So I've posted on this before, basically, I purchased the Smart Controller as soon as support was added for the Mavic Air 2.  I was having problems with the orientation, sent it in for repair, and they sent it back saying it was a software issue, it can't be repaired or replaced as another controller would have the same issue.  So, where the new software update certainly makes it better, it's still absolutely terrible.  The blue arrow is tiny and hidden behind the home point icon, which that's fine and is true of all drones that use the Fly App, but the arrow, i can't even say is just 90 degrees off that I can adjust for, it's just completley all over the place.  Granted, I'm not at risk of not being able to fly it back to me when i use the orientation view, but I like to know where i am in comparison to my drone so i can't point the antenna in generally the right direction of where the drone is.  I also notice that the SC gives me the weak connection warning after only 600 meters, give or take.  This is FAAAAR less than when I just use the stock controller.  Now granted, that's probably because the antennas aren't facing the drone as they should because I'm basically having to estimate my orientation.  At this point, if you're using the Smart Controller for only the Mavic Air 2, it is an absolute waste of money and I wouldn't recommend it at all....   Even when I tried to return it after the first issue, they refused due to the fact I was outside my return window....  well, i was only outside my return window because they didn't accept the fact I wanted to return it, made me send it in for repair, and it was with them until the point I was out of that window.  I held on to it and didn't try to resell it hoping a software update would fix it, but I truly think at this point, that they promised compatibility wiht the MA2, they forced it out, and its just completely broken....   I'm stuck with an expense piece of junk.   I'm not considering selling this again and perhaps just buying an iPad Mini that I can use as my dedicated screen as I like being able to have my phone available in case someone needs to contact me.  

Hi PAPezoneJr, I am sorry for the issue you encountered. Please allow me to introduce the attitude indicator:

Blue arrow: head of the aircraft
Greenlight under the blue arrow: the direction of the gimbal camera
White N icon: true north toward
Yellow H icon: Home point
Blue dot: mobile device location;
Triangle icon pointing: the direction of the remote control (mobile device compass)
Hope this provides you with some info about the indicator.

Regarding your request of returning the Smart Controller, I had checked the cases in our system, our support helped you to start a return request case on 16 November 2020, and the shipping label was sent to you, but we did not receive the package so the return did not proceed. Please be advised that the unit has to be sent back in 7 days if a case is created, or it may expire. As of the moment, I am sorry that the return period had already expired. If you have any further trouble using the products, please feel free to contact me or our support, we will do our best to help.

DJI Susan Posted at 1-10 21:25
Hi PAPezoneJr, I am sorry for the issue you encountered. Please allow me to introduce the attitude indicator:

Blue arrow: head of the aircraft

that's interesting, I never received a shipping label?  I was told I couldn't and that I had to send it in for another repair.  This was on November 17th, shortly after getting my Smart Controller back, they were asking for more images of the issue making me go through the same steps again to get it repaired.  I then copy and pasted the original findings from the first repair as well as a screenshot of my issue.  nothing about a return, no label sent:

       
DJI Support (DJI Support)
Nov 17, 2020, 6:26 GMT+8

Hi XXXXX,

Thank you for contacting dji technical support

Please reply to this email with the picture of the issue you are encountering.

Best Regards,

DJI Customer Support
Website: https://www.dji.com/
YouTube: http://s.dji.com/Youtube-DJI


Here is what you wrote to me:

NFF:
Customer complaint true. Slow Geo Zone mapping is caused by Software
Issue and is present on all Smart R/C. Test Smart R/C has slow Geo zone update.
Replacement r/c will encounter the same malfunctions. Upcoming Software’s
should resolve the issue.
-R/C tests Normal. Image transmission / Range, GPS, Latency Test Normal. Battery accepted charge during time of D.A.
FCSN; pass


And now this is the issue, that I’m seeing, no camera image even though camera is not obstructed, 12 satellites, but red orientation error.

PAPezoneJr Posted at 1-12 12:21
that's interesting, I never received a shipping label?  I was told I couldn't and that I had to send it in for another repair.  This was on November 17th, shortly after getting my Smart Controller back, they were asking for more images of the issue making me go through the same steps again to get it repaired.  I then copy and pasted the original findings from the first repair as well as a screenshot of my issue.  nothing about a return, no label sent:

       

Could you please provide a screenshot of the error message to me? Please try to restart the drone or refresh the firmware by DJI Assistant 2 and see if the error persists. Please keep us updated about the result.

DJI Susan Posted at 1-14 04:50
Could you please provide a screenshot of the error message to me? Please try to restart the drone or refresh the firmware by DJI Assistant 2 and see if the error persists. Please keep us updated about the result.

I've already gone through all the troubleshooting steps multiple times, downgrading and upgrading the firmware back, etc...  it's not an error message, the orientation is just wrong.  Here is a YouTube video I found of someone else that is having this issue..  He does a good job of explaining the problem:

Yes, I think everyone who has the Smart Controller and the Fly App is seeing the Blue RC "pointer" being 90 degrees off.  It was off with the old indicator to in the previous version of the fly app.  Refreshing the firmware to one that it is currently out isn't going to help, everyone is having the same issue. It's a bug that will require a new Smart Controller firmware update to fix.

Not sure I see a problem. If the unit is using GPS for locating the controller, it can only determine a direction for something that's moving. Notice the little blue arrow is correct when the controller (pilot) is in motion over the ground. GPS can't determine the orientation of an object, only location, and/or speed and direction of movement if it's moving. A compass can reliably show orientation, though.
You see the same thing when using, say, the Maps app on your iPhone - if you stop driving, the little orientation arrow gets all screwed up until you begin moving again.

Maybe the app should use the compass for the small arrow instead. That'd still be kind of confusing, but maybe less confusing than just random behavior when the controller is stationary.....

luciens Posted at 1-14 06:44
Not sure I see a problem. If the unit is using GPS for locating the controller, it can only determine a direction for something that's moving. Notice the little blue arrow is correct when the controller (pilot) is in motion over the ground. GPS can't determine the orientation of an object, only location, or speed and direction of movement. It can only show speed and direction of something actually moving through space. A compass can reliably show orientation, though.
You see the same thing when using, say, the Maps app on your iPhone - if you stop driving, the little orientation arrow gets all screwed up until you begin moving again.

On the video, the Smart Controller stuff is more than 5 minutes in.  That's what this post is about. It is always 90 degrees off.  

I'm sure it is using the compass, how else can you pivot in place (without moving your actually coordinates) and it turns with you?  And if for some reason it wasn't using a compass, you would expect it to be randomly off.  Not always exactly 90 degrees off.  And it is always 90 degrees off for multiple people with the Smart Controller.

It's an issue with the compass and fly app working together (at least on the Smart Controller) that it ends up being 90 degrees off, all the time.

JEZ2 Posted at 1-14 06:58
On the video, the Smart Controller stuff is more than 5 minutes in.  That's what this post is about. It is always 90 degrees off.  

I'm sure it is using the compass, how else can you pivot in place (without moving your actually coordinates) and it turns with you?  And if for some reason it wasn't using a compass, you would expect it to be randomly off.  Not always exactly 90 degrees off.  And it is always 90 degrees off for multiple people with the Smart Controller.

Well USPS is going to deliver my SC in the next couple hours so I'll see how it behaves on mine when I get it.

When I use my iPhone with my MA2, to my recollection, I didn't see that behavior of it being 90degs off from course over the ground. I saw what's in the video above, where the little blue pointer shows direction of the movement of the pilot when he's walking around. When he stops, though, the pointer starts moving around randomly, which is what you'd expect with a "heading indicator" controlled by GPS (and not a compass).

So if I saw that last time I flew, it doesn't look wrong to me. And probably a better fix is to use just the compass for the little blue arrow, if it's not being used already (which is what it looks like).  I'd say it's probably less confusing for it to show heading, and not course over the ground when moving (and then just random movement when you're standing still lol).

I'll try it when I get my SC, tho and confirm that....

PAPezoneJr Posted at 1-14 05:39
I've already gone through all the troubleshooting steps multiple times, downgrading and upgrading the firmware back, etc...  it's not an error message, the orientation is just wrong.  Here is a YouTube video I found of someone else that is having this issue..  He does a good job of explaining the problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pV_E0ahJjg

I am deeply sorry for the belated reply. I will forward this video to our engineers. However, if it is convenient, please also provide a video of your case and listed the exact DJI Fly app and firmware of the Smart Controller so we can try to repeat the issue through the same condition. Thank you.

luciens Posted at 1-14 09:21
Well USPS is going to deliver my SC in the next couple hours so I'll see how it behaves on mine when I get it.

When I use my iPhone with my MA2, to my recollection, I didn't see that behavior of it being 90degs off from course over the ground. I saw what's in the video above, where the little blue pointer shows direction of the movement of the pilot when he's walking around. When he stops, though, the pointer starts moving around randomly, which is what you'd expect with a "heading indicator" controlled by GPS (and not a compass).

I have notice that using an iPhone 11 most of the time my orientation indicator, the blue arrow on the blue dot on the new radar orientation, is off between 30-120°.  With the new radar I have not been as dependent on it for orientation but there are times I look down before taking off and mentally calculate the variation so I can use it difference to calculate the controllers orientation to the drone if there are reference points that I can see while flying.

On the Mavic Air 2 I have found that somewhere in the compass calibration process it appears to synchronize the device compass.  I don't know why and it is just my first hand experience.  I have never had an issue with the drones compass but in trying to resolve the old orientation inaccuracy I found this this helped.  Sometimes I have to calibrate the compass twice to get the controller orientation in sync with the direction of the drone.

JohnLietzke Posted at 1-27 19:14
I have notice that using an iPhone 11 most of the time my orientation indicator, the blue arrow on the blue dot on the new radar orientation, is off between 30-120°.  With the new radar I have not been as dependent on it for orientation but there are times I look down before taking off and mentally calculate the variation so I can use it difference to calculate the controllers orientation to the drone if there are reference points that I can see while flying.

On the Mavic Air 2 I have found that somewhere in the compass calibration process it appears to synchronize the device compass.  I don't know why and it is just my first hand experience.  I have never had an issue with the drones compass but in trying to resolve the old orientation inaccuracy I found this this helped.  Sometimes I have to calibrate the compass twice to get the controller orientation in sync with the direction of the drone.

I finally got my SC and I'm noticing the offset arrow problem now too. I don't really use it, though, so I'm not bothered by it. But it does look broken now that I can see it.

My problem now is the loss of range over the stock controllers for both my MA2 and MP2. It's still useable but signicant. Somewhere between only about 1/2 and 2/3 the range over the stock controllers on both bands, both 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz. That makes the signal less reliable too at close range, so I'm on the fence about whether I'm going to keep using it at all.

I haven't yet found what it is that's causing it, so my next plan is to get hold of a field strength meter so I can actually measure the EIRP differences between the units, if there is any.

The stock controller transmitters are rated at "<= 26dbm" and the SC is rated at 25.5dbm. That's approximately 400mw vs 350mw, a difference of only about 50mw, which should be virtually undetectable in terms of signal strength/range. But it feels like it's much more of a difference than that, almost like the EIRP is more like half what it should be.

So I may ditch the SC altogether if I can't find something clearly defective about it.

luciens Posted at 1-28 08:06
I finally got my SC and I'm noticing the offset arrow problem now too. I don't really use it, though, so I'm not bothered by it. But it does look broken now that I can see it.

My problem now is the loss of range over the stock controllers for both my MA2 and MP2. It's still useable but signicant. Somewhere between only about 1/2 and 2/3 the range over the stock controllers on both bands, both 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz. That makes the signal less reliable too at close range, so I'm on the fence about whether I'm going to keep using it at all.

I guess we have different perspective on the 50mw difference.   

My thinking is that the additional 50mw on the stock controller is beneficial in dense WiFi areas and at longer ranges.  Power variations are typically not symmetrical. The signal quality at the further peripherals is where the extra 50mw would really show.

How far out are you flying and in what type of environment?

JohnLietzke Posted at 1-28 10:43
I guess we have different perspective on the 50mw difference.   

My thinking is that the additional 50mw on the stock controller is beneficial in dense WiFi areas and at longer ranges.  Power variations are typically not symmetrical. The signal quality at the further peripherals is where the extra 50mw would really show.

Well, in radio, signal strengths vary logarithmically, not linearly. So losing 50mw from a 400mw EIRP will show only a logarithmic change in signal strength. for example the log10 of 400 is 2.6, and the log10 of 350 is 2.54. Meaning, in terms of signal strength 400mw will be like "2.6" and 350mw will be like "2.54", a perceived difference of only .06 "units".
Meaning, at the receiver, you should only baaarely be able to detect the difference between 400mw EIRP and 350mw EIRP.

I did some more tests today with my MP2, but this time was seeing much better signal strength than the last few days. At the same spot, yesterday and days before, I was barely getting out about a mile before dropping to 3 bars; another 1000 or 2000 feet out and it was getting down into the red and losing connection.

Today, for some reason, I was able to go out about 2 miles - same flight same altitude of about 350' AGL - and was keeping 4 bars on the little "s-meter".  That's around what I get with my stock controller. I did several other flights today in different locations and got approximately the same signal strength at about 2 miles out as with the stock controller there as well. This is the first time I'm seeing what looks like correct signal strength since I've owned my SC though (about 2-3 weeks?).

In one case, with the MP2 hovering about 2 miles away, holding the controller higher away from my body reliably boosted the signal from 3 to 4 bars every time. On my next flight in another location, I couldn't reproduce that.
Go figure....
So, after seeing all that,  I might not actually have a problem. It's a possibility that I could have encountered interference on the previous flights, or holding the antenna near my body could be detuning the antennas or both.

But I'm going to keep flying it the next couple of days and see if I can replicate the poor range situation again. I'm mystified why everything suddenly started "working right" as of today.

All this was done on the 2.4ghz band...

DJI Susan Posted at 1-27 19:03
I am deeply sorry for the belated reply. I will forward this video to our engineers. However, if it is convenient, please also provide a video of your case and listed the exact DJI Fly app and firmware of the Smart Controller so we can try to repeat the issue through the same condition. Thank you.

I have the same issue with a second (replaced) Smart Controller. So I think that should be general issue

luciens Posted at 1-28 15:13
Well, in radio, signal strengths vary logarithmically, not linearly. So losing 50mw from a 400mw EIRP will show only a logarithmic change in signal strength. for example the log10 of 400 is 2.6, and the log10 of 350 is 2.54. Meaning, in terms of signal strength 400mw will be like "2.6" and 350mw will be like "2.54", a perceived difference of only .06 "units".
Meaning, at the receiver, you should only baaarely be able to detect the difference between 400mw EIRP and 350mw EIRP.

I understand the concept and application of logarithmic function in relationship to waves formations.  But a 1 to 1 application on signal strength can not be directly applied to distance or interference.

I am glad to see you are getting better results today.  

I like you suspect you were encountering interference.  Sometimes, when possible I pilot the drone when flying for longer distances from an elevated location.  It helps with obstructions in the linear path of the signal as that angle decrease over a greater distance.  Just remember to add the elevation difference between the ground and the takeoff location mentally to height.

JohnLietzke Posted at 1-29 10:55
I understand the concept and application of logarithmic function in relationship to waves formations.  But a 1 to 1 application on signal strength can not be directly applied to distance or interference.

I am glad to see you are getting better results today.  

I live in flat terrain, so operating from a hill isn't really possible here lol. So even at 400' AGL, the angle of radiation from the controller to the aircraft starts getting really low at 2 miles, so I'm not surprised that going further out at that low altitude causes the range to deteriorate quickly. If I went to the full 1500' allowed in the firmware, though, I wouldn't be surprised if double that range was easily possible if not further.

luciens Posted at 1-29 16:16
I live in flat terrain, so operating from a hill isn't really possible here lol. So even at 400' AGL, the angle of radiation from the controller to the aircraft starts getting really low at 2 miles, so I'm not surprised that going further out at that low altitude causes the range to deteriorate quickly. If I went to the full 1500' allowed in the firmware, though, I wouldn't be surprised if double that range was easily possible if not further.

luciens,

Do you think that the Smart Controller range is not equal to the stock Controller that comes in the Mavic Air 2 in range and signal strength?

I have been hemming and hawing on the Smart Controller for many months but feed back of actual use from people on this forum has consistently caused me nix getting it.  I fly in a mix a of terrain and environments consisting of hills, mountains, coastal and urban.  For me, the signal especially in urban areas where WiFi saturation is a problem is of great importance.  I get great range overall with the stock Controller and would not want to sacrifice what I am accustom to.  Do you think I would be disappointed in the range given the terrain and flying environment?

You can always take matters into you own hand a procure a dump truck and back hoe to create your own hill.  Thanks for sharing your experience.  It is really helpful to prevent going down a path that will lead to disappointment.  

I once got over zealous and convinced some friends to follow the drone in two cars to test the range from hill.  It was outstanding at a little over 4 miles with interment signal degradation at specifically dense WiFi areas.  I had 4 bars then I turned around due to battery level.  Flying the same area at ground level I only get around 3,000ft before I lose signal.

JohnLietzke Posted at 1-30 10:08
luciens,

Do you think that the Smart Controller range is not equal to the stock Controller that comes in the Mavic Air 2 in range and signal strength?

With the MA2, I don't actually know, as I've done very little flying of my MA2 with the stock controller - almost all of it has been with the SC.
With the MP2, so far the SC definitely has less range than the stock controller, but what I don't know yet is how much less it is. I'm still experimenting, going back and forth between the SC and the stock controller to try to figure out what's going on.

There are other problems too. The screen is still too dim to use in bright daylight (without hunting for shade anyway), and there are also strange bugs with binding models and switching back and forth. For example, if I have my MA2 already bound, if I have to rebind my MP2 plus the DJI goggles, that somehow wipes out the binding of the MA2 and I have to rebind it again too. If that happens with more than just two models, and you'd have to rebind your entire fleet every time you rebind an MA2, that's catastrophic. I can't test that, though, because I only have 2 aircraft.

OTOH, I need the SC for the MA2, because I need to use the goggles in order to fly it. The tiny screen even on the SC just isn't a useable way to fly a DJI aircraft.

So it's an acceptable solution for my MA2 because of the HDMI out, but I'm on the fence about using it with my MP2. I'm going to do some more experimentation today once the drizzle stops and try to get a better idea of how much less range there is with the SC. The range isn't really the concern; it's the strength of the connection even when I'm close in and have to go behind things, etc. The MP2 is a really expensive aircraft, so I don't want to take risks with a weaker connection any more than I have to.

So I can't say whether I'd recommend the SC or not. What does work on it works great, but it's got problems, a couple of them kind of bad. And, as with everything DJI, only goodness knows when/if anything will ever be fixed, or if it just gets discontinued suddenly and you end up stuck with an expensive orphan that you can't really use for much. So there's always that chance that'll happen to the SC and I'll be stuck with an expensive, partially working, deprecated piece of equipment. Well, we all have closets full of DJI orphans, so that wouldn't be any different. But, that's how it goes in this hobby. As a good friend of mine used to say: "you pays yo' money and you takes yo' chances" lol.

But I'll report back on any additional findings I get as I keep working with it.

I have the same orientation problem, I hope DJI start looking into this issue soon!

Update: I did some more comparisons between my SC and the stock controller with my MP2. I'd say the range reduction truly is somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of what the stock controller gives. For example, the result I could reproduce consistently: with the SC, at 400' AGL, at the same location making the exact same flight, at about 1 1/2 miles the signal strength is already down to 3 bars, no matter how I orient the antennas, hold the unit up and away from me, etc. With the stock controller, I can go 2 miles and the signal strength is between 4 and all 5 bars.

So my initial impression seems to have been the right one. There is a very significant reduction in range with the SC over the stock controller, with my Mavic 2 Pro.

So I'm not going to fly my expensive aircraft with it (meaning the MP2), because of the greater risk of disconnections, etc. I will continue to use it with my MA2. My conclusion is, I don't recommend the SC. The reduced range plus the bugs (MP2 linking blows away the MA2 linking, other problems) just makes it not worth it right now.

It's unknown of course whether DJI will ever fix these problems, so IMO, it's not worth the risk and I have to give it a thumbs down/do-not-buy.

It does have the HDMI out, though, which makes it useful for the MA2, which has no other way of flying it FPV, so that's what I'll use mine for.

luciens Posted at 1-31 07:32
Update: I did some more comparisons between my SC and the stock controller with my MP2. I'd say the range reduction truly is somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of what the stock controller gives. For example, the result I could reproduce consistently: with the SC, at 400' AGL, at the same location making the exact same flight, at about 1 1/2 miles the signal strength is already down to 3 bars, no matter how I orient the antennas, hold the unit up and away from me, etc. With the stock controller, I can go 2 miles and the signal strength is between 4 and all 5 bars.

So my initial impression seems to have been the right one. There is a very significant reduction in range with the SC over the stock controller, with my Mavic 2 Pro.

what sc sw ver are you using?

The Saint Posted at 1-31 11:14
what sc sw ver are you using?

The latest one, v01.00.0880. The aircraft are on the latest versions too.

luciens Posted at 1-31 07:32
Update: I did some more comparisons between my SC and the stock controller with my MP2. I'd say the range reduction truly is somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of what the stock controller gives. For example, the result I could reproduce consistently: with the SC, at 400' AGL, at the same location making the exact same flight, at about 1 1/2 miles the signal strength is already down to 3 bars, no matter how I orient the antennas, hold the unit up and away from me, etc. With the stock controller, I can go 2 miles and the signal strength is between 4 and all 5 bars.

So my initial impression seems to have been the right one. There is a very significant reduction in range with the SC over the stock controller, with my Mavic 2 Pro.

luciens, thanks for the real number experience.  

I would think, as the Smart Controller was made for the Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom that my confidence would be higher in using the Smart Controller running the GO 4 app with Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom.  

The Mavic Air 2 was jerry rigged to work the the DJI Fly.

Possibly you many not see the signal limitation on the Mavic 2 Pro with the Smart Controller.  Or it could be that while the Smart Controller works with the Mavic Air 2 the stock controller has newer technologies that give it superior range.  

A simple test would be to fly both drones back to back with both the stock controllers and Smart Controller.  It could be newer hardware in the Air 2 that is giving better range.

JohnLietzke Posted at 2-1 10:59
luciens, thanks for the real number experience.  

I would think, as the Smart Controller was made for the Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom that my confidence would be higher in using the Smart Controller running the GO 4 app with Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom.  

Compared to the MP2 on the SC, the MA2 has slightly less range. At about 1 1/2 miles it starts degrading pretty quickly.

But I haven't done much flying of the MA2 with the stock controller, so I don't know how much better it is than with the SC.

I'd like to get a field strength meter so I can compare the transmitter output on the bench between the SC and my stock controllers. I might try that next if I can get hold of a good meter. That would be the acid test to really compare the actual field strengths between the two and see if there's a difference.