Hi everyone. I was flying my spark with altitue of about 20 meters and distance of 20 to 40 meters in the park. Just playing with sports mode. While up in the air. I noticed it is stopped responding to my control. When I checked my monitor, it says "Aircraft disconnected". It did the failsafe RTH and hovered about a foot from the ground. I took and tilt it to stop the motors. I restarted the aircraft and the controller and flew again with no problem. I changed to another battery and the flight was all ok.

My question is, what causes the aircraft to be disconnected to the controller mid flight? Is there something wrong with my aircraft or controller?

Even i have faced similar issue some time.. some times remote would get turned off mid flight.. i think its faulty remote controller!!

Normal RC aircraft shoot down scenario.  Someone fires up a transmitter on your channel.  Those Wifi channels are open for all to use for lots of different devices.  Routers, cameras, speakers, cell phones, etc.

My GoPro could have turned on its wifi and interfered with someone else on the channel.  On the channel but distant enough to be seen as noise, but kinda a valid signal, so my GoPro grabs it.  Then someone moves a panel truck and the now unblocked signal now seems close and it interferes with the aircraft.

RC connections aren't as reliable as we like to think.  More so, in crowded areas.

Dennis, please ensure that no interference around your spark. Did you wear bluetooth devices? Please try to fly in airplane mode.

Rafi_m Posted at 2017-11-6 22:14
Even i have faced similar issue some time.. some times remote would get turned off mid flight.. i think its faulty remote controller!!

Did you fully charge your RC before flight? Did it happen frequently?

Thank you guys for the inputs. It is a publilc park with not much people around. But I am with a friend whose flying his spark too at that time.  We normally do it. We don't check the frequency or channel we are into. I believe we are both in "Auto" mode. Could that be the issue? It was the first time it happened.

I am not wearing any bluetooth device. Not sure though with passers-by stopping to watch us fly. That's another factor maybe?

dennis i Posted at 2017-11-7 00:12
Thank you guys for the inputs. It is a publilc park with not much people around. But I am with a friend whose flying his spark too at that time.  We normally do it. We don't check the frequency or channel we are into. I believe we are both in "Auto" mode. Could that be the issue? It was the first time it happened.

I am not wearing any bluetooth device. Not sure though with passers-by stopping to watch us fly. That's another factor maybe?

It is completely normal that this happens sometimes when you are flying inside city limits, even if you are in a park, there can be buildings around with telecom antennas that easily can interfere with the wifi between RC and AC. Try to get as far from the city area as possible and try it there, you should be able to extend significally the performance of your equipment. Don't forget to fly safe ;-)

dennis i Posted at 2017-11-7 00:12
Thank you guys for the inputs. It is a publilc park with not much people around. But I am with a friend whose flying his spark too at that time.  We normally do it. We don't check the frequency or channel we are into. I believe we are both in "Auto" mode. Could that be the issue? It was the first time it happened.

I am not wearing any bluetooth device. Not sure though with passers-by stopping to watch us fly. That's another factor maybe?

I would recommend you change an environment for check. If the problem remains, please export the flight data and the black box, then upload to dropbox. Thanks for your help.

Viking-Pilot Posted at 2017-11-7 00:55
It is completely normal that this happens sometimes when you are flying inside city limits, even if you are in a park, there can be buildings around with telecom antennas that easily can interfere with the wifi between RC and AC. Try to get as far from the city area as possible and try it there, you should be able to extend significally the performance of your equipment. Don't forget to fly safe ;-)

Thanks for the info. I am a newbie drone pilot with only 5.2 hours total flight time of the spark. This is the first time it happened so I guess I shouldn't be worried much.

dennis i Posted at 2017-11-7 01:59
Thanks for the info. I am a newbie drone pilot with only 5.2 hours total flight time of the spark. This is the first time it happened so I guess I shouldn't be worried much.

Dennis, here is the pre-flight checklist for better test.

dennis i Posted at 2017-11-7 01:59
Thanks for the info. I am a newbie drone pilot with only 5.2 hours total flight time of the spark. This is the first time it happened so I guess I shouldn't be worried much.

You are welcome, we are all learning each and every day and that's why we have the forum, so we can help each other.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2017-11-7 01:58
I would recommend you change an environment for check. If the problem remains, please export the flight data and the black box, then upload to dropbox. Thanks for your help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngEHdAlAh9A&t=1s

I wont be flying soon. But i have already exported the blackbox of my spark. Is it safe to post the dropbox link here?

DJI Elektra Posted at 2017-11-7 02:10
Dennis, here is the pre-flight checklist for better test.

Hi DJI Elektra. Where is the checklist?

Viking-Pilot Posted at 2017-11-7 00:55
It is completely normal that this happens sometimes when you are flying inside city limits, even if you are in a park, there can be buildings around with telecom antennas that easily can interfere with the wifi between RC and AC. Try to get as far from the city area as possible and try it there, you should be able to extend significally the performance of your equipment. Don't forget to fly safe ;-)

Hi Viking-Pilot. Does these interference can affect the compass and GPS too?

dennis i Posted at 2017-11-7 00:12
Thank you guys for the inputs. It is a publilc park with not much people around. But I am with a friend whose flying his spark too at that time.  We normally do it. We don't check the frequency or channel we are into. I believe we are both in "Auto" mode. Could that be the issue? It was the first time it happened.

I am not wearing any bluetooth device. Not sure though with passers-by stopping to watch us fly. That's another factor maybe?

I did read somewhere, up to 3 DJI drones in an area shouldn't be a problem.
Actually, it was a saying not to fly more as 3, because it could interfere ....

dennis i Posted at 2017-11-7 03:16
Hi Viking-Pilot. Does these interference can affect the compass and GPS too?

Unless you get electromagnetic interference GPS and compass should not be affected, only the AC and RC connection.

dennis i Posted at 2017-11-7 03:15
Hi DJI Elektra. Where is the checklist?

Sorry about the missing information. I will attach the picture again. Thanks for understanding.