after updating 2 sparks from .0701/.75/.400 to .1000/.85/.600  they will not navigate correctly.

I have attempted to re-flash .1000
done several IMU and compass cals with no improvement.

the area is wide open and has been flown many times and under .0701 both drones flew just fine


http://tinypic.com/r/t81zm1/9

Please upload the TXT flight log for that flight here and post the link back here.

msinger Posted at 2018-10-19 09:21
Please upload the TXT flight log for that flight here and post the link back here.

1 are you DJI support

2 is it confidential, don't want the flight data publicly available

thanks

No, I'm not DJI support. If you're only looking for their help, then you'll need to wait until they see your post. They'll likely ask you to sync your flight logs in DJI GO so they can review them. Maybe get a head start on that now.

msinger Posted at 2018-10-19 09:54
No, I'm not DJI support. If you're only looking for their help, then you'll need to wait until they see your post. They'll likely ask you to sync your flight logs in DJI GO so they can review them. Maybe get a head start on that now.

thanks.. I have already looked at the logs for this flight and others

the spark is less than a month old, I have ~40 flights on this particular one and the other is almost 2 months old

both were upgraded recently because I was sick of the nag warnings

there is nothing in the airdata interpretation of the logs ... I have 4 batteries between the 2 aircraft and the only thing I see is some minor cell deviation ~.02v

at this point I think that the aircraft needs to go back to DJI personally.. I have years experience flying drones and this seems like either bad firmware or a flight controller board issue

Without seeing the flight log, I'll have to rely on your years of experience. You can send your aircraft back to DJI here:

https://www.dji.com/service/repair

I am waiting for DJI to weigh in. ...

still waiting DJI ... still waiting....

and... you guessed it.. still waiting...

It looks like you're just looking for 1-on-1 help... and not help from the community here.

Why not just contact DJI support for help here?

https://www.dji.com/support

I'm guessing he wants to share in the findings - as there are likely more than a few of us that want to know what's going on.

White Ox Posted at 2018-10-20 13:19
I'm guessing he wants to share in the findings - as there are likely more than a few of us that want to know what's going on.

bingo...

they have been ignoring the elephant in the room for far too long...

White Ox Posted at 2018-10-20 13:19
I'm guessing he wants to share in the findings - as there are likely more than a few of us that want to know what's going on.

If that's the case, maybe the OP should do another test flight in a location where the flight log can be shared. That'll at least allow people to understand the problem.

I saw the problem from the shared video - RTH should return the drone to the  home point - not have it  head back to some random point at a 30 degree angle from wince it came.

White Ox Posted at 2018-10-20 18:08
I saw the problem from the shared video - RTH should return the drone to the  home point - not have it  head back to some random point at a 30 degree angle from wince it came.

The video really only shows us what the OP thinks is happening. It doesn't show the following:

- Where the home point is located per the data in the flight log
- Whether or not the OP was moving the sticks
- Whether or not wind was a factor

msinger Posted at 2018-10-21 01:14
The video really only shows us what the OP thinks is happening. It doesn't show the following:

- Where the home point is located per the data in the flight log

the location of the log data confirms the home point is that shown in the dji go 4 app

you can see that the aircraft almost turns to face it but immediately begins to turn right and continues to turn right even more once it begins traveling toward the home point

the sticks were not touched during the RTH flight

wind is not a factor.. it turns right if I were to RTH coming from the other direction... not to mention that the quad should not crab heading into the wind for course correction, its supposed to tilt into the wind while continuing to point at the home point.

both drones flew properly for 20+ flights each before the firmware update



DJI --- STILL waiting

the sticks have been calibrated multiple times, no change

Your observations are helpful, but it would be more helpful to see the actual data. If you're able to test again and capture data that can be shared here, then please post it.

msinger Posted at 2018-10-21 04:31
Your observations are helpful, but it would be more helpful to see the actual data. If you're able to test again and capture data that can be shared here, then please post it.

if you think that the drones proper flight programming should be that it angle its heading into the wind in order to make the course (ground track) good, than you really are not the right person to anaylize it anyway

DJI now has numerous threads here on this forum that show this same behavior.. with the drone not remotely facing the home point during travel

it also has numerous and growing incidents of " Warning Compass Error. P-GPS Mode & Warning: In flight working IMU encounters heading expections, please switch to atti mode" and the resultant fly aways

this video, as others have posted, clearly show that the quad is not placing its heading on the rhumb line, as there is a significant angle off as can clearly be seen.

additionally the aircraft no longer lands facing the direction it too off.. always comes back and decends / precision lands cocked off to the left.

You're right. I'm not the person who will be able to help if you're not willing to share your data. DJI support will be your best bet.

msinger Posted at 2018-10-21 05:02
You're right. I'm not the person who will be able to help if you're not willing to share your data. DJI support will be your best bet.

thanks.. I appreciate you weighing in... but..

DJI is the manufacturer here... and they keep ignoring the issues... and I HAVE called DJI and the guy(s) that I talked with were beyond useless.. they have no technical knowledge of the product.. and that was tech support not customer support.. every question I asked he had to go ask someone else.. and still came back with 'i don't know'
the engineers changed stuff.. probably... but nobody knows.. and lets face it.. DJI has been caught changing things in the past that were not in the release docs for the firmware ...

msinger Posted at 2018-10-21 05:02
You're right. I'm not the person who will be able to help if you're not willing to share your data. DJI support will be your best bet.

just on these 2 sparks .. that I have been flying less than a month I have racked up 376,000 ft of flying .. almost 11 hours of flight time

and as I have said.. this is not my first rodeo with flying drones.. been flying them long before they even had GPS on board....

and I have 30+ years flying real aircraft, jets, supersonic jets, high altitude jets, and heavy iron 4 engine stuff....

3 days... DJI still has not engaged... shocker

I have tried RTH, today.
Bird and RC on latest, Go4 4.2.21

Did it twice and despite that the bird pointed some degree to the right, on it's first way back, it just flew almost straight back to the pole it started in front of.
Looks to me, it even corrected the direction a bit, twice!
It had to auto adjust (precise landing?)  a meter or so, before landing kicked in, and I stopped the landing some meter over ground, but the brick I started from was just under the bird.
This was Setting the HP BEFORE starting motors!

The second time, with RTH set in the Air, the bird came back, straight pointing to the Pole it "looked at", during the HP setting.

Both times, I have not touched the RC, from starting RTH (180° turn) to stopping it during landing (just before turning camera down)
First time was above RTH height, second 2m under it.

I have for some time the idea that the difference between this two pointings, if not b/c of to close to magnetic stuff during starting/take off, may have something to do with starting the motors.
Better with the moving during this.
Starting motors turns the bird a bit to the left.
It may read stupid, but maybe that is irritating the IMU, if HP is already set and bird starting?
My RTH distance was just 60 meters, I did not try that from further away.

Video is in 2x speed!

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-10-22 03:10
I have tried RTH, today.
Bird and RC on latest, Go4 4.2.21

love the 70s porn music...

you flew it like what ... 10 meters... ?  not much of a test...

go out 3000ft and maneuver in sport for 5 minutes and try again....

day 4.... dji still absent on the issue... shocking I know...

Really, you tube has porn music from the 70's?
I wonder that the word went through to the forum! ;-)

I tried to keep it easy, having  RTH, HP and a very visible pole in one line, wanted to see how it is heading and pointing.

And, till now, I just suspect Sport as a trigger for compass error, only.
In connection with heavy maneuvering or heavy wind, it seems to me that sport is part of a couple of Atti's!
But perhaps it is, in RTH case, the maneuvering?
Are you trying to fly it like a race copter, perhaps?
Have you had compass errors, too?
I mostly use Sport for to get somewhere quicker, gaining altitude, but not for high speed maneuvering.

A reason for
"is it confidential, don't want the flight data publicly available",
perhaps?

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-10-22 07:39
Really, you tube has porn music from the 70's?
I wonder that the word went through to the forum! ;-)

no I am not flying it like a race copter..

and my reasons for not posting up my flight logs and protecting my privacy have nothing to do with how I fly, where I fly, or to obfuscate for any reason other than its nobodies damn business where I live .. etc..

between the 2 sparks, one, my red one is significantly more unstable with heading and drift..

my white spark and red spark were re-calibrated on a marble engineering plate leveled within .001 degrees in all axis.

when I take the white spark to 100 feet, even in high winds.. about 15-20kts direct crosswind and punch it.. it flies straight and the attitude indicator shows that it immediately banks into the crosswind to maintain a straight flight sensing that its getting pushed laterally.

with the red spark, as soon as I move forward in sport.. even in light winds it drifts to the left.. and has a bit of rotation.

both compass were calibrated in the same spot and launched from the same spot

while the white spark angles off a bit on RTH after maneuvering and lands just slightly off launch heading .. the red spark come back pretty much left engine first.. i.e. .. the course is down the left flight arm the the RTH point barely visible in the bottom left corner of the screen and while the initial rotation to the home point is close.. it immediately rotates slowly to the right when it begins the flight to the home point and get up to 45 degrees off...

I am thinking that either the IMU board is not straight and was installed at an angle or its just a bad board.

I have done multiple cals, reset to factory etc after upgrading to .1000.. the only thing I have yet to try is a downgrade back to .0701 ..

but I really don't want to downgrade 2 sparks, 4 batteries and the controller to .400 to get everything consistent. ... just too many chanced for a DJI bricking... which is all too common ...

For sure you are having high EMI issues in your area...Stay away from transmission lines

How about downgrading only the one bird to .701?

S.J Posted at 2018-10-22 08:13
For sure you are having high EMI issues in your area...Stay away from transmission lines

utilities here are buried...

compass shows less than 10 on takeoff ... and exactly where to do you see power lines in that farm I am flying over.. ?

additionally..  I have been flying both sparks from the same spot over the same farm land for the last 3 weeks.. and both only started doing this after upgrade to .1000 and the red spark is now worse than the white..

so I think your analysis holds no water....

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-10-22 08:37
How about downgrading only the one bird to .701?

I would still have to downgrade the remote to 400 which would make it inconsistent with the white spark and the other 3 batteries...

one of the surest ways to have issues with DJI products is to fly non-consistent firmwares...

How about tryin that?
The app will complain about the .701 anyway "update available", but it is legit to downgrade, since assistant 2 is offering
And the fw of RC and the batteries are higher, than requested for 701.
The batts will work, the RC will work.
Try to eleminate the trigger for the behavior. In case it is in the firmware of the bird.

But there is a big chance, it is a imu/board thing!
So test if .701 is behaving better or not!

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-10-22 09:20
How about tryin that?
The app will complain about the .701 anyway "update available", but it is legit to downgrade, since assistant 2 is offering
And the fw of RC and the batteries are higher, than requested for 701.

got sick of waiting for DJI to respond..

so as of today... the Red spark is on its way back.. and when I mean back.. not even bothering with tech support.. its going back to the seller under the 30 day return for refund...

the white one sure to follow if its navigation begins to devolve like the red ones did...

done...

could it be the wind blowing your lil spark so you think its not heading straight? With out flight logs its all just a guess, wonder why you won't post flight logs (doing something you shouldn't have been is what most are going to think including me

Strobing_NYC Posted at 2018-10-22 16:17
could it be the wind blowing your lil spark so you think its not heading straight? With out flight logs its all just a guess, wonder why you won't post flight logs (doing something you shouldn't have been is what most are going to think including me

Many people don't want the internet mob to know where they fly or are.  A generally wise practice.  Nothing to do with doing things they shouldn't.  Lessons from the Me, me, me, pages of Facebook.

Here is me flying in Siberia :

Strobing_NYC Posted at 2018-10-22 16:17
could it be the wind blowing your lil spark so you think its not heading straight? With out flight logs its all just a guess, wonder why you won't post flight logs (doing something you shouldn't have been is what most are going to think including me

if you knew half of what DJI is keeping on its servers with regards to your personal information, imagery, travel habits, location tracking etc.. you would not be uploading anything or syncing your flight logs either..

why do you think  the .MIL and .GOV agencies just dropped DJI across the board...

just with the spark I am at almost 500,000ft flown in little over a month... and that is just with the spark model.. again I have been using these products for years...

yet I have ZERO flight milage on my avatar.. and it will stay that way...