|
I’m sitting at Sam’s Pizza in Barriere BC (population 1500, give or take), on Yellowhead Hwy in Western Canada, kindly allowed to use restaurant’s WiFi. I’m trying to figure out why both my DJI drones (Phantom 3 Pro and Inspire 1 Pro) suddenly refused to work on July 2nd. Again. Both displayed NO IMAGE TRANSMISSION SIGNAL statement on top of Go app screen. It’s happen twice already during last two weeks in totally remote, no cell/no WIFI/no civilization areas. As soon as I move back to nearest town, drones works back as usual with no issue whatsoever. To post this thread I had to quit my wilderness aerial photographing in Rocky Mountains, drive 36 km with my birds and order pizza …
I’m afraid I’ve missed something just before departure for this 8 week long expedition. As a millions of other happy droners were already on the move for summer destinations, our beloved DJI decided to release obligatory Go app update. What a great idea and perfect timing! The update comes with a twist, politely explained in an announcement released some couple weeks ago, which I missed to notice. In short, if you don’t update Go app on your device, your Phantom 3 or Inspire 1 will be crippled!
Both my drones are flying under previous version of Go app, 3.1.2 that is, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with this. However, apparently the noble idea of “don’t fix it if it’s not broken” doesn’t apply anymore … I don’t mind to update Go app to a required version - for whatever reason obligatory - but what if something do not go as smoothly as expected? What if Go app update performed at Sam’s Pizza restaurant will result in some sort of incompatibility with aircraft firmware? Shall I cancel my vacation plans, dump the entire idea of cruising expedition with my drones and tons of other imaging equipment? Shall I go back home than and perform all the necessary fixes in far less primitive circumstances, with solid access to a computer and Internet? Oh, wait, there’s better idea: stay at Sam’s Pizza, call DJI tech support and ask for advice … Pardon my sarcastic tone, grumpy old fart me …
Let’s pray it will be not required, because - dear DJI - I still adore you! And I don’t want this love to be tinted.
| 
First Officer
Second Officer
