Mentioned it elsewhere but would love to know for drones in general and my mini2 in particular - what things affect rage?
- Brick wall?
- Window?
- Open window?
- Power cables?
- Other “radio” intereference sources?
- Trees?
- Rain/fog?
All these things (and would love to hear more) will surely affect range and I’m just trying to figure out how to make sure I can go the distance.
In particular a few things I wondered:
- Is direct line of sight king above being “10% closer but there are trees inbetween”?
- What could cause reception to jump from 0 bars to 3 bars to 0 bars to 2 bars… pretty quickly in a row ? Some type of noise? Electric generators? Jammers?
@Marten_van_Wezeli, it looks like you already have a pretty good idea of what causes signal interference. While having a clear line of sight with the controller is very helpful, it doesn’t guarantee a perfect signal. In places with microwave towers, you can have signal disruption even in rural areas. Urban areas can have RF interference for many different reasons including the “Canyon Effect”. Gaining a higher altitude can really help to improve your signal, but that usually means higher wind speeds. If you have signal problems in one area, you might try flying in another place. And then there are RF detectors that can tell you how much interference is in the area before you fly. DJI is very clear in their user manuals about the threat and problems associated with signal interference and expect the drone user to know these issues and to plan accordingly.
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With the Mini2, it needs the controller antenae to be in direct line of sight for the best signal. Greenery such as tree leaves are notorious for blocking signals. This can be checked in VLM, by making the controller position the POI, and trying out the mission in VLM.
Hope this helps.
VLM seems somewhat useful for this… sadly only limited 3D for my town but not a huge deal. One trick is to just look at home while flying slowly away. Most of my flight I seem to have line of sight to the controller.
One thing I do notice is that at, say 80% of realistic range (so the drone can go a good bit further before it gives up and RTHs), litchi and the drone do get really confused in bursts. I guess it’s a combination of litchi not quite understanding what the drone is doing, and giving somewhat “outdated” commands. Basically causing the drone to behave quite erratically, which is a pity.
I wonder if these range extenders are worth a try. Basically for my use case I have a single flight I’m doing “frequently” and it does push the range limits somewhat. I’d be really helped out by an additional 1000ft, say.
I
One of the big problems with VLM is it’s inability to determine the height of trees in the mission area. Trees are FLATTENED against the contours of the landscape, so you need to do a height inspection of the trees you want to fly over. The easiest way to do this is with your drone by flying up to the top of tall trees and reading the height on your Litchi app. Use these height measurements to set your Waypoint flight paths to ensure you clear the tops of any drone trapping trees.