I'm sure this is frowned upon and not the best practice, but it's winter and where I live in the suburbs it's hard to find a spot to get outside esp if there is snow on the ground.  I'm still a novice and the farthest I've let my Mini 2 travel is maybe 300ft high and 500 feet away.  Not trying to fly 2 miles from where I'm standing yet.

Anyways I was curious if people have gotten lazy and just flown from sitting inside their car.  Would it have a huge effect on the reception?  Would having the car on vs off do anything?  I kind of just want to drive to a few spots in my hometown and not be standing in the middle of a park with dogs and people running around wondering what I'm doing.

Not the biggest deal in the world but I think it would just be cool to try.  Honestly, I would love to just take off from my sunroof haha.  

What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

There have been compass errors and Yaw errors, which some say is from starting to close to some metal object. So probably a little risky!

I did it once when it was cold. Had no problems. I would recommend walking a few meters away from the car, starting and then getting into the car. Or you have a passenger and fly the drone from the back seat, as in the video in these thread https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... eid%26typeid%3D712% 26typeid% 3D712  ;-)

I've flown almost all my flights from the car (too cold out, and I'm a sissy) Slight reduction in signal but still could easily go 1000 meters out. Always need to do a compass calibration after startup in the car though, too much metal, so outside for 30 seconds, calibrate, toss mini on the sunroof and get back in the warm car.

In my experience, I have had varied results from inside my truck.  I typically get away from the vehicle but sit on the tailgate of my truck when I'm feeling lazy.

Hello there ExtraGloves. Thank you for reaching out and for this information you have given. I hope that our fellow DJI co pilots who have done these process when flying there DJI Drones can give out and share there experience with you. In addition please be mindful when flying your DJI drone to avoid metal object which may cause interference and unwanted incidents when flying your DJI Drone. Thank you and fly safe always.

I've flown from inside my car.  But, I always take off and land on the ground outside my car, never from the car hood or roof.  As long as you fly within visual line-of-sight, you shouldn't have any problems with the M2 using Occusync.  I've left the car running with the heater on to stay warm, but I always crack my window for a little fresh air.  Spring can't get here soon enough!

I have a glass panoramic sliding roof - open it, switch on the remote and the drone, put the drone out of the car on the open glass roof, wait until GPS is available and take off - has worked well at least once ... (I have not tried it more often) .

Tried to take off from the car roof once,   compass errors galore.   Once in the car got a few hundred feet without issue,   you see it a lot with cars being active tracked.

K9JDN Posted at 2-8 21:25
I've flown from inside my car.  But, I always take off and land on the ground outside my car, never from the car hood or roof.  As long as you fly within visual line-of-sight, you shouldn't have any problems with the M2 using Occusync.  I've left the car running with the heater on to stay warm, but I always crack my window for a little fresh air.  Spring can't get here soon enough!

Ha yeah, I got it this winter so it's only been cold days so far for me.  Thanks!

Aside from the issues already mentioned (signal, compass interference) I don't think there is anything in the FCC rules that states you cannot be in your car.
You should maintain VLOS at all times which may be difficult in your car

K9JDN Posted at 2-8 21:25
I've flown from inside my car.  But, I always take off and land on the ground outside my car, never from the car hood or roof.  As long as you fly within visual line-of-sight, you shouldn't have any problems with the M2 using Occusync.  I've left the car running with the heater on to stay warm, but I always crack my window for a little fresh air.  Spring can't get here soon enough!

    Well said.

lacibaci Posted at 2-9 07:46
Aside from the issues already mentioned (signal, compass interference) I don't think there is anything in the FCC rules that states you cannot be in your car.
You should maintain VLOS at all times which may be difficult in your car

Yeah, I'm still a beginner and freak out about flying long distances anyways.  I live in the suburbs so me flying out a mile over a zillion houses freaks me out.  It's more like parking at a park and flying around from my car with the drone above me or within a park.  It amazes me to see people fly out 2-3 miles from where they stand.  The farthest I've gone so far is around 1200ft or 400m haha.  That seems like a lot for me.

One thing thats not mentioned much and that's the device you're using is also affected by the metal of the car, next time ya flying when near ya car, take the controller with ya device all connected and drone in the air to the car and have a look at what the controller icon on the Flight Attitude radar does , you will see that the controller icon starts to turn the closer you get the to the car, so sitting it in will deffo make the icon turn away from the drone, in turn this will lead to you thinking you're pointing at the drone when if fact its not, don't know if this is the same for all devices but it certainly does this with my, Note 20 Ultra 5G.

Hope that all makes sense lol, its not hearsay, its fact, its what I've experienced myself, YMMV...

I've done it with no ill effects. But I hold the drone in my hand outside my car window at arms length as far from the car as possible while turning it on and wait for the homepoint to be updated before taking off. I've never taken off or landed on the car itself. Be sure to check your map which shows your drone's heading and location before flying anywhere. If things seem off, then don't fly.

Have flown from my car a couple of times. I just calibrate the compass away from the car beforehand. I just hand launch/land the drone from the sunroof. Never had issues with signal reception.

It works - I flew the Mini 2 next to a bus for over 2 km in light snowfall last winter and had no dropouts or problems. Staying carefull is still the best tip ;-)

djiuser_0sznpSoW5hVC Posted at 10-19 13:37
Have flown from my car a couple of times. I just calibrate the compass away from the car beforehand. I just hand launch/land the drone from the sunroof. Never had issues with signal reception.

Thats the worst thing to do, no need to calibrate it, if it tells you to then you're too close to metal, you're very lucky not to lose or crash your ac...

Marsupilami Posted at 10-19 13:46
It works - I flew the Mini 2 next to a bus for over 2 km in light snowfall last winter and had no dropouts or problems. Staying carefull is still the best tip ;-) https://youtu.be/rDr2Seo7rOA

Looks like you lowered the highlights too much in that video, lovely halo's around the trees ;)

Bashy Posted at 10-19 14:18
Thats the worst thing to do, no need to calibrate it, if it tells you too, then you're too close to metal, you're very lucky not to lose of crash your ac...

I know there's no need to calibrate, I only do it if it asks me to

djiuser_0sznpSoW5hVC Posted at 10-19 14:24
I know there's no need to calibrate, I only do it if it asks me to

There is no need if it asks you to either, turn off the ac and move away from the magnetic source and try again.
.
If you calibrate whilst next to the car, you are calibrating for the field around the car, once the drone leaves that field, its not gonna know left from right

Bashy Posted at 10-19 17:54
There is no need if it asks you to either, turn off the ac and move away from the magnetic source and try again.
.
If you calibrate whilst next to the car, you are calibrating for the field around the car, once the drone leaves that field, its not gonna know left from right

"There is no need if it asks you to either, turn off the ac and move away from the magnetic source and try again."

That's news to me. I just follow what the drone says to do lol to be on the safe side, I'm sure it couldn't hurt.

I never said I calibrate next to the car though haha. I walk to the recommended distance

djiuser_0sznpSoW5hVC Posted at 10-19 20:35
"There is no need if it asks you to either, turn off the ac and move away from the magnetic source and try again."

That's news to me. I just follow what the drone says to do lol to be on the safe side, I'm sure it couldn't hurt.

My bad, i dont know why i thought you did it near the vehicle..

As for not calibrating, the reason is in case you create a poor calibration, as a rule, there is no reason to calibrate from leaving the factory, there is one caveat, if you attach something to the drone that could cause interference, such as a speaker, then you would need to calibrate the compass.

When you get the warning, it does not only say calibrate does it? i think it also says to move to another area and that's what you should do, If i was you now, i would take it to an open field or large grassed area and calibrate the compass once more and then that's it, don't calibrate it again, if you see the warning, turn it off and move it to a different spot away from any possible source of magnetic interference, t could be a manhole, rebar in concrete, a fence, vehicles and so on.

Bashy Posted at 10-19 14:20
Looks like you lowered the highlights too much in that video, lovely halo's around the trees ;)

Yes, I learned a lot about editing the videos afterwards. This mistake with the "halo's" doesn't happen to me so easily anymore - thanks ;-)

Marsupilami Posted at 10-21 03:44
Yes, I learned a lot about editing the videos afterwards. This mistake with the "halo's" doesn't happen to me so easily anymore - thanks ;-)

Ah, no worries chap, i did the same with photos, we've all been that, tis how we learn

What's the difference between a Facebook Bimbo typing on Facebook while driving her car and a DJI Bimbo flying the drone while driving the car?

lacibaci Posted at 2-9 07:46
Aside from the issues already mentioned (signal, compass interference) I don't think there is anything in the FCC rules that states you cannot be in your car.
You should maintain VLOS at all times which may be difficult in your car

Aside from you must maintain Visual Line of Sight at all times (or have a spotter)
Hard to do that when you are inside a car.......  

Puch96 Posted at 10-21 10:39
Aside from you must maintain Visual Line of Sight at all times (or have a spotter)
Hard to do that when you are inside a car.......

Cars have windows.

Anyone test flying the Mini 2 while sitting in your car?

I tried it a few times but the props kept hitting the headliner.