Dji Smart Controller Range Test! Mavic 2 (Antenna Placement is key) 

great info, thankyou, you deserve another subscriber, thankyou.

Hey this was great! Thanks heaps for sharing the vid. Great job.

Good video. Dang man. That was faaaar!!

The difference is almost unbelievable.

Can someone help me out on two questions I have? One, how do you set up the smart controller to record the screen to show all of the flight data as your flying? Then second question. Once in a while, when I just start to take off and hover, I’ll get a warning message printed in yellow that says I’m about to enter into a warning zone and to fly with caution. Can I still fly though? I thought the warning would have to be in red print and it would tell you not to fly in this area. Just not sure what I can and can’t do, when I see the yellow warning. Thank you!

Well I don’t have 1 Yet but soon, so thank you for the heads up. Brilliant Test ...😉😎👍🏼

This is correct as far as antenna placement but there still is a lot of variables when I come to flying. In your case, you were trying on flat clear terrain, if there are building or hill and mountains around this all changes bigtime. But at the same time, I see no need to fly 3-4 miles away normally you'd want to fly within your area based on what you see initially, not 4 miles away. And as you can see you bearly got back.

Thanks❤

It looked like you were getting low signal warnings a few times on the way out. I don't think I am brave enough to keep going further if I were getting those warnings on my controller.

The wide flat part (not the tip) of antennas must face vehicle.

Thanks Ron!

Great information and video! Appreciate the tips.

very good amigo

Wow! 4.41 miles! I've just re started flying my Mavic 2 Zoom and am very rusty lol. Your video has been very helpful thank you. I noticed your video settings at 1080 60fps. Is that your preferred setting? I usually do 1080 30fps and my very old editing software (Serif Movie 6) liked that. However, I chose 4K 25fps on Friday when filming over farmland and although the quality is great, my editing software couldn't cope with the setting. I have VideoPad software too but I've used Serif for 16 years now and so am reluctant to change. Thanks for your excellent video. 👍

Awesome, thanks for sharing,

Thanks...great video. I've had my Mavic 2 (and Smart Controller) for about a week and have tried two range tests and they both only got to about a mile, even with the antennas pointed down. I live in a flat area with no major obstacles between me and the drone. Any thoughts on how to improve the range?

is there any way to know how much farther you can fly with the smart controller, or you just fly til you lose signal ?

Good video, straight to the meat of the matter, Ant: down cheers Man, Liked:) stay safe

Great info, thank you. I just got mine and I'm eagerly waiting to test it with a cheap booster mounted. Have you tried this combination? Take care.

Great video.

Got a question. Just got the air 2 s with the smart controller. I don't fly very far and the signal bars on the controller turn yellow and back to white what dose it means. I was flying with the antennas upwards. thanks for you advice.

I tried with antennas pointed down in various locations and I can't get past 9300 feet.

I got about 4.8 maxuntil lost sig and rth back save on both pro and zoom

is this in a FCC mode? I'm in ITALY how to do for obtain the same range?

🐔 YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.... I tried this antenna pointing method and achieved slightly better range, but I do believe that I’m going to add an external antenna array system to my smart controller. It’s definitely more costly, but my range is truly miserable with the smart controller. I tried taking my controller and “controlling “ my Mavic 2 Zoom with test gear set up in between me/my controller and the craft. It consisted of an omnidirectional antenna mounted on a tripod sitting on the floor. The antenna (100Mhz to 6.0GHz) was connected to a pair of spectrum analyzers. An Agilent n9340b for the higher range frequencies (“centered” on 5.8GHz with a “span” of 1GHz) . And... an Agilent 8591c for the “lower” frequencies. I “centered” that SA on 2.4 GHz with a “span” of 800Mhz to start. I narrowed down the “span” on each SA as I was able to determine what the Mavic-2 & smart controller we’re really utilizing. With me/controller walking back and away from the test gear, I was able to better “see” the better and more optimized positioning of the remote AND the built-in antennas. I also raised the antenna tripod from a low of 4’ off the ground -->>>. Up to a total maximum height of approximately 40’ (37’ tripod total + antenna base mast height of approx 3’) NOT Surprisingly enough, if you are lucky enough to have a low RF noise floor in the 2.4GHz WiFi / ISM bands and can make use of this portion of the RF spectrum , the range is significantly longer than the 5GHz range of frequencies. LOS range and propagation “rule of thumb” kind of dictates that the 2.4 would be the better range performer. The advantages of the 5GHz spectrum = LESS USAGE by other devices in your environment. (WiFi devices/ cordless phones using ISM spectrum / cellular phones/ IOT devices/ Etc..) plus slightly larger channel “slots” making use of more occupied bandwidth. Also... I was considering installing 2 SMA or BNC female bulkhead style connectors on the exterior of my remote controls, connected directly to the PCB points of termination. (using high grade RG400 or, if too large and stiff, RG316 or equivalent) This would permit me to have access to then connect virtually ANY type of antenna, test device, amplifier, etc,, to the remote control. Then.... I could connect a pair of log-per (“log periodic “) antennas directly to the newly installed connectors on the remote for testing / possibly even more permanent use. Log-per antennas are highly directional and act very similar to “yogi” style directional antennas. (Advantage = significantly higher gain / Disadvantage = Antenna MUST be Pointed at the intended target .. unlike the more ubiquitous “Omni” omnidirectional antenna which transmit and receives without directional requirements) ALSO.... for a few extra bucks, you can also add.... AMPLIFICATION!! For approximately $70-120@, you can purchase “Mini-Circuits” brand LNA type amplifier modules. I was thinking of purchasing 2x (I already have one , but it’s mounted in one of my repeater receivers) of these affordable amps. They are TINY ! You can easily fit 2x in an enclosure the size of a cigarette pack. (I am guessing... I have no idea what the actual dimensions of a pack of cancer sticks... perhaps think of the size in terms of... 1 would easily fit inside an Altoids tin with a bit of room to spare for ventilation) The power required to operate these is tiny as well. Approximately 125ma @12 volts DC.. They have an SMA female for the input and an SMA female for the output. The units that I traditionally use are “medium power” and “low noise factor” and provide approx. 30dB of power amplification. (do the math... logarithmically, of course) That’s a nice bit of increase.... One for transmitting / one for receiving. (You definitely do NOT want to just amplify the transmitter... that could conceivably make the unit “deaf”. You really want a nice balance between transmitter and receiver amplification. If on an extreme budget... (or have a wide 😞😆🤣) you could always try the “Magic of CHINESIUM” There are a ton of tiny broadband type amps available from EBay and Amazon. For approximately $20-40 @ usd, you could try out a pair of “no name” generic types of amp. I saw one listed that handles 100Mhz through 8Ghz / 25dB.... Definitely worth a shot if you are a bit cash-strapped. Just make sure you provide adequate heat sinking / dissipation and the DC power source matches up / AND that the frequency range covers ALL of what dji is using. AND.... PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL!!! IF YOU OVERPOWER THE RX SIGNAL FEEDING THE RECEIVER, YOU COULD EASILY DESTROY DELICATE CIRCUITS. ONLY DO THIS TYPE OF MODIFICATION IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THIS TYPE OF WORK. The “DJI Smart Controller” TRANSMITTER provides approximately: 2.4GHz = 25dBm transmission power (USA / FCC compliant version). *18* dBm in the CE / Europe version 5.7 / 5.8Ghz = 25dBm transmission power (USA / FCC ver.) / *12*dBm in the European version. This is less than the “conventional” hand-held transmitter. (You’d think that for the ridiculous price they charge for this model, they would include more power / capabilities.) I was also thinking of making up a small assembly containing a power supply, lithium battery pack and amplifiers. This could easily be mounted to a small and portable tripod. At the tip of the tripod, you could mount to log periodic type antennas. It would be a simple task to aim the antennas in the direction of where you are flying the craft. You would not have to constantly aim and redirect the positioning of the smart remote. A small cable harness could easily attach this remote amplifier unit directly to the connectors you mount on the exterior of the smart remote. Another absolutely critical piece of test equipment = A high quality cell phone that handles WiFi in both the 2.4 AND the 5.7-5.8Ghz ranges. There are several WiFi monitoring utilities available for android and iOS. They scan the available pre-designated Wi-Fi channels and tell you if they are currently in use in proximity to your phone. (Definitely easier to use than spectrum analyzers AND much cheaper - My Agilent n9340b was just over the $12,000 mark) But, sometimes you really need to have the proper test equipment available. Most especially when you are testing antennas. A vector network analyzer can also help determining antenna resonance. After I a

I have a SC coming in two days, can’t wait! Is it easy to set up screen recording with it? I’d like to capture all of the data during a flight like you show in these range test videos. Thx

Ron, Have you tried the clip on range extenders you can get for $10-$15. Do they really work?

I got 4.5 miles with my zoom I think it depends on the area

Hey RM. would this method of having antennas pointed straight down work on the Mavic mini too?

Now what's the range when flying low altitude in a city, around buildings? I have a Walkera vitus and I maybe get 50 to 100 feet away at 20 feet high before the Live feed cuts out. Possibly due to interference. Weird thing is that the distortion in the feed when it starts to cut out, gets recorded to the sd card in the drone. I think somehow the Live feed on my phone gets recorded to the on board sd card instead of directly from the drone to card. So image from the drone goes to the controller, then to the phone through the wifi connection, then that image goes back to the controller then do the sd card in the drone. While it's not a terrible drone and I did get a good deal for it on Ebay (got the seller to give it to me for half the retail price and it was still factory sealed) I've had more than a few problems with it. This was my most expensive drone that normally sells for about $700 and I got it for $400. Never owned any dji drones and really want the mavic 2 pro. Especially since they may be banned for sale in the us soon due to a patent lawsuit.

My record with the SC and the Mavic Air 2 is around 5000 feet, but for the most times I loose connection around 1000-1500 feet. Don’t know what the problem is......but at the same time, you are not allowed to fly any further...

Since you barely made it back on a single battery at max range, then practically how much further would you even need to go? Good to know. :)

It's still not as good the the stock controller for range. Tested the same way as described here.

I can only get 4000 ft with pointed down ):

Put alien tech antenna on it

Wow, is this real? I need to test it hahaha

I can't direct my Mavic's 2 Pro antennas downwards. Hmm..

4.5 miles my self smart controller and dji white goggles

So how do you place your antenna?

Was this the zoom model? Thx

Was this on stock battery?

I don't know where you're flying, but you're fortunate that you're not bound by any drone laws there. Here in the UK we are restricted to 500 metres line of sight and 120 metres AGL, so antenna orientation is not an issue. I did however take note of the relevant note in the DJI manual for the Smart Controller, which states to have the antennas pointing down, perpendicular to the aircraft. My only question with this test, and in my capacity as a former helicopter pilot, how do you identify and avoid a low-flying/transitioning emergency services helicopter 4 miles away?

If I lower my flight altitude to 160ft. The loss in range is even more noticeable. Very disappointed with this controller.

Today I only got 2klms

My Parrot 2.0 foam drone can beat that distance on a 4k display.

What about "line of sight" Aren't you concerned about the FAA seeing this video or being reported? These video's are a bad example for those responsible drone pilots.