Hi Guys,

Had a bit of fun with my Spark yesterday evening, shortly before sunset. Flew her straight up out of my garden ("back-yard") until she maxed out at the 120m I'd set as the ceiling. Took some amazing photos, long distant views of where I live, as well as vertically downwards at my own house and garden.

What was new, was this time I decided not to fly with my iPhone 7 clamped into the controller - instead, I brought my iPad Pro 12.9" into the garden on a prop-stand, placed on a garden table. I found this a much more organic, statisfying way of flying than when peering at a tiny iPhone for the view/telemetry and so on. Plus the contoller by itself is a delight to hold, without worrying whether your phone is going to fall out!

At 120m up there, the Spark looks so tiny, and is barely audible. I didn't fly outside of my own boundaries, so it was nearly just up/hover and photo/down, though I did wander across to the boundaries and back, all that way up.

My only worry was that video began to break up bit at 120m up, even though vertically above me. There is a lot of WiFi around here. I am wondering how far I could fly horizontally before I'd lose the connection. So far, I have not had to trust in the auto-fly-home feature. And am not sure I want to!

Brian

I use an ipad 9" with a tablet holder and it is a game changer, makes it a lot more fun flying the drone without squinting your eyes.

The max horizontal distance mainly depends on the flight environment, I would recommend you fly the drone in open areas and try to adjust the antennas to get a better distance. For the RTH, read the manual, and know the RTH logic well, no need to be afraid to use it.

i think you can use the OTG cable to connect... and imho, i only use Return to home features when my drone is far enough and when i see my drone i will cancel the RTH and auto landing and play it manually on my own, just make sure the lady in the apps says "Home Point Has Been Recorded blablabla" and leave the drone for 5-10 sec first for the safety

" video began to break up bit at 120m up"

The position of the antennas was horizontal or vertical?

I had 385m and disconnect... auto RTH

Lucas775 Posted at 2017-10-9 17:57
I use an ipad 9" with a tablet holder and it is a game changer, makes it a lot more fun flying the drone without squinting your eyes.

Yeh was wondering about buying a compatible 9" iPad (my existing ones are older, 32-bit) - but am now SO in love with the full 12.9 immersivity!

Brian

DJI Diana Posted at 2017-10-9 20:32
The max horizontal distance mainly depends on the flight environment, I would recommend you fly the drone in open areas and try to adjust the antennas to get a better distance. For the RTH, read the manual, and know the RTH logic well, no need to be afraid to use it.

Yep - it's the classic balance between "interest" and "space". If I am way out in the back-country (not that we have a huge amount of that here in Southern UK) there is no problem flying - but also no interest! I wanna fly round MY neighbourhood!

Brian

ASEPK Posted at 2017-10-9 23:55
I had 385m and disconnect... auto RTH

Wow! Wonder how that ties with the published max distance figures? Or is that measured way out in the middle of an uninhabited desert?!!
Brian