Urban distance test. Heavy interference

[Raybo]

The FAA’s Advisory Circular explains the conditions users must comply with in order to fly under the exception for recreational flyers, and simplifies information in the Federal Register Notice.

This AC outlines eight conditions:

1. Fly strictly for recreational purposes.
2. Follow the safety guidelines of a community based organization.
3. Keep your drone within your line of sight, or within the visual line-of-sight of a visual observer who is co-located and in direct communication with you.
4. Operate in a manner that does not interfere with, and gives way to, any manned aircraft.
5. Do not fly in controlled airspace (around and above many airports) unless you are flying at a recreational flyer fixed sitethat has an agreement with the FAA.
   1. Flight in controlled airspace is temporarily limited to these fixed fields. The FAA is upgrading the online system, known as LAANC (the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability), so that recreational operations can get automated airspace authorizations to fly in controlled airspace. This system is currently only available for certified Part 107 drone pilots.
   2. Do not contact the local FAA Air Traffic facilities for airspace authorizations.
6. Fly your drone at or below 400 feet when in uncontrolled or "Class G" airspace.
7. Pass an aeronautical knowledge and safety test.
8. Register and externally mark your drone, and carry proof of registration with you.

Learn more about the rules you should follow to fly your drone safely.

 

[Madhungarian]

 

[Madhungarian]

 

[aed1980]

i still couldnt test my evo in rural or suburban areas, here in the city the range is sad! even 500mts height on top of me loses signal and starts the RTH! yesterday without line of sight at 200mts RTH! I bought it to film a big land i have, which is full of high trees so it would be imposible to have LOS all the time

 

[Madhungarian]

i still couldnt test my evo in rural or suburban areas, here in the city the range is sad! even 500mts height on top of me loses signal and starts the RTH! yesterday without line of sight at 200mts RTH! I bought it to film a big land i have, which is full of high trees so it would be imposible to have LOS all the time

Make sure you antennas are facing downward and that your pointing your controller at the drone with no obstructions. You can also modify your transmission setting to smooth and 5mhz and see if that helps.

 

[G_G]

Make sure you antennas are facing downward and that your pointing your controller at the drone with no obstructions. You can also modify your transmission setting to smooth and 5mhz and see if that helps.

Autel's head engineer claims no difference in antennas up or down, but down seems to be better for me, too. Smooth and 5 is also optimal, but gets reset to 10 or 20 when signal is lost, preventing restoration of FPV when signal is restored, after a brief RTH. Autel offers no explanation for why FPV is not restored as soon as signal is restored.

 

[mavicn00b]

In my limited testing I find the Evo a notch below the Mavic pro but only just by a bit. Mavic 2 with the additional 5ghz band exceeds both by quite some margin.

 

[G_G]

In my limited testing I find the Evo a notch below the Mavic pro but only just by a bit. Mavic 2 with the additional 5ghz band exceeds both by quite some margin.

Completely agree. Mavic 2 for the win!

 

[Sau Wing Lam]

Having flew Mavic Pro and more recently Evo, I do agree with NewZona. I get better signals and can fly farther on my Mavic Pro than the Evo. Mavic's Ocusync is good, let's face it. I am currently considering switching to 4Hawks Rator to replace the antenna in order to extend the range. I do love Evo in all other aspects especially the no limit flying feature so I intend to keep flying Evo. I am considering having Covert Drones install 4Hawks for me since I am not handy at all.

 

[G_G]

Having flew Mavic Pro and more recently Evo, I do agree with NewZona. I get better signals and can fly farther on my Mavic Pro than the Evo. Mavic's Ocusync is good, let's face it. I am currently considering switching to 4Hawks Rator to replace the antenna in order to extend the range. I do love Evo in all other aspects especially the no limit flying feature so I intend to keep flying Evo. I am considering having Covert Drones install 4Hawks for me since I am not handy at all.

Yes, the one weakness of the EVO is the limited range and limited flight time, which won't also won't properly support long range flight. If one fixes both issues by replacing the antenna and adding external batteries, one has already paid for a stock Mavic 2, which already has a 5 mile range with supporting 25 minute flight times at 30mph, and can be unlocked to fly anywhere with NoLimitDronez.com for just $45 more. If all your flying is within VLOS, or under 1.5 miles, the EVO works well, and does offer 4K 60fps, but not being able to raise the camera above horizontal eliminates also using it for spherical panoramas. If you do the conversion to extend the range, please report back. Eager to hear more boots on the ground reports of the mod.

 

[Heckmaniac`s Drone]

4 mile range 8 mile round trip is easy for the EVO for both battery and signal (no mods) with room to spare (tested and recorded if interested). Yes may show occasional weak signal warning, but I find within a second or two signal pops right back to full strength, (even at 4 miles out). Not looking to get lectured on the rules and guidelines so I'll keep my commentary limited to the topic - and I don't do this often. Wifi is definitely more susceptible to interference than those using occusync, but my distance testing is done in low interference and fairly open areas and I find live video feed stays crystal clear the entire time - so no complaints here.

 

[macoman]

4 mile range 8 mile round trip is easy for the EVO for both battery and signal (no mods) with room to spare (tested and recorded if interested). Yes may show occasional weak signal warning, but I find within a second or two signal pops right back to full strength, even at 4 miles out). Not looking to get lectured on the rules and guidelines so I'll keep my commentary limited to the topic - and I don't do this often. Wifi is definitely more susceptible to interference than those using occusync, but my distance testing is done in low interference and fairly open areas and I find live video feed stays crystal clear the entire time - so no complaints here.

I found the Evo's distance enough. I don't know why people put mods on the controller. 4 miles is more than enough for hobby flying.

 

[Nightbat2]

I found the Evo's distance enough. I don't know why people put mods on the controller. 4 miles is more than enough for hobby flying.

What continues to astound me is the distances at which some people claim they can maintain VLOS.

 

[G_G]

I found the Evo's distance enough. I don't know why people put mods on the controller. 4 miles is more than enough for hobby flying.

Agreed, but the touted 4 miles is only available in remote areas with minimal 2.4Hgz interference. In any urban area, EVO signal and video reliability craps out at 1.5 miles, like the old P4 and P4A, unlike the P4P and M2 and MP and MPP.

 

[Heckmaniac`s Drone]

What continues to astound me is the distances at which some people claim they can maintain VLOS.

Think you're missing the point of the OP - I also don't recall seeing anyone claiming long distance flights while maintaining vlos in this string (unless at night using strobes), which I have done and maintained vlos the entire flight (we can debate if that counts in another string). We covered the faa rules at least 1x or maybe 3x in this post which I think was covered adequately - not sure what more distance flight shaming is needed here (but that's just my opinion).

 

[Tufargon]

Agreed, but the touted 4 miles is only available in remote areas with minimal 2.4Hgz interference. In any urban area, EVO signal and video reliability craps out at 1.5 miles, like the old P4 and P4A, unlike the P4P and M2 and MP and MPP.

So it does as advertised.

 

[Nightbat2]

Think you're missing the point of the OP - I also don't recall seeing anyone claiming long distance flights while maintaining vlos in this string (unless at night using strobes), which I have done and maintained vlos the entire flight (we can debate if that counts in another string). We covered the faa rules at least 1x or maybe 3x in this post which I think was covered adequately - not sure what more distance flight shaming is needed here (but that's just my opinion).

Sorry, I thought VLOS required that the pilot must be able to see the UAV with the naked eye (glasses or contact lenses allowed) well enough to know it’s direction of travel and to see anything around it that was likely to present a potential hazard. Could anybody really see something the size of an Evo with the naked eye at a distance of four miles?

 

[G_G]

So it does as advertised.

I have not personally experienced it, but I find it believable. However, it doesn't hold a candle to the advertised 5 miles of the Occusync 2 of the Mavic 2, which works flawlessly, at even 25 feet AGL, over heavily urban areas with clear LOS. EVO's lone 2.4Ghz band is going back to the days of the P3P and P4 which are 3 years ago in DJI land. DJI's transmission range and stability now run circles around the now archaic EVO transmission technology ever since the P4P first introduced Occusync. Had Autel not simultaneously stripped out their advertised 900MHz band from the EVO transmission (why?), we would be having an entirely different conversation. Autel knew they would need the 900Mhz band to effectively compete with DJI on the EVO, but took it out anyway.

 

[Madhungarian]

I have not personally experienced it, but I find it believable. However, it doesn't hold a candle to the advertised 5 miles of the Occusync 2 of the Mavic 2, which works flawlessly, at even 25 feet AGL, over heavily urban areas with clear LOS. EVO's lone 2.4Ghz band is going back to the days of the P3P and P4 which are 3 years ago in DJI land. DJI's transmission range and stability now run circles around the now archaic EVO transmission technology ever since the P4P first introduced Occusync. Had Autel not simultaneously stripped out their advertised 900MHz band from the EVO transmission (why?), we would be having an entirely different conversation. Autel knew they would need the 900Mhz band to effectively compete with DJI on the EVO, but took it out anyway.

The image transmission for the Evo has the 5mhz bandwidth which DJI does not. The 5.8ghz transmission is what separates Autel from DJI in which it is not used as much "yet". I have seen numerous videos of DJI not going any farther in urban environments. I really do not think there is a big difference. Here is a video to prove my point. This guy went 3 miles in VERY HEAVY INTERFERENCE.

 

[G_G]

The image transmission for the Evo has the 5mhz bandwidth which DJI does not. The 5.8ghz transmission is what separates Autel from DJI in which it is not used as much "yet". I have seen numerous videos of DJI not going any farther in urban environments. I really do not think there is a big difference. Here is a video to prove my point. This guy went 3 miles in VERY HEAVY INTERFERENCE.

With all due respect, drone video shot at 400' is uncompelling. Might as well use Google Earth. The video you linked is at roughly 400 feet over a heavily unoccupied industrial area, flying along the train tracks, when no one is around. The Mavic 2 can be flown over heavily residential areas at 50' AGL out to 5 miles at any time of the day or night with clear LOS. 5 Mhz is the lowest video quality transmission setting on the EVO which it requires for anything past 1.5 miles. You can dumb the video transmission quality down on the Mavic 2 as well, but it supports 1080p, so why would you want to? I have been flying DJI since 2015, and Autel since February this year with the EVO. If you have no experience with the latest DJI Occusync 2.0, present on the Mavic 2 since August 2018, which is a dual band 5.8Ghz and 2.4Ghz transmission, which switches seamlessly between channels and bands as necessary for rock steady FPV, you don't know what you are missing. EVO has no 5.8Ghz band. EVO is solely 2.4Ghz Wifi. EVO was supposed to to have a 900Mhz band to supplement the poor, plain 2.4Ghz wifi band, but it was stripped out of all the production models, but is still referenced in the owners manual, as being an available option. YMMV.