Hi all,
so i crashed my drone into a tree yesterday.

Note to dji - while going to fetch my drone i could hear the fan softly in the distance - this gave me very much peace of mind a few minutes before i finally located it - the sound also helped me to locate it very easily as i simply followed the sound.
I know that dji has beeping options in 'find my drone' but that only works if the battery is in or on.
I was thinking that dji could develop a shock detection mechanism and a sound emission system that activates when a hard knock is detected and which will continue regardless of if the drone is connected or not and until such time as the pilot turns it off.

Fortunately i am a tree climbing arborist and more fortunately the tree is only 2 m high.
I damaged some props - so i have put a new set on and it continues to perform without issues.

Hi Bekaru, I'm sorry to hear about the accident. Glad to know that you have got back your drone successfully and it continues to perform without issues, very lucky. At the same time, thank you very much for your suggestions and ideas, I will forward it to our engineers, hope it will be improved in the future if possible. Hope you have a nice day!

Sorry you crashed, but glad you got your drone back without any real damage.

Good thing you recovered

Very lucky to find the drone and not much damage

I seen this pop on the screen and thought ohhhhh No I am also delighted it ended positively and you are still up and flying, thank god.  My only guess is you were in go faster mode going like the hammers of hell and the wee fella didn't brake quickly enough and went tree hugging...... I'm right aren't I  

Delighted you are back flying and no damage, quite robust little drones, but you expect that with DJI quality.

happy for you that you found it and back to flying.

Good recovery mate! Never stop learning.

M2Wair Posted at 2018-5-8 00:41
I seen this pop on the screen and thought ohhhhh No I am also delighted it ended positively and you are still up and flying, thank god.  My only guess is you were in go faster mode going like the hammers of hell and the wee fella didn't brake quickly enough and went tree hugging...... I'm right aren't I   

Delighted you are back flying and no damage, quite robust little drones, but you expect that with DJI quality.

Thanks for your concern :-) was a bit of click bait fun.

As my warranty expired so a new door of opportunities opened. Seems i am entering a new phase of testing and exploring my mavic capabilities. I hope it does not last too long and more important i hope to survive it.

The crash happened partly because of my ongoing pixilation issue and partly because i let it happen.
When pixilation begins i always pullout - this time i decided to continue blind which gave me a great 'safe situation' reminder of why it is imperative that when pixilation starts that i must pull up immediately without question.
Also got a chance to see what a mavic looks like when stuck in a tree - my general perception was that mostly the mavic would probably fall out but if it did not i now know that my red and reflective decals are going to help me find better than if they were not on and a few other interesting details.

I did not really want to crash, certainly did not set out with that intent but when i had a chance to save it i thought to explore another way of managing the situation - lesson learned was that my original plan is best - emergancy brake and hover till pixilation pasess.

I tried another phone, samsung note 4 which is on dji list. Went through the whole rig marol of loading and ...and ...and - including all the steps of changing cables again and reloading apps ect and still continued with problem. They were honestly worse than with my sony experia. Fortunately managed to sell the note 4 at a small loss.
Only 2 steps i did not try.
1. Root the phone - the risk of bricking for me is to high and since i am building on at my house i decided a truck load of bricks is more beneficial than a bricked note 4 of equivalent value.
2. i did not reduce screen resolution -

I remain convinced my drone has a problem but now my warentee has expired i have to live with it.

A CW Posted at 2018-5-8 02:14
Good recovery mate! Never stop learning.

Thanks acw - a year ago i had a old sms only cell phone and an old computer. it has been a great learning curve. the more i learn about the interesting things come up. I like it.

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-8 02:26
Thanks acw - a year ago i had a old sms only cell phone and an old computer. it has been a great learning curve. the more i learn about the interesting things come up. I like it.

It is such a vast and expansive hobby - I have taken my photography to a whole new level since I started flying 2 years ago and pleased to say that I am yet to experience a crash though I have come close more than once. I find apple products work best with DJI drones - got an iPhone 7 plus which has been flawless and an ageing MacBook Air but it does what I need it to do

Sounds like you are still having the same problems I was having. I can tell you, my problem was 100% the drone. No doubt about it anymore.

Glad you found your drone, sucks about the pixilation.

Bulldog Posted at 2018-5-8 05:50
Sounds like you are still having the same problems I was having. I can tell you, my problem was 100% the drone. No doubt about it anymore.

Glad you found your drone, sucks about the pixilation.

hey bulldog - i ended up getting another devise that is on dji list and still get issues, in fact even worse, so i sold it asap and took a small loss.
Sadly not well heeled enough to go out and buy an apple on the chance it might work and trying out other peoples devices is not an option available to me.
I am pretty sure the fault lies in the drone but now my warentee has expired and i am all out of ideas about what could be causing it and without help from dji i am forced to live with it.
Quite appalling really.

That really sucks that DJI has allowed this to happen to such a productive member on their site. Very telling.

Sorry to hear you are still having problems.

Woe Posted at 2018-5-7 20:17
Sorry you crashed, but glad you got your drone back without any real damage.

thanks woe - yes a real minor incident but a good opportunity to make a comment about how the sound of the drone fan helped me to find it easily.

DJI Diana Posted at 2018-5-7 19:44
Hi Bekaru, I'm sorry to hear about the accident. Glad to know that you have got back your drone successfully and it continues to perform without issues, very lucky. At the same time, thank you very much for your suggestions and ideas, I will forward it to our engineers, hope it will be improved in the future if possible. Hope you have a nice day!

Thanks dji diana -

Bulldog Posted at 2018-5-9 04:16
That really sucks that DJI has allowed this to happen to such a productive member on their site. Very telling.

Sorry to hear you are still having problems.

thanks bulldog - yeh it is a real bummer.
Sometimes it works fine.
The past month was great but the past week has been a nightmare again.
Anyway what else to do but suck it up and move on?

I am very lucky to have survived with my impediment.
I feel really sorry for those losses that seemed to me less because of pilot error than some other unexplained reason.
Fortunately do not see much of those 'unexplained' scenarios any more.

glad you were able to retreive it.

dwainwayne28 Posted at 2018-5-9 04:52
glad you were able to retreive it.

thanks dwain - all worked out well :-)

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-8 02:19
Thanks for your concern :-) was a bit of click bait fun.

As my warranty expired so a new door of opportunities opened. Seems i am entering a new phase of testing and exploring my mavic capabilities. I hope it does not last too long and more important i hope to survive it.

Does your pixilation problem look similar to this?

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-9 04:33
thanks woe - yes a real minor incident but a good opportunity to make a comment about how the sound of the drone fan helped me to find it easily.

Sounds like the fan saved you.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-5-9 05:02
Does your pixilation problem look similar to this?

[view_image]

Hey hedgetrimmer - yes thats pretty much how it looks. also similar is that it is mostly bottom half of the screen and if it does go full screen than it starts with half screen first.
If i go to portrait mode then the problem half moves to the left side of the screen.

Any ideas about what it is?

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-5-9 05:02
Does your pixilation problem look similar to this?

[view_image]

What device are you using?

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-5-9 05:02
Does your pixilation problem look similar to this?

[view_image]

how much does this happen with you?

i wonder if, working together for a while, we could not perhaps try narrow down possible causes or at least rule out some uncertainties regarding  what causes or contributes to this issue.

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-9 05:22
What device are you using?

CrystalSky Ultra-brite connected to DJI Remote Control using built-in cable that is a part of DJI's mounting adapter.  

The mini-USB that goes into CrystalSky is part of mounting adapter.  Mounting adapter latches together so that connection is stable.  
The other end which goes to DJI's RC is standard sized USB.  This end may have some give like any USB cable, but its location gives it some protection.

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-9 05:20
Hey hedgetrimmer - yes thats pretty much how it looks. also similar is that it is mostly bottom half of the screen and if it does go full screen than it starts with half screen first.
If i go to portrait mode then the problem half moves to the left side of the screen.

also similar is that it is mostly bottom half of the screen and if it does go full screen than it starts with half screen first.

Thus far, same here.


If i go to portrait mode then the problem half moves to the left side of the screen.

I have not tried portrait mode.


Any ideas about what it is?

I have not had much time to mess around with problem.  Barely had time to make a test flight this evening.
Tonight I flew Mavic Pro P with video being recorded.  I did not see any Pixelation on video recording stored by MPP on it's microSD card.
There was Pixilation on video recording stored by GO 4 app running on CS Ub.
The screen snap shots only show Pixelation for Liveview.  The Compass, Map, and text (Distance & Height) at bottom of screen are clean (no Pixelation).

Unless CrystalSky is using separate video engine for Liveview, from that of Compass, Map, and text; then it appears problem has nothing to do with CrystalSky's screen itself.
Video recording on Mavic Pro P is clean (no Pixelation), eliminating a Camera problem.

But that leaves things like;
Mavic Pro P's video processor that downscales and compresses Livestream video for transmission.
Mavic Pro P's transmitter for Livestreaming to RC.
RC's video reciever and buffers.
RC's reciever output being converted to data to be sent over USB.
CrystalSky's USB input or softare drivers having problems when transfering large amounts of data.

If I can get hold of iPhoneX, I plan to try it in place of CrystalSky.

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-9 05:24
how much does this happen with you?

i wonder if, working together for a while, we could not perhaps try narrow down possible causes or at least rule out some uncertainties regarding  what causes or contributes to this issue.

how much does this happen with you?  

Thus far it has happened multiple times during last three flights.  Never happened prior to these three flights.  
One thing I know that changed before the last three flights was firmware / software update for Mavic Pro P, and I believe CrystalSky.  Think GO-4 had some update to it.  Possibly NFZ database.  Updates would have been before May 4th.


i wonder if, working together for a while, we could not perhaps try narrow down possible causes or at least rule out some uncertainties regarding  what causes or contributes to this issue.

Be glad to pass on what I do testing wise and find out.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-5-9 18:14
how much does this happen with you?  

Thus far it has happened multiple times during last three flights.  Never happened prior to these three flights.  

Super - thanks for that info about your issue and crystal sky and factors you think may be contributing issues.

1. My issues are in live view image only as well - sd card footage is fine.
However live view image issue is a serious problem because i cant see my screen and then cant see where i am flying (for safety sake and for filming shots)
2. I tried a samsung note 4 (on dji list) i had the same problem but worse than with my sony experai (not on list)
3. i have paid attention to the cable being a possible problem - i have been checking this aspect and point 4 below for months now - i do not believe the cable is the problem
4. i have paid attention to the usb port possibly being loose/insecure - but i do not believe that is the issue.
5. i have tested a friends RC - i still have the same issues - so RC is not the problem.

6. My feeling is that the problem has to do with the drone or the software somehow.
7. i have also wondered about RC receiver and drone transmission points - i focused on this also for a long time.
But again since the problem is sometimes not present (yet my system and setup and start up is the same) has caused me to doubt that the issue is there.
7. One other observation i have made is that generally (not always) the issue seems to be worse in brighter conditions (although i have flown many times in bright conditions without issues.
But again it is an inconsistent issue and so i have not been able to become certain about anything.
I am pretty sure it is not the cable or the usb port or the device or the RC.
I also wondered that maybe i had insufficient RAM or inferior phone specs but you have crystal sky and i tried other dji recommended devices as have you and we still have issues - pretty sure it is not the device.
What is left then.
1. to try yet another device - i would also like to try an apple but access has eluded me to date - please let me know if you manage to try an apple and what the outcome is.
2. possibly a loose wire or insecure connection in the drone receivers? But why then the problem in the same sector of the screen ? i am not convinced about a loose wire.
3. other factors you have mentioned regardinging remain possibilities.
a. MP processor downscaling for video transmission
b. MP transmitter for live steaming to rc
c. video receivers and buffers
d. output being converted to data

Finally - Some thing should explain why the issue is inconsistent - i think a clue to the problem lies in the discovery of that.
i wonder if something causes something else to happen which then leads to the issue.
Ie : may be there is something going on the leads to something else which then begins to cause the problem.
Temperature is one thing that changes within the drone and which could explain why the issue seems other wise inconsistent.
A loose part or loose connection is another thing that could explain the inconsistency of  the problem.
I wonder if a poor solder joint could be a contributing factor - i have seen  videos from other people showing loose connectors inside the Rc and others showing pitted solder joints.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-5-9 18:14
how much does this happen with you?  

Thus far it has happened multiple times during last three flights.  Never happened prior to these three flights.  

long time ago i also wondered about the nfz upload however for me it does not explain why the issue would be present sometimes and not at other times.

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-9 22:47
Super - thanks for that info about your issue and crystal sky and factors you think may be contributing issues.

1. My issues are in live view image only as well - sd card footage is fine.

Finally - Some thing should explain why the issue is inconsistent - i think a clue to the problem lies in the discovery of that.
i wonder if something causes something else to happen which then leads to the issue.

That is entirely possible.  Long ago saw a hardware problem that only showed up under unique set of circumstances.  Diagnostics never caught problem.  Problem was only noticed when a program's output data was compared to another system running same program.  The data between two systems initially matched, but slowly started to diverege when predictions were run a decade into future.  Even then only some of data was different.

It is likely a hardware problem.  If it were indeed a firmware problem, more people would be reporting this problem.  Not that firwmare should be ruled out entirely.
If I can get my hands on that iPhone X to test with, it would help narrow down cause.  

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-5-10 06:33
Finally - Some thing should explain why the issue is inconsistent - i think a clue to the problem lies in the discovery of that.
i wonder if something causes something else to happen which then leads to the issue.

Thanks hedgetrimmer - what you say makes sense..

It is like there exists a hardware issue that software needs to correct or take account of sometimes it does other times not - but when the fix does come along then it is a firmware change as the hardware stays the same.

It looks as though we are on about the same page - thats positive - gonna be tough pin pointing a hardware issue without dji help - lets hope for the best.

I will also redouble my efforts at trying out an apple.
Just thinking about it i wonder if bulldog does not use ios - i will ask him and let you know.

Mavic Pro in motion the wrong way - glad you retrieved this little guy and everything works properly.

davidmartingraf Posted at 2018-5-10 10:06
Mavic Pro in motion the wrong way - glad you retrieved this little guy and everything works properly.

thanks david - yep all good :-)

Hey Bekaru, sorry your Pro crashed buddy, Glad you have it back and it is still working.

Suren Posted at 2018-5-10 10:44
Hey Bekaru, sorry your Pro crashed buddy, Glad you have it back and it is still working.

thanks suren - yep - all good - flying and filming as normal :-)

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-10 11:24
thanks suren - yep - all good - flying and filming as normal :-)

                     

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-10 09:48
Thanks hedgetrimmer - what you say makes sense..

It is like there exists a hardware issue that software needs to correct or take account of sometimes it does other times not - but when the fix does come along then it is a firmware change as the hardware stays the same.

Brief update on Pixelation problem.

Today I was messing around with Magnetic Interference and compass deviations.  Part of testing required CS-Ub, RC to be powed on, MPP read to fly, and GO-4 app running.

As part of that part, I had to pickup and move MPP, then set MPP back down.  During the testing I noticed that setting MPP down would result in Pixelation at bottom part of Liveview screen being displayed on CS-Ub.

That would point to MPP being sensitive to vibrations.  In that picking up MPP would induce very little vibration.  Where as setting MPP down would induce minor vibrations.  
Nothing of course like vibration form say a 4-inch (or higher) drop would.  

For moment assuming Pixelation problem is caused by vibrations to MPP, then I (perhaps we) are looking at possible broken wire, cracked solder joint, or split foil run (aka Hardware).
Since my MPP is under warranty, it may soon be headed off to DJI.   
If it were not under warranty, and I could find some information as to what board / board area handles Downscaling, Liveview compression, and transmission - I would be opening MPP up and looking for vibration senstive spot.  Granted a split foil run could be problematic if DJI's boards are multi-layer, and split is on a sub-layer.

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-5-10 09:48
Thanks hedgetrimmer - what you say makes sense..

It is like there exists a hardware issue that software needs to correct or take account of sometimes it does other times not - but when the fix does come along then it is a firmware change as the hardware stays the same.

After taking a break from possibility of Mavic Pro P's hardare being senstive to vibrations, went back out to try some gentle finger tapping to simulate vibrations of putting MPP down.
But before I could get anywhere, I ran into following Main Controller data error (see CS-Ub screen snaps).

Either something else has gone wrong with my MPP.  
Or back to very unlikely possibility last firmware update has a bug that effects only a few people.  Because bug is tied to something uniqe to drone (MAC address, Serial Number, Name of Drone, very particular type of drone settings) or drone's position (GPS location, altitude, direction pointed, etc) or trigged by combination of things - temperature, battery charge, power on time, etc.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-5-11 14:06
After taking a break from possibility of Mavic Pro P's hardare being senstive to vibrations, went back out to try some gentle finger tapping to simulate vibrations of putting MPP down.
But before I could get anywhere, I ran into following Main Controller data error (see CS-Ub screen snaps).

Since I can't rip my drone apart without voiding warranty; as much as I would like to at moment.
Going to try down grading firmware.  There has been lots of reports of latest firmware causing problems.  I know I did update firmware prior to when Pixelation problem started and prior to Main Controller data error.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-5-11 13:05
Brief update on Pixelation problem.

Today I was messing around with Magnetic Interference and compass deviations.  Part of testing required CS-Ub, RC to be powed on, MPP read to fly, and GO-4 app running.

hi hedgetrimmer - mostly my pixelation has been 'not so bad' lately/ last few flights'  - this means that it occasionally sets in briefly and then pops back to normal again - but still there.
Mostly i have been flying late afternoon (lower light) and as mentioned before my pixilation does seems to be less prevalent  than when it is brighter daylight (this is not definitive just what appears to be observed)

What are my latest test efforts - see next post