Welcome DJI Spark Pilot!
Jump in and join our free Spark community today!
Sign up

Does Spark always use 5.8 Ghz at short distance?

Roger S

Well-Known Member
Join
Apr 6, 2018
Messages
145
Age
40
Since I've I've had my 3rd Spark (1st 2 flew away) it has only used the 5.8 GHz channels in auto channel select mode. I was losing connection at ~300-500 feet. I flew my previous Spark over a mile with no loss of connection. I sent it back to dji where they replaced the main board under warranty. However it is still selecting a 5.8 GHz channel, though I haven't yet flown more than ~100 feet. I understood someone in tech support say that it didn't switch to 2.4 GHz until it was far away. I'm not sure if I understood correctly as there's a bit of a language barrier.
 
Spark does not auto frequency band switch automatically. You can select (FAA) either range of 5.8 or 2.4 before you fly. Its not going to change on its own however.
Does it select the channel then when it first connects? (What exactly is the difference between auto and manual channel settings?). I set to a 2.4 GHz channel in manual mode, but it switched back to 5.8 when I went back to auto. I'm a afraid to use the manual mode, since dji Go cautions against it and I don't want to lose another Spark.
 
Last edited:
If you are using an android phone without otg cable only 5,8ghz is possible.

Phone-2,4ghz-REMOTE-5,8ghz-spark

In auto it select the least use channel and use it the whole time. In automode you can choose the band and the channel.
 
  • Like
Reactions: larrylan
I always leave in auto and have had instances where it starts in 5.8 then when signal lost switches to 2.4 during same flight, then back to 5.8 on RTH. It will change back and forth on occasion - most time stays in 5.8 for me though.
 
If you are using an android phone without otg cable only 5,8ghz is possible.

Phone-2,4ghz-REMOTE-5,8ghz-spark

In auto it select the least use channel and use it the whole time. In automode you can choose the band and the channel.
I thought this band selection was for communication between the AC and controller. OTG cable connects phone to controller. My concern is loss of connection to the AC at 300-500 feet
 
Are you in the US or in Europe ?
In Europe like Paul215 wrote unless you're using an OTG cable you will always be in 5.8Ghz between the AC and the Drone because DJI uses 5.8Ghz frequencies that phones can't use in Europe.
The range with 5.8Ghz is about 200 meters in Europe, if you force FCC you can get that x4/x5.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Paul215
Are you in the US or in Europe ?
In Europe like Paul215 wrote unless you're using an OTG cable you will always be in 5.8Ghz between the AC and the Drone because DJI uses 5.8Ghz frequencies that phones can't use in Europe.
The range with 5.8Ghz is about 200 meters in Europe, if you force FCC you can get that x4/x5.
I'm in the US. I never checled which wifi band was used on my previous Sparks, bit I was able to fly over 1 mile without OTG. Would I have been able to do that using 5.8 GHz?
 
Yes most likely 2.4Ghz.
Here's what you can do, turn on your Spark and then do a long press on the power button for about 9 seconds until you hear 3 beeps. That will reset the WiFi, see if it helps.
 
I have similar but not identical challenge. I generally use the RC with OTG cable, but when filming short scenes while biking I use the mobile phone as the controller since it's quicker to setup/teardown and easy to stash in pocket. However when using mobile phone as controller, I can only get 20-30' before getting weak signal warning. Possibly this is related to frequency and a poor antenna in the phone (samsung s7)? Is there a way to force use of 2.4 ghz when using mobile phone as the controller?
 
Last edited:
You should be able to set it to a 2,4 GHz channel using manual setting instead of auto.
 
Does it select the channel then when it first connects? (What exactly is the difference between auto and manual channel settings?). I set to a 2.4 GHz channel in manual mode, but it switched back to 5.8 when I went back to auto. I'm a afraid to use the manual mode, since dji Go cautions against it and I don't want to lose another Spark.
==============

Becarefull not to confuse Channel and Frequencies. Frequencies 2.4 and 5.8 is one thing ...2.4 goes further and through walls for example but lags in terms of transmitting file ( video for example). 5.8 has a shorter range, cannot penetrate obstacle but provides for less lag in transmitting data ( video for example).

In both cases , within the frequency range, you have channels.....which is what channel setting is all about, not the frequencies that you want to use. Generally speaking a device is best tune to find it's own channel rarely should you have to override unless you find interference with the auto selected channel.

Again do not mix Frequency and channel settings - 2 different things.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Andro
==============

Becarefull not to confuse Channel and Frequencies. Frequencies 2.4 and 5.8 is one thing ...2.4 goes further and through walls for example but lags in terms of transmitting file ( video for example). 5.8 has a shorter range, cannot penetrate obstacle but provides for less lag in transmitting data ( video for example).

In both cases , within the frequency range, you have channels.....which is what channel setting is all about, not the frequencies that you want to use. Generally speaking a device is best tune to find it's own channel rarely should you have to override unless you find interference with the auto selected channel.

Again do not mix Frequency and channel settings - 2 different things.
Right and so I think that's the crux of my question. Can i force the use of frequency 2.4 when using my mobile device as the controller? Pairing of the mobile device and drone is done before launching the dji app (in this case it's via the android OS when I connect to the drone wifi). Is the drone capable of making this connection at 2.4 ghz?
 
Yes, see my message above to do exactly that.
I routinely use the 9sec button push (3 beeps) when pairing the mobile phone with the drone. After the 3 beeps I use the android settings app to find the spark wifi and connect to it. I only see one spark wifi network. Should the spark be broadcasting SSIDs on both 2.4 and 5.8?
 
No, it can only use one frequency at once and normally after a WiFi reset it will use 2.4Ghz. I know because in Europe it's the only way to connect an Android phone to the Spark as it uses illegal 5.8Ghz channels here, or at least 5.8Ghz channels that phones can't use.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
14,593
Messages
118,799
Members
17,987
Latest member
csdisme