I purchased a DJI Mavic Pro 5 days ago. Was playing around with it for 2 days all day long and figured out how it worked and how reliably it actually was before I went into some exciting video recording. So everything was working fine, no problems at all.
Yesterday I was in my car in a big que close to a lake, so I decided to pull over and take my drone for a beatiful flight. All batteries 100% power, firmware up-to-date, propellers new - everything seemed good.
I was live streaming at the lake and once it said: Weak Signal - RTH, then 3 seconds later it had full signal again. So I cancelled RTH. I kept flying and everything was good. I stopped the live streaming and started to fly back home by my self was on 60-65% power. Suddenly (50 meters) before I reach ground all signal disappear. I ran towards the drone, which was aproximately 300-350 meters away. Closing and opening the app again, trying to reconnect with the controller, nothing happened. It just said: Connecting... When I reached a location from where I should be able to hear and see the drone it wasen't there. I then asked people around, who said it might be my drone that went straight into the water. I was like ....
It happened with 61% power on the Drone unit and something like 90% power on the controller. It was at 40 meters height. I really do not understand anything of it. Why didn't it just stay in the air? Why didn't it RTH?
I purchased the DJI Care Refresh the day before it happened, but from what I understand it doesn't cover it, when I do not have the drone unit. So I need a diver to go in the lake to recover it or will DJI's normal waranty recover this error?
I have different details if anyone can get something out of it. I would like to hear you opinions on what happened. I am so confused since it was working so perfectly and of course when I go above water this happens. I stayed at a high altitude all time, so I could no hit trees if it went into RTH mode. It thought I did everything correct.
I also have a recording showing it flying and then everything stopped here:
Can I provide usefull information regarding the crash somehow else, please tell me
at least upload flight log to healthydrones.com also put flightlog.txt file here somehow using a dropbox or something. that way we can look at it better
It says "Radiomarken" and not "Radiomarker" it's like Radiofield. It has nothing to do with radio interference, it's just a kind of forest / field called that
harfordhawk Posted at 2017-2-25 11:00
at least upload flight log to healthydrones.com also put flightlog.txt file here somehow using a dropbox or something. that way we can look at it better
Sorry to ask "stupid". But where do I get the flightlog? I am new to this. Thanks
harfordhawk Posted at 2017-2-25 11:00
at least upload flight log to healthydrones.com also put flightlog.txt file here somehow using a dropbox or something. that way we can look at it better
Here is the flightlog from healthydrones.com thanks a lot with the help so far. Also exciting to dig into by myself.
Were you flying in sport mode just before it flew away? when flying in sport mode it can flick into ATTI mode which looses the GPS and will drift in wind etc.
Download the healthydrones app (playstore) and syncronise your logs to healthydrones.com, that way we can see whats happened before you lost connection.
Danny-B- Posted at 2017-2-25 11:32
Were you flying in sport mode just before it flew away? when flying in sport mode it can flick into ATTI mode which looses the GPS and will drift in wind etc.
Download the healthydrones app (playstore) and syncronise your logs to healthydrones.com, that way we can see whats happened before you lost connection.
Yes I flew in sports mode to just get back quickly and suddenly, everything died. Ran towards it trying to reconnect but nothing happened.
For us - the other users - it is also helpful if you do a screen recording of the flight's play back.
My first impression is, that your Mavic had a heart attack during flight and dropped dead into the lake. If the log file shows that the signal just dropped, this is a warranty case. I am sure some DJI folks will show up here and help you.
Looking at your screenshot you were pushing sticks left full forward and down all the way but your logs should give you an idea what might have happened.
F 05m 09s 101.1 m 159 m Mode Mode changed to Sport
G 07m 00s 38.7 m 1,043 m Mode Mode changed to GPS_Atti
H 07m 52s 47.0 m 1,078 m Mode Mode changed to Sport
I 08m 11s 51.4 m 983 m Mode Mode changed to Atti
J 08m 11s 51.4 m 983 m Warning Warning:Satellite Positioning Off. Fly with caution
K 08m 24s 25.2 m 957 m Mode Mode changed to Sport
L 09m 22s 48.5 m 194 m Warning Adjust antenna and avoid signal block.
Why it lost signal i'm not sure but flying in sport mode has errored and flicked into atti mode. from them as you had no control, the mavic has drifted about with the wind or just the direction it was traveling
IMO sports mode is not fit for use and should be turned off .... open a case with DJI as its not fair that flying in sports mode has caused this to happen.
I never use sports mode as its known to cause electromagnetic interfierence and create a compass error, causing loss of GPS.
Good luck. I had a flyaway issue that crashed my drone into the river. Here support is good but when you actually have to deal with DJI they will most likely deny any fault and call it operator error.
I don't know how to record the screen on my iphone. The flight log is uploaded into the DJI Cloud. Can I catch that somehow or is it only from my iphone app I can see it?
Danny-B- Posted at 2017-2-25 11:42
Why it lost signal i'm not sure but flying in sport mode has errored and flicked into atti mode. from them as you had no control, the mavic has drifted about with the wind or just the direction it was traveling
When it gave this warning: L 09m 22s 48.5 m 194 m Warning Adjust antenna and avoid signal block. It was already too late to do anything, cause it was into the water few seconds later....
Logs can be extracted from your controller to give DJI more information too https://forum.dji.com/thread-83542-1-1.html
DJi will be able to see the logs in the cloud, so just get a case logged with them, they wont look at the logs from Healthydrone or phantomhelp
Danny-B- Posted at 2017-2-25 11:59
Logs can be extracted from your controller to give DJI more information too https://forum.dji.com/thread-83542-1-1.html
DJi will be able to see the logs in the cloud, so just get a case logged with them, they wont look at the logs from Healthydrone or phantomhelp
Thanks a lot. Have already done everything DJI asked for. But they went on weekend. How long does it normally take them to figure out the problem? (I have the DJI Care Refresh, which should speed it up).
The controller is at home right now, so cannot connect that. Will do it tomorrow and extract everything I can get
You can load your flight from the app to you tube and post the link here.
You can also check your stick movements on the app it might give you an idea where you AC was heading from your screen shot it shows left stick 100% down right stick 100% forward this would mean you were pushing your AC forward and down.
TeaMdRuIm Posted at 2017-2-25 12:07
Thanks a lot. Have already done everything DJI asked for. But they went on weekend. How long does it normally take them to figure out the problem? (I have the DJI Care Refresh, which should speed it up).
The controller is at home right now, so cannot connect that. Will do it tomorrow and extract everything I can get
I'm not sure how long is standard tbh, it'll be a case by case basis, but your DJI care refresh wont make a difference to a warranty claim unfortunately. they wont prioritise your case because of it.
TeaMdRuIm Posted at 2017-2-25 12:07
Thanks a lot. Have already done everything DJI asked for. But they went on weekend. How long does it normally take them to figure out the problem? (I have the DJI Care Refresh, which should speed it up).
The controller is at home right now, so cannot connect that. Will do it tomorrow and extract everything I can get
You also have your last gps coordinates on your screen shot,
Ex Machina Posted at 2017-2-25 12:20
Argh. Sorry tpo hear this. You can make a screen movie of your iPhone while tethered to a Mac:
http://osxdaily.com/2016/02/15/h ... reen-mac-quicktime/
That's really useful.....I didn't know you could do that! :-)
TeaMdRulm,
Tragic to hear of your loss. I have a horrible question for you! From the bottom picture, you were in SPORT mode and have 100% forward and 100% decent returning home.
Flying at 40m altitude, it would have only taken 13 seconds to fly into the water in Sport Mode with a decent speed of 3m/s. Is it possible that you lost situational awareness and held the decent at 100% for 13 seconds and simply flew into the water? Heaven forbid, I sure hope not......
Edit: Last altitude was 159 feet when connection was lost, so 16-17 secs to water..... probably not the case for a distraction that long.......
Danny-B- Posted at 2017-2-25 11:42
IMO sports mode is not fit for use and should be turned off .... open a case with DJI as its not fair that flying in sports mode has caused this to happen.
I never use sports mode as its known to cause electromagnetic interfierence and create a compass error, causing loss of GPS.
Whaaat ? Sport mode is a valuable mode of flying the mavic and almost all I fly in when not getting video . Why would it cause interference ? It just turns off OA and gives you more angle of attack to fly faster.
Daroga Posted at 2017-2-25 12:58
TeaMdRulm,
Tragic to hear of your loss. I have a horrible question for you! From the bottom picture, you were in SPORT mode and have 100% forward and 100% decent returning home.
Well it was like 30 meters away from the ground. So if it would have continued like that I would have been happy. But that wasen't the case, sadly
Will upload the information from the controller tomorrow and record the screen. Thanks
rydfree41 Posted at 2017-2-25 13:02
Whaaat ? Sport mode is a valuable mode of flying the mavic and almost all I fly in when not getting video . Why would it cause interference ? It just turns off OA and gives you more angle of attack to fly faster.
Just my opinion buddy, all i see are reports of issues flicking to atti mode when you have been flying in sports mode.
Firmware released 2 revisions ago was supposed to correct a known issue where the mavic compass data was corrupting from electromagnetic interference. That firmware made the mavic use the 2nd compass when this happens, but from what i read, the issue hasnt gone away.
Can you say that you fly in sports mode for over 60% of a flight ? and your mavic doesnt ever flick into atti mode ?
Danny-B- Posted at 2017-2-25 13:50
Just my opinion buddy, all i see are reports of issues flicking to atti mode when you have been flying in sports mode.
Firmware released 2 revisions ago was supposed to correct a known issue where the mavic compass data was corrupting from electromagnetic interference. That firmware made the mavic use the 2nd compass when this happens, but from what i read, the issue hasnt gone away.
If you fly in sports let's say 500 m out and 500 m back, and replay your flight back in the app you will see it going into Atti but this is caused by speed and gps trying to keep up with the speed the AC is traveling at, it will go into Atti for a split second I would say less than half a second it's nothing to be concerned about, and it has nothing to do with AC falling out of the sky..
hallmark007 Posted at 2017-2-25 14:36
If you fly in sports let's say 500 m out and 500 m back, and replay your flight back in the app you will see it going into Atti but this is caused by speed and gps trying to keep up with the speed the AC is traveling at, it will go into Atti for a split second I would say less than half a second it's nothing to be concerned about, and it has nothing to do with AC falling out of the sky..
Not in my experience and not by alot of other accounts. If you look at DJI Mindys post a while back she explained what the issue was. It was the IMU being unable to correct the corrupt data read from the compass, and thats due to the electromagnetic interfierence caused by the mavic running in sport mode, the ESCs produce high amp draw which interferes with the electronics.
I am not an expert but just looking at your GO 4 app flight route and the stick movements, if you are Mode 2 then you pulled the power off which is probably why it went into the water.
There appears to be 3 things that went wrong with your flight. The first thing was the drop in GPS when a distance out. A quick drop in gps health (the 5 bars) has been reported multiple times. The AC drops into Atti if it drops below 4. Only the DAT file would be able to determine that, but given that the satellite number dropped, then it went into Atti, I assume the health dropped below 4. A sudden lose of connection has also been reported multiple times on both this and mavicpilots.com. The third problem is even if you disconnect, it should return home. You should be able to turn off your RC and it will still come back to you. You did record the home point.
The RF noise by flying in sports mode that untimitly could result in TBE was pretty much taken care of in the AC sometime around the beginning of January when they began twisting the wires to the rear motors. They also updated the firmware so it would switch to the front compass if high noise was detected in the back compass. This should take care of most AC that were manufactured prior to the hardware fix. The GPS health and RC loosing a connection remains a mystery that hopefully will be resolved in future Firmware.
Why does it appear to be a pilot error? Isen't it allowed to maneuver like that? I think you should take the other scenarios into consideration aswell.
How do I upload information from the controller? It just says: Recharging, when I connect it to my Mac.
TeaMdRuIm Posted at 2017-2-26 05:53
Why does it appear to be a pilot error? Isen't it allowed to maneuver like that? I think you should take the other scenarios into consideration aswell.
How do I upload information from the controller? It just says: Recharging, when I connect it to my Mac.
You don't need to upload from controller you can just upload from dji go app
TeaMdRuIm Posted at 2017-2-26 05:53
Why does it appear to be a pilot error? Isen't it allowed to maneuver like that? I think you should take the other scenarios into consideration aswell.
How do I upload information from the controller? It just says: Recharging, when I connect it to my Mac.
You can also upload your flight from dji go app you will find instructions from link below.