Well, I can say that I've joined the ranks of those who have crash their Avata 2 in less than 24 hours. This is a first for me.  
  

To set the stage, I have a circuit that I fly that is an area that has a few structures and pine trees. I’ve been flying this course for some time with my Avata’s to keep up proficiency, and have never had any issues when using the Controller 2 and the goggle v2 and 2. So, yesterday after receiving my Avata 2, I flew around my house and through our barn without any issues, now I wanted to see how it would fly a little distance away from me. I started the flight using my typical course to get a feel for it. I started with a full charge on the Avata 2, Goggles 3, and Controller 3.  

  

During the flight, I noticed that the HD signal to the goggles was getting weak on occasion, so I kept the flight close within 600’. When the signal was fluctuating, I didn’t notice if the RC signal was dropping as well. As I was turning the Avata, to fly perpendicular to me, the goggles image froze on me and indicated that I lost the signal. I tried to stop it with the pause button, but I couldn’t confirm anything. I waited to see if the RTH command kicked in, but still nothing. I figured I would need to do a retrieve at this point and used the map to locate it.  

  

I found the Avata 2 at the base of some pine trees, and fortunately, nothing broken.  I retrieved the flight video to review, and to my surprise, it flew another 150 past when I lost the signal, flew between powerlines and descended straight into the trees.  The drone lost the signal connection at 52 feet above the ground and 541 feet away from me. Like I said, I have flown my other Avatas through this perimeter course before, using the goggles 2 and v2 and with the controller 2 with no issues.

I inquired on social media forums to see if anyone else has had a similar issue with signal drop, and to my surprise, I found that there are others out there that have had the same experience of losing the goggle signal and control in the same fashion.  

Also a point of interest, the Controller 3 signal is tunneled thru the goggles 3 unlike the Controller 2,  which explains why there is no visible external antenna on the Controller 3.

A quick question to the group. If you purchased a Avata 2 and are currently flying it,  have any of you lost the signal thru the goggles and or lost control when the drone is obviously still in range or not blocked by structures?  

Video of the flight after lossing the signal.

https://cdn.djivideos.com/video_play/7367c8e4-f548-40ec-9053-e64e095ed08f

Glad to hear your drone survived ok. Your experience is concerning. I have not had an opportunity to test mine as the kit had to be returned due to defective goggles. I have seen quite a few YouTube videos of goggles recordings showing the signal weakening at very close ranges. And several of these were in fairly unobstructed areas and from the US where the signal output should be in FCC mode. When i get my replacement Avata2 I will be testing in the same locations I fly my Avata 1 and comparing. I will report back with the results. What I am seeing now doesn't look promising as I was hoping for a bit more penetration through the trees in the forest trails where I fly my Avata quite often.

MRDroneRookie Posted at 4-22 15:12
Glad to hear your drone survived ok. Your experience is concerning. I have not had an opportunity to test mine as the kit had to be returned due to defective goggles. I have seen quite a few YouTube videos of goggles recordings showing the signal weakening at very close ranges. And several of these were in fairly unobstructed areas and from the US where the signal output should be in FCC mode. When i get my replacement Avata2 I will be testing in the same locations I fly my Avata 1 and comparing. I will report back with the results. What I am seeing now doesn't look promising as I was hoping for a bit more penetration through the trees in the forest trails where I fly my Avata quite often.

I had issue with my goggles as well. The left diopter knob would not lock.

Nice crash!  : )  

Not sure if this applies in your case, but did you fly the circuit first to check for relative signal strength around that area?  There can always be signal congestion and interference, so just wondering if you kind of "surveyed" the area before embarking on your high speed demolition derby?  : )  Still cool to see those wires whizzing right by!

Just so we are clear, do you mean:

A) controller 3 = fpv remote controller 3
B) controller 3 = motion controller 3

I believe you are referring to A since you talked about the "absence" of an antenna but maybe not since the MC3 doesn't appear to have the big bulb as well.  Are you thinking the RC3 lack of an antenna has anything to do with the Goggles3 losing the signal early?  You mentioned losing visual (video) but the drone kept flying and it doesn't fly by itself and if the connection is lost, the drone should freeze so maybe you were still giving it the gas with the RC3, maybe?  When you let go of the RC3 (before you attempt to pause or RTH), doesn't the drone come to a standstill immediately?  Where the portion of the video leading up to that crash, like when you were making your turn?  Is it possible you PAUSE and RTH after the drone had already crashed?

Have you tried MC3 at the same course?

What does the logs say?

I always thought a loss of signal from the Goggles would cause the drone to STOP but maybe it has to be a complete disconnect and not a partial disconnect.  You could be flying blind for a few second with video that is still connected but un-usable.

This is why I hate buying new drones launch, the Goggles 3 should be kicking butt on connectivity and should be rock solid in most cases at 500 feet regardless of "interference."  Funny how I've never had any interference with Avata 1 and Integra O3, I would hate it if my Goggles 3 couldn't stand up.  This needs to be address and possibly improved.

BTW, what can you share about RC3 connecting "thru the goggles" and how it is different from previous Avata 1.

Only had a half a dozen flights on the avata2 with fpv controller3, and haven't seen any issues yet. The connection seems to be very similar to what I'm getting from the mini4 with rc2. By the way, I'm also convinced that there's no direct connection between the avata2 and the fpv controller3. So I'm convinced that when the connection between the goggles3 and the avata2 is lost, there shouldn't be any control of the avata2 via the fpv controller3. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

This is really interesting.  I was looking through one my Goggles 3 recordings and checked the RC link where there was video breakup.  The RC link stayed perfect, while the video link when down to 1mbps.  There's also a slight delay in the telemetry.  The video looks worse before you get the low signal warning.



I too read that the MC3 and the FPV Controller 3 connect wirelessly (maybe via Bluetooth) to the Goggles, and the Goggles actually transmit to the drone.  I still think the Goggles 3 use the 2.4ghz band for the controller and telemetry and 5.8ghz for the video feed.

I remember that the O3 Air Unit had a problem when it first came out that if you lost video signal, you also lost RC link.  They fixed that later on.  Maybe that's what's happening here.

Hi, HD Pilot. Thank you for reaching out and we're sorry to read about what happened. Since the drone crashed, we highly recommend that you send your drone back (even if there are no errors) to us for further diagnosis. You may also request a data analysis to check on what happened (a fee might be applied). You may submit an online repair request through this link: {https://repair.dji.com/repair/index}. If you need assistance with creating a ticket, you may contact DJI support at (https://www.dji.com/support). Thank you for your kind understanding and continued support.

The Saint Posted at 4-22 16:55
Just so we are clear, do you mean:

A) controller 3 = fpv remote controller 3

Check out MADS Tech on the Goggles 3. All your questions will be answered.

As for circuit test. I flew my Avata 1 (goggles 2 w/ controller 2) and 3.5 with the goggles v2 and controller 2 just before testing the Avata 2 to get a comparison. They did not have a problem with the signal on both the goggles and the controller 2. I have a Mini 4, and I have not had any issues with the O4, in fact it does quit well. I did not use the MC3 on the tests , just the Controller 3. It's quite possible the pause and RTH  was moments after it crashed , based on the review of the video.

Monkey007 Posted at 4-22 18:56
Only had a half a dozen flights on the avata2 with fpv controller3, and haven't seen any issues yet. The connection seems to be very similar to what I'm getting from the mini4 with rc2. By the way, I'm also convinced that there's no direct connection between the avata2 and the fpv controller3. So I'm convinced that when the connection between the goggles3 and the avata2 is lost, there shouldn't be any control of the avata2 via the fpv controller3. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Based on what Ian's (MADS Tech) explaination, the controller signal is tunneled thru the goggles 3. whether the signal drops the controller at the time the vision signal drops, I couldn't tell you. It happened so quickly.

DELETED - BROWSER GEEKED

The Saint Posted at 4-22 16:55
Just so we are clear, do you mean:

A) controller 3 = fpv remote controller 3

With the original Avata, the goggles, MC2, & FPV Controller 3 all connect directly to the drone.  On the Avata 2, the MC3 & FPV Controller 3 connect to the Goggles 3, which in turn passes through the RC commands to the drone.  You'll notice the MC3 & FPV3 are both much lighter than their version 2 counterparts.  The new iterations also off much improved battery life, as well as the omission of an external antenna on the FPV3.  This is because they are connecting to the Goggles 3 via Bluetooth.  They don't require powerful transmitters as they only need to transmit from your hand to the goggles on your head.

You can confirm this with a simple test.  On the original Avata, power on the bird & MC2 or FPV2.  Leave the goggles turned off.  The RC will connect to the bird.  If you repeat this test with the Avata 2, the RC will not connect until the Goggles 3 are turned on & connected.  When linking the FPV3 to the Avata 2, the linking procedure is to the Goggles 3 instead of the bird.

I don't think this is a bad thing.  It's just a different way of doing things.  On the pro side it allows the RCs to be less expensive, lighter, & enjoy improved battery life.  On the con side is you cannot connect the RC directly to the bird or fly without the goggles.

When the Avata 2 becomes compatible with the Goggles 2/Integra, MC2, & FPV2, I assume the invidual components will link directly with the aircraft?

TonyPHX Posted at 4-22 16:27
Nice crash!  : )  

Not sure if this applies in your case, but did you fly the circuit first to check for relative signal strength around that area?  There can always be signal congestion and interference, so just wondering if you kind of "surveyed" the area before embarking on your high speed demolition derby?  : )  Still cool to see those wires whizzing right by!

Hello, Yes, I used my Avata 1 and Avata 3.5 to fly and I had no issues during those flight, but again, I was using the Controller 2, which is my preferred remote.

This is some pretty good range:

The Saint Posted at 4-23 11:53
This is some pretty good range:

A little too BVLOS for me.
I could possibly do it at night with lights.
I got 5.5 miles (outbound) on my Mavic 3 at night and stopped when I was having issues seeing the lights and the battery was getting low.

DJI Gamora Posted at 4-22 20:35
Hi, HD Pilot. Thank you for reaching out and we're sorry to read about what happened. Since the drone crashed, we highly recommend that you send your drone back (even if there are no errors) to us for further diagnosis. You may also request a data analysis to check on what happened (a fee might be applied). You may submit an online repair request through this link: {https://repair.dji.com/repair/index}. If you need assistance with creating a ticket, you may contact DJI support at (https://www.dji.com/support). Thank you for your kind understanding and continued support.

Thank you. I sent everything back.

I have had some issues with the Avata 2 RTH as well. So far I have had 2 incidents. Both occurred from low battery auto RTH. In the first incident, the Avata 2 was roughly 20 feet off the ground and maybe 60 feet from me. I was havering the drone and looking at some settings. The low battery RTH triggered and the drone started moving forward instead of climbing to the preset RTH altitude of 150 feeet. The drone not only was moving forward, but downward. I hit the halt button just in time to stop the drone from crashing into some lawn furniture. The second time, I was at an altitude of abour 155 feet and the drone again entered the low battery RTH. I was roughly 100 yards from the drone. This time it did ascend to the 150 foot preset altitude, but once again started to descend as it approached the home point. It crashed into a tree, but recovered. At the time of the crash, it had descended to just over 40 feet. I am not certain why it has this behavior and I have seen at least one YouTube video where someone experienced the same thing. This causes me to have near zero confidence in the drones ability to return safely and makes it less safe to fly.

Polar Black Posted at 4-23 13:42
I have had some issues with the Avata 2 RTH as well. So far I have had 2 incidents. Both occurred from low battery auto RTH. In the first incident, the Avata 2 was roughly 20 feet off the ground and maybe 60 feet from me. I was havering the drone and looking at some settings. The low battery RTH triggered and the drone started moving forward instead of climbing to the preset RTH altitude of 150 feeet. The drone not only was moving forward, but downward. I hit the halt button just in time to stop the drone from crashing into some lawn furniture. The second time, I was at an altitude of abour 155 feet and the drone again entered the low battery RTH. I was roughly 100 yards from the drone. This time it did ascend to the 150 foot preset altitude, but once again started to descend as it approached the home point. It crashed into a tree, but recovered. At the time of the crash, it had descended to just over 40 feet. I am not certain why it has this behavior and I have seen at least one YouTube video where someone experienced the same thing. This causes me to have near zero confidence in the drones ability to return safely and makes it less safe to fly.

I saw this video, , but he did not recreate the scenario over the same environment. His test was an ensured line of sight. He could not duplicate the RTH and descend problem. I mentioned to him to try it again over the same area to see what the results are.

Mine lost signal to the goggles, and then flew forward while descending into trees!

HD Pilot Posted at 4-23 13:58
I saw this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sF6kEy64Xs, but he did not recreate the scenario over the same environment. His test was an ensured line of sight. He could not duplicate the RTH and descend problem. I mentioned to him to try it again over the same area to see what the results are.

Mine lost signal to the goggles, and then flew forward while descending into trees!

Is this the only time you experienced the RTH losing altitude, or can you recreate the situation? I plan on going out this evening and attempting the scenario again. I don't feel comfortable flying over potentially hazardous areas (such as water) if the craft is going to lose altitude midflight on return.

Polar Black Posted at 4-23 14:05
Is this the only time you experienced the RTH losing altitude, or can you recreate the situation? I plan on going out this evening and attempting the scenario again. I don't feel comfortable flying over potentially hazardous areas (such as water) if the craft is going to lose altitude midflight on return.

Mine was not a RTH situation. I had close to full power on all (drone, goggles, FPV Controller2) and just lost the signal thru the goggles.

Sounds like Failsafe RTH is not doing it for some folks.  I can't read logs but isn't that the problem?

The Saint Posted at 4-23 14:52
Sounds like Failsafe RTH is not doing it for some folks.  I can't read logs but isn't that the problem?

It sure sounds like it, and it seems very random.

Hi, there. Please export flight controller aircraft data. We need to send it to our engineers to check further.
(1) Download DJI Assistant 2 (Consumer Drones Series) from the official website. Download link：
https://www.dji.com/uk/downloads ... sumer-drones-series
(2) Launch DJI Assistant 2(Consumer Drones Series). Within 20 seconds after the aircraft is powered on, connect it to DJI Assistant 2.
(3) After DJI Assistant 2(Consumer Drones Series) recognizes the aircraft, choose "Log Export", and then click "Save to local".
(4) The final exported data are ".dat" files.

I am hoping this all gets sorted out with log files.  I am still waiting on come custom corrective lenses before I go cruising around with my Avata 2, but I do not mind waiting for a firmware update also.  : )

HD Pilot Posted at 4-23 13:30
Thank you. I sent everything back.

Thank you for the update, HD Pilot. Hoping for good results on the diagnosis. Should you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach us again here at DJI Forum.

DJI Gamora Posted at 4-25 06:01
Thank you for the update, HD Pilot. Hoping for good results on the diagnosis. Should you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach us again here at DJI Forum.

Thank you. We will see.

Any relation to Goggles3 freezing?  Connection seems to still be good but the video freezes (video around 5:50).  Not because deal I guess since you can rely on your spotter at that point.  Good thing you are only a double-tap away from getting eyeballs on your drone (instead of using the goggles) so you can fly it home.  If this is an issue, it will certainly get address with a sw update.

The Saint Posted at 4-25 12:26
Any relation to Goggles3 freezing?  Connection seems to still be good but the video freezes (video around 5:50).  Not because deal I guess since you can rely on your spotter at that point.  Good thing you are only a double-tap away from getting eyeballs on your drone (instead of using the goggles) so you can fly it home.  If this is an issue, it will certainly get address with a sw update.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2iLK0sn824

He was lucky, it happened close in where he could still see it. Mine dropped out of sight too quickly for my VO (wife) to help. Her comment was "OH S#!t"

Monkey007 Posted at 4-22 18:56
Only had a half a dozen flights on the avata2 with fpv controller3, and haven't seen any issues yet. The connection seems to be very similar to what I'm getting from the mini4 with rc2. By the way, I'm also convinced that there's no direct connection between the avata2 and the fpv controller3. So I'm convinced that when the connection between the goggles3 and the avata2 is lost, there shouldn't be any control of the avata2 via the fpv controller3. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

This happens also with G2/Integra/V2 with remote controller 2. Once you lose video, you lose control for approx 5 secs. There are a lot video out there showing this issue.

Monkey007 Posted at 4-22 18:56
Only had a half a dozen flights on the avata2 with fpv controller3, and haven't seen any issues yet. The connection seems to be very similar to what I'm getting from the mini4 with rc2. By the way, I'm also convinced that there's no direct connection between the avata2 and the fpv controller3. So I'm convinced that when the connection between the goggles3 and the avata2 is lost, there shouldn't be any control of the avata2 via the fpv controller3. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

You can confirm there is no direct connection between the Avata 2 & the MC3/FPV3 by powering on only the drone & RC.  They do not connect until you also power on the Goggles 3.

The Duck Posted at 4-22 18:57
This is really interesting.  I was looking through one my Goggles 3 recordings and checked the RC link where there was video breakup.  The RC link stayed perfect, while the video link when down to 1mbps.  There's also a slight delay in the telemetry.  The video looks worse before you get the low signal warning.

[view_image]

This makes perfect sense as control & telemetry require much less data than does the live video feed.

Dirty Bird Posted at 4-25 16:10
You can confirm there is no direct connection between the Avata 2 & the MC3/FPV3 by powering on only the drone & RC.  They do not connect until you also power on the Goggles 3.

Yes, and I also suspect that the fpv controller3 does not have the hardware to connect directly to the avata2.

Monkey007 Posted at 4-25 16:46
Yes, and I also suspect that the fpv controller3 does not have the hardware to connect directly to the avata2.

That also does not surprise me.  I believe DJI just chose the passthrough track as it makes the RCs lighter, more efficient, & cheaper to produce, without affecting the overall flight experience.  Bear in mind the Avata 2 FlyMore is several hundred dollars less expensive than the original Avata + FlyMore kit.  I didn't buy the original Avata because it was around $2000 with $1300+ Avata/Goggles/MC package + $279 for the FlyMore batteries/charger + $199 for the FPV 2.  What I am curious about is what happens when the Avata 2 becomes compatible with the version 2 goggles & RCs.  Will they connect directly to the drone as is the case with the original Avata & all other DJI drones?

Posting this from Avata 2 manual again — yes, the older remotes will still bind to Avata 2 directly.

fichek Posted at 4-25 17:27
Posting this from Avata 2 manual again — yes, the older remotes will still bind to Avata 2 directly.

[view_image]

The update hasn't been pushed down yet. Also, the FPV Controller is not compatible, only the MC2.

HD Pilot Posted at 4-25 18:17
The update hasn't been pushed down yet. Also, the FPV Controller is not compatible, only the MC2.

Yeah, not available yet, hence the "will" and not "are"

Also, there's no reason to think FPV RC2 will not be compatible. This same document doesn't even show FPV RC3 binding, and that definitely is compatible. Also, multiple reviewers have been told that FPV RC2 would also receive the update.

fichek Posted at 4-25 18:21
Yeah, not available yet, hence the "will" and not "are"

Also, there's no reason to think FPV RC2 will not be compatible. This same document doesn't even show FPV RC3 binding, and that definitely is compatible. Also, multiple reviewers have been told that FPV RC2 would also receive the update.

That would be nice, but I believe ( so I've been told), has to do with the electronics built in the Avata 2. The MC 2 like the MC 3 are flown tunneled thru the goggles only. Does the FPV RC2 tunnel thru the googles?
Who are the reviewers that said that? I would be interested in seeing the review. The ones I've seen said the FPV RC2 would not be compatible, only the MC2.

Luca Rubino Posted at 4-25 13:57
This happens also with G2/Integra/V2 with remote controller 2. Once you lose video, you lose control for approx 5 secs. There are a lot video out there showing this issue.

LOL, Well, that explains that. I lost control and the crash happened in under 5 seconds! Now I just need to know why I lost the video signal!.

HD Pilot Posted at 4-25 18:30
That would be nice, but I believe ( so I've been told), has to do with the electronics built in the Avata 2. The MC 2 like the MC 3 are flown tunneled thru the goggles only. Does the FPV RC2 tunnel thru the googles?
Who are the reviewers that said that? I would be interested in seeing the review. The ones I've seen said the FPV RC2 would not be compatible, only the MC2.

The MC2 will connect directly to the original Avata.  You can lift off & control the Avata with the MC2 even if the goggles are off.

Dirty Bird Posted at 4-25 18:56
The MC2 will connect directly to the original Avata.  You can lift off & control the Avata with the MC2 even if the goggles are off.

I know, I've disconnected the goggles after I was able to start the motors, and was able to fly the Avata1 with the FPV RC2