Recently my spark has had some problems with the video transmission. The video would lag and cut out all together just about every 20 seconds during flight. I tried updating the software and refreshing it several times. Anyway I was flying the drone out over my apartment just to see if the problem persisted when the video started to lag and it eventually cut out. I hit the Return to Home button and the annoying beeping on the remote control started. The video was still cut out, so I couldn't tell where it was exactly I could only hear it over the apartment. Finally the video came back on and I found it had landed on the roof of the apartment. I tried to take off again but was unable to because of the tilt of the roof. The roof is 50 feet up and the apartment has no roof access so the drone is still up there this very minute. I guess I will have to call a gutter cleaning service to see if they can get it for me. But has this happened to anyone else? I'm kind of suprised there is no option to manually override the IMU and force a takeoff. Anyway, just hoping the gutter cleaning service can get it for me tomorrow and that it is not completely baked by the hot sun.  

U should move to an open area when initializing your spark because this is when it sets home point..  so u either had to be on a balcony or very close to the apartment building....

Jimmy hoffa Posted at 2017-8-13 15:13
U should move to an open area when initializing your spark because this is when it sets home point..  so u either had to be on a balcony or very close to the apartment building....

I took off from the stairs in front of my apartment about 15-20 feet from the building

ya or you could maybe climb a ladder yourself...  see if someone has a extension ladder.. its easy, swallow that fear.

50 foot on a steep grippy roof is nothing!  my barn has part of the roof i worked on that's like 50-75 foot up and sheer metal roof that's both very hot and unpleasant to touch and no grip at all, designed to have no grip.. designed so snow, water, ice and the lot will fall off before it builds up.

Yeah well don't really have a 50 foot ladder laying around... and neither does management here at my apartment complex. I guess I could rent a ladder from Home Depot or something... but at that point might as well just pay someone to do it for me

connor1059 Posted at 2017-8-13 15:51
Yeah well don't really have a 50 foot ladder laying around... and neither does management here at my apartment complex. I guess I could rent a ladder from Home Depot or something... but at that point might as well just pay someone to do it for me

no storms or wind coming right?  if not then you can leave it out overnight.. but if it was me i would get a ladder and do it myself...  but then again i have a extension ladder and i know friends with it..

Yeah luckily no storms on the forecast... just hoping the drone didn't get fried being out under the hot sun for 5 hours

connor1059 Posted at 2017-8-13 17:15
Yeah luckily no storms on the forecast... just hoping the drone didn't get fried being out under the hot sun for 5 hours

naahh... sparks are tough.. assuming yours isn't defective it will hold up nicely.  i flown mine in pouring rain twice, left it in hot car, flown it hard in sport mode on 95F + day

Actually, i think there is a way to force take off. Check the manual, there is what called the Combination Stick Control (CSC). You can use that to start the motors and push the left stick up to take off. Did you try this?

Indi91 that is to shutoff....he probably couldnt take off because of the lean it was on the fc pretty much cant be titlted any before power up

CSC will start motors. And stop them.

few things guys.. 1 its been up there a while so battery is probably shut off.. 2 is the CSC on spark is hit or miss im not sure that there is a take off with CSC on the spark, if there is it isn't listed in my manual..only shutdown

You can try to find someone with a mavic?

The CSC can take off, ive tried that while on open ground. Its manual take off. It can be used to start and stop the motors. It is stated in the manual page 48 . But yes, the battery might had been flat now and only way to get it is to physically access it. The mavic one sounds tempting, but wouldnt try that and never will do that if i had the mavic.

Indi91 Posted at 2017-8-13 18:48
The CSC can take off, ive tried that while on open ground. Its manual take off. It can be used to start and stop the motors. It is stated in the manual page 48 . But yes, the battery might had been flat now and only way to get it is to physically access it. The mavic one sounds tempting, but wouldnt try that and never will do that if i had the mavic.

im getting myself a mavic in a few months.. and if i had a mavic i would definitely use it to rescue a spark or ...a kitten.. terrify the kitten while i rescue it..."omg wtf is that ufo doing tryign to abduct meeh mew mew mew mew"

I did read something about CSC on a forum somewhere but for whatever reason it didn't work for me. And yeah the battery is long dead by now

ImHereToCrash Posted at 2017-8-13 19:07
im getting myself a mavic in a few months.. and if i had a mavic i would definitely use it to rescue a spark or ...a kitten.. terrify the kitten while i rescue it..."omg wtf is that ufo doing tryign to abduct meeh mew mew mew mew"

HAHAHA, then it will tell how it was abducted to its grandchildren

connor1059 Posted at 2017-8-13 19:22
I did read something about CSC on a forum somewhere but for whatever reason it didn't work for me. And yeah the battery is long dead by now

Hopefully you will get it back.

Good news everyone. Got the drone back this morning and it seems to be working just fine. But I think I may have figured out what went wrong on the last flight. Looking back at the flight data, I realized I took off before the drone was connected enough satellites. So by the time it did connect to GPS, I was already out over the roof of my apartment. That's where it established the Home Point. So lesson learned: wait for satellite connection before taking off.

I am glad you got it back. But I must say everyone telling you to get a ladder has obviously never tried to work with a 50 foot extension ladder :-)  We had one at a place where I worked and it was so unwieldy that we left it outside hoping someone would steal it.. Nobody ever did :-)

Yes but indi he said the drone was on a tilt hence why it wouldnt start. The fc needs to be somewhat level

connor1059 Posted at 2017-8-14 07:36
Good news everyone. Got the drone back this morning and it seems to be working just fine. But I think I may have figured out what went wrong on the last flight. Looking back at the flight data, I realized I took off before the drone was connected enough satellites. So by the time it did connect to GPS, I was already out over the roof of my apartment. That's where it established the Home Point. So lesson learned: wait for satellite connection before taking off.

Good lesson learned. I'm glad you got your UAV back!  

Many vets on here have recommended to slow down, take your time. Make sure you have a good connection to GPS and a good signal to your controller (if you're using one). Wait for the app to report that the home point has been set before lift off. Also, and this is important, before you take off, take a look at the compass icon in the app. It's the red arrow at the bottom left of the screen. If the arrow isn't pointed in the same direction that the drone is, don't take off.  If it's jumping around DO NOT take off. If it starts jumping around just after take off;  land, turn everything off and more to a new location and start again. If you get a compass error (this drone seems to have a very sensitive compass) do not calibrate it where the error message occurred. Move to a new location (again, power everything down and start again). Once you are in the air and everything seems fine. check the controls. Fly forwards, backwards and side to side for a couple of minutes. If the drone is acting funny, land and move and start again.  It seems like a lot of trouble, but it's less trouble than having your drone lost (or stuck out of reach).

I've had my spark for a few months now. I've gotten about 3 or 4 compass errors (before take off). I just shut everything off and moved to a new location and the error cleared. I have never calibrated my compass to date and have not had any issues with my drone - fingers crossed that will continue.   

Again, I'm glad you got your spark back, It's a sick feeling to have something this expensive be in trouble. All the best - happy flying!