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Horrible range on Inspire 1

Joined
Jun 13, 2015
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Quick question. I have an inspire 1 and my range is very bad. I didnt realize it until my brother got a phantom 3 and can reach a mile with ease! I can be over our cornfield and I lose video completely at around 2000 feet. Its not even a gradual loss either, it is there one second and gone the next. No indication or slow loss of signal. I have an ipad air 2 and the Nvidia shield. The shield seems to do a little better but not much. I know 2000 feet is a lot but corn fields are miles. If this is all I can expect to get out of it, it is of no use to me and I might have one for sale or trade for a P3. I have tried a friends Inspire and the same results as mine were found and he was amazed how much further the P3 went.
 
Try powering through it. The channel change first says "signal lost" or "weak signal", then the channel changes (assuming you have it set to auto) and signal is restored.

If it persists and your antennas are properly oriented then that's your range in that area.
 
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Hardware decode is on, no cache, low Mbps streaming, etc... I have followed all the tips posted prior on how to set up an Air 2. My brother was 6 feet away from me and he kept going and going and going and that was a Note 4 at the time. Our antennas were in the exact same position. Approximately like this \ /
 
Its odd how some are affected worse than others. I have thought about the long range kits but I dont really feel like spending more money on something to get it to operate the way its supposed to in the first place. I think some are just lemons so to speak and do not get good range. Now that I have started digging into this online it seems A LOT of people are having the exact same issue.
 
I haven't but I will try that. Soon as it happens I pull back so I'll try that and see.

I did the same my first few "No Signal" errors. Then someone suggested I hang in there and let it change channels and - Voila! I've had it to nearly 4000m stock setup. It's scary unnerving the first few times but remember it'll head back home if you truly exceed range. Push it a little if you're comfortable (and your jurisdiction allows it of course), and see if you can get more range by letting the channel switch happen.
 
I did the same my first few "No Signal" errors. Then someone suggested I hang in there and let it change channels and - Voila! I've had it to nearly 4000m stock setup. It's scary unnerving the first few times but remember it'll head back home if you truly exceed range. Push it a little if you're comfortable (and your jurisdiction allows it of course), and see if you can get more range by letting the channel switch happen.

13k ft...on stock? I find that pretty hard to believe

He is right though, even if your video cuts out you still have the map to get your way back
 
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Check the meters Vrs feet numbers...
I too have seen 12,000 ft.
4,000 meters ie 13,123 ft...Could be.
 
Hardware decode is on, no cache, low Mbps streaming, etc... I have followed all the tips posted prior on how to set up an Air 2. My brother was 6 feet away from me and he kept going and going and going and that was a Note 4 at the time. Our antennas were in the exact same position. Approximately like this \ /
If I use Hardware decode on like you I do have the same problem. With air 2, I don't use and go around 2000m with no problem that around 6600 Ft.
 
If I use Hardware decode on like you I do have the same problem. With air 2, I don't use and go around 2000m with no problem that around 6600 Ft.
Hey, this was my problem also!!! I had hardware decode enabled like everyone has said to do. I disabled it and VOILA! My range is back!!! What is hardware decode supposed to do?
 
Glad you sorted your range issue out. At least we have more evidence that it enabling hardware decode isn't the solution for everyone.
I would still like to know what exactly it does and why it would have a negative effect on a more powerful processor but that's for another day.
I believe it's a Ipad software problem with this Air 2 only. Hope They will figure that out soon. If you need more range I will definitely go in setting and use the channel ( no Auto) (20 that work for me) and low rate 4 and will be able to get lots more range 8 to 11 k ft.
 
What altitude are you flying at? 2.4 GHZ signals dont cut through objects well and if anything is in the Fresnel Zone, signals get weak.

For far out flights, increase altitude to get better signal like a radio tower.
 
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What altitude are you flying at? 2.4 GHZ signals dont cut through objects well and if anything is in the Fresnel Zone, signals get weak.

For far out flights, increase altitude to get better signal like a radio tower.
Yes increasing altitude will definitely make signal better. That the only way for me I flight around 350 ft in I want to go over 6000 ft.
 
I've been having a similar issue with my iPad Mini 2 cellular. I had hardware decode on, video cache disabled, auto channel selection on blah blah as per everyone's recommendations but was getting video drop outs at around 350m away. Switched hardware decode off and switched on airplane mode and problem sorted, even at 1200m out. This was over the ocean too so no background interference from anywhere. Next time I'll try switching hw decode back on and see what happens as I'm not sure if airplane mode helped
 

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