(Solved) Skydio 2 still has serious connection issues with the latest 15.11 firmware

[TonyPHX]

Hi Tony,

You are so nice and Thank you so much

I've also planned some screnarios (maybe hacking ) and I believe that I can find a way to enjoy my Skydio 2

Due to work and weather factors, I need to wait for a few days for more tests

I wish you have a day and many many wonderful flights

All the best

So I spent the day at the RC park with the Skydio 2+ and tried various tests including your scenarios. No disconnects when using the beacon with my phone/tablet. (Tablet is Android 10 for reference.)


In addition to not being able to get a disconnect (thankfully) I was also blown away by the range. I was able to get pretty far away without any signal degradation in the display. I would normally have pixellation and honestly, had NONE. Zero. Now, this is a wide open area without houses and store wifi, but this was the best Skydio experience I have ever had. The longer flight time on the 2+ batteries is nice, but I also did not find the previous ones to be limiting.

 

[Sky Cyclist]

So I spent the day at the RC park with the Skydio 2+ and tried various tests including your scenarios. No disconnects when using the beacon with my phone/tablet. (Tablet is Android 10 for reference.)


In addition to not being able to get a disconnect (thankfully) I was also blown away by the range. I was able to get pretty far away without any signal degradation in the display. I would normally have pixellation and honestly, had NONE. Zero. Now, this is a wide open area without houses and store wifi, but this was the best Skydio experience I have ever had. The longer flight time on the 2+ batteries is nice, but I also did not find the previous ones to be limiting.

I am really glad to know that your flight went well and everything tested as expected.

Skydio 2+ is a lot of improvement.

My weather here, it's been raining this week, so I can't fly the bird.

However, I have learned to use the screen recording function of Android 9, and I think it will help to dig out the details about the situation.

I have not had any response from Skydio yet since last week and also have been waiting for knowing the ticket number.

 

[Sky Cyclist]

My 2 cents for what it worth

First I agree that any sudden disconnect of any drone from the PIC is not acceptable and applaud your efforts to document the problem; however I would offer this viewpoint:

From Skydio's perspective the skills of cable cam and/or Keyframe require the use of a "viewfinder" - phone, tablet etc.

A beacon alone doesn't have that "view" ability which is likely why they say you can only do things with a phone-beacon combo that are supported by the beacon.

If you want to use a "view" required skill then use JUST the phone and stay within it's operational range. (you proved this works.)

So in your scenario of using the phone and beacon AND Keyframe OR Cable Cam you are trying to do something that they say is NOT supported.

You have actually proven that it doesn't work (at least reliably) so I'm not sure what response you are likely to get from support.

They don't say that you can fly with a beacon AND controller either but it works. I did a test just to see if it would work but I wouldn't try to again as there isn't any need to. So there is some precedent of using various combos of devices but it doesn't mean that Skydio is going to officially support them all in all situations.

Skydio seems to suggest that the best combo for Keyframe and Cable cam are to use a controller. The controller offers as good or better range than the beacon and imho provides much better flight control than the phone. I tried flying with just the phone (although I had a controller at hand) and found it was an accident waiting to happen. Yes buying the controller is an added expense but you will likely avoid the distress of an "uncontrolled flight".

Thank you ETdronehome.

I agree with your this post very much, and I've also learned that it's my own fault that I didn't understand Skydio's message well.

I should check more carefully about what skills are supported then try to use Beacon + Phone for those skills.

However, as a real-world user, I still hope Skydio can confirm this, it's just an email, and maybe a matter of minutes to help its product's ownership and customer experience. It does not just help me, doesn't it?

If the skills are not supported and it's my misunderstanding of the so-called "extended antenna for phone" message, hopefully, Skydio still will take a minute or two to respond to the issue.

I don't know that such an expectation is an excessive expectation.

Anyway, whiling waiting for an official response, I am very grateful that so many friends here are caring about this together.

Thank you all.

 

[TonyPHX]

Agreed. Making the most of our purchases and giving product feedback is what it is all about.

 

[RiverEagle]

In addition to not being able to get a disconnect (thankfully) I was also blown away by the range. I was able to get pretty far away without any signal degradation in the display. I would normally have pixellation and honestly, had NONE. Zero. Now, this is a wide open area without houses and store wifi, but this was the best Skydio experience I have ever had. The longer flight time on the 2+ batteries is nice, but I also did not find the previous ones to be limiting.

Great news and glad your experience went so well! Have you tried enabling narrow band on the controller? I wonder if it makes a difference in extending the range a bit further as the manual says? (For those wondering, this setting is available on both Skydio 2 and 2+)

 

[TonyPHX]

Great news and glad your experience went so well! Have you tried enabling narrow band on the controller? I wonder if it makes a difference in extending the range a bit further as the manual says? (For those wondering, this setting is available on both Skydio 2 and 2+)

View attachment 627

Yes sir, I enabled that. It does say video quality may suffer, but in my case, it did not. Honestly, I was on the fence about getting the 2+, but in retrospect, I am very glad I did. My debate now is whether or not my 2 is redundant or not, since I can only fly one at a time. : ) I may use the 2 for higher risk attemps at great video.

 

[RiverEagle]

Yes sir, I enabled that. It does say video quality may suffer, but in my case, it did not. Honestly, I was on the fence about getting the 2+, but in retrospect, I am very glad I did. My debate now is whether or not my 2 is redundant or not, since I can only fly one at a time. : ) I may use the 2 for higher risk attemps at great video.

...or have the S2 motion track the S2+ while it does its thing ; )

Ray

 

[VEGASROBBI]

I'm sorry to say I'm still having issues with the beacon and tablet or phone. I used my new iPad today and loaded the latest version of the software hoping that would make a difference. I experienced several disconnects, and GPS tracking only, multiple times on the first battery. It seems to do fine at slow speeds or where conditions do not require agility.

On my second flight I switched to beacon only and it did just fine. I may just upload my logs to Skdio and see what they have to say.

 

[Sky Cyclist]

So I spent the day at the RC park with the Skydio 2+ and tried various tests including your scenarios. No disconnects when using the beacon with my phone/tablet. (Tablet is Android 10 for reference.)


In addition to not being able to get a disconnect (thankfully) I was also blown away by the range. I was able to get pretty far away without any signal degradation in the display. I would normally have pixellation and honestly, had NONE. Zero. Now, this is a wide open area without houses and store wifi, but this was the best Skydio experience I have ever had. The longer flight time on the 2+ batteries is nice, but I also did not find the previous ones to be limiting.

Hi, all my dear friends,

Here is the latest detailed updated information:

After more careful tests, these are what I learned:

1. Unexpected disconnection occurs only when using Beacon + Phone. It happens every time and it always happens just during the operation and operational range.

When it happens, it will happen suddenly without any pre-warning "Weak signal" messages at all. It will just display "Beacon Disconnected" message.

2. When only using the phone operation (without Beacon), the disconnection will only occur when the distance reaches the boundary (120M/400ft/Open/Good VLOS/Strong GPS), and this situation is predictable, and there will also be a "Weak signal" prompt message beforehand.

3. Since this disconnection is bound to happen, after more and more tests, the original uncertainty has largely disappeared, and the Lost connection setting has been optimized. At present, this is no longer a problem.

4. During this learning process, I learned one thing, to record the operation screen (App screen), which is necessary and helpful for the analysis of the situation afterward.

There are tools for recording Wifi signal strength and that would be helpful, too.

5. It is able to play the Cable skill with the combination of Beacon + Phone. I tested the operation many times and it works but it is not as stable as only using the phone.

Besides, in the official technical document, the skill is not supported with Beacon and Phone combination. I will not use the combination with the Cable skill and this is only for a scientific test.

 

[RiverEagle]

Hi, all my dear friends,

Here is the latest detailed updated information:

After more careful tests, these are what I learned:

1. Unexpected disconnection occurs only when using Beacon + Phone. It happens every time and it always happens just during the operation and operational range.

Thanks for taking the time to sort this out. Am curious if it makes a difference if you put the phone in airplane mode but leaving wifi on? I say this because awhile ago (I can't remember the source) someone said putting their phone in airplane mode reduced interference and helped their connection better.

 

[Sky Cyclist]

Thanks for taking the time to sort this out. Am curious if it makes a difference if you put the phone in airplane mode but leaving wifi on? I say this because awhile ago (I can't remember the source) someone said putting their phone in airplane mode reduced interference and helped their connection better.

Hi Ray

The information you provided is very important and it is one of the best practices for operating Skydio 2.

I also want to repeat it here and for all of the readers, if you just happen to read this, it is one of the key factors for a better operation.

Currently, the Skydio 2 only supports Wifi 5G. I can't find any way to switch it to Narrow band anymore. The option was there but it is just gone after the latest update.

The Wifi 5G signal is good for speed but weak for transmission, I checked and tested my Skydio 2 and also beacon's wifi connection indoors and it uses 5G now and the signals are so easy to be weakened.

~~~~~~~~

(Reply to Ray's discussion)

I think I might be one of the heavy users. I prepare a phone only for the drone operation.

The phone which is used in all of the tests does not have a SIM card at all and it is only used as an RC.

I do this is because I will not be in any kinds of disruptions and only focus on the flight.

And, yes, I have another phone for communication and I turn off the phone's power in the tests. (All turn off)

Today, I also tried to record the Wifi strength but it takes much time to read them... the data is so large and I don't know what are in the log yet.

 

[RiverEagle]

Good thoughts. Strange you no longer find the option to enable Narrow Band. Skydio's documentation for the 2 and 2+ state it's available in the drone settings menu and works with either Beacon or Controller. You can find it here if you scroll down a bit to the section below Return Behavior.

I wonder if someone else with a Skydio 2 can also confirm it was removed just to make sure it's not an anomaly in your case?

 

[Sky Cyclist]

Good thoughts. Strange you no longer find the option to enable Narrow Band. Skydio's documentation for the 2 and 2+ state it's available in the drone settings menu and works with either Beacon or Controller. You can find it here if you scroll down a bit to the section below Return Behavior.

I wonder if someone else with a Skydio 2 can also confirm it was removed just to make sure it's not an anomaly in your case?

Hi Ray

I just happen to know even if there is no SIM in the phone at all. The cellular network is still "ON" for emergency calls.

So, I will use your advice for the next tests (Airplane mode ON --> Wifi only).

Here is the screenshot of the settings. The screenshot was taken while connecting Beacon. The narrow band option was there but it is not anymore after the 15.11 update.

 

[RiverEagle]

Hi Ray

I just happen to know even if there is no SIM in the phone at all. The cellular network is still on for emergency calls.

So, I will use your advice for the next tests (Airplane mode on --> Wifi only).

Here is the screenshot of the settings. The screenshot was taken while connecting Beacon. The narrow band option was there but it is not anymore after the 15.11 update.

View attachment 629

That is strange... Hopefully someone else can see if they have the same issue.

Ray

 

[Sky Cyclist]

Here is the clip of the situation.

The situation can be reproduced every time.

 

[RiverEagle]

That looks like a pretty area... Whereabouts is this?

Ray

 

[Sky Cyclist]

That looks like a pretty area... Whereabouts is this?

Ray

It is a nearby farm. Because of urbanization, it is going to disappear forever in a very short time.

I use drones to keep its final documentary.

I hope Skydio 2 is a part of my documentary jobs but it does not do well currently.

I really need Skydio inc to pay more attention and know their product ownership and also their customers seriously.

It's not only a drone.

 

[RiverEagle]

That's too bad about the farm. We need 'em more than ever. I have fond memories from my childhood days of hanging out at my Grandpa's farm back in the day.

Ray

 

[TonyPHX]

I am glad you have been able to at least fully document the issue. Are you working with Skydio support?

 

[ETdronehome]

Here is the clip of the situation.

The situation can be reproduced every time.

I don’t see how in this video that the starting of the cable cam caused the disconnect. Maybe I’m missing something.

At the beginning of the video your signal strength “radar” icon was as low as it gets (a dot with occasionally one curved line) and the video feed seemed very pixelated. Both solid indications you are are on the brink of a disconnect.

After flying like that a bit THEN you selected cable cam.

Yes you were not far away but you were having a problem BEFORE you selected an option that Skydio warns you not to pick if your using beacon and phone.

I fail to understand what you are trying to prove and have Skydio acknowledge is a problem????