending my P3P range to almost double, versus without. However with the P4 this is not the case. I've flown with windsurfer pointed at the craft and I've lost control signal at 3000 to 4000' when flying over the ocean, where I've flown before. However, I have also flown as far as 15,000' with the P4 using Windsurfer (Ch32 - 4mbps bit-rate setting) and only momentarily lost control signal at 12,000'. The P4 is just inconsistent.

So I pulled out an Inspire controller that I bought about a year ago, boy what a difference, so much better. I knew something was up with my P4 RC, so I performed some RF measurements for 3 kinds of DJI radios. P3P, P4, and Inspire. I found the Inspire RC to be far superior for transmit power, 50% higher signal strength! RC transmission power influences the range for the CONTROL SIGNAL. I also measured the video transmit power from my P3P and P4 . Surprisingly the P4 has slightly more video transmit power than P3P, so from that perspective the P4 is GOOD.

Today I fly my P4 with an Inspire RC. It's range capabilities are very similar to my P3P. I'm a happy camper for range with my P4 craft now, and I do use Windsurfer all the time, it works.

I have a Max Range Itelite antenna and clean install kit on my desk. Someday I'm going to install it on my Inspire controller. It's been a busy summer.

 

[Despawned]

Your experience is very similar to mine with P4, that's why I went another direction.

My first Phantom, P3P, never lost control signal before the video signal, but with P4 that would often happen, control and video would go out together. I think if the control signal is broken, for some reason that disconnects the video downlink signal, even though it has full bars for video downlink, I don't know why this occurs. However, with P3, if video signal is dropped you would always have control of the aircraft, most of the time with full bars for control signal. This does not include situations where going behind a building or mountain would severe both control and video (I've never done that though). So I grew to have an expectation for Lightbridge performance based on my P3P that I bought July 2015. Although P3P has had a range of other issues, range hasn't been one of them. After flying P3P for 9mos I know what it's capable of in a variety of environments fpr range.

So when I bought my P4 I was disappointed from the get-go with limited range. I wasn't expecting more range than P3P, I was expected the same range. I use Windsurfer all the time, they do work, extending my P3P range to almost double, versus without. However with the P4 this is not the case. I've flown with windsurfer pointed at the craft and I've lost control signal at 3000 to 4000' when flying over the ocean, where I've flown before. However, I have also flown as far as 15,000' with the P4 using Windsurfer (Ch32 - 4mbps bit-rate setting) and only momentarily lost control signal at 12,000'. The P4 is just inconsistent.

So I pulled out an Inspire controller that I bought about a year ago, boy what a difference, so much better. I knew something was up with my P4 RC, so I performed some RF measurements for 3 kinds of DJI radios. P3P, P4, and Inspire. I found the Inspire RC to be far superior for transmit power, 50% higher signal strength! RC transmission power influences the range for the CONTROL SIGNAL. I also measured the video transmit power from my P3P and P4 . Surprisingly the P4 has slightly more video transmit power than P3P, so from that perspective the P4 is GOOD.

Today I fly my P4 with an Inspire RC. It's range capabilities are very similar to my P3P. I'm a happy camper for range with my P4 craft now, and I do use Windsurfer all the time, it works.

I have a Max Range Itelite antenna and clean install kit on my desk. Someday I'm going to install it on my Inspire controller. It's been a busy summer.

So are you saying I should buy a Inspire 1 controller for my P4 or should I just go and buy a Inspire 1? I like going long distances with my aircraft.

 

[John Locke]

If money isn't tight, YES, buy the inspire RC for the P4 craft, but you'll need to keep the P4 RC for firmware updating.

Others are happy with the Itelite antenna on the P4 controller, but it's always directional after that conversion. I bought the Inspire controller knowing someday I'll buy an Inspire, and I can use it as the second controller.

 

[normr]

I finally got fed up with my poor range, although I will say it got marginally better with each firmware update they came out with, but still only getting about 1500-2500 foot distance before I would get signal errors and even the craft doing an RTH, I too think it's a controller issue and I'm hoping they fix it, I included print outs of screen shots showing the signal errors and distances so it is very clear to them. I'm hoping it gets solved and comes back as the Phantom it's supposed to be. Plus I'm hoping they replace the landing gear rubbers with the marking lines since mine were coming off anyway.

 

[John Locke]

I finally got fed up with my poor range, although I will say it got marginally better with each firmware update they came out with, but still only getting about 1500-2500 foot distance before I would get signal errors and even the craft doing an RTH, I too think it's a controller issue and I'm hoping they fix it, I included print outs of screen shots showing the signal errors and distances so it is very clear to them. I'm hoping it gets solved and comes back as the Phantom it's supposed to be.

That's a good phrase to describe my disappointment with the P4 controller..... It's not the "Phantom it's supposed to be"....which means the same signal integrity and range capability as P3p.

The best settings I found that work somewhat ok are channel 32 with 4mbps transmission quality and a Windsurfer. I've gone 15000' with that setup, but it's not consistently reliable. Sometimes controller signal is lost.

I highly doubt there's any way to fix the RF power output of the P4 controller in firmware, I think that's fixed after DJI commits to a power rating in their filling with the FCC. The P4 radio is simply the weakest lightbridge radio DJI has produced. That's what I concluded when I measured them side by side with an RF meter.

Interesting though, the P4 craft actually puts it a little stronger signal than P3 for video downlink. It's the P4 RC that's the problem. You can buy a used P3p controller to use with P4 craft, that's an option, or better yet get an Inspire controller which is the most powerful. You'd be happier with a different controller.

I sure hope the P5 doesn't continue this weak RC trend DJI has started.

 

[Despawned]

That's a good phrase to describe my disappointment with the P4 controller..... It's not the "Phantom it's supposed to be"....which means the same signal integrity and range capability as P3p.

The best settings I found that work somewhat ok are channel 32 with 4mbps transmission quality and a Windsurfer. I've gone 15000' with that setup, but it's not consistently reliable. Sometimes controller signal is lost.

I highly doubt there's any way to fix the RF power output of the P4 controller in firmware, I think that's fixed after DJI commits to a power rating in their filling with the FCC. The P4 radio is simply the weakest lightbridge radio DJI has produced. That's what I concluded when I measured them side by side with an RF meter.

Interesting though, the P4 craft actually puts it a little stronger signal than P3 for video downlink. It's the P4 RC that's the problem. You can buy a used P3p controller to use with P4 craft, that's an option, or better yet get an Inspire controller which is the most powerful. You'd be happier with a different controller.

I sure hope the P5 doesn't continue this weak RC trend DJI has started.

Should I buy a inspire 1 and take back my P4?

 

[John Locke]

Should I buy a inspire 1 and take back my P4?

That's not what I would do, it depends on what you intend to use your drone for. Inspire is for business IMHO. There are lots of downsides to it for recreational use. However thousands are using P4 for business in addition to recreational use, once they learn to fly good.
Here are some disadvantages to inspire:

Too big to backpack.
Can't carry on an airplane.
It's a hassle to take on vacation, flying or driving to destination.
Longer setup time to fly.
Initial cost.
Additional battery expense higher.
Takes longer to charge batteries.
Higher financial risk if crashed.
More intimidating to public view.
Harder to fly in close quarters due to size.
Need a second controller and pilot to get the real benefit of the 360 camera.
You won't do as many daring flights, due to the financial risk, and this is how you find out the capabilities of the craft.

 

[CottageDrones]

Not sure if this question was asked and answered. Need your opinions. If I'm trying to test my distance capability, Is it better to FLY out in Sports Mode (Top Speed) or in P-Mode (Normal speed)?

Its best to go in sport mode, just due to the fact that you have triple the speed. Although, when doing this, you will undoubtedly go outside of your RTH range, because the RTH speed is 10 m/s, not near your top speed.

I have also yet to test the distance, most I've gone is 1 mile, over water, i find if i am .5 mi out and there are trees between me and drone, then I get the weak transmission alarm on dji go.

 

[Bckmstr]

i've been getting 16,000ft and some change with my 1 month old P4 stock out of the box and landing with 29-34% battery 30-33,000ft round trips ....sometimes get a weak signal blip and sometimes it never skips a beat ...RTH function kicks in and i let it do its thing and come home...been having a blast with it

 

[coullit]

heres some antenna mod info from Horizon antennas
yes your better of with the light bridge , forget anything that has 5.8 GHz in the mix.
the P3 Pro is good but the P4 required a power mod to get the ranges , this can only be done to the UAV itself as the mod id actually a difficult one on the P4
So the P3 pro would be your best bet even the P3 advanced as its still Lightbridge.
the antennas are all stock as we are he developers and manufactures of these . I can tell you what you’d to do to mod the UAV , or you could buy it from the UK ,like quadcopter.co.uk and have it sent to us , we can then do the full mods for you and send it over .
the P3 pro need a power mod and the Rc controller mod , we do these here in the workshop and have done hundreds of these as we decided the mod .
if you look at the videos on our channel there are some insane ranges you can get .
The P4 is nice but you must have th UAV modded to fly long range , I can tell you how to do it , but its not an easy one .

 

[coullit]

If I were to add some range extender to my P4, which one would everyone suggest???


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

id recommend this reflector type ones for 15€ on Amazon that slip over the ariels, this improves but you have to point correctly then the horizon antennas monster I think its called about 80 pounds

 

[John Locke]

heres some antenna mod info from Horizon antennas
yes your better of with the light bridge , forget anything that has 5.8 GHz in the mix.
the P3 Pro is good but the P4 required a power mod to get the ranges , this can only be done to the UAV itself as the mod id actually a difficult one on the P4
So the P3 pro would be your best bet even the P3 advanced as its still Lightbridge.
the antennas are all stock as we are he developers and manufactures of these . I can tell you what you’d to do to mod the UAV , or you could buy it from the UK ,like quadcopter.co.uk and have it sent to us , we can then do the full mods for you and send it over .
the P3 pro need a power mod and the Rc controller mod , we do these here in the workshop and have done hundreds of these as we decided the mod .
if you look at the videos on our channel there are some insane ranges you can get .
The P4 is nice but you must have th UAV modded to fly long range , I can tell you how to do it , but its not an easy one .

I'm not sure about the CE models for Europe, but on the US models I've determined the weak link in the P4 distance problem is not the UAV craft, it's the RC transmit power. The P4 craft actually transmits a stronger video downlink than older P3P, and we all know the old P3P worked awesome for range. You can see my findings here when I compared the GL300A RC from P3P to the GL300C RC from the P4, and also to the GL658A RC from the Inspire. As a result I use an Inspire RC with my P4 craft to fly, works great. DJI has a pattern of making weaker and weaker RC's, I suppose to limit the distance capability. Imagine that, when the competition is trying to extend their distance capability to catch up with DJI. Go figure.

 

[Don Holmes]

There's no attitude. When people have a legit issue I'll be more than glad to help but when there's 10 threads on the first page about "I'm returning my p4 because it sucks - only got 26 minutes flight out of advertised 28. DJI IS HORRIBLE :'(" then it gets old, quick.

New owners are coming here and are seeing nothing but negativity and the entire forum just gets filled with it because it's nearly impossible to find any other threads in between all of the complaining.

This thread was created and stickied to please the people that want to complain and also to localize all the complaints about the same issue into the same thread instead of having 100s of threads discussing the same exact "problem".

That's a pretty good point. I just purchased a P4, still waiting on its' arrival, and after seeing dozens of post about flyaways, and how they sux, I kinda got worried. But I researched them pretty good before I bought so I know they are one of if not the best on the market. Still the newbie's end of world "attitude" did cause me some pause.

 

[Rlisch]

That's a pretty good point. I just purchased a P4, still waiting on its' arrival, and after seeing dozens of post about flyaways, and how they sux, I kinda got worried. But I researched them pretty good before I bought so I know they are one of if not the best on the market. Still the newbie's end of world "attitude" did cause me some pause.

Don't worry about your purchase, the DJI quads are in a different league, you won't look back. Love the P4 and Inspire1

 

[Suhail78]

I've had my P4 for 8 days today. Furthest i've flown out is about 500ft so far, but starting to feel very comfortable flying it in P-mode, and even in ATTI mode (still want to practice a bit more here, but doesn't scare me anymore). I usually fly in fields surrounded by trees and houses, so im probably not going to the the ranges that some of the other people in this thread have reported, but i cant wait to try! Hopefully next flight i'm gonna push her out to 1000ft and see what the signals are looking at. Great tip i learned form this post is about the antenna positions. I usually have them parallel, but not pointing up, i'll make that adjustment next time i take her up. This forum has been most helpful, and hopefully one day i can be one of the "knowledgeable" ones giving out the advice instead of asking for it so often! ha! Happy Flying!

 

[Don Holmes]

I've had my P4 for 8 days today. Furthest i've flown out is about 500ft so far, but starting to feel very comfortable flying it in P-mode, and even in ATTI mode (still want to practice a bit more here, but doesn't scare me anymore). I usually fly in fields surrounded by trees and houses, so im probably not going to the the ranges that some of the other people in this thread have reported, but i cant wait to try! Hopefully next flight i'm gonna push her out to 1000ft and see what the signals are looking at. Great tip i learned form this post is about the antenna positions. I usually have them parallel, but not pointing up, i'll make that adjustment next time i take her up. This forum has been most helpful, and hopefully one day i can be one of the "knowledgeable" ones giving out the advice instead of asking for it so often! ha! Happy Flying!

You should not have any problems. My P3 Standard will go out or up 1000' and I am surrounded by metal warehouses, antenna towers, and in the middle of a city. Good luck. My first P-4 arrives Weds.

 

[John Locke]

That's a pretty good point. I just purchased a P4, still waiting on its' arrival, and after seeing dozens of post about flyaways, and how they sux, I kinda got worried. But I researched them pretty good before I bought so I know they are one of if not the best on the market. Still the newbie's end of world "attitude" did cause me some pause.

Don, don't categorize all DJI P3 "fly away" stories the same. On Phantoms without LIGHTBRIDGE, YES you could get a fly away because DJI used Wifi technology for controlling the craft, more prevalent with Phantom 1's & 2's. Since the release of Lightbridge in the Phantom line, starting with Phantom 3Pro and 3Adv, there hasn't been any confirmed fly-aways to my knowledge that wasn't induced by the pilot somehow. I can't comment on the P3 Standard because it still uses the old school WiFi technology, and I don't hang out in that forum. To clarify, the Phantom 3 STANDARD is not the same craft as the Phantom 3 Advanced or Professional. These are two completely different craft when it comes to video communications and control signal. Yes, the STANDARD has same motors and battery as P3A/P3P, but that's all. Different RC and technology, apples and oranges.

 

[Don Holmes]

Don, don't categorize all DJI P3 "fly away" stories the same. On Phantoms without LIGHTBRIDGE, YES you could get a fly away because DJI used Wifi technology for controlling the craft, more prevalent with Phantom 1's & 2's. Since the release of Lightbridge in the Phantom line, starting with Phantom 3Pro and 3Adv, there hasn't been any confirmed fly-aways to my knowledge that wasn't induced by the pilot somehow. I can't comment on the P3 Standard because it still uses the old school WiFi technology, and I don't hang out in that forum. To clarify, the Phantom 3 STANDARD is not the same craft as the Phantom 3 Advanced or Professional. These are two completely different craft when it comes to video communications and control signal. Yes, the STANDARD has same motors and battery as P3A/P3P, but that's all. Different RC and technology, apples and oranges.

I have two Standards, and knew I would not be happy until I had the Phantom 4. No need in half stepping if you are going to get into this hobby. I found a Phantom 4 for $1050. and pulled the trigger sooner than I thought I would be able to. I expect to receive it today, and can not wait. I went from the little Cheerson mini drones, to the Syma 5CX, then the Cheerson CX 20. before buying my first Standard. I have been a fan of DJI since. The Typhoon H looks cool and has some good features too, but I think from all I have read, the Phantom is still King.

 

[Panamedia]

I went 7300 feet the other day... Never dropped a frame. 4K video on YT
.

 

[coullit]

what with he props flying off heres a conclusive range test, enjoy the view of the ship