Only 400ft before dropping video signal

[Ninjin]

Hi Forum!

I'm a new spark fly more owner and have only flown 4 batteries worth of time. All being in the wide open countryside (lake district and peak district) without any power lines or other sources of interference.

All the flying has been direct line of sight to the spark.

I've flown at 50ft to 200ft in height and once I hit around 400ft in distance I start to get video feed loss.

(I'm so new to this that I can't even remember the proper term the display uses!)

I've read as much as I can on the forum regarding this but no one seems to have exactly the same problem.

I use a Moto G4 phone as the screen, which is a spare phone, so its bare except for the DJI Go app.

I've read the antenna direction video by DJI so I know I'm pointing the aerials right.

I'm off to Lake Garda next week and would love the Spark to give me the distance it is meant to as advertised by DJI.

Is there anything I can reset to improve the range or any checks I can do?

Or do you think it is faulty hardware?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[Dronason]

Hi Pilot
Are you using the remote controller or just your phone ?

If you use just phone and Spark, it is somehow random with max 300 ft as limit by DJI.
There is no easy way without the remote controller.
Wifi on phones can be good to bad. The 300 ft limit of DJI is almost what a good phone can achieve in a remote area.

 

[jtatuhey]

Maybe you can try using OTG cable to connect your phone to the controller, also check your flight limitation setting within the DJI Go apps, and disable the beginner mode

 

[Dronason]

Maybe you can try using OTG cable to connect your phone to the controller, also check your flight limitation setting within the DJI Go apps, and disable the beginner mode

Too early in such level!
First is to know if he is using a RC or not ?
Then if he is in FCC or CE mode ?
Then phone/tab is using android or ios ?

OTG is not an answer to any stater at all. It has downsides and you really need to understand what it is if you want to use it at your advantage.
At first, it is WIFI to use, it is designed as the way to use the Spark.

@jtatuhey, don't wanted to be hard, but Spark is nice and easy but it need to be learned step by step, starting from the basics.
Thanks in any case for trying to help @Ninjin, it is the way this forum goes.

 

[Ninjin]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I can fly a drone without problem as I have learnt using husban over the last 6months.

I am using remote.

My phone is Moto G4 (android). Bluetooth is off.

I loose video signal at around 400ft distance but DJI say it should be much more than this.

Thanks!

 

[jtatuhey]

Too early in such level!
First is to know if he is using a RC or not ?
Then if he is in FCC or CE mode ?
Then phone/tab is using android or ios ?

OTG is not an answer to any stater at all. It has downsides and you really need to understand what it is if you want to use it at your advantage.
At first, it is WIFI to use, it is designed as the way to use the Spark.

@jtatuhey, don't wanted to be hard, but Spark is nice and easy but it need to be learned step by step, starting from the basics.
Thanks in any case for trying to help @Ninjin, it is the way this forum goes.

Yup, I agree with @Dronason, spark is nice, and you have master it from basic, just follow your learning curve, and try to fly it step by step. You will know better your own spark, that's the way I learn mine too. [emoji4]

 

[Ninjin]

I don't have a problem with flying the spark, I just want to know if there is anything I am doing wrong or if there is a fault with my Spark because I am losing video feed around 400ft.

 

[Dronason]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I can fly a drone without problem as I have learnt using husban over the last 6months.

I am using remote.

My phone is Moto G4 (android). Bluetooth is off.

I loose video signal at around 400ft distance but DJI say it should be much more than this.

Thanks!

Yes, it should go more far but with wifi it depend what is around you. Can you check with some app like "Wifi Analyzer" if there are other wifi around you ?
When you are connected with the Spark, did you see many RED/GREEN bars in the settings / wifi settings ?
The channel used by the Spark is in blue and red bars mean strong disturbance.
If your blue bar is surrounded by red bars, then distance will be short. You can try to change band and channels to a more quite zone.
In the bellow example, selecting a channel 1-6 should be ok, 8-13 will be poor.


Note also that it is highly time dependent. A channel can look "free" when nobody use that access point but if somebody start to watch a video, it will change from green to red.

 

[mlash]

Hi Forum!

I'm a new spark fly more owner and have only flown 4 batteries worth of time. All being in the wide open countryside (lake district and peak district) without any power lines or other sources of interference.

All the flying has been direct line of sight to the spark.

I've flown at 50ft to 200ft in height and once I hit around 400ft in distance I start to get video feed loss.

(I'm so new to this that I can't even remember the proper term the display uses!)

I've read as much as I can on the forum regarding this but no one seems to have exactly the same problem.

I use a Moto G4 phone as the screen, which is a spare phone, so its bare except for the DJI Go app.

I've read the antenna direction video by DJI so I know I'm pointing the aerials right.

I'm off to Lake Garda next week and would love the Spark to give me the distance it is meant to as advertised by DJI.

Is there anything I can reset to improve the range or any checks I can do?

Or do you think it is faulty hardware?

Thanks in Advance!

Do you have bluetooth activated? If you do make sure to disable it. If that doesn't help, get a pringle can and cut it in half and make a pair of parabolic range extenders and try that! If that helps get you further distance then you know it's something in the area causing interference. Also, have you tried 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz to see what the difference is? I know you bought the Spark so you can fly it without problems but every area is different, someone might have a ham radio in the area or something else that is causing major interference with your signal (try different areas to see if the problem goes away). Don't just assume that because you have flown a different drone in the area that every drone will have the same result!

 

[J-4ce]

Hi Forum!

I'm a new spark fly more owner and have only flown 4 batteries worth of time. All being in the wide open countryside (lake district and peak district) without any power lines or other sources of interference.

All the flying has been direct line of sight to the spark.

I've flown at 50ft to 200ft in height and once I hit around 400ft in distance I start to get video feed loss.

(I'm so new to this that I can't even remember the proper term the display uses!)

I've read as much as I can on the forum regarding this but no one seems to have exactly the same problem.

I use a Moto G4 phone as the screen, which is a spare phone, so its bare except for the DJI Go app.

I've read the antenna direction video by DJI so I know I'm pointing the aerials right.

I'm off to Lake Garda next week and would love the Spark to give me the distance it is meant to as advertised by DJI.

Is there anything I can reset to improve the range or any checks I can do?

Or do you think it is faulty hardware?

Thanks in Advance!

Where in the world are you based? Your location will affect your distance.

 

[Girth67]

I'm flying in Cheshire and the Peak District Uk also so I'm well and truly CE power.
I too get warnings of poor signal quality at 100m but I've continued with the warning and flown out to 360m and still not caused a RTH.
I'm not really wanting much more distance both from the point of view of actually seeing the quad (as a dot with red lights) and also not getting prosecuted but I agree or would be nice to get further without a warning. I've used parabolic refectors and it went further before the warning appeared.
It's my intention to film all my footage within this distance and there's some amazing scenery in the peaks to go at I'll just have to get closer. I've heard that the Peak District National Park doesn't like "drones" but I'm adopting the approach of sensible use.

 

[Dr.PP]

Hi Forum!

I'm a new spark fly more owner and have only flown 4 batteries worth of time. All being in the wide open countryside (lake district and peak district) without any power lines or other sources of interference.

All the flying has been direct line of sight to the spark.

I've flown at 50ft to 200ft in height and once I hit around 400ft in distance I start to get video feed loss.

(I'm so new to this that I can't even remember the proper term the display uses!)

I've read as much as I can on the forum regarding this but no one seems to have exactly the same problem.

I use a Moto G4 phone as the screen, which is a spare phone, so its bare except for the DJI Go app.

I've read the antenna direction video by DJI so I know I'm pointing the aerials right.

I'm off to Lake Garda next week and would love the Spark to give me the distance it is meant to as advertised by DJI.

Is there anything I can reset to improve the range or any checks I can do?

Or do you think it is faulty hardware?

Thanks in Advance!

I had the same problem. Using RC, being on 5,8 GHz, max. distance without loosing the FPV signal was about 70m. Tried to change to 2,4 GHz, but my phone (Vodafone Smart 6 Ultra) did not support this configuration. Also it did not support OTG USB. Than I tried Samsung Galaxy A5 2016. It supports WiFi bands a,b,g,n, but also did not connect to RC when using 2,4 GHz band from the drone. OTG cable worked nicely just once, but never again. Today I got Huawei P10 Lite. It should support all WiFi bands including a and ac, but still does not connect to RC when switched to 2,4GHz. But it works with OTG cable perfectly. Today I have reached 200 m without any signal loss. Can not fly here any further because of local regulations.
But so far perfectly working configuration for me.