Well, THAT was a first!

[wkndwarrior]

I provided production for a band last weekend for an outdoor show located at a large sports complex. My usual setup is the Mackie DL32R, with an iPad Air, which has always been completely reliable. Sound check and start of the first set went fine, but all of a sudden, my iPad starting losing connection with the router, and freezing up. I had to move very close to the router before it would reconnect again. But when I moved back to the mix position out front, it would disconnect again. A couple times, I had to disconnect the router and plug it back in again to reconnect the iPad.

Fortunately, the mix kept right on going at the last settings, so there was no disruption to the show. I was running at 5G, so I switched over to 2.4 to see if that would solve the problem. No luck. My other tech that works with me pointed out that someone was flying one of those civilian drones nearby, so I started to wonder if that was causing my problems. After a while, I no longer saw the drone flying around, and it seemed like at that point, my connection became stable and my normal long range signal returned. I had no further issues the rest of the way.

The next day, I started doing an internet search, and sure enough, it turns out these drones use both the 2.4 and 5G bands for controllers and any on-board camera.  So my theory is, the drone was jamming or overpowering my router's signal. I'm also thinking that these things must use very high power signals, since the drone can fly hundreds or maybe thousands of feet away.

This was the weirdest problem I've ever encountered so far using the DL32R. Wondering if anyone else has encountered anything like this?  Hopefully, this was just a freak occurrence, but given that these drones are becoming more popular, I would think we might see more of them flying around outdoor festivals. I sure hope I don't see any more of these flying around any future shows that I do, lol. 

[RoadRanger]

The "A" level pros use a spectrum analyzer to look for stuff on the frequencies they want to use - and would never rely on wireless as being the only control they had over the mixer. AFAIK the DL32R is the only mixer made that doesn't have a non-wireless control option . I'd at least carry a 100' or so cable so worst case you could run the router out to your mixing position within a very few feet of the iPad if things go wonky on you.

[Keyboard Magic]

I sure hope I don't see any more of these flying around any future shows that I do, lol.

A BB gun or high powered slingshot should fix the drone issue! 

I know how you feel, I was doing a GR8 grad last night in the school gym, running everything on 5GHz and using AirPlay with my iPad 2. It worked flawlessly until the last song. There was a break in between songs of course. The iPad was on all the time, and it dropped AirPlay completely at that point.

I had to reboot the iPad to re-establish the connection. It wasn't the airport express because it was communicating properly with my iPad Air 2, MF and the DL. I was sitting at the back of the gym, about 50' away from the router. Probably evil spirits.

At least with the 1608 you can drop an iPad into it, or leave one there all the time in case your wireless craps out, but there are occasions when wireless operation is the only option fortunately or unfortunately. The DL32 looks amazing, but why oh why didn't Mackie add more control options for just in case and versatility? "Only the Shadow knows" 

[MrDOS]

re: BB gun or slingshot
Why does everyone want to blow my expensive camera out of the sky?

I will let you know for sure July 4 weekend, because I am mixing FOH with a DL32R and taking crowd shots with a DJI Phantom 3.

[Michael Welter]

Is there an app that allows us to take control over a drone, and fly it into a nearby lake? 

[RoadRanger]

Is there an app that allows us to take control over a drone, and fly it into a nearby lake? 

Yes, go to your local "outdoor sports" store and ask for a 12 gauge Mossberg .

[Michael Welter]

Is there an app that allows us to take control over a drone, and fly it into a nearby lake? 

Yes, go to your local "outdoor sports" store and ask for a 12 gauge Mossberg .

And a silencer. 

[Wynnd]

They make silencers for shot guns?

[Michael Welter]

They make silencers for shot guns?

Actually, yes. 

[Keyboard Magic]

Here's a link to make you think!

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/hobby-drones-as-guided-bombs-and-the-rise-of-laser-defe-1561981467

 

[WK154]

Oh a nice Yagi or Log Periodic aimed at it would probably sink it. 

[wkndwarrior]

The "A" level pros use a spectrum analyzer to look for stuff on the frequencies they want to use - and would never rely on wireless as being the only control they had over the mixer. AFAIK the DL32R is the only mixer made that doesn't have a non-wireless control option . I'd at least carry a 100' or so cable so worst case you could run the router out to your mixing position within a very few feet of the iPad if things go wonky on you.

It wasn't an "A" level show, but I do always carry an analog back-up mixer, which I had at this show. Fortunately, the drone interference only lasted for a short while, and it was something I had to figure out as the cause of my connection problems. I had never heard of this type of device as a cause of wifi jamming before, but I'm pretty sure that is exactly what happened. Especially since my research showed they operate on the same bands. It was quite the learning experience. If I ever see another drone, I'm going to ask the promoter to have it grounded or moved a long ways away!

[dpdan]

in my opinion,
and it's just that,,,
anything that is radio controilled and is intended for above surface use, should be illegal and carry a very stiff fine unless it is used in an area specifically designated for that purpose such as a radio controlled flying park.

To me, drones are actually very dangerous in anyone's hands.

[sam.spoons]

To paraphrase a well know expression normally related to guns, "there are no dangerous drones, just dangerous pilots"

Several years ago a mate used to fly 250 m.p.h. 6ft wingspan RC jets. basically a flying bomb full of kerosene and fragile 30,000 r.p.m future shrapnel. He could only fly them on closed aerodromes with a minimum 5 mile runway. To this day I find it unbelievable that he could see it well enough to control it when it was 2 ½ miles away (a distance it covered in 36 seconds).