Hi, i'm a fairly new spark owner, but waited a few km's to find these answers out.

- Is it true if you palm launch it doesn't record HD? I have read this on net but unsure as didn't once on mine and another time it did
- Is there a way to make the speed MPH but keep the rest i.e. distance and alt in Metres? as i'm in the UK and kinda mixed on imp and metric lol
- When recording the low res records sound, but when you download the HD version from the SD Card then you lose the sound, is there a way you can do this to have the sound on the HD version?
- Does sport mode use a lot more battery? its obvious it will use more, but as its double the speed, it doesn't seem to use double the battery.
- GPS accuracy, I find RTH never that good, example if I take off from a large balcony, it can try to land the other side of it, which is when I take over manually... is there a way or should I be a certain height before moving to get the most accurate GPS home signal?

Many thanks in advance for answering these questions.

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- I think theres no way, you need to choose between Imp or Metric.

- The drone dont record any audio, the audio recorded on low res records are catch by phone microfone and not the drone, thats why on HD original video taken by drone, you dont have any audio.

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- To have accurate GPS you need to wait the drone to have at least 14 or more satellites, i wait until i have 18-19 satellites where i live , more satellites = more acurracy on flight and home point. Before i had a good amount of satellites, then i can update the home point and take off.

I hope i help you.

STech - Hathder Posted at 2017-8-22 06:02
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- I think theres no way, you need to choose between Imp or Metric.

i second what this person said but want to add that if you want an accurate home point you need to take the drone up to 20 feet or so after take off and let it hover for 10 or 20 seconds.

- You *can* record HD video on the Spark during gesture control but you must begin recording before you enter gesture mode. So this is only possible with the phone.

- There are two separate video recordings. The Spark records HD video without sound. Your phone will record a copy of the video that it receives from the Spark and will add audio recorded using your phone's microphone. This is called the "video cache". From within the DJI Go 4 app you can switch between the two. Your SD card will only contain the HD video without sound. If you use an iPhone you can connect to iTunes in App Sharing to extract the video cache with audio.

- GPS accuracy. Wait until you have 10 satellites before takeoff. Make sure you have a well contrasted takeoff point that the Spark can distinguish from the rest of the area (that's what a landing pad is good for). Ascend to 10m and wait for 2-3 secs before departing. This allows the vision system to capture the takeoff point for matching during return (it is in the manual, RTFM).

Thanks guys, thats cleared a few things up... so with landing I take it the Spark actually sees where it lands and therefore a variance in colour etc would be easier for it to land on when RTH?

1. Only 1920×1080 30p is available for resolution, so the drone will record HD all the time.
2. The parameter can not be changed individually.
3. No, only cache videos have the audio.
4. Power's consumption always relates to the speed, usage of the sticks, and sometimes environment. Thus it will expedite the use of the power if you speed up the drone.
5. Please make sure that you fly the drone in a place with a fine GPS signal environment, check the Homepoint. And also note the RTH logic. If the drone still attempts to land on another place, please export the data and report to us. Thanks you.

Rotary winged aircraft are far more efficient at speed rather than hover. It's a bit like surfing. Typically 1/2 throttle at cruise. You don't know this with spar because you have height control but not throttle.

fans9ea9c44f Posted at 2017-8-24 02:37
Rotary winged aircraft are far more efficient at speed rather than hover. It's a bit like surfing. Typically 1/2 throttle at cruise. You don't know this with spar because you have height control but not throttle.

True, there is even a scientific term for this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translational_lift

Hi thanks for 'translational lift' ref.
Things are getting interesting. Anyone for blade phasing?

Thanks for the info... I have been out loads lately and learnt a lot more, even read the manual twice now!

I found one issue after the recent 600 update, when I was flying but only in a certain place (5.8 OTG) it would only allow 30Meters max altitude and 50M max distance, this happened a few times, but when I reset all each time it allowed full... which on mine seems to be 120M high and 300M distance.

I am still looking at the 2.4 and 5.8 bands, also have OTG cable... I will run my own tests at some point as in UK and we seem to be under EU rules.

It sure takes confidence to go across open water, for the fear of it not returning lol, but getting there!