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Drone anxiety?
1902 9 2017-6-25
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lfkiter
lvl.3
Flight distance : 111942 ft
United States
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Anyone else experiencing this? It sounds funny, but from the time I placed the order I was anxious to receive for weeks. Then when Spark arrives I'm nervous about activation and initial setup. And NOW when you read all of the forum posts about all of the issues I'm friggin scared to fly the thing. I'm seeing posts about the Spark just falling from the sky, remote loosing connection, etc etc.  I'd like to fly over water but is this thing going to drop at any moments notice? Funny how all of the original testers posted these fantastic YouTube videos hyping the Spark and nothing about loss connections etc. When you pay $700 I'd expect all of these bugs to be worked out. What's everyone's thoughts on Drone anxiety?
2017-6-25
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hallmark007
Captain
Flight distance : 9812789 ft
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Ireland
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I suppose all new flyers get that I know I did it was awhile ago.

Tip for starting to fly:
Make sure you have done all the checks and read the manual, starting to fly, when AC is turned on wait for it to receive gps.

Raise AC to height of 8'
Hover for 20 seconds
Fly forward 3'
Fly backward 3'
Left 3'
Right3'
Yaw left
Yaw right
Up 3'
Down3'
Each time return AC To original hover point , if AC holds good level horizontal, you will then know you have good compass good IMU and good GPS, this exercise will take less than a minute and should give you confidence in your AC. Just take it easy at first open area don't fly to far, and by your 3rd flight you'll be a lot less anxious.
Flysafe good luck.
2017-6-25
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paulhummerman
lvl.4
Flight distance : 114915 ft
United States
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hallmark007 Posted at 2017-6-25 08:29
I suppose all new flyers get that I know I did it was awhile ago.

Tip for starting to fly:

good advice. but even with that preparation, if you are a beginner controlling with an android phone, it will probably disconnect and crash (since after connection loss if it's less than 100 feet away (the wifi limit) from you it will automatically descend, possibly into water or a tree.
2017-6-25
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Tviscomi
Captain
Flight distance : 106886 ft
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United States
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paulhummerman Posted at 2017-6-25 10:03
good advice. but even with that preparation, if you are a beginner controlling with an android phone, it will probably disconnect and crash (since after connection loss if it's less than 100 feet away (the wifi limit) from you it will automatically descend, possibly into water or a tree.

Yeah @Hallmark007 advice is very good, but it relies on a properly functioning device.
2017-6-25
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hallmark007
Captain
Flight distance : 9812789 ft
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Ireland
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paulhummerman Posted at 2017-6-25 10:03
good advice. but even with that preparation, if you are a beginner controlling with an android phone, it will probably disconnect and crash (since after connection loss if it's less than 100 feet away (the wifi limit) from you it will automatically descend, possibly into water or a tree.

Wifi limit 80 meters , if you loose wifi connection RTH will be triggered, if your not sure about your phone why would you fly over water?

The op had already mentioned he had purchased a combo which has RC.
2017-6-25
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lfkiter
lvl.3
Flight distance : 111942 ft
United States
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hallmark007 Posted at 2017-6-25 08:29
I suppose all new flyers get that I know I did it was awhile ago.

Tip for starting to fly:

Thanks for the advice! Had my first flight yesterday and just used my phone to control as I was going to keep her close by.  Everything worked great, I am using an iphone 7plus and haven't had any loss of connection.  I want to get back out today for 2nd flight but weather is a bit iffy (big thunderstorms around).  If I want to switch back to using the RC, do I just hook to that wifi network and it should already be linked to the aircraft?
2017-6-25
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hallmark007
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Flight distance : 9812789 ft
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Ireland
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lfkiter Posted at 2017-6-25 11:09
Thanks for the advice! Had my first flight yesterday and just used my phone to control as I was going to keep her close by.  Everything worked great, I am using an iphone 7plus and haven't had any loss of connection.  I want to get back out today for 2nd flight but weather is a bit iffy (big thunderstorms around).  If I want to switch back to using the RC, do I just hook to that wifi network and it should already be linked to the aircraft?


If your going to use your RC with phone, then you need to connect RC to phone using RC wifi, your aircraft and RC will be linked by radio control not wifi , 2.8ghz or 5.8ghz, you will find AC much easier to control and flying much smoother, sport mode is great fun and super fast , but be careful at first.


2017-6-25
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42green
lvl.1
Flight distance : 3323 ft
United States
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I'm still new to it and slowly taking flights and testing features. Find a safe place relative to what features you want to test. For example I've flown some outside my office but the space isn't suitable for example the Helix quicksand so I didn't mess with that there. I've flown about 5-6 packs and still getting a feel for it.

And I have not had any critical failures of the Spark.

I bought a fly less from Apple while waiting for my combo to ship. Of the few issues or dislikes of flying the Spark the controller should definitely solve.
2017-6-25
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FluxSine
lvl.1
Flight distance : 65157 ft
United States
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I was getting really worried to until I found this.
https://youtu.be/n_MT0Rg6AB8

Worst case I mod the controller. Probably will anyways.
2017-6-25
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Lok Mavic
lvl.4
Flight distance : 1486660 ft
United Kingdom
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My back story is, I lost my drone after a couple of weeks flying it. Too much confidence on the machine also not good. After that I am more careful, before and during flying my drone. This is my checklist.

Before:
Check if battery is completely secure and fully charge. If I am not sure, I will remove and reinsert the battery just to hear that click sound.
Check if propellers are properly inserted and in good condition. I do not do this frequently but maybe once a week.
Check the weather especially the wind.
Check the area for any tall structure or any possible signal interference like electric pole. In UK, you must fly 50m from other people and from buildings. Also check whether the area is restricted or not.
Wait for GPS lock, above 10 is good enough.

During:
Check the RTH settings; behaviour and height. I noticed sometimes these values can change to default after an update.
Manually set RTH to current position even though it usually set the home position automatically. Just for the peace of mind in case the connection is lost.
Careful with the manoeuvring the drone. Battery can unlatched in certain situation mid flight.
Make sure RTH is in the direction of the wind, if not, return manually in Sport mode.

General tips:
Don'ts
fly above water if you are not confident.
fly too low if you are not confident.
go too far if you are not confident.
rely on the technology 100%.

Dos
find a large open space to practice frequently (3 times a week).
use a propellers guard until you gain your confidence.
avoid crowded public areas like beaches, high streets

Happy droning

2017-6-26
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