Spark only using 5.8GHz

[joaoreis]

Hi everyone. I've been having some short range issues with my spark loosing signal at roughly 150m distance (not height). This in a beach where there are no obstructions, with RC, iPhone 5s and updated firmware.

After researching a bit it seems that one explanation for this is the fact that 5.8GHz has a shorter range than 2.4GHz in CE mode (where I am). One suggestion seems to be to select the Custom and then picking a wifi channel in the 2.4GHz range. The problem is that in this case the drone won't be adapting to interference and will stick to the same channel now matter what. I wonder, is there a way to have something like "Auto but only 2.4"?
Thank you for your help

 

[Roger S]

I've been experiencing the same thing in recent months and there have been numerous similar postings here so I'm guessing it's due to some change dji has made to soft or firmware

 

[Farkle]

I'm having the same problem! I'm about to uninstall and reinstall leaving out the "up-dates". Could be an attempt to be able to control our range, if needed.
Anyone else having the same problem?

 

[offshore2]

i can only use 5.8 too

 

[Roland]

i can only use 5.8 too

Same experience for me .5.8 in CE mode is a disaster.
An OTG cable makes quite a difference . But a few 100 metres will be the max. you get in urban area
In open space and on water ( why you think all those hundreds of “max range “ videos are on water) about 500 to 900 metres are possible . But even then after a few hundreds meters you will lose controll over taking pics or videos . I once did the test , setting it on a custom 2,4 ch.
It went for 1200 meters ( on water surface of course).
Then I got disconnected and that was it .
After 6 minutes , Just when I was thinking about how to live with the loss of hundreds of euros, I heard a buzzing sound 30 metres upon my head. The most relaxing moment I had in times . RTH was doing it’s job.
Last week , at last I succeeded in a conversion from CE to FCC . (The devil in disguise was channel 13) .FCC allows double 5,8 power transmission output compared to CE .
All 5,8 FCC range tests on youtube begin and ends on 5,8 proving 5,8 FCC power output is enough for max range.
On my first 5,8 FCC try over land 1320 metres without difficulties . I returned home due to the strong 40 km/h windstrokes. Next week next test.
My conclusion, if you are satisfied with a small range and keeping your spark in sight, CE mode is ok.
If not go to FCC mode .

 

[ndaru]

I use fake GPS app to make the Spark thinks it is flying in a country that supports FCC mode. It works, sometimes.

If you're doing a survey but hindered by CEE mode, you might want to fly with apps that support waypoint mode. So that you can fly past the signal range.

 

[Maersk65]

Same here 5.8 in CE mode

 

[Roland]

Same here 5.8 in CE mode ☹

Mr Ndaru,
What do you mean with sometimes it worked ?
That were my previous opinions too. Allways got the WLAN , different country warning message . But allways channels 1-14 too .
And on a lucky day at the beach getting 900 meters , i really thought I was in FCC mode . Now I know I never was .
My big mistake was that I allways made the conversion EC-FCC with OTG cable . I got 1-11 channel but after restarting , the never changed EC mode between AC and RC reset my phone to EC . If you do it without OTG wifi forces FCC to the AC and RC too .

 

[joaoreis]

I guess using FCC mode would improve things a lot for me, but I was trying to avoid that and give a chance to CE mode with 2.4GHz which might be enough for my needs. I tried the custom mode and picked a channel (3) that seemed to not have any interference but I lost the connection to the AC after 50 meters. My guess is that that wouldn't happen if the Spark could switch automatically to a channel with less interference.

 

[ndaru]

Mr Ndaru,
What do you mean with sometimes it worked ?
That were my previous opinions too. Allways got the WLAN , different country warning message . But allways channels 1-14 too .
And on a lucky day at the beach getting 900 meters , i really thought I was in FCC mode . Now I know I never was .
My big mistake was that I allways made the conversion EC-FCC with OTG cable . I got 1-11 channel but after restarting , the never changed EC mode between AC and RC reset my phone to EC . If you do it without OTG wifi forces FCC to the AC and RC too .

The fake GPS app fools DJI Go 4 which shows "different country" message and activates the FCC channels.

But sometimes, DJI Go 4 will revert to CE channels even when I use fake GPS app. So... I don't know.

These days I seldom flies in free style mode but almost always in waypoint mode using DJI Go MOD (with red icon) + DJI Missions combo. Flying in waypoint makes me forget about the whole CE/FCC thing.

 

[Sloan]

Hi guys, I have the same problem, I can’t switch to 5.8 ghz

 

[Sloan]

And I got only 10 chanels