Hello Everyone!

I received my Mavic Air last night and successfully updated both the drone and the controller to the latest firmware.

I took the drone out today for some test flights.  The first three flights went perfectly.  I flew several hundred feet away and flew up to an altitude of 390 feet, with no signal degradation of any kind.  However, I encountered a serious problem in the fourth flight and I'm hoping someone here can help.

While flying away from my starting position at a distance of perhaps 200-300 feet and an altitude of 30-40 feet with a strong signal and about 36% battery remaining on the drone and perhaps 90% on the controller, I abruptly lost video transmission and connection to the drone.  My line of sight was partially obscured by the branches of a single tree, so I tried repositioning myself but the signal didn't reconnect.  I tried repositioning both myself and the controller, but it would not reconnect and I had zero control over the drone.  I understand antenna radiation patterns well and had my controller antennas parallel with the broadsides facing the drone.  I could see no reason for the controller to remain disconnected from the drone.  After what felt like an eternity, the drone began returning home on its own.  However, it was at an altitude that steered it between a couple of large branches on the tree I mentioned.  As a result, the drone stopped dead and seemed at a loss for what to do next.  The controller continued to show no connection, even when the drone was hovering 20 feet directly above me, close to several branches of the tree.

I tried quitting and restarting the DJI Pro 4 app (on my iPhone XS), but that didn't help.  I then tried shutting off the controller and turning it back on.  At that point, connection was reestablished and I was able to slowly coax the drone away from the tree.

Is this "lose connection and fail to reconnect" problem common?  Are there any tips for how I can most effectively reconnect if such an event should occur again?  Is power cycling the controller the best option?  Any theories as to what went wrong?

Hi, there. Thank you for reaching out and we're sorry for the trouble that this has caused. Can you please try to fly in a different location for us to check whether you will experience the same exact problem since there is a possibility that the location where you are flying your DJI Mavic Air might have signal interference that is affecting the drone and its connection. Most of the cause of the interference would be any wireless signal that interfering signal from the RC to the Aircraft. Can you please try to fly in a different location for us to check whether you receive the same exact problem. Also, We highly recommend flying your drone in an open area wherein there are no interferences like electrical wirings, trees, etc to avoid any incident. In addition, Please make sure that you are using an updated firmware for both Aircraft and RC for us to avoid any errors for the said devices. Please keep us posted. Thank you for your kind and understanding.

Quick correction: I used the wrong name for the app.  I should have said "DJI Go 4 app" rather than "DJI Pro 4 app".

Synaptic Storm Posted at 6-29 16:47
Quick correction: I used the wrong name for the app.  I should have said "DJI Go 4 app" rather than "DJI Pro 4 app".

Not to worry. Same thing here. None radar. So can not promote favor aiming because general location unknown without radar referencing to aim flux. You're at close radius so audio is key locator methodology. However once beyond football field quiescence favor, can not hear audio profile to locate. Aiming thus futile. Recourse is nineteen satellites rth assuring height clearance thruout landing.
Never fails providing nineteen satellites & committed homepointrecorded.
I disable fwd aft vision to save cpu resources &  fuel.
Tree canopy is thick so must escalate rth adequate height. Upon disconnect and without reconnection, i must exit apk manually pressing back key, then closing same in the recent stack, and finally either waiting for auto launch else manual launch, the apk. BLUE Banner always returns "GO FLY", click it, and rth is still engaged and can be overridden. drone must be manually maneuvered from above canopy down thru clearance to access ground for landing. This is a bit risky i

This is a bit risky if journey to film target is afar launchpoint home. It appears the deeper jungle has the finest filming targets. But it assumes risks because density restricts normal takeoff and normal lands.

cutis Posted at 6-29 17:09
Not to worry. Same thing here. None radar. So can not promote favor aiming because general location unknown without radar referencing to aim flux. You're at close radius so audio is key locator methodology. However once beyond football field quiescence favor, can not hear audio profile to locate. Aiming thus futile. Recourse is nineteen satellites rth assuring height clearance thruout landing.
Never fails providing nineteen satellites & committed homepointrecorded.
I disable fwd aft vision to save cpu resources &  fuel.

@cutis:

Thank you for confirming the problem and explaining your solution.  It sounds as though it's important to plan for a permanent communications failure before every flight.  This is unfortunate, but as long as there's a strong GPS signal, your solution makes sense.

I want to be certain I understood your instructions and I'm not sure what "apk" means.  Are you saying that you kill the DJI Go 4 app and relaunch it in order to reestablish connection?  It's possible I didn't fully kill the app (by removing it from the "recent stack").  That said, I think restarting the remote controller might be easier and faster.  Have you tried that approach?

I discovered the flight records that are saved in the DJI Go 4 app and can now provide more accurate information.  When I lost connection, my Mavic Air was at a height of 4.6 feet relative to my starting location (and about 15 feet above ground level).  It was about 560 feet away from the home position horizontally.  It had 50% battery remaining and had flown 2232 feet in 2 minutes and 34 seconds on that particular flight.

After scouring the web for others who reported this problem, I suspect the culprit may be the connection between the remote controller and my iPhone XS.  I'm going to try using a high quality USB/Lightning cable and see if that solves the problem.   The little cable that's slotted into the grip strikes me as a weak point.  The phone has to be positioned just right to make both a good electrical connection and a secure physical connection -- and the grip holding the cable and the phone can easily shift while the drone is in flight and the controller is being used.

Synaptic Storm Posted at 6-29 20:55
@cutis:

Thank you for confirming the problem and explaining your solution.  It sounds as though it's important to plan for a permanent communications failure before every flight.  This is unfortunate, but as long as there's a strong GPS signal, your solution makes sense.

No, loose as it insinuates fault, that junction, is normal, for if not, video feed would compromise.
Dont take off, just jostle that junction, to affirm video feed not compromised.
My s8 samsung phone usbC receptacle mates snug versus the rc side of provided 4cm flat cable. Nevertheless rc side is not as snug but video feed not compromise by jostling rc junction.

No, cycle rc power does not reconnect bird.

Normal recovery is reconnect since bird autonomy homing shortens separation favoring reconnect.

However, when closer proximity and still refusal reconnect, attempt backing out of apk (application in android phone used to fly). Purge stack of it, recents button.
If bird reconnects apk autolaunches itself, else manually. Wait server chks, wait blue banner "go fly" click banner, video feed should be.
If no reconnect cycling apk, big trouble, so watch
ears audio approaching rth, as there may be issues obstruct had launchpoint been selected indecent.
Check your elex on your person,

@cutis:

Thank you.

I find it enjoyable to interpret what you are saying.  Are you using Google Translate or a similar service?  If so, what is your native tongue?

I didn't understand "Check the elex on your person."  What is "elex" in this context?  Electronics?  Home position?

I have encountered numerous Aircraft Disconnected while flying.  I had suspicioned it was the usb cable I was using, so I returned to using the DJI cable that came with the Air and the problem still exists.  Sometimes I get video breakup just before I get the Aircraft Disconnected error.  But not always.   I have restarted the app while the Air was hovering, but it does not always reconnect.  I put the phone in airplane mode since it most ofter fails at about 120-140 feet from me, whether that distance is vertical or horizontal.  I did add the range extenders to the controller's antennas and that did enable me to go past the 120-140 foot Aircraft Disconnect point.  In every case, the controller still has control of the Air.  Even if the video feed is breaking up or stalled.  Fortunately, all of my flights are in line of sight, and I actually have a clear and unobstructed view of the Air when the Aircraft Disconnected error pops up.  I have added a screen recorder app in an attempt to see if there are any messages that I might have missed when I look up to confirm the action of the Air.  I have limited my flights to a 120-140 foot "bubble" until I can solve the problem with the Aircraft Disconnected because I'm not confident of maintaining control of the Air under these conditions.  Really frustrating when you see others that post video going long distances with continuous video and control and I get Aircraft Disconnected before I go 140 feet.   Location I'm flying should be quiet RF.  Phone does not show any wifi around on either band and the controller also shows very low noise.  At the start, the levels are reported high by the controller but go down as it adds other channels.  Nearest house is almost 2000 feet away, and being in Arkansas, and in the country, no internet out here.  You have to wonder, when DJI uses Occusense on the Phantom and gets raves about its performance as to why they selected the wifi bands for the Air, that are congested in the cities.  If the Aircraft Disconnected are wifi frequency interference problems, any way to reflash the Air to use the more reliable Occusense?

My Mavic usually reconnects after turning off / on the power of the RC. And the native cable had to be replaced with another after the first few flights, because the connection between the smartphone and the RC was lost.

@Vofas & @able2ru:

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I used my drone to inspect the roof of my house yesterday and experienced no issues with the connection.  Even with gusty winds, it was a great experience and clearly demonstrated the value of the drone.

I used airplane mode on my phone as that seems like a good practice for short flights where map data isn't needed.  However, for longer flights, I would want to see the terrain on my phone and assume I need to keep cellular service turned on to receive the data.  In the future, I'll try disabling wi-fi (but not cellular) on my phone.  I am a ham (i.e., I have an amateur radio license) and I know that having a transmitter so close to a receiver in the same band is a bad practice as the transmitter can overwhelm and desense the receiver, even when it's not transmitting on precisely the same frequency.  It seems plausible that if my phone attempts to connect with a nearby SSID it recognizes (e.g., a Comcast access point) that the transmission from my phone could disrupt the connection between the RC and the drone.

I've briefly experienced a connection to remote controller lost or a weak signal on both the Mavic Air and Mavic 2 Pro.  Once I saw that message  and when connectivity was reestablished, I brought the aircraft back in.  I never really had an experience where I lost connection for a time longer than 1 second or 2.

if Your remote gets disconnect + red led for few sec it's not a cable fault - it's bad to hear this problems still existing in MA :/
as some1 written - plan flights with possibility of loosing connection (so HP, sat present), and if this D/C occur only way to fix it is power remote off>then ON, it will reconnect.
had it twice till now (like 1,5year old MA) - 1st time it did scare me, 2nd time annoyed like hell, but I was able to regain control in 15sec maybe as I did know what to do (restart remote).
dont trust this drone! - no one knows why, no one at DJI can help. I can not repelicate that error - fly with limited trust!
2 bad, as that would be a nice drone without this issue