DJI Mini 4 Pro RANGE TEST - HOW FAR Will it GO?! - Fly More Combo PLUS Batteries and RC2

Enjoy my DJI Mini 4 Pro Range Test! Lets see how far it will go with Plus batteries and the DJI RC2 with Screen included in the Fly More Combo! Get it here amzn.to/45jasat
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Stay tuned and SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss future reviews in this series & more including flight tests, range tests and cinematic adventures.
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- Dustin & Family

[@heresteven]

Put reflective tape on it as a minimum. You can return in the early morning or late evening and use a bright flash light to find it. The tape will light up when hit by the light.

[@DVSXmedia]

dude. Great idea. I love U

[@ismaelnaja]

I was thinking the same.

[@mrstranger5893]

They have wraps now for the mini 4 that you can use to change the color of your drone. I would change the color and add reflective tape.

[@chublez]

3M makes some real great reflective films that would make the job a lot easier even come in colors that would be easier to spot like blue on the ground.

[@aMoneyYell]

Absolutely a GREAT idea!!! Going to add that tape to my drones this week! I typically add a Tile puck to the top of the drone as well.

[@1rcbking]

Those little drones are very resilient, my mini was stuck in a tree for 5 days of rain, when I got it down I dried it out for a couple of days, everything still worked fine, even the battery! Hope you find it, keep us posted.

[@rlevo]

Had the same happen with my mini se. Needed an arborist to recover my drone. Over a year later and just starting to have an issue with one of the motors.

[@clemclemson9259]

LOL - dude I was flying mine and I hit some tall grass near my buddies waterfall/pond -yep it hit that grass and dove straight into the basin about 3 feet deep. we fished it out and blew the hell out of it with an air compressor then let it sit in a bag of silica Gell and rice for a few days. It didn't hurt it at all not the card slot the cam or anything . If I was able I would post a video of the crash for as much as it sucked it was classic halarious

[@theblade66]

Thats amazing mate

[@viktorbihar5384]

Tip, use the coordinates to find your drone. Google Maps supports coordinate inputs. They are a 100% match. If I'm not mistaken, did he ever try looking for the drone in the trees? I swear, I think I saw it, but oh well.

[@morrish044]

I've watched the Mini 3, 4, Air 3, Mavic 3, and a lot more range tests so many times that I've lost count. I cannot express how much I love these videos; they are so extremely entertaining and they just inspire me to go fly my own. Thank you Dustin for this amazing series. Love your work.

[@jeffl1484]

One of the most underrated channels here, I've been researching this drone for a little bit and this is very informative. Thank you!

[@w.e.s.]

Under-rated? Dustin is famouse in the drone world especially range test. Everyone thay flys drones knows him I have no idea what your talking about

[@jeffl1484]

@@w.e.s. For some of new to this, his channel would come across as 'new', poor thing, you must've been really upset that someone who is new to this hobby would dare right something positive to OP.

[@Greego]

@@jeffl1484 Well, to be fair, to say someone is under-rated implies that they are… low rated. I see what you were getting at though but he is in the top 1% of subscribers on this platform so he is doing well.

[@jeffl1484]

@@Greego ok I respect that. My comment was actually to say he’s underrated as in for the content he provides he deserves more views. It was a compliment to him.

[@ralphderkapitaen9875]

I definitely love watching your range test videos! Good to see how strong that O4 signal still was! I am sure, you will eventually find your little drone. It was probably a few feet away from you, where ever you ever looking there. With persistence, you will eventually spot it. Good luck. Thanks for sharing!

[@JeremyBreeden89]

I think you do the best range testing for all drones. A lot of videos I see where the tittle says range test, they don’t actually test it’s max range or even close to it but man you go above and beyond. I loved my DJI mini 2 se but unfortunately it had a battery error during flight and I was only 500 meters out but where it fell I was unable to locate it even with the gps coordinates due to the heavily wooded area it landed in. Btw I think the angle you had the camera at for this video is great for us viewers to kinda be able to visually see how far you’ve traveled by seeing the ground and trees out in the distance. Keep up all your awesome work man.

[@mdr212roger4]

I just bought one of these as my first drone. I really appreciate these videos. You explain things well and I found your videos very helpful! Thanks!

[@Pirelli.]

Even if no one will fly that far in real life, it's a great test, very impressive what the little guy (mini 4 pro) can do. Thanks! 👋👋☺

[@w.e.s.]

Everybody that is fun will do this. I do it at lest once a month

[@gtiguy1992able]

Technically not legal to fly this far. Always have to keep visual line of sight

[@samholdsworth420]

@@gtiguy1992able wrong

[@gtiguy1992able]

@@samholdsworth420 well in the USA it’s illegal to fly beyond you visual line of sight

[@John_Doe_6996]

@@gtiguy1992able yeah, but our laws are made by criminals, so F them.

[@DRTOLLZ]

When Dustin does a range test you know it's going to be an entertaining video! Got my popcorn in hand.

[@Twobarpsi]

Got my beer!

[@JustinParksandRides]

Hahaha

[@RainBitcoins]

Oh ya same here dude

[@CharlesTLam]

I noticed the general area.. when you are flying your Mavic to check the vicinity ,if you haven't done it already ..check that one tree that is brown sticks out from the rest ,follow that line and should have landed just before that brown tree .if you know what I'm talking about ..good angle to explore area

[@RandyCAstleMPM]

@DrTollz Your avatar looks like @billykyle 😆

[@RonaldBrown59]

Sorry you lost your drone during testing, and I hope you can still recover it someday. Great video, the Mini 4 Pro does have amazing signal and great battery life. Thanks for sharing Dustin.

[@Blztrls]

Thanks for the video it really helped reduce the range anxiety for my Mini 4 Pro as I now know that my everyday flying will never tax the range limit.

[@grahammasala998]

The only review that's so satisfying to watch for 1 hour. Like who DF watches a review that's more than an hour? Unless it's THIS satisfying and informative.

[@jfunk79]

Yo! Sorry you lost ur drone bud and hope you eventually spot it one of these test vids. Honestly, way to push the envelope like always! Thats why we watch you bro, for your insights, knowledge and of course testing. Your not afraid to go to the next level with these wonders of tech for us, so we dont have to. Great vid man, keep them coming!

[@lnrmedia208]

On the mavic forums they have a crash and flyaway thread. There are experts there that can fully analyse the final flight data and extrapolate the resting place. Worth doing. 👍

[@FoxFaderWorld]

That's cool!

[@rogerhalt3991]

Take into account the wind speed and direction to find out if the wind took it

[@daviduk2510]

It's a great idea. I'm looking into this for the local community. Thanks for sharing.

[@slrcreative]

Hope you found it. I loved the video and while, after watching hours of other drone videos this evening and deciding after those, that I really don't think the drone thing is for me, your video has changed my mind completely. I'm really going to look into it now. Thanks for the fun.

[@DAVEEYEINTHESKY]

Always gets your heart going on your flight tests ❤😮

[@terryneilbooth]

As others have said landing earlier could have conserved some power to be able to activate the flashing lights and alert buzzer. Despite the outcome it was brilliant and impressive range test. Hope you find the Mini 4 Pro soon 👍

[@The1WhoCanSee-yk2sw]

I found it thx

[@rangerst_870]

how else would he have the footage from the drone?

[@DustinDunnill]

Riiiigghhhttt...sure you did 😂

[@AFKJACKK]

did you ever find it?@@DustinDunnill

[@ingwarrce9900]

@@rangerst_870 you have a "drone" if not I don't know what you are talking about. For me, the recording is saved both on the card and on the phone.

[@Graybear78]

I have been flying fixed wing for 40 years. I'm debating on a drone. This helps tremendously on making my decision. Thank you for your efforts. Note: I like the ground view with the horizon.

[@dmystify1381]

they are a great tool,but instances like this are nerve wrecking.

[@shotgun4257]

You are my favorite reviewer on here man, I always thought how cool it would be to meet ya. But thought I have never been to Hawaii. But now with you in the southwest, maybe someday! I live in Arizona. Thanks for your work

[@moikee1971]

I really enjoy watching your videos!! Especially the range tests! Thank you!

[@user-od2xl9ys7p]

Thank you for taking the time to make and share this video. I found it interesting as I am about to purchase a mini 4 pro. To answer your question about the camera angle during the flyout and return, I suggest that seeing less empty sky and more ground is more visually interesting.

[@marvfear1385]

That was great to share with us mortals. Brought back memories at the end of my first and only loss years ago with the mini 1. I bought another mini straight away and did the aerial view thing and marvelled at how different areas in high growrh looked just like the shape of the drone and color. Merv Perth Australia

[@ericplatt6884]

Great test Dustin. Entertaining and informative. Your videos are one of the things that inspired me to get a drone (on number 3 do far...). I learned stuff from you losing them too. So, worth it to me, haha!

[@moretoliving2236]

Dustin, I hope this can be of some help. Your video at 1:02:10 where you were landing your mavic 3 IS NOT where your mavic 4 pro was when it went down. If you freeze your frame at that time stamp, you can see that horizontal fallen log. Your mavic 4 pro was in general approach of where dead tree is on this frame (right of frame) and bottom fallen log (there is one north, that one is too far north) due left towards only purple tree in this frozen frame. If you pause video at 51:28 there is a purple tree right next to your telemetry that says 6.8mph. If you were landing mavic 3 where you were looking, you were looking at the wrong place. In fact if you see the dirt road that (I assume is parking area) there is a lone tree that stands in the middle of the road loop. If you draw a straight line from that tree to purple tree, a smidge right... that is where drone is a smidge to right off the purple tree. Edit: I left you a message on facebook with actual frames freezed and marked up.

[@DustinDunnill]

Thanks. The Mavic 3 location was just an example and base launch/land location. We searched in about a 50 or so foot wide column from behind DJI's lost point all the way to parking lot in case it kept moving forward. I appreciate the input and I'll take a look at your markups! 🍻

[@DustinDunnill]

This is exactly at the find my drone gps point next to the dead tree. I think it's got to be around there 🍻

[@hopper1629]

@@EarthSouthside It may have landed. I had the same thing happen with my mini 2. It was on zero battery, trying to limp it home. It was about 700 feet away from me when the signal cut out. I figured that it shut off and dropped out of the sky. I jogged towards it up a decently steep hill in no big hurry because I thought it had already crashed. It took me a couple minutes but as I got closer, I could hear it. So I sprinted the last bit and as I come around the last tree and there it was, still hovering over some tall grass. 😃

[@qiqi2692]

Attach a gps tracker ?

[@leonardwitucke1]

@@qiqi2692 Airtag would have helped. Also it was a bonehead attempt.

[@joshuaharrell7187]

Love it! I'm sitting here watching at 4:35 am waiting for sunrise so I can get back in the air.

[@raybr1727]

If you panned down, perhaps you would have seen those random hikers in the landing zone! Sorry for the loss but wow, what a wealth of info for the rest of us. Your narration and experience provides a ton of data we are not going to get anywhere else. Thanks and good luck with the next one!

[@kevinsdroneadventures6242]

Thanks for 2 great range tests Dustin. I'm sorry you haven't been able to find the mini 4 pro yet. I agree with you that you should have pointed the camera down and started landing in a clearing.

[@mistiquecalem4997]

Your range test are truly awesome, so sorry you lost your drone , hope to get an update if you find it

[@mrjaxxon15]

The wireless signal strength is amazing, that distance and good control with no flicker on great video quality

[@joshuaharrell7187]

Loved the vid! I just got into this and bought the Potensic Atom to learn on, I'll be getting this drone next thanks to that distance and clarity, I'm eventually going to buy a different drone for every day of the month lol. Thank you again for the video.

[@explorewithgeoff]

This was so entertaining, thanks for sharing. I have a Mini 3 Pro and the other day was flying at night, and completely misjudged the wind and couldn't believe how fast the battery died. It tried to force land and I haven't had that before, so wasn't sure of the best way to deal with it. It was over a river near the end and I was panicking and moved it AWAY from me instead. No idea why! Holding the left stick up, the highest it went to was 10.3 feet (maybe it's programmed to do that with the Mino 3 Pro?) and luckily that was enough to get it over the river bridge I was standing near. So I ran across and grabbed it! I've never been so freakin' nervous. Teehee.

[@rolands50]

I admire you for remaining so calm after losing the drone - I wouldn't have been able to maintain my composure like you did! Good luck with the search...

[@spkendrick]

he has DJI care... fly away insurance... i hope

[@maluminse6013]

​@@spkendrickcan't imagine that it would cover this

[@leonardwitucke1]

@@maluminse6013 especially when he did it on purpose on camera.

[@delta992011]

Very impressive edge limit testing on your battery. Thanks for sharing. The way you went to try ;locating was informative. I have had my drone stuck high in a tree once and only way to get it down was by throwing a stick at.

[@mirandahotspring4019]

I was thinking of getting one of these. That first flight was impressive. Excellent video, good range, I'm sold!

[@mirandahotspring4019]

@@v1rotation Why not? I live in a place with low population, wide open spaces, and low electronic pollution.

[@rolands50]

Great stuff - Just watched the first 5 seconds before commenting. Looking forward to the next 1 hour and 4 minutes!

[@Valhalla764]

I feel your pain I've lost a Phantom 4 and a Mavic Mini both over the sea but your videos are the reason I bought the mini 4 pro a couple of days ago it's an amazing drone thanks for your videos . Hopefully you find the drone 👍

[@dmystify1381]

😢omg,i couldnt handle that,but you have to hey.

[@capt.craiglehrke4395]

Remember you had a pretty stiff left to right crosswind. So it is likely that the drone would be blown to the right of its return course and its expected final landing position is possibly off to the right of the final line of flight.

[@neoclone1]

Man, I really thought it was gonna make it back on that 2nd test. I really enjoy your informative videos. I subscribed to your channel from since the first Eachine 250 racing drone vids you had posted when you were on Maui. From there I went deep into FPV freestyle drone creating. One of my most favorite of your vids was the parrot long range test from Maui to Lanai and back - that was way impressive! Hope you find the mini 4 - waiting on an update vid when you do find it! ~Aloha 😃🤙🏼

[@jogonuk]

Great vid as ever, confirming the MP4 has good connection/range and occusync 4 does the job very nicely, footage was excellent and am grateful for you pushing the limits so as to help others. Don’t give up looking, that bird needs to be found. Thanks again Dustin!

[@michelbeussen3920]

I lost my drone in Tenerife 2 weeks ago. Close to a road according to the flightlog. When I got there it turned out to be a ravine. Went down, searched for 2 hours. No luck. Next day I went back, put the last known flightlog coordinates in my phone and found it in 15 minutes. This led me directly to the drone. Might be an idea. Drone was fine.

[@Allworldallday]

How did you access the flightlog coordinates?

[@ashimasquare9876]

Yeah, I will love to know how you access the flight log coordinate too

[@BiggerBadderBrian]

Reminds me of a similar situation I had with my Mini 2 late 2022 while doing a range test. The limp home mode just completely screwed me and then the Mini 2 just became the wind's b11tch. I hate that 6mph limp home bollocks. Sold it a month later and got a bigger drone. Thanks for the video, always fun to watch. Also showed me that the Mini 4 is programmed much like the Mini 2. Will avoid.

[@lancealbon46]

Dustin Dunnill - Drone Range Tests: 1. DJI Mavic 3 - 8.956 miles / 14.413 km 2. DJI Air 3 - 7.753 miles / 12.478 km 3. DJI Mini 3 Pro - 6.676 miles 10.744 km 4. DJI Mini 4 Pro - 6.460 miles 10.396 km (LOST) 5. DJI Mavic 2 Pro - 6.091 miles / 9.803 km 6. Autel EVO 2 - 5.433 miles / 8.744 km 7. FIMI X8SE 2020 Edition - 5.312 miles / 8.549 km 8. DJI Mavic Air 2 - 4.948 miles / 7.964 km 9. DJI FPV Drone - 4.356 miles / 7.010 km 10. V-Copter Falcon - 4.355 miles / 7.009 km 11. DJI Air 2S - 4.199 miles / 6.758 km 12. DJI Mavic 2 Pro (Light Urban) - 3.618 miles / 5.822 km 13. Autel EVO - 3.498 miles / 5.629 km 14. DJI Mini - 3.426 miles / 5.514 km 15. DJI Mavic Pro + Parabolic - 3.173 miles / 5.107 km 16. DJI Mavic Pro - 2.938 miles / 4.729 km 17. DJI Mavic Air - 2.863 miles / 4.608 km 18. DJI Mini 2 - 2.850 miles / 4.587 km 19. Parrot ANAFI - 2.200 miles / 3.541 km 20. DJI Phantom 4 Pro - 2.105 miles / 3.388 km 21. DJI Spark + Parabolic - 2.076 miles / 3.341 km 22. DJI Mavic Air (Urban Range) - 1.944 miles / 3.128 km 23. DJI Spark + OTG Cable - 1.884 miles / 3.031 km 24. Skydio 2 - 1.039 miles / 1.673 km

[@Samlol23_drrich]

You forgot “line of sight: 500 feet”

[@DroneUpp]

I thought you flew the Autel Nano Plus as well??

[@justaguyfromreddit]

My record is 7km with phantom 4

[@thomashardy9994]

I had no idea the Mavic 3 flew so far.

[@DustinDunnill]

I never did the Autel Nano but maybe I will soon 🍻

[@dixienormus8097]

Did you ever find it???

[@shopdat]

Thanks for sharing man. You handled it well. Emotionally.

[@christopherm8215]

Reflective tape is helpful, I have been taping an airtag to my drones and it has saved me twice now by having the airtag lol. Best of luck.

[@slapdat.byteme]

Beside landing earlier to activate the lights & buzzer, capturing the last transmitted GPS coordinates (since the drone was descending straight down to land) and searching to those coordinates would be the best means to locate it.

[@jamdungdrones2424]

Because of the strong winds during the time of your range test the Drone may have been carried as its Landing by the wind. Extend the perimeter of the search and you will find it because you're very close to the area that it came down. Continue to search more to the east as there was variable winds coming from the south prior to the crash. You're still a legend in my book.

[@DustinDunnill]

Thanks! I will 🍻

[@MrDjafal]

Please find it q.q @@DustinDunnill

[@nomars4827]

Take into account that slopes can also make it slide somewhere further.

[@deutschejar]

Nice video man! sorry for your mini 4 but I was looking for something like that to know how much further you can push it

[@dewenne3721]

One Year ago i already equipped all my Mini Drones with reflective surfaces as much fields as possible. But i never need it. But in your case it woud help you - i hope you will be sucessful in finding it - dont give up. An Thanks for this great video. I believed while i was watching it that you will bring it back. What i learned from your video .. exact wht you said - look down where your landing point will be. But i think you have been only surprised by the Connection loss.

[@bertf5793]

That was an excellent test and thank you for doing so! I just bought a mini pro 4 and it’s good to see the test results of your drone. I’m sorry that you’ve lost the the mini but hopefully you can find it. I myself have thought of the “what if” and reflective tape definitely one way. Another thing I thought of was using an Apple AirTag when flying and losing power. If you’re conducting the test I imagine it’s will have Apple to help find. Unsure if it will affect performance or not. Food for thought.

[@N1NJAKIDD]

That's a great idea to attach a an airtag to your drone for range tests, he would of found it much easier

[@spayrex_]

You can definitly do that yourself but if you wanna go to the max a 10 to 20% increase in weight is a lot

[@asc23channel]

Two things come to mind: 1.) Painting (or vinyl) the upper body part neon orange might be smart 2.) A buzzer (like LR fpv) could be helpful Best wishes

[@Hat_Uncle]

for #1, orange plastidip doesn't add too much weight with light spray application. You'd just have to be sure the solvent didn't damage the drone.

[@asc23channel]

@@Hat_Uncle Agreed! You could for example use waterbased acrylics / airbrush colors. Or, as mentioned, vinyl/decals. They even make sets for specific drones. Best wishes

[@djipreview]

Orange sharpie boom

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

could also use a RFID chip. People use them on their pets, why not drones.

[@DustinDunnill]

I should definitely be marking them with orange for range tests. Adding weight won't be ideal for this type of test as it will largely effect the flight time/ distance 🍻

[@adamgaulin7821]

Balls of Steele man. Had anxiety watching it, but glad somebody’s doing it ! Cheers.

[@CarlosAustin]

Interesting video. Guess pointing the camera down and landing it yourself when you knew the drone was in trouble, you might have had a better chance to recover the bird. Thanks for sharing the tips and updates that DJI have done to the software and hardware. Stay safe. Happy Holidays to you and your family.

[@donchurchill8177]

I did enjoy your range test Dustin. I was a little irritated at the lost of your drone but I had to reevaluate my attitude. Your test was definitely entertaning. I also know that when testing the limits of anything, the outer limits helps you know when it is time to turn back. So your video cemented my decision to purchase the mini 4 pro. It is videos like this that teach us what to do, when to do it and when to call it off. And, I hope you are able to find you drone. Let us know when you do.Thank you again Dustin.

[@DustinDunnill]

Thanks. Glad you are one the viewers that can appreciate all the info here. Even though the ending was not perfect 🍻. Still looking and I'll make a video of the rescue if found 🍻

[@Alex-xu2pd]

hope you find it. Great video! @@DustinDunnill

[@haroonvlogs5437]

Lesson here is when pushing battery . 1>Find a spot to land 2> point camera down and take a pic or record small video. 3>give it a land command. 4> go to location and find it with help of video and landing location. If you lost connection while flying it’s much much harder if it landed automatically with a mind of its own on low battery .

[@walker-snow]

You need a landing spot with a landmark to be able to locate it from google earth images. There should be some distinct features of the landing spot. If you'll land the drone at some random location in the forest you are done.

[@Staryuuki_Fan]

if you’re flying home, flying home with the wind that way you’re facing the wind, so the drone will fly back easier with the wind and if you lose GPS in remote signal, if you’re flying against the wind going home, you will have much more of a risk to lose it as the wind will blow the signal and interfere

[@mikeg8630]

I think you needed to broaden your search area. Maybe if you made a larger circle it just be right out in the open. It's obviously not where you thought it would be, you would have spotted it. Thank you I'm always amazed by your videos. I used to fly RC helis maybe 15-20yrs ago, but your flight times are impressive.

[@user-nf2vp2ug2j]

Great info & video 👍👍 If possible tell us what area you’re flying in. As a climber I always like to know what mountains 🏔️ are in the picture. I’m new to drones and recently purchased this Mini 4 pro so I’m really enjoying your videos.

[@enklaste]

FIND IT!! 1. attach a chinese UV flashlight on the Mavic and let the flourescent light guide you. 😅 If the dji white body come off as flourescent (most white plastic do) you WILL find it. (You'd probably test the uv trick on a different dji white body first). 2. If you have a dji with the same behavior on low battery/ forced landing mode. Do an exact re-run of the forced landing in a controlled environment. To see if it will avoid obstacles and if the landing zone and gps report do match. Maybe it paused the gps logging way before actually landing. Then you are searching at the wrong spot. Proactive measurements: Like many suggested, reflective tape is a good one, but could easily be spotted by others. For stealth i would suggest painting the body with transparent flourescent color. And/or add an apple iTag. Great video overall. You won a subscriber. ❤

[@dominofive5075]

Hey Dustin, your advanced settings will determine the drones behavior after the point of disconnect. You can manually select to have the drone either RTH, immediately decend, or hover. So your drone may have plotted a course back to "home" for the remaining 3-5% battery life. Hope this helps you find the M4P

[@theurbanartist775]

Not true, my mini 3 lost signal and never returned. I waited forever and pushed the control sticks upward. At around 900ft I regained signal, pushed rth several times but the drone just wouldn’t return. It continued to drift away and landed on top of a building according to find my drone. This was in the beginning of November and DJI still haven’t replaced my drone. I missed thanksgiving pictures, my daughter’s birthday and now Christmas 😡 DJI has really upset and mistreated me this time around!

[@Repoman46]

@@theurbanartist775 Right, what he's saying is the drone might have started RTH (after disconnecting) and died somewhere along the way. He would need to check those settings to determine what it was set to do.

[@DustinDunnill]

At critical battery like this was at the end, it will not go into RTH even if it is set to on signal loss 🍻

[@DustinDunnill]

What was your battery level when you tried RTH last?

[@dominofive5075]

@Repoman46 thanks repoman. Could be a cool feature to test. Even if the drone had 3% battery left, it would still have x=seconds left of flight time. The drone can be set to hover in place, descend, or RTH in the event of a signal loss. So for the remaining x=seconds of flight time, it may have changed its trajectory towards home for its last seconds, if the setting was set to rth.

[@StratnSed]

Dustin, Really awesome range video. As exciting as the IMAX Theater! One of the things that has saved me several times in finding a downed drone has been that my drones are covered with fluorescent drone skins - fluorescent orange. In one instance I was able to find my drone at the bottom of a river due to its tremendous visibility. Another little trick that has saved me is to fly in the daytime with an attached strobe running. Once the evening sun sets the drone's location your drone's location will become instantly evident. The batteries in a strobe run for m-a-n-y hours. I understand that on a range test one is hoping to carry no payload but the strobes I use are extremely light and yes, once you add the strobe you are over 250 grams so that may be a consideration. Keep up the great work. Your videos are 5-star for sure *****!

[@DustinDunnill]

I recently got a lightweight "pebblebee" tracker with sound and light activation. Planning on trying it on the next range tests to see how it works 🍻

[@IDVDalot]

can you please post the strobes and batteries that you use? I want to do this to. Thanks

[@StratnSed]

Using both Firehouse Arc 5 and Lume Cube strobes with rechargeable internal batteries. Both units run 5-6 hours on a full charge.

[@eddie1382011]

Great review, I'm totally sold on the 4. I use them for jeeping videos and all the censors will help with the active track. Thanks a bunch.

[@djroman75]

Great video. I wonder is attaching an apple airtag would be useful to find a lost drone.

[@ZenMotionSim]

That’s what we’ve been all waiting for!!! 🎉🥳🫡👊 Edit after seeing whole video: I would assume the moment you’ve lost the signal on rc2 was the moment battery died completely so it has to be somewhere there. It fell from significant height so probably on the ground already. Keep looking! 🤞👊

[@john-martin]

You got a new subscriber!!

[@dominofive5075]

This video was nutz! Putting an air tag on it would help. That was awesome!

[@sandiatek7201]

This video definitely taught me something, have your missing drone finding strategy in place before you fly one of those expensive toys.

[@stevejakab]

Great video. The problem was when you had 10% spare battery, you should have used an extra 5% outwards, and then 5% back, not an extra 10% out. Hope you find it

[@generalgrafx]

Yep.

[@goover78]

Maybe for the next range test it might be a good idea to put a some bright colored sticker on it.

[@BataSug_POV]

I think controlled landing is the best

[@simons.5442]

homer said fuel and fire good

[@HurleyMan3]

Dropped a like and a sub for the sheer dedication in this video

[@TonyVon]

I learn a few great things on your video! Definitely will add to memory- if ever in a panic situation to force land, tilt camera straight down. Retrieving last 10 seconds of video is an important clue for retrieval of a downed/lost drone. Maybe DJI will add that as an emergency option on under ‘Controls or Safety’ to automatically aim camera down for last 10 seconds of a forced landing? Hope you find your Mini 4 Pro!

[@MyChannel-cf6ue]

The tilt is due to compensation for the effects of wind vs your commanded flight path. Next time try turning towards the direction of the tilt .. will level out and free up some battery power to applied elsewhere as required. Great video 😊

[@DustinDunnill]

If you notice at the end before it's lost, the compass horizon seems almost like the drone was glitching. Could have been the wind but it looked algorithmic to me hence the call out on screen 🍻

[@brianmann01]

Hi Dustin, I think I know what may have happened. Your drone was originally flying to its home point. You diverted that path and flew it towards a clearing. When the drone lost connection it still had 3 volts or so remaining. I believe what happened was the drone had no connection back to the controller and thus the location is skewed. That being said it would have begun traveling towards its original home point. If you try to vector it’s last known location with the home point it will be along that line. Shoulda coulda painted it fluorescent orange or put an air tag on it but you will find it if you travel from the last known location and that home point. Good luck.

[@DustinDunnill]

Worth a try. In my experience they won't try to return when in forced landing mode 🍻

[@brianmann01]

@@DustinDunnill I see what your saying. Hope you find it.

[@jasonbronson672]

Airtag is a great idea.

[@atlesifeyst2185]

@@DustinDunnill sad part is you can see a landmark in the video of that loop turn around, drone is likely in a 200m radius of that area. just too damn small to see easily.

[@tomasserdmanis5183]

@@DustinDunnilldid you find your drone in the end ? Apple tag I think I will put on mine ,would do you think about fishing with it ,would that be possible ? I mean to throw the hook far in and just come back

[@BNatoAk]

Your the range test master brother!

[@MrEagleeye58]

You can have a 433mhz garage opener board with a 12volt lithium camera battery attached to a Piezo buzzer. That way you can trigger it even if your main batteries are out as it will be an independent system. We use to do slope soaring and slopes are full of bushes, its quite hard to find the model plane when it crashed into the bushes.

[@boony213]

What affect would putting a airtag have affect on battery life? Extra weight on the drone etc. I wonder if it's better in these scenarios is when the drone is down to 5% battery left, is to look for a safe clearing area to land

[@DirtyBird]

Very little as it only weighs a few grams. Problem is the range of an AirTag is very short. In this case we know the general vicinity where the drone went down so it could prove helpful.

[@rangerst_870]

That 4+ mile range is actually really dang good! I did a test with a Mavic Pro series 1 a few years back and had it at 125 feet and got 2 miles away with 64% battery remaining. I chickened out and brought it back and it landed with 22% thanks to the tailwind. I actually just sold a second Mavic Pro I had a couple weeks ago.

[@leemillington7164]

Great video. Our first aid kit is always available and in view for people if needed. It’s surprising how many people have nothing in their vehicle for emergency options.

[@HULKDJBELL]

This is a dope video i just purchased this drone today my first drone..it would be cool when the drone returns home it calculates and tells you the arrival time to the distance home in advance.

[@kippur777]

Add an air tag to the drone. Then you can track it with your cell phone. Also, you could add high vis reflective tape or paint to help in the recovery.

[@garybamsch6352]

An airtag only works if an iPhone goes within the nfc range of it. Not likely to work in this type of situation

[@pogosenior]

I think the airtag could have been a great help. He only needs to bring his Iphone within 100 feet of drone to find it. @@garybamsch6352

[@kippur777]

If you have an I phone it may work!

[@user-mr9rr1gk1v]

I put a tile pro (android and iPhone) on my mini3 pro. Could track the location of my drone anywhere it was regardless of range with a small subscription fee ( $120/year) . I would not fly an expensive drone without it! No interference, but it may be over 249g's...idk I never weighed it. 🥂 cheers and happy hovering 🍻

[@robertlockwood-ts4zz]

A suggestion to DJI maybe, what about a high pitched locater beep that can be enabled once you’re in the area?

[@Jakecloudsuck]

They make a small beeper that I attach to all my flyers ! When it goes down, I put on my “hunting earphones” and walk to'it

[@kirylllable]

Yep, happened to me once as well. Was flying drone in the mountains and lost connection all of a sudden. Tried to look for it for 3 hours in 6 feet snow. Got too dangerous as there were rocks and very steep hills so I gave up. My location also was switching up on me every time I got closer.

[@meade916]

I just got my mini 4. My first REAL drone. Says 20km on the box. That is like 12 miles. At first I was thinking how a limit of 5 or 6 miles out is kind of a rip off because of the range it claims to have. But I guess you have to factor in the trip back (in this video) too which is getting close to 10-11 miles. So this thing did pretty good actually. I love mine I am not willing to go that far with it. Thanks for doing that for us though!

[@thriftysurvivor6117]

There's a difference between flight time and flight distance. I figured the low speed wouldn't yield nearly as much distance. If you're flying at twice the speed but have 30% less flight time you'll still go further than at the lower speed with 30% more flight time.

[@flyNfrank]

I use to find my dji drones by the flight log file located in the device I used with the controller. In your case that file should be in your controller. You should be able to at least locate the file based on the date. Respond if you need additional help. My guess is the drone did not make as far as you visually saw it fly based on the camera angle.

[@DustinDunnill]

The find my drone feature uses the flight log and last known coordinates to help locate it does it not? Although I can see it being useful if it was still allowing input from sticks and traveling beyond it's logged and transmitted GPS point 🍻

[@nardesh127]

Great flight, Enjoyed

[@iabsoriw433]

Awesome! Mine comes tomorrow. I'm psyched

[@pksteffen]

Thank you for pushing the limits and doing a real world test. FPV drones can be set up with a beeper on the motors when lost that lasts until the battery goes or you can add an external beeper with its own battery. We may need to invest in one of those for you. 😅 I know you’ll find it. It’s a pain, but it’s there. Great stuff as always.

[@DustinDunnill]

I'd just be worried about the added weight for these range tests. It will drastically affect a drone of this weight. I'm long overdue for marking them orange for range tests which I'll start doing 🍻

[@pksteffen]

@@DustinDunnill it would add 5g if you used something like the Vifly beeper but that would definitely go against what you’re doing which is all stock. I just feel your pain. I’ve had to search for quads in some gnarly desert situations. Looking forward to the video where you locate it though. Cheers!

[@Samlol23_drrich]

Starting a fund for a new one.

[@DustinDunnill]

Thanks Sam! 🙂🍻

[@hawkgodman]

wow. I reckon thats a search and rescue. Mine being delivered tomorrow, cant wait.

[@Dan_dont_know]

Great range test mate. I just got over8 kms with my m3p.👍

[@thriftysurvivor6117]

Unless I want to look at the ground or want to center an object into the center of frame, I always go with the rule of thirds when adjusting my camera angle; that's 1/3 sky and 2/3 ground. As to where your drone went, it must be one of those drone eating trees that devoured it. Really though Dustin, I'm sorry about your loss of your drone. Did you have care refresh, and would it cover that?

[@DustinDunnill]

I've received another Mini 4 to continue testing but not giving up on the lost one 🍻

[@thriftysurvivor6117]

@@DustinDunnill Just ask the next coyote if it walked off with it. 🤣😂🤣

[@DustinDunnill]

😂 very well could have been snatched up by an animal thinking it was a fallen bird 🍻

[@thriftysurvivor6117]

@@DustinDunnill I hope not but I was thinking that could be.

[@wiggylab1957]

With a little Ingenuity I think you could add a small piazzo buzzer

[@GroveKitty]

Aww I understand your pain :( I was about 3 miles away when a hawk attacked my Mini 3 drone mid flight and it disconnected and got lost! 😞 I hope you find your drone and thank you for the sacrifice to inform us on the Mini 4! ❤

[@TradeWorks_Construction]

I liked the reflective tape advise others were saying but one thing you can do to help yourself is change the camera view to straight down after you know the direction it’s flying forward to. Then when the camera cuts out you’ll at least have a good top view of the last picture it was at.

[@raytherrien2851]

Hello from Chicopee Massachusetts love your videos keep up the great videos… BUT, I wanted to say why DONT YOU USE AIRTAGS IF YOU HAVE APPLE or androids equivalent on the drones before the range test? Apple will give you EXACT location arrows and directions with feet back to your device. ALSO, how about a ONE WAY ultimate range test since we seem to run outta battery and only lose one bar on the rc scale. Use the air tag plan a good location approx 7 to say 13 miles where you can access by car or walking and let’s see what happens? Thanks man good luck

[@DustinDunnill]

Thanks but tracking tags are too heavy for a drone this small. You'd lose 25% of the flight from the weight. 🍻

[@raytherrien2851]

AirTag only weighs 11grams that's NOTHING....@@DustinDunnill

[@yianni-rz8uh]

Hi Dustin, I’m pretty sure the drone powered off and dropped out of the sky when the screen went black. I don’t think it would have lost signal since you still had a clear line of sight and all of a sudden it just went from a fall 5 bars of RC and a very clear video feed straight to nothing. Normally what would happen if it lost signal, it would quickly start dropping from 5 bars straight down to 1 bar in red and then say “rc signal lost”. Whereas this time as soon as the video feed froze the telemetry stopped moving and RC bars dropped from a fall 5 bars to nothing all at the same time. It did also say aircraft in auto power off protection and low battery voltage. Either way, hopefully you find it 👍

[@DustinDunnill]

You may be right. Others have the same opinion also. I'm hoping it may have shut down all symptoms robbing power so it could land at least. Still searching 🍻

[@zapeirsky]

THANKS......Watching for long time...very good detailed INFORMATION.....

[@bobtruck1594]

Awesome uploads!

[@Runningmanuk420]

battery seem to drain alot faster on the 4 compared to the 3 nice video as always dustin peace out

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

battery drain is going to depend on how hard you push the sticks and how hard the wind is blowing at the time of flight... the direction you are flying.. ect ect..

[@DustinDunnill]

I really think the cycled battery would have performed better in the second flight 🍻

[@DAXimusTT]

Hey Dustin thanks for pushing the envelope! 5:30 you were still pretty high so if it lost power completely it definitely would not have gone straight down. I'd continue searching the surrounding areas if you haven't already. Let us know if you find it.

[@DAXimusTT]

did you find it ?

[@DustinDunnill]

Not yet. I'll make a video if I do 🍻