DIssapointing Range

[Mixchief]

You know you see so many videos on YouTube amongst others, where pilots claim Miles of range and display the videos to prove it stating that it was an Inspire 1 with bone stock transmitter antenna and aircraft. Unfortunatelly I only have weekends and not all weekends free to fly, so finally I got to try some (somewhat) long range flying. My back yard is the Indian River in North Miami, which in this point is a very wide, maybe a mile or more, bay that is part of the intercoastal waterway. It's wide open with absolutelly no obstructions and at my back is the building where I live, wich I think might be helpful to block stray RF from the city (wishful thinking though I don't know how sound that theory is) To my chagrin at 100 ft altitude 1500 ft distance my video started to get erratic and suddenly totally dissapeared leaving me with green screen that intermittently allowed video to cut through. I stopped and hovered and signal was re established so I pressed on with constant freezing of the image until at about 2000 not only did the video signal cut out but together with the prompt of a weak signal the camera popped out of record I immediately proceeded to fly back and fortunatelly was able to bring the bird back home.

OK guys, what am I doing wrong? is this craft only capable of the same distance the Yuneec Q500 4K can? granted with the 4K I only lost video, RC was perfect and responded immeditely and camera never shut down. So in the long run it gave me better performance in that respect. Frankly I'm not sure I can trust the Inspire at this point to give me reliable range not to mention some additional video issues I've experienced since day one.

Antennas were parallel and angled to the detente with my holding the RC slightly angled upward, no In the panic and disappointment I didnt open the menu to see RF strength, which might have been the thing to do to change channels etc, but nontheless........

Can someone honestly tell me what range I can ACTUALLY expect from the Inspire 1 Pro with the X5 installed?

This is a brand new unit, so I assume if there is something wrong with the craft and/or RC I can have them checked by DJI, but in the meantime I will be very tentative with this bird.

BTW, how do I retreive telemetry and transmitted video feed? Does that
Can you DJI reps give me some insight please? I really love everything about this bird, but so many little things are adding up to a very big one and totally ruining the Drone experience for me.

 

[fofun]

Your range will greatly improve just by using the slip on parabola's that you can get on eBay for around $17. I have been using them for about 4 years before they even became popular. They really do improve your range. I also like to tinker with the radios myself, and I have changed the antennas to higher dbi ones, and they work good too. You can watch some good videos on You Tube to see how it's done.

I have changed the antennas on 2 of my radios and have gotten over 2 miles out with plenty more signal left.

 

[Mixchief]

Your range will greatly improve just by using the slip on parabola's that you can get on eBay for around $17. I have been using them for about 4 years before they even became popular. They really do improve your range. I also like to tinker with the radios myself, and I have changed the antennas to higher dbi ones, and they work good too. You can watch some good videos on You Tube to see how it's done.

I have changed the antennas on 2 of my radios and have gotten over 2 miles out with plenty more signal left.

Does this mean that the bone stock range is a bit "weak" considering the claims, and again I reiterate not by DJI but by many others that post regularly in social media sites.

Any parabolic you recommend? I'm I right in understanding that the parabolic adaptors are more directional than the antennas by themselves?

 

[fofun]

The stock radio on most models only gets you out about 1000 meters. A lot depends on the area you are flying also like are there power lines, buildings or trees blocking the signal. These all restrict your range. You can go to Best Buy or eBay to get the range extenders also known as parabola's. Yes. The range extenders are directional because once you slip them on, they block the signal behind them which means you have to point the radio antenna in the direction of the aircraft you are flying at all times or you will have loss of signal. It's really not hard to get used to. I have used them for years with great success. All they really are is a foil ,brass or tin that reflects the signal towards your aircraft. I found that the brass colored ones work best.

 

[lake_flyer]

The I1's Lightbridge should be able to transmit/receive the video for at least 6000feet. Even with a 100$ 5.8Ghz FPV setup on my Phantom2 I have got that range without much dropouts (way back when I was still flying irresponsibly).
There must be interference of some kind. Next time indeed check the best frequency while hovering at a different distances and heights.
I'm never recommending to fly beyond LOS though.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

Did you try adding altitude? If I get out there a bit and the signal gets spotty, usually climbing fixes it, though not always.

Just speculating, but maybe ground clutter/ waves breaks up the signal somewhat.

 

[Steve@AerialImagesPro]

smh

 

[Mixchief]

smh

smh?

 

[roboticspro]

smh?

Pretty sure it is "shaking my head"...but that never really adds to an on-line inquiry. As others have posted, try to improve your line-of-sight transmission (if possible) with the low-cost reflectors as they do help a lot.

 

[Michael sullivan]

You know you see so many videos on YouTube amongst others, where pilots claim Miles of range and display the videos to prove it stating that it was an Inspire 1 with bone stock transmitter antenna and aircraft. Unfortunatelly I only have weekends and not all weekends free to fly, so finally I got to try some (somewhat) long range flying. My back yard is the Indian River in North Miami, which in this point is a very wide, maybe a mile or more, bay that is part of the intercoastal waterway. It's wide open with absolutelly no obstructions and at my back is the building where I live, wich I think might be helpful to block stray RF from the city (wishful thinking though I don't know how sound that theory is) To my chagrin at 100 ft altitude 1500 ft distance my video started to get erratic and suddenly totally dissapeared leaving me with green screen that intermittently allowed video to cut through. I stopped and hovered and signal was re established so I pressed on with constant freezing of the image until at about 2000 not only did the video signal cut out but together with the prompt of a weak signal the camera popped out of record I immediately proceeded to fly back and fortunatelly was able to bring the bird back home.

OK guys, what am I doing wrong? is this craft only capable of the same distance the Yuneec Q500 4K can? granted with the 4K I only lost video, RC was perfect and responded immeditely and camera never shut down. So in the long run it gave me better performance in that respect. Frankly I'm not sure I can trust the Inspire at this point to give me reliable range not to mention some additional video issues I've experienced since day one.

Antennas were parallel and angled to the detente with my holding the RC slightly angled upward, no In the panic and disappointment I didnt open the menu to see RF strength, which might have been the thing to do to change channels etc, but nontheless........

Can someone honestly tell me what range I can ACTUALLY expect from the Inspire 1 Pro with the X5 installed?

This is a brand new unit, so I assume if there is something wrong with the craft and/or RC I can have them checked by DJI, but in the meantime I will be very tentative with this bird.

BTW, how do I retreive telemetry and transmitted video feed? Does that
Can you DJI reps give me some insight please? I really love everything about this bird, but so many little things are adding up to a very big one and totally ruining the Drone experience for me.

Pretty sure it is "shaking my head"...but that never really adds to an on-line inquiry. As others have posted, try to improve your line-of-sight transmission (if possible) with the low-cost reflectors as they do help a lot.

I have a new Inspire 1-2V and my range in wide open places is the exact same as in a very pouleted with power lines and residential areas ! JUNK 1567 feet to the foot almost every time and as soon as I turn the bird around I loose video if I'm any further out than 780 to 800 feet I loose camera until I rotate away from me and If I get to 1600 ' I loose all control and it come home ! I have set the max distance all over from 800 m to 3000 makes no difference?

 

[Mixchief]

I have a new Inspire 1-2V and my range in wide open places is the exact same as in a very pouleted with power lines and residential areas ! JUNK 1567 feet to the foot almost every time and as soon as I turn the bird around I loose video if I'm any further out than 780 to 800 feet I loose camera until I rotate away from me and If I get to 1600 ' I loose all control and it come home ! I have set the max distance all over from 800 m to 3000 makes no difference?

Where are you located?

 

[ViJet.Hang]

My i1 Pro with the X5 can go beyond 4000 feet without having any signal issue. I think it was about 5300-5400 feet when the video feed was going bad but it was still going.

 

[Steve@AerialImagesPro]

smh = Shaking My Head, because it never ceases to amaze me that you guys keep breaking the law, then coming onto public forums and talk about it and where you did it. Then expect the people that actually follow the rules (to make an extra buck) to be fine with that while you give us all a bad name and bring down even more regulation and rules.

 

[Michael sullivan]

smh = Shaking My Head, because it never ceases to amaze me that you guys keep breaking the law, then coming onto public forums and talk about it and where you did it. Then expect the people that actually follow the rules (to make an extra buck) to be fine with that while you give us all a bad name and bring down even more regulation and rules.

 

[Michael sullivan]

I was on our farm 486 acres and I'm not sure what rule I'm breaking because I fly in sight I only set the crazy distance to see if it changes the transmission range quality ? But I did find my trouble causing my Transmisson to drop offf at 4-56and 800 ft every where . It was the control port has gotten worn enough that cable was moving just enough to break contact . If I'm doing something wrong I'd greatly appreciate your advice thank you . And I'm not a pro flyer and do not charge if that comment was aimed at me , not being rude at all just not sure who you were speaking to or about.

 

[Michael sullivan]

smh = Shaking My Head, because it never ceases to amaze me that you guys keep breaking the law, then coming onto public forums and talk about it and where you did it. Then expect the people that actually follow the rules (to make an extra buck) to be fine with that while you give us all a bad name and bring down even more regulation and rules.

Where are you located Steve

 

[Michael sullivan]

Where are you located Steve

Only asking because I think I may have seen a video by you of New Johnsonville but may not I cannot be sure on the name .

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

smh = Shaking My Head, because it never ceases to amaze me that you guys keep breaking the law, then coming onto public forums and talk about it and where you did it. Then expect the people that actually follow the rules (to make an extra buck) to be fine with that while you give us all a bad name and bring down even more regulation and rules.

Good Lord...

 

[Mixchief]

smh = Shaking My Head, because it never ceases to amaze me that you guys keep breaking the law, then coming onto public forums and talk about it and where you did it. Then expect the people that actually follow the rules (to make an extra buck) to be fine with that while you give us all a bad name and bring down even more regulation and rules.

Out of curiosity, whom do you feel is breaking the law here?

 

[Steve@AerialImagesPro]

Do I need to keep my drone within my line-of-sight when I am flying the drone for recreational purposes?