xfirf_ Posted at 2017-12-22 15:03
This is for the Crystal Sky.

Read the second bullet point in the red box once again slowly and you will "see the light" ;-)

Zbig Posted at 2017-12-22 07:57
Exactly. USB OTG (On-The-Go) is an USB mode where the host-device relationship gets swapped. In case of DJI drones, it's used as a (somewhat inaccurate) short for a mode, where your smartphone connects with the Remote Controller not via WiFi but with a USB cable. DJI Mavic Pro and other drones do work like that. But DJI has never advertised OTG support for Spark, never mentioned it in any materials, etc. Someone has tried it anyway and it kind of worked. Now you have an angry pitchfork mob here screaming bloody murder over DJI having "removed support" for something that never was supported in the first place. That's the today's internet and a sample of modern society for you...

Well said.

Todd in Chicago

JMR58 Posted at 2017-12-22 13:07
@hallmark007, thank you for your input in these fora, i have really learned a lot of your advices!
Enjoy Xmas and end of year, hope to hear from you again!..

Thank you JMR58 I learn just as much from you guys. Wishing you and yours and all Belgians I’ve met here a Happy Christmas.

Just made the latest firmware update to my SPARK (and two batteries as well).  Did see a minor glitch when I fired up my SPARK with my 2nd battery.  It seemed to hesitate on the initial launch....I rebooted the SPARK and it seemed to be fine after that.  Posted a short clip here;   

Thanks for the updates DJI, These are much easier and more frequent than any other drone I've owned.

fans72437b43 Posted at 2017-12-22 13:38
Unpacked my spark last night in preparation for the onslaught of Christmas day when the young fella unwraps it. charged the batteries to full & read up on the process, got thought to the activation part & when i set the region to Australia it prompted me to update the firmware. so i did, with it to go to 99% after the drone turning off a couple of times it stayed on 99% now the is no WIFI coming from the drone & it just sits there with a full batty & 4 red lights on under the motors! might as well be a house brick!
if you hold the button down to change between iphone & remote there are no beeps it does nothing it just sits there laughing at me!
so i get on to the support page hey load up Assistant 2 - done nothing happens still the USB tone you get when you hook up a USB item sounds & sounds agian it just keeps going on & off. hence no spark app thing turns up in assistant 2.

Do you have the Spark "on" when you connect it to DJI Assistant 2 ?

How come everyone worries about the OTG cable i never use it and i can get out around 12000ft. Actually 5.8 works heaps better than 2.4 where i am. I have tried the cable was no benefit. just my 2 cents

Ozziebattler Posted at 2017-12-22 22:19
How come everyone worries about the OTG cable i never use it and i can get out around 12000ft. Actually 5.8 works heaps better than 2.4 where i am. I have tried the cable was no benefit. just my 2 cents

Because you are not in the EU. We have much more strict rules concerning the strenght of a WiFi signal. If you look at the Sparks specifications, you will see that the max range with the RC is 2 kilometers in the US and only 500m in the EU ..... also, in the EU (and israel) most phones cannot use the 5,8GHz band and when you want to use the 2,4 Ghz band for the RC-Spark connection to get those promised 500m, you need the OTG cable because the phone will not connect to the RC via 5,8 GHz. That is the reason why people in other parts of the world do not have this issue.

Wachtberger Posted at 2017-12-22 15:14
Read the second bullet point in the red box once again slowly and you will "see the light" ;-)

I did read it: "comming soon" :-)

lannes Posted at 2017-12-22 21:18
It however works now for the CS

Not for CS and Spark right now unfortunately because of the GO 4 4.1.18 that came with the recent CS update. Before it has worked perfectly and soon it will be fixed. But this is not a firmware issue.

Wachtberger Posted at 2017-12-23 00:03
Not for CS and Spark right now unfortunately because of the GO 4 4.1.18 that came with the recent CS update. Before it has worked perfectly and soon it will be fixed. But this is not a firmware issue.

Yep, sadly with GO 4 4.1.18 the CS works as my S7 Edge using WIFI only which makes CS unsafe to use due to the many lost signal or no images messages. So, I'm using S7 Edge with GO 4 4.1.15 with OTG - until CS will work in safely manner with or without OTG.

@hallmark007 -  
Better range with a live video feed may better way to put it.  I tested the behavior and seen it with Nexus 6 and Go4 4.1.14.

Does anyone know for sure except for the DJI engineers, probably not. But let me throw out a theory -

lets say wifi in RC is handled by 1 chip and it does both 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz.  Between the RC and AC auto setting seems to have a strong bias toward 5.8 GHz at when its first paired.  Now lets assume that if RC connects to AC 5.8 GHz that it will default to 2.4 GHz for the RC to Phone connection.

Most of us have witnessed the nifty behavior of the RC when signal starts to get weak with the AC, where it auto switches to 2.4 GHz - If you've never noticed it watch for it, its kinda cool.  Now I know from mucking around with dd-wrt, openwrt and tomato, that when I set up secondary SSID on same in the frequency band  - it also shares the channel.   --- So, if same thing happens when RC to AC falls back to 2.4 GHz and ends up on same channel as the RC to Phone - the added interference just might cause the connection to phone to renegotiate to lower connection speed that is not longer sufficient for the video stream..    With that in mind - manually setting the RC to AC to 2.4 prior to launch may force the RC to Phone to 5.8 for duration of  session, thus avoiding -- the automatic switching between 5.8 and 2.4 and hence the channel stomping. Some phone seem to be affected more than others.

But then again - I don't know, have not tested it, have no real desire to waste any energy testing it and I do get a bit kick out watching how rabid folks get about OTG.  To me its a testament to how good the spark actually is, that people are willing expend so much energy arguing about OTG.

Wachtberger Posted at 2017-12-23 00:03
Not for CS and Spark right now unfortunately because of the GO 4 4.1.18 that came with the recent CS update. Before it has worked perfectly and soon it will be fixed. But this is not a firmware issue.

Yes I was mistaken, my CS wi-fi must have automatically connected to the Spark RC

lannes Posted at 2017-12-23 02:00
Yes I was mistaken, my CS wi-fi must have automatically connected to the Spark RC

Ah, so same as for me. Because after reading your post I had tested again with mine without success and had sent you also a PM. Thus let's try to be patient until the issue will be solved. And we have seen a very promising test with CS and WiFi connection yesterday. Today it's eventually not raining here and I shall test as well.

Wachtberger Posted at 2017-12-23 02:15
Ah, so same as for me. Because after reading your post I had tested again with mine without success and had sent you also a PM. Thus let's try to be patient until the issue will be solved. And we have seen a very promising test with CS and WiFi connection yesterday. Today it's eventually not raining here and I shall test as well.

Yes lets hope wifi is much better now after the update.

Wifi works for us over here , but I am not sure if the EU problems will be solved

lannes Posted at 2017-12-23 02:18
Yes lets hope wifi is much better now after the update.

Wifi works for us over here , but I am not sure if the EU problems will be solved

Yes, CE standard is the main root of the problem. But yesterday's test came from Belgium and looked very good.

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2017-12-22 12:09
Excuse my ignorance, but how is RC firmware updated when using Assistant and PC? I watched video very carefully and there is no mention that RC needs to be turned on when upgrading firmware. Is it a bug in video or some other magic is going on when updating RC? Many thanks in advance.

The new Firmware upgrades the batteries basically, you need only the Spark.  Note: you start the DJI Assistant first, then connect and turn the Spark ON.

Vyborny83 Posted at 2017-12-22 23:47
Because you are not in the EU. We have much more strict rules concerning the strenght of a WiFi signal. If you look at the Sparks specifications, you will see that the max range with the RC is 2 kilometers in the US and only 500m in the EU ..... also, in the EU (and israel) most phones cannot use the 5,8GHz band and when you want to use the 2,4 Ghz band for the RC-Spark connection to get those promised 500m, you need the OTG cable because the phone will not connect to the RC via 5,8 GHz. That is the reason why people in other parts of the world do not have this issue.

At least most countries require Line-of-Sight flights.  This means you must see the drone at all times with your Mark I eyeball. Therefore I don't understand why people are trying to fly a kilometer or more.  At that distance you have to have Eagle eyes to see a Spark.  The same with extreme altitudes, you can no longer see a Spark at more than 300 meters.  Just seeing the video gives you virtually no situational awareness.  That's why the Blackhawk in New York tried to swallow a drone.  The guy's camera never saw the helicopter.

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2017-12-22 12:09
Excuse my ignorance, but how is RC firmware updated when using Assistant and PC? I watched video very carefully and there is no mention that RC needs to be turned on when upgrading firmware. Is it a bug in video or some other magic is going on when updating RC? Many thanks in advance.

The RC firmware can only be updated via WiFi internet connection. But the past two firmware updates did not concern the RC. One was for Spark only, the last for Spark and the batteries. Thus all could be done with DJI Assistant.

My AC was on 0.701, so upgraded it to 0.800 first than to 0.900 using DJI Assistant. Upgrade of AC and first battery took approx. 10 minutes including download of FW from the internet, uploading it to the AC and then updating AC and the battery that was in it. Every subsequent battery update was about 1 minute 30 seconds. No issues with pairing with RC, no issues with gimbal. Firmware can be rolled back to minimum 0.600 after this update and stock DJI GO 4 4.1.15 works ok. Pimped 4.1.14 works even better. Hoping for DJI to give us best possible present for Xmas which would be DJI GO 4 4.1.22 with fixed WiFi for EU users, more autonomous modes (POI, home and course lock, spotlight, missions...), raw or log color profile, raw pictures and 25 FPS for Europe indoor flying under artificial lightening. Removing of various PUPs (SecNeo in the first place) would be also highly appreciated.

BobD Posted at 2017-12-23 02:46
At least most countries require Line-of-Sight flights.  This means you must see the drone at all times with your Mark I eyeball. Therefore I don't understand why people are trying to fly a kilometer or more.  At that distance you have to have Eagle eyes to see a Spark.  The same with extreme altitudes, you can no longer see a Spark at more than 300 meters.  Just seeing the video gives you virtually no situational awareness.  That's why the Blackhawk in New York tried to swallow a drone.  The guy's camera never saw the helicopter.

Not everybody is using spark in a town.  I am an outdoor fan and I use it to shoot landscape panoramas. Usually there are no other people or helicopters around and I need the range that OTG provides to be able to get spark where I want it to get the best shot possible without having to climb somewhere or ballance over some cliff. With OTG cable I am able to fly up to 400m, without it around 50. That is often not enough to get the spark where I need it to go. If I was in the US, I could probably get that range via WiFi due to a different regulations for the allowed strenght of a WiFi signal but in the EU I need the OTG.

Vyborny83 Posted at 2017-12-23 03:41
Not everybody is using spark in a town.  I am an outdoor fan and I use it to shoot landscape panoramas. Usually there are no other people or helicopters around and I need the range that OTG provides to be able to get spark where I want it to get the best shot possible without having to climb somewhere or ballance over some cliff. With OTG cable I am able to fly up to 400m, without it around 50. That is often not enough to get the spark where I need it to go. If I was in the US, I could probably get that range via WiFi due to a different regulations for the allowed strenght of a WiFi signal but in the EU I need the OTG.

The Line-of-Sight requirement has nothing do with where you fly.  Landscapes are wonderful but the requirement is still mandatory in most countries.  Here in Bavaria we have low flying helicopters, parachutes, paragliders etc.  Our mountain landscapes are busy places.  A lot of our drone pilots have flown backwards into obstacles that were not visible on their display.

BobD Posted at 2017-12-23 05:23
The Line-of-Sight requirement has nothing do with where you fly.  Landscapes are wonderful but the requirement is still mandatory in most countries.  Here in Bavaria we have low flying helicopters, parachutes, paragliders etc.  Our mountain landscapes are busy places.  A lot of our drone pilots have flown backwards into obstacles that were not visible on their display.

I am not questioning the Line of Sight, we have to keep it in CZ as well. I have studied the regulations for drones and in CZ, we are allowed to fly up to 300m, above that is an aircraft flying space. I was merely refering to the need of longer flight range and that not everybody is using the drone in populated areas.

Vyborny83 Posted at 2017-12-23 06:39
I am not questioning the Line of Sight, we have to keep it in CZ as well. I have studied the regulations for drones and in CZ, we are allowed to fly up to 300m, above that is an aircraft flying space. I was merely refering to the need of longer flight range and that not everybody is using the drone in populated areas.

....we are allowed to fly up to 300m,...

[Incorrect: That would be 100 meter or about 330 feet.]
He is right!

Benwish Posted at 2017-12-23 07:11
....we are allowed to fly up to 300m,...

Incorrect: That would be 100 meter or about 330 feet.

You do realize that every country has a different flight regulations right ? In my country it is 300m .

Vyborny83 Posted at 2017-12-23 06:39
I am not questioning the Line of Sight, we have to keep it in CZ as well. I have studied the regulations for drones and in CZ, we are allowed to fly up to 300m, above that is an aircraft flying space. I was merely refering to the need of longer flight range and that not everybody is using the drone in populated areas.

lowest safe altitude (LSALT) for manned aircraft in Europe is 500 ft, it would seem strange that you would be allowed to fly a drone 300 metres high, in most countries throughout Europe max height for drones is 120 metre or 400 ft.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-12-23 07:40
lowest safe altitude (LSALT) for manned aircraft in Europe is 500 ft, it would seem strange that you would be allowed to fly a drone 300 metres high, in most countries throughout Europe max height for drones is 120 metre or 400 ft.

I did a rather thorough study of those regulations, even watched some youtube videos with some guy from a czech flight controll and apparently, in the Czech Republic you are allowed to fly in a flyspace G which reaches to 300m (1000ft). There is only a 100m max height restriction to a proximity of an airport. http://www.droneweb.cz/legislativa-provozu-dronu/item/37-predpisy-pro-letani-s-drony-v-cr . The link is in a Czech language but there is a picture in it .

Vyborny83 Posted at 2017-12-23 07:58
I did a rather thorough study of those regulations, even watched some youtube videos with some guy from a czech flight controll and apparently, in the Czech Republic you are allowed to fly in a flyspace G which reaches to 300m (1000ft). There is only a 100m max height restriction to a proximity of an airport. http://www.droneweb.cz/legislativa-provozu-dronu/item/37-predpisy-pro-letani-s-drony-v-cr . The link is in a Czech language but there is a picture in it .
[view_image]

Ok sO this article must be wrong.

https://drone-traveller.com/drone-laws-czech-republic/

its cold in China at the moment , i heard a battery fix but my chinese not very good

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-12-23 08:11
Ok sO this article must be wrong.

https://drone-traveller.com/drone-laws-czech-republic/

Yep, it seems somebody misunderstood the 100m limit in a proximity of an airport and thought it is the max altitude everywhere. The distance to airports is also wrong, smaller ones have 5,5 km radius and the larger ones varies. In case you want to fly here you better look to this map: http://aisview.rlp.cz/. It is managed directly by Czech air traffic controll and has both permanent zones and temporary ones as well. You are also forbidden to fly your drone in all national parks, this is a rather new one .

Wow I didn’t realize I was throwing gasoline on an old fire with my nOOb query on OTG, I guess I am fortunate to be in the US and using an iOS device. I want to thank everyone for their comments.

Happy Flying,  may your drone never crash and your connection never fail.

Firehawk989 Posted at 2017-12-22 11:52
Update with DJI Assistant 2 program on your computer, or an apple device if you have one or access to one.

Using DJI Assistant was succesfull. Thanks.

I don't want to cause any undue alarm, but I updated to version 01.00.0900 of the aircraft firmware a few days ago, and had an incident today where I lost total control of my Spark and watched it fly off and crash into the sea. I'm not sure if the cause was related the firmware version, but I know that I had no trouble with the Spark before the upgrade! I was unable to recover my Spark, it's gone for good.

I had excellent GPS signal, and take off was normal. There was no trouble gaining a small amount of altitude (just enough for Spark to pass over my head) using the joystick. As soon as I inched the aircraft forward, it suddenly became unresponsive and I lost absolutely all control of the drone using the remote controller joysticks. The drone went absolutely bezerk and flew off to the one side (towards the sea) at great speed (seemed like it had entered Sport mode on it's own) and it started a slow descent. Pressing the pause button on the remote controller did nothing at all. I helplessly watched it crash into the sea.

Log from DJI GO4 app:
http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/R8XYO15KMJROMQQA8GE2/

DJI support please respond

warrenski Posted at 2017-12-23 11:26
I don't want to cause any undue alarm, but I updated to version 01.00.0900 of the aircraft firmware a few days ago, and had an incident today where I lost total control of my Spark and watched it fly off and crash into the sea. I'm not sure if the cause was related the firmware version, but I know that I had no trouble with the Spark before the upgrade! I was unable to recover my Spark, it's gone for good.

I had excellent GPS signal, and take off was normal. There was no trouble gaining a small amount of altitude (just enough for Spark to pass over my head) using the joystick. As soon as I inched the aircraft forward, it suddenly became unresponsive and I lost absolutely all control of the drone using the remote controller joysticks. The drone went absolutely bezerk and flew off to the one side (towards the sea) at great speed (seemed like it had entered Sport mode on it's own) and it started a slow descent. Pressing the pause button on the remote controller did nothing at all. I helplessly watched it crash into the sea.

Please make this a separate new thread in the forum so that the DJI staff will notice it. In this thread here your case will get lost I fear.

Wachtberger Posted at 2017-12-23 13:57
Please make this a separate new thread in the forum so that the DJI staff will notice it. In this thread here your case will get lost I fear.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will do that too. I left the message on this thread in case the firmware update was to blame, as a way to caution other users.

warrenski Posted at 2017-12-23 14:24
Thanks for the suggestion, I will do that too. I left the message on this thread in case the firmware update was to blame, as a way to caution other users.

You are welcome. I have already had a look at your flightrecord and it is not an easy one to interpret (at least for me, others will certainly be better in doing so). But no matter whether it might be related to the firmware update or not, it will only find the appropriate attention if posted in a new thread.

Vyborny83 Posted at 2017-12-23 03:41
Not everybody is using spark in a town.  I am an outdoor fan and I use it to shoot landscape panoramas. Usually there are no other people or helicopters around and I need the range that OTG provides to be able to get spark where I want it to get the best shot possible without having to climb somewhere or ballance over some cliff. With OTG cable I am able to fly up to 400m, without it around 50. That is often not enough to get the spark where I need it to go. If I was in the US, I could probably get that range via WiFi due to a different regulations for the allowed strenght of a WiFi signal but in the EU I need the OTG.

I predict another "my spark flew away" thread from people who fly beyond their eyes ability to see the drone's orientation.  ATTI with an ever faster moving drone, and the failing pilot squinting at a distant cloud.  

The guy flying over the deserted beach thought the same about usually flying where helicopters and people aren't around.  The US Army now has his drone arm with motor attached.  His comment that the helicopter being at risk entering the airspace, with a drone flying so far away from its pilot, was those people's problem.  Stating with his chin held high for effect, "For I am a drone pilot!"

Just to come back on topic of this thread I can report that at my first test flight with the .900 firmware today there were no issues at all and it was without OTG. All was well.

warrenski Posted at 2017-12-23 11:26
I don't want to cause any undue alarm, but I updated to version 01.00.0900 of the aircraft firmware a few days ago, and had an incident today where I lost total control of my Spark and watched it fly off and crash into the sea. I'm not sure if the cause was related the firmware version, but I know that I had no trouble with the Spark before the upgrade! I was unable to recover my Spark, it's gone for good.

I had excellent GPS signal, and take off was normal. There was no trouble gaining a small amount of altitude (just enough for Spark to pass over my head) using the joystick. As soon as I inched the aircraft forward, it suddenly became unresponsive and I lost absolutely all control of the drone using the remote controller joysticks. The drone went absolutely bezerk and flew off to the one side (towards the sea) at great speed (seemed like it had entered Sport mode on it's own) and it started a slow descent. Pressing the pause button on the remote controller did nothing at all. I helplessly watched it crash into the sea.

First, sorry for your loss.

Wow....your Spark must have been going with the wind or something, or something else was seriously wrong.  It doesn't show you were in Sport mode, yet your Spark was going 46 mph if I'm looking at the logs correctly!  I see all the Speed errors in the log, did those show on your screen as well?

Sorry...

Todd in Chicago

fans8a13941d Posted at 2017-12-22 00:58
Really? 4.1.22 downloaded from Apple Store? where is it?

App Store... not Apple.