Why so many range discrepancies?

[F3honda4me]

What u mean i posted proof i did a little over 40,000 round trip. I had 22 percent left when i came back so one could brobably get 45,000 which is fantastic for a p4pro...my p4 i had itelite and still never got close to this....it did improve range tho

I think he didn't realize you meant 40k round trip, so 20k out and 20k back in.

 

[$gambino$]

I think he didn't realize you meant 40k round trip, so 20k out and 20k back in.

Yes sir! Hey is this the same F3honda4me from helifreak??

 

[F3honda4me]

Yes sir! Hey is this the same F3honda4me from helifreak??

Indeed

 

[neven]

Indeed

Love is in the air...


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[$gambino$]

How is the oxy 3 holding up? Miss it sure was a beast

 

[$gambino$]

Love is in the air...


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[ebi718]

I have a P4 & a P4P . Both have the FVP Antennas & boosters. Now my range exceeds my Drones batteries. 22000 feet. SO I purchased the FPV Drone 5500 kit. $250 + $125 for the split battery. Hoping for the promised 40 minutes , It only increased my range by 1000 ft. FYI , I fly only at 400 feet over the Everglades where there are no persons. " Just Gators "

Can you share the link to the booster kit you got? Thanks.

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[Rotax Rick]

Here is the link for the long range battery mod.
I'm going to try 2 smaller battery's Maybe 1000 mAH ??

DJI PHANTOM 4 BATTERY MOD( NO EXTERNAL BATTERIES INCLUDED) ...INCLUDES PRIORITY RETURN SHIPPING

 

[Rotax Rick]

I'm sorry , I thought you meant 1 way. I did 22,000 1 way so 44,000 . You have to do everything right. When doing this I always make sure I have a tail wind coming back. Even with Tonys FPV antennas with boosters I have to climb 200 feet up for every 5000 feet of distance. With the the FVO Customs Drone battery I made it to 23,500 feet . One word of "CAUTION" 10% battery power really should be called 0% . The Drone will start considering to land at 10% land where ever it is at 6% your landing. I played with going down to 55% That's it. That means I used 45% of my battery getting there & I have 45% to get home. Now I'm landing at 10% BUT I burn more power going out into the head wind & climbing so a slow descent all the way home helps. Usually I land at 12 to 18%

 

[Rotax Rick]

I tried my new P4P+ on auto & 5.8 . It has stock antennas with the Parabolic helpers.
It did show that it was in 2.4. I had the drone on when I selected the Auto & 5.8 At 400 feet I was about to loose video. I slowly climbed to just what I needed not to loose signal. At 17600 feet out I lost video signal & about lost Drone signal . Fro where I'm flying it really has line of sight to the Drone without no obstacles . My P4 with Tonys FVP Antennas & booster when out right after that to 20,000 feet. & only need 600 feet altitude.

 

[Rotax Rick]

Has anyone ever tested what speed gives you the best range ?? I fly out with the P4 at max speed/. 18 mph But on return to home it's at 32 mph. I'm wondering if I should just fly it back at the 18 mph. I'm going to do some testing .

 

[Starman1224]

I can say I have been using 5.8 Auto in suburban Florida and I have got I further then a mile. It seems I really have to raise the height of the AC to get a direct line of sight. Then it seems to go from full bars I go 100 feet and I'm losing reception again.


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[Starman1224]

I have got no further then a mile.


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[Starman1224]

With windsurfers from Skyreat.


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[neven]

Has anyone ever tested what speed gives you the best range ?? I fly out with the P4 at max speed/. 18 mph But on return to home it's at 32 mph. I'm wondering if I should just fly it back at the 18 mph. I'm going to do some testing .

From what we know while doing tests with P3P sweetspot is 30-31mph. So it can't be easier with P4P, OA on and full throttle.

 

[Rotax Rick]

Some new Data. Stock P4 Drone FVP Antennas & booster.
In P mode out to 17300 & 60% & back ( With a Head wind ) landed with 19%
Back to back flight !!
Went to Sport mode 25,000 feet & 62% back ( Same headwind ) had to land 1/3 mile away from my home. All in all it did better in S mode . I just went to far overboard. Battery did endup taking a charge !!

 

[neven]

Have you tried changing settings with the P4P to improve results? Sometimes auto is not the best option.

We finally got some non-polar temperatures here so I tested recommended settings, manual 5.8G band with auto channel selection. I used same spot I always use for long distance tests. It is unpopulated area with nothing detectable on 2.4 or 5.8G. Clear LoS. Results are bit better but not much. I managed 2.9km best. The wirdest thing is that signal loss, both video and control is sudden. For example, HD Signal map reports Green 40 signal errors at 2.6km (also full bars visible in DJI Go) and moment later, less then hundred meters away, Purple 130 signal errors and complete loss of signal. I'll do some additional test on few other locations with different settings and report back.


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[azgeek]

I did my first long range flights today, way out in the middle of the desert. Definitely nerve wracking for someone used to VLOS. I have a stock P4P and was using the P4P RC with an iPad Mini 4. I started out at 150ft altitude and made it out to about 2,800ft before I lost signal. I climbed to 220ft and made it out to about 12,000ft before I lost connection again. I saw that the RC was transmitting at 2.4 so I switched to 5.8 but was not able to re-establish connectivity. Switched back to 2.4 and climbed to 300ft and got the aircraft connected. Made it out to over 18,000ft but turned around because battery was below 70%. Brought it back with a low battery warning and showing 28%. My second flight wasn't as far out (14,000ft) but I never lost connection because I quickly learned to keep the altitude up as you get further out. The adrenalin rush wasn't as strong as was the first flight.

 

[Rotax Rick]

Well I have more data. My stock P4P drone with my FPVLR "Tony's "antennas + booster I made it to 22285 feet & back with 8% battery remaining. THAT's IT !!
With my P4 & the FPV Custom Drone Battery mod & 5500 ma split battery 30,600 feet. 17% remaining. With a pair of 1000 ma I went to 22,285 with 32% remaining. HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS !!!!!
I found a scale. the stock setup is .0039 the 1000 ma batteries is .0030 & the 5500 ma is .0027. Here is how it works .= Take % of power used ( say 95 % used ) & divide it by the chart. Say 95% used dived by .0027 = 35,185 feet ( one way ) Say the 1000 ma batteries used 95 % & divided by .0030 = 31,666
The stock setup on the P4 is .0039 use 95% of the power & divide it by .0039=
22358 Trust me this is very close to what you can expect . YOU MUST BE CAREFUL IN WIND !!!!!!!!

" CAUTION " All tests were in Sport mode on the way out & RTH coming back.
The P mode will not come close to these results !!!!!

 

[Kingpin1965]

I understand there are always environment variables and user awareness, but was hoping to see some sort of common averaging that might lead to a safe bet on what to expect.

Hello,
I looked at my flight log to see what range I achieved on 02/5/2017 using the latest firmware. I was shooting video on the Mississippi river south of St. Louis.

This location had the most unobstructed view of any location I have flown. I was flying at 300 feet of altitude along a flood plain with a line of trees about 1 mile out from me when I was facing south. In this direction I flew out 10,600 feet and still had almost max signal using 2.4 Ghz.

See video here of the location.

When I was flying north at the same location. I had a grove of trees 30 yards away from me. In this direction I flew out 5096.9 ft. and lost signal and had to return home.

At my home that has many houses and trees around. In some directions I can only achieve 1500 feet when the drone is between me and my house plus the trees. In other directions I can achieve about 5000 to 7000 feet with just a few trees between me and the Phantom 4 Pro when flying above 200 feet.

What does this mean?

The more stuff you have between you and your Phantom 4 Pro. The more it will reduce your range. Trees and houses seem to absorb or block a lot of signal. And this is without leaves on the trees. I am sure my range will be reduced further at my home when spring arrives.