Range for Anafi in CE mode

[phn]

Hi there,

I tested the range on my Anafi to be approx 350 metres in CE mode, before the FPV started to get interference with approx 550m absolute maximum range at which auto return to home was initiated.

This involved flying over some housing (where the wifi signal diminished significantly ).

Does this sound like a reasonable range for an Anafi?I was wondering what range other EU / UK Anafi flyers achieve, as whichever way you look at it 500m is a lot less than the advertised 4km?

Also a question I know the importance of keeping the remote acing the drone - but is there a specific altitude that provides the best range?

Many thanks,

Philip.

 

[d95gas]

have you tried switching to 5Ghz band where there is less noise ? Also plenty of tutorials around to tell you how to get into FCC mode which will give you more power and therefore greater distance

 

[Nidge]

It is unfortunate for those of us in EU that we are limited with the effective radiated power (ERP) using WiFi for control and downlink. Added to which the weather conditions can add to these limitations as moisture in the air is an effective absorber of RF at these frequencies.

It’s not so much the power output of the controller that is the limiting factor but rather the modulation method employed. WiFi is a relatively broadband signal so the available power is spread out over a fairly large bandwidth. Where as my dedicated RC transmitter (Taranis X9D) uses the same frequency and power output as the SC3 but the modulation method uses very narrow bandwidth discrete frequencies, changing a few hundred times a second, which results in a much greater range, up to 10km unmodified.

When you take into account the amount of other 2.4GHz/5.8GHz users in a suburban environment and the resultant interference levels the range you achieved is quite good. The height at which you fly will have little effect on range as long as your direct line of sight is free of any physical obstacles.

Unless you force your Anafi into FCC mode, how easy this is I don’t know as I’ve only had mine a few days, the only viable way to increase the range (I prefer to say “the quality of the connection”) will be to see if any of the usual third party manufacturers come up with higher gain antenna modifications that have been made available for the SC2 and the various DJI controllers.

Regards

Nidge.

 

[Landbo]

Hi there,

I tested the range on my Anafi to be approx 350 metres in CE mode, before the FPV started to get interference with approx 550m absolute maximum range at which auto return to home was initiated.

This involved flying over some housing (where the wifi signal diminished significantly ).

Does this sound like a reasonable range for an Anafi?I was wondering what range other EU / UK Anafi flyers achieve, as whichever way you look at it 500m is a lot less than the advertised 4km?

Also a question I know the importance of keeping the remote acing the drone - but is there a specific altitude that provides the best range?

Many thanks,

Philip.

The distances advertised can only be achieved by ideal conditions (far far away from all Wi-Fi systems) therefore your obtained distances sound like ok. Remember it is probably not allowed you to fly beyond the VLOS anyway.

Link to defination of VLOS: How do we see them: VLOS, EVLOS, BVLOS & FPV? - Australian Certified UAV Operators Inc.

I myself have flown over a lake in the countryside and still managed to have the connection at 2 km. I had a boat with a person to keep an eye on as well as telephone connection to legalize my flight.

You get the longest connection by flying as high as possible (allowed) and no houses / trees / trays are between Anafi's and the controller's antenna.

Regards, Leif.

 

[phn]

Thanks for all the replies - i just wanted to be sure there was no fault with the Anafi and from the replies, looks like it is performing in line with expectations so I'm happy.

 

[luluck]

Yes this is a typical range in real CE conditions. No problem

 

[festom]

how i know if i am in ce or fcc? i am not sure... thanks

 

[Landbo]

how i know if i am in ce or fcc? i am not sure... thanks

It is easiest if you tell us which country you are flying in, and we will give you the information.

But there is not so much difference between the two modes that some people would like to tell there is.

Regards, Leif.

 

[luluck]

When looking at in the network setup, you know that you are in FCC mode if you can see the chanels 44 (I don't remember exactly, something like 36 40 44) otherwise you only see the high end of the 5 GHz band (something like 161 165)

 

[festom]

It is easiest if you tell us which country you are flying in, and we will give you the information.

But there is not so much difference between the two modes that some people would like to tell there is.

Regards, Leif.

i am in spain, thanks

 

[Landbo]

i am in spain, thanks

Yes ok, then you are flying in CE mode.

You can see here what frequencies (channels) are available to you in this link: List of WLAN channels - Wikipedia

However, I have to warn you to have some flair to understand it all. You should also understand that some channels of 5 GHz band are used for weather radar all over the world.

Regards, Leif.

 

[davinchi2000]

Hi, I have managed to reach the safety committee of 4000m
Country Spain.
2.4Ghz
channel 1

 

[Landbo]

Hi, I have managed to reach the safety committee of 4000m
Country Spain.
2.4Ghz
channel 1

Yes it is good but you should not expect it can be done under all conditions. Right here you have been fortunate to hit the absolutely ideal weather conditions.

In practice, you can't use such a bad connection with much delay for anything anyway. At the same time, you probably also violate the Spanish rules for RC flight.

Regards, Leif.

 

[phn]

Interesting to see that video though, because it shows that the 4km range claim is based on fact, even if most of the time it would never be possible to achieve!

 

[Czolgy]

I flew out to a little over 1km this morning before I turned it around, with just a momentary hiccup/hesitation around 550-600 metres mark. I feel as though the Anafi would probably have easily managed another 500 metres or so right then.

 

[d95gas]

Always worth having a WiFi network scanner on your IOS/Android device and doing a quick scan of the area before take-off to see what is the best channel to use.

On both Android and IOS I stick by WiFi Man from Ubiquiti, plenty of info to show you the best channel to lock onto.

 

[phn]

Seems like so long as you have line of sight and avoid flying near buildings which may have wifi, then a long range is possible. In a city though, you get much less range. That's a compromise as compared to my DJI Mavic (which seems unaffected by interference) but I still prefer the Anafi as the camera seems a lot better, and I like that it's quieter!

 

[Seitenwerk]

Thanks for all the replies - i just wanted to be sure there was no fault with the Anafi and from the replies, looks like it is performing in line with expectations so I'm happy.

Don’t worry, that’s more than enough for CE usage. I will get my Anafi today (coming from a DJI Spark) but I can tell you that the DJI Spark and DJI Mavic Air won’t go further than 150-200 meters at max without signal loss. So being able to reach up to 300 meters without a problem with the Anafi sound like a miracle to me ^^

Can’t wait to try it out myself. The regulations forbid loss of sight flies anyway, but reaching the 200-300 while still maintaining a good signal will give me a much better feeling flying those drones

 

[BGabor]

Hi, I have a Cornet ED88T Tri-band RF meter (Live numbers for all between 100MHz - 8GHz) . Just a playing, I tried at the kitchen table a few times with normal CE mode and restart all, using the FakeGps. Cornet is between the Skycontroller and the Anafi, distance is appx. 1meter. At manual 2.4GHz I can't see differents between the peak RF powers. Maybe anybody else tried it also?

 

[Skassa]

Hi, I have a Cornet ED88T Tri-band RF meter (Live numbers for all between 100MHz - 8GHz) . Just a playing, I tried at the kitchen table a few times with normal CE mode and restart all, using the FakeGps. Cornet is between the Skycontroller and the Anafi, distance is appx. 1meter. At manual 2.4GHz I can't see differents between the peak RF powers. Maybe anybody else tried it also?

Try to switch first on channel 36 (only avaiable on FCC 5ghz) then at 1 to 11 channels (2.4ghz) and see if the frequency si high compared to CE and test channel 165 (5ghz) in CE and FCC if change from low to high frequency.