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Spark Distance

Lloyd Harris

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Nov 24, 2017
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39
Hi all, have recently bought a DJI Spark. Its great fun and overall Im very happy, but I find that I lose signal when the drone is about 500 metres away. The drone is sold as having a 2km range. Just wondering if any other users have the same experience, and what suggestions you may have to improve the range.... Thanks!
 
Are you using your cell phone or the dedicated remote? Range is greatly reduced with your cell phone.

Also if you're using the remote and your phone or ipad etc, are you connecting the phone to the remote with wifi or with an OTG cable/adapter? Using wifi from the phone to the remote reduces the (usually very good) range of the remote quite a bit.
 
Hi all, have recently bought a DJI Spark. Its great fun and overall Im very happy, but I find that I lose signal when the drone is about 500 metres away. The drone is sold as having a 2km range. Just wondering if any other users have the same experience, and what suggestions you may have to improve the range.... Thanks!
And what country are you talking about? CE,SRRC and MIC quote 500m for an EIRP of 18/14dBM depending whether you are talking 2.4 or 5.8ghz.
 
I fly with the remote controller with OTG and get 2600m consistantly on the south west coast of WA.
With the range extenders, I've been slightly over 4100m and returned only due to 55% battery life and the return required, which I flew back direct line over the water instead of hugging the coast like I did on the way out.

So yes, with a remote and OTG, you should be EASILY getting the 2000m in an area of low interferance.
 
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When you fly in Australia the drone will put itself in CE mode (European Regulation for radio transmitting devices) - CE mode quoted range on the Spark specs page is 500m. FCC (North American regulations) is 2000m for the spark.

The drone selects the correct power level based on the GPS location. So if you fly in the US it will automatically transmit at a higher power level to Australia. Just DJI following the laws for each country / region.
 
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When you fly in Australia the drone will put itself in CE mode (European Regulation for radio transmitting devices) - CE mode quoted range on the Spark specs page is 500m. FCC (North American regulations) is 2000m for the spark.

The drone selects the correct power level based on the GPS location. So if you fly in the US it will automatically transmit at a higher power level to Australia. Just DJI following the laws for each country / region.
Well I can't explain why I consistently get much more than 500m with mine, always have straight out of the box.
 
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Well I can't explain why I consistently get much more than 500m with mine, always have straight out of the box.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!! :)

The best I've received is about 380m. Not sure if that was 2.4ghz or 5.8ghz. Many people say in CE zones they get much further on 2.4, so next time I'm going for a decent flight I will see if I can force the setting!

How do you go for batter life flying so far DJ_EYE? I've seen YouTube's were people push them out a few km but are always very low battery by the time they get back!
 
Battery life has been, according to my videos, flight times all seem to be about 13 minutes normally landing with approx 10-15% battery remaining when on the deck and I shut her down.

My long flight, as posted, ranged approx 4100m and landed back at home point with 7% remaining.

I do notice that mine is normally at 5.8ghz during flight.

Where abouts are you located Squinly?
 
I'm in Perth, the farthest I have got without OTG but with RC is around 1360m, I think I turned back at that stage as I was over a lake, and Tiger Snakes are in abundance there so I did not want to risk losing the spark or my life.
 
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I'm in Perth, the farthest I have got without OTG but with RC is around 1360m, I think I turned back at that stage as I was over a lake, and Tiger Snakes are in abundance there so I did not want to risk losing the spark or my life.
I'm in Sydney and 1.3km is also the maximum range my spark has traveled away from home point. Samsung Galaxy S8 Wifi to RC.


Update: 2.5km with FCC forced :)
 
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Spark with S7 Edge and Wifi to the RC I've gone 2.1km out to the Royal National Park off Cronulla over Bate Bay and back. Was my first weekend with the Spark and was very impressed! I didn't have the FCC modded app at that stage.

I now have the FCC modded app and some antenna reflectors so I'm looking forward to seeing what the performance is like now :)
 
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I have the Spark, Samsung S7 Edge, OTG, antenna reflectors, v4.2.12 and in CE mode. Reached just over 2500 meters via sports mode, loss transmission, RTH and landed with just 8% battery left. This was flown in Mc Carr's Creek in Ku-ring-gai.
 
I'm in Sydney, the furthest Ive managed is 2.1km launching from Rooty Hill using Remote and OTG connected to my Galaxy S9+ but have been unable to get same distance with my Galaxy Tab A
 
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I'm in Sydney, the furthest Ive managed is 2.1km launching from Rooty Hill using Remote and OTG connected to my Galaxy S9+ but have been unable to get same distance with my Galaxy Tab A
Hi All, have had my Spark for a couple of months (in Melbourne) the following is my experience so far:
1/ Flying over Glen Waverley : Samsung S8 / RC only with Wi Fi , just over 500 mtrs and return to home (no signal)
2/ Same set up (same flight path as above) with OTG cable: 2.6 klms.
3/ RC / I Pad Mini / OTG cable / Signal Enhancers /
Consistent 3.2 / 3.5 klms with 15% battery at the end; please note, RTH was only due to the battery,not loss of signal!
 
I'm in Sydney and 1.3km is also the maximum range my spark has traveled away from home point. Samsung Galaxy S8 Wifi to RC.


Update: 2.5km with FCC forced :)
I’m in Sydney. How do you switch it to FCC? Also, what happens at the final distance reached? Does the RC lose contact with the spark and spark RH on its own?
I’m a newb and get freaked when I lose sight of it over water at about 50 meters haha
 
I’m in Sydney. How do you switch it to FCC? Also, what happens at the final distance reached? Does the RC lose contact with the spark and spark RH on its own?
I’m a newb and get freaked when I lose sight of it over water at about 50 meters haha

What we do?
We trick the Go4 app into believing that we are flying in the US so that it sets the RC in FCC mode and transmits with max. signal strength.

How we do it?
Install an app called FLOATER which lets you set fake GPS location on your mobile device. Set location to USA.
There are many YouTube videos which will show you step by step. Just search with keywords "dji spark force fcc floater".

What happens at the final distance reached?
The max. distance which people report and which you rightly guessed is usually the point where the RC loses connection with the AC. You lose live feed, the screen becomes like an old black and white screen. When this happens (after 3 secs of no signal between RC and AC), the AC goes into RTH mode and starts returning home on its own. As it gets near you, it reestablishes connection again and you can either cancel RTH and fly it manually back home or let RTH do its thing.
 
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I have an iPad mini 4. Do you think I need otg cable or just reg connection to the controller?
Not an iOS user myself but they are known to work better with WiFi as compared to their Android counterparts. Having said that, a wired connection is always better than WiFi. I am not saying you definitely need one but you may not realise what you have been missing unless you start using one yourself.
But I always advice people to buy an OTG adapter instead of a cable. You fix the adapter on the RC and use the USB cable which came with your mobile device. This way you don't have to buy separate cables for different types of devices.

OTG ADAPTER.jpg
 
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Not an iOS user myself but they are known to work better with WiFi as compared to their Android counterparts. Having said that, a wired connection is always better than WiFi. I am not saying you definitely need one but you may not realise what you have been missing unless you start using one yourself.
But I always advice people to buy an OTG adapter instead of a cable. You fix the adapter on the RC and use the USB cable which came with your mobile device. This way you don't have to buy separate cables for different types of devices.

View attachment 11113

Thank you

Makes sense
 
I have an iPad mini 4. Do you think I need otg cable or just reg connection to the controller?

This is the cable I use with my mini4.

I have used the OTG adapter as mentioned by nilanjan118, but have found it can be cumbersome because it sticks out of the remote too much, and then a cable plugged into that.

I was afraid of breaking the pins in the remote if I continued to use it.

The cable I purchased has right angle connections and provides a clean tight fit without an excess of wire hanging around the remote.
 
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