gonna have to say its most likely firmware related changes resulting in the signal loss then. Im running older firmware from last january, 1.2.0.17 and older DJI pilot app and ive flown 2 miles with line of sight stock at night when signal strength is better than during daylight hours. Can fly 1 mile easy with line of sight during daylight hours. Never once had an actual signal issue or even a warning it was bad in the last 10+ months of flying. environment, weather and topography have very little to do with signal problems if you have a line of sight to the craft in my opinion.Im watching this thread with baited breath. I have experienced the same thing with my inspire to the point of not flying it for over a month while I researched why I was dropping not only video but aircraft control. I don't wish to contradict the editor because he is extremely knowledgeable however my experiences also points to firmware changes and though the auto and custom only applies to the video channel used the light bridge unit indeed handles both video and flight control as all four antennas emanate from the rear of it on the aircraft. I have reclaimed the channels that were available when I purchased my inspire, upgraded remote control antennas(multiple times), added boosters(3w per channel), replaced the remote control and eventually upgraded it also, replaced the light bridge unit in the aircraft, and upgraded the aircraft antennas and coax cables. As a note it was an adventure figuring out what antenna connectors on the controller and on the aircraft are for what system as I'm running different polarizations on each system to avoid booster induced interference. I eventually purchased a very cool and somewhat expensive spectrum analyzer for the wifi so I could study my noise floor and interference. Through this I've yet to obtain the 2km advertised, out ranged my phantom 3, or experienced the range others experience in similar environments. I have gone from 300ft to 400ft before loss to 3000ft to 4000ft before loss. As video uses more bandwidth it always drops first however pushing through merely results in loss of all control approximately 100 feet later. I'm awaiting the latest antennas for my controller which given their incredible beam width and high dbic should push my range past my current batteries. I'll be joining DamonCooper in the quest for flight time and additional mah. The only thing I can say for sure is hard facts and straight answers related to range, penetration, connection, and firmware on the inspire are as rare as four leafed clovers and if I wasn't the type to like a challenge I would have sold the inspire already. My best guess is it is heavily influenced by environment, weather, topography, manufacturing inconsistencies, and firmware hmmmmmmm ahhhhhh "impovements" yep that the word I guess.
Choosing a Channel
- Thread starter James Davis
- Start date
First of all there are many different RCs. There at least exist GL658 A / B / C. The differences are of course not propagated by DJI.
I have a GL 658B and stock range is sure over 2km. Did never test how far it can go in los until signal loss. The only signal losses I ever had were always behind a wood without los about 100m later. I am not so much interested in high range because I dont like to fly in high altitude where everything looks very small. I am more interested in penetration at lower ranges.
What is sure is: DJI GO has a bandwith setting which jumps to 2km range in auto mode though in manual mode can be set to 3km. The same with the 32 channels which jump back to 8 in auto mode.
I always use USA device settings though I dont know if it does anything useful.
Unknown at the moment is the behaviour of other apps. No one could verify until now what they do in auto mode. Im mai a DJI official claimed the channel restrictions are software made and they have a version themselves still working with 32 channels. If he says the truth dont know.
I have a GL 658B and stock range is sure over 2km. Did never test how far it can go in los until signal loss. The only signal losses I ever had were always behind a wood without los about 100m later. I am not so much interested in high range because I dont like to fly in high altitude where everything looks very small. I am more interested in penetration at lower ranges.
What is sure is: DJI GO has a bandwith setting which jumps to 2km range in auto mode though in manual mode can be set to 3km. The same with the 32 channels which jump back to 8 in auto mode.
I always use USA device settings though I dont know if it does anything useful.
Unknown at the moment is the behaviour of other apps. No one could verify until now what they do in auto mode. Im mai a DJI official claimed the channel restrictions are software made and they have a version themselves still working with 32 channels. If he says the truth dont know.
There's only 8 channels but lists them all, only certain ones are selectable/useable though. 13-20 I believe, it won't let you use any other channels.
The following is valid for Fw 1.04.00.10 and 1.05.00.11 and rollback hybrid version. RC is 1.03.20.
In manual mode all channels can be used by any app and they are working - with the config file.
After heavy testing today I can verify how channels are selected in auto mode:
Auto mode always starts with the lowest available channel this is channel 1 in Litchi/Ultimate flight and channel 13 in DJI GO LIMIT.
When the signal gets weak it does the same in all apps: it uses mainly channel 13 and 19 but when they also get weak tries also 14-20 though still most likely fall back to 13 and 19 if possible. This behaviour has nothing to do with flying location its the same in the city or in the wood. There is no smart choosing involved.
However device location is set USA all the time because the config file requires this I dont think but not sure if this influences channel 13 and 19 preferation.
I could not test what it does if all channels 13-20 are weak but its likely it will try endlessly 13-20.
Conclusion: Using 32 channel in auto mode is basically like flying manually with channel 1 BUT with the advantage if there is interference it will switch around 13-20.
Anyone know more about channel 1?
What services it can interfere with in which countries?
How are you using all 32 channels on current firmwares? Dji disabled all but 8 channels quite a few versions back. I don't understand what you mean. I never heard of them re-enabling them, the ones they removed are assigned to other devices and not legally available for dji to use. Did you hack the current firmware yourself and turn them back on or what?
No but there is a meanwhile widely known config file its even not censored in official DJI forum.
DJI Forum|DJI Remote from 8ch to 32 ch...
And in 3rd party apps the 32 channels did always work like explained, they were never removed the config file is only for DJI GO LIMIT.
Ah, ok I gotcha, I remember reading that thread a long time ago but thought the consensus was that it didn't work. Kinda forgot about it, thanks for the info.
No it always worked fine but at the beginning there were concerns if DJI would try to fix it when publicly available so some have written it does not work to stop the discussion.
Sorry to bring up a dead horse to beat it again, but just wish to know more about this 32 Channel hack. Can I ask why are the other 24 channels beyond the original 8 channels considered illegal to use since I assume they are all on regular 2.4GHz wifi bands? Even if it were so, does the hack work on the current DJI GO app or only for the old DJI Pilot app? Please pardon the ignorance on my part.
I have tested flight at longer distance in the desert and had full signal at 1.7 miles but at other times have lost video and signal within 100 yards. When you're clearly away from others and the wifi and other signals the comm link seems to be pretty good at even pretty long range (1.7 miles), but if closer to humanity where wifi and other signals are more common the risk of interference rises big time.
The biggest value I can see in using antennas that are more directional is to lower the noise level versus increasing the RC-copter signal levels though doing that is also a good thing.
What would be nice to have is an actual ground station you mount to a tripod that has a very directional antenna and a pointing mechanism to keep the antenna pointed at the copter as it moves. Imagine a dual antenna of parabolic design that is adjusted to constantly point to the copter and an antenna system on the copter that similarly knows the direction to the base and can discriminate other signals not coming from the right direction.
Brian
The biggest value I can see in using antennas that are more directional is to lower the noise level versus increasing the RC-copter signal levels though doing that is also a good thing.
What would be nice to have is an actual ground station you mount to a tripod that has a very directional antenna and a pointing mechanism to keep the antenna pointed at the copter as it moves. Imagine a dual antenna of parabolic design that is adjusted to constantly point to the copter and an antenna system on the copter that similarly knows the direction to the base and can discriminate other signals not coming from the right direction.
Brian
You are referring to an antenna tracking system, something like MyFlyDream 网上商店, 完整的FPV解决方案.
Anyone has info to share on the questions I posed?
Done. I gather that the DJI channels are not the same as regular 2.4GHz wifi channels. But can the hack work on the current DJI GO app or only for the old DJI Pilot app? No one seems to have posted info about opening the 32 channels on the current DJI Go app.
Thanks so much Damon.. I 3/4 suspected you would know.. I know it's a lot to ask but do you happen to have the file? Can PM?
Yeah, that's something like what I was talking about. But, to describe in more detail this it what I'd like to see...
A two axis drive system to point two parabolic antenna's AND a camera with telephoto lens at the drone. Unit would need a compass and a level to orient and would also need to know it's GPS coordinates and elevation as well as the drones GPS coordinates and elevation. It would also be nice if the RC could communicate with the tracking station and the have the tracking station relay the control signals to the copter. Similarly, the video and telemetry downlink would go to the second parabolic antenna and then send that to the RC and onto the tablet. Communication between RC/tablet and tracking station should be via high frequency wifi (5GHz)
So, in operation, the tracking station would know where it and the copter are in 3-space and be able to point directly at the copter. The high gain parabolic antenna's would ensure a much stronger signal both ways AND by being much more directional also reduce background noise and interference. The combination of increased signal and reduced noise would dramatically improve communications, reduce/eliminate dropped frames, and enormously extend the range.
The camera with telephoto lens would make maintaining visual sight and re-acquiring visual sight at longer range much easier.
A setup like this would allow you to operate sitting down and having both a FPV view as well as the telephoto view in combination with unaided eyesight for improved situational awareness.
Brian
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