1) I just did a first couple of test flights and I got out of range of the controller and the app flashed "emergency landing" - I thought the drone should auto return home and THEN land.  I was able to quickly cancel and tell the drone return home but I am concerned it was actually trying to land far away.  Are there some settings I need to check?  In general if all else fails I obviously want the drone to return home first, not just land. Emergency landing should be reserved for when it will just fall out of the sky otherwise because of low batteries I would think and for no other reason?

2) Is it recommended to keep the gimble protector on the drone when not in use or is it OK ot just transport it with the optional lens hood?  The gimble seems quite fragile.

3) I saw online that mini 1 batteries fit mini 2 - they are heavier but they also have more capacity. Does this provide measurably more fly time?

Look under "Safety" then "Advanced Safety Settings" Make sure that is set to RTH.

I got out of range of the controller and the app flashed "emergency landing" - I thought the drone should auto return home and THEN land.  ...  I am concerned it was actually trying to land far away.  Are there some settings I need to check?  In general if all else fails I obviously want the drone to return home first, not just land. Emergency landing should be reserved for when it will just fall out of the sky otherwise because of low batteries I would think and for no other reason?

Losing signal will trigger your Loss of Signal Action.
By default the LOS action is set to RTH, but it's also possible to set to either Hover or Land.
Otherwise landing can be initiated by tapping the Land icon on the screen or running the battery down to critical low voltage level.

Your recorded flight data should show the cause for your drone landing.

Labroides Posted at 6-22 05:12
I got out of range of the controller and the app flashed "emergency landing" - I thought the drone should auto return home and THEN land.  ...  I am concerned it was actually trying to land far away.  Are there some settings I need to check?  In general if all else fails I obviously want the drone to return home first, not just land. Emergency landing should be reserved for when it will just fall out of the sky otherwise because of low batteries I would think and for no other reason?

Losing signal will trigger your Loss of Signal Action.

Do you know how to check if it is set for return to home? That’s what I want.

Also how do I view the flight data? Thanks

Mobilehomer Posted at 6-22 05:09
Look under "Safety" then "Advanced Safety Settings" Make sure that is set to RTH.

Sorry missed this. Thanks.

Mobilehomer Posted at 6-22 05:09
Look under "Safety" then "Advanced Safety Settings" Make sure that is set to RTH.

Sorry missed this. Thanks.  It was already set like this so how can I tell why it tried to emergency land instead of RTH?

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-22 06:19
Sorry missed this. Thanks.  It was already set like this so how can I tell why it tried to emergency land instead of RTH?

It was already set like this
That's the way it comes from the factory and almost no-one ever changes it (for good reason).

so how can I tell why it tried to emergency land instead of RTH?
To get to your flight data, go to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
... where you'll find instructions to upload the data to that site and it will give a report.
Post a link for the report here even though the report probably will look empty.
Or just post the .txt file.

Since you were out of controller range, the app does not know what the drone is doing and probably just reports emergency landing as a default message. Normally that does not happen, it does an RTH instead if that is the option selected.
The log file will help clarify it. I would use the airdata.com site instead though to eliminate an unneeded step in the process. Membership is free.

Hello there sensiblesnake. Good day and thank you for reaching out. For additional reference the Return to Home (RTH) function brings the aircraft back to the last recorded Home Point and lands when the GPS is signal is strong. There are three types of RTH: Smart RTH, Low Battery RTH, and Failsafe RTH. The said DJI Drone successfully recorded the home point and the GPS signal is strong, the RTH will be triggered when either the user starts Smart RTH, the aircraft battery level is low, or the signal between the remote controller and the is lost. RTH will also be triggered in other abnormal scenarios such as if there is a loss of video transmission. Thank you and fly safe always.

Labroides Posted at 6-22 15:33
It was already set like this
That's the way it comes from the factory and almost no-one ever changes it (for good reason).

Are there any other options? I can't use airdata because they never send me an activation e-mail.  I am not sure how to extract the logs.  On the memory card there are no text files but I have fc_log.log camera_log.log and linux_log.log.   Is there any way to extract logs from the phone app? Phantom Help (https://www.phantomhelp.com/tips/how-to-retrieve-dji-go-flight-logs-from-itunes.29) seems to work without an account but the instructions to retrieve the logs are not good. It refers to using iTunes but it seems like iTunes doesn't exist on the mac anymore. I don't have it on my mac and I can't find it in the App Store.

It's also worth noting that I formatted the memory card since this problem flight so if the data I need is on the card and not the phone I can't get it.

OK I figured out how to get the logs on newer macOS and I identified the right log, but I can't use airdata because they never send me a confirmation e-mail, phantomhelp.com log viewer only produces garbage. I can watch my flight in the DJI app though. At 2:25 I see "weak signal..st antennas", at 2:28 I see "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots."  Then I see "weak signal..st atennas" and "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots." Alternating back and forth and sometimes both on the screen at the same time. Then "In flight", then all messages disappear for about 10 seconds then "weak signal..st atennas" and "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots." again then at 2:58 "Aircraft sig..I interference" with "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots"   At some point here I was frantically trying to cancel landing and instead issue the return home command.   I took off a again in another direction and basically the whole thing repeated all over again. How do I tell what it was actually doing whether it was RTH or landing and if landing why it was landing and not RTH?

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-23 05:11
OK I figured out how to get the logs on newer macOS and I identified the right log, but I can't use airdata because they never send me a confirmation e-mail, phantomhelp.com log viewer only produces garbage. I can watch my flight in the DJI app though. At 2:25 I see "weak signal..st antennas", at 2:28 I see "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots."  Then I see "weak signal..st atennas" and "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots." Alternating back and forth and sometimes both on the screen at the same time. Then "In flight", then all messages disappear for about 10 seconds then "weak signal..st atennas" and "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots." again then at 2:58 "Aircraft sig..I interference" with "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots"   At some point here I was frantically trying to cancel landing and instead issue the return home command.   I took off a again in another direction and basically the whole thing repeated all over again. How do I tell what it was actually doing whether it was RTH or landing and if landing why it was landing and not RTH?

phantomhelp.com log viewer only produces garbage.
Didn't someone tell you it would, but that you should post a link anyway??

I already told you what you need to do.
Post the link to that Phantomhelp report and I'll make sense of it for you.
It looks like garbage because DJI changed their encryption, but just post it as I suggested.
Or, just post the relevant .txt file.

Labroides Posted at 6-23 06:04
phantomhelp.com log viewer only produces garbage.
Didn't someone tell you it would, but that you should post a link anyway??

OK here it is: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/5ECS17KE0Q6I0X55LMTX

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-23 06:10
OK here it is: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/5ECS17KE0Q6I0X55LMTX

Your flight data showed an unusual message only 5 seconds into the flight.
The message was :  Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots (Code: 3200112).
The same message showed another 14 times, spread through the flight.
There was no sign of it commencing autolanding after any of these messages.

I haven't seen this before, but it looks like a false alarm.

FYI   Here's what that flight data looks like in AIrdata:
https://app.airdata.com/share/ySXljw

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-23 05:11
OK I figured out how to get the logs on newer macOS and I identified the right log, but I can't use airdata because they never send me a confirmation e-mail, phantomhelp.com log viewer only produces garbage. I can watch my flight in the DJI app though. At 2:25 I see "weak signal..st antennas", at 2:28 I see "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots."  Then I see "weak signal..st atennas" and "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots." Alternating back and forth and sometimes both on the screen at the same time. Then "In flight", then all messages disappear for about 10 seconds then "weak signal..st atennas" and "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots." again then at 2:58 "Aircraft sig..I interference" with "Aircraft landing automatically. Exited QuickShots"   At some point here I was frantically trying to cancel landing and instead issue the return home command.   I took off a again in another direction and basically the whole thing repeated all over again. How do I tell what it was actually doing whether it was RTH or landing and if landing why it was landing and not RTH?

Hi,

Had a look at your flight too.

I do not have a explanation for 16 times an "Aircraft landing automatically" message. (but it did not land....just check the descent value in the app next time)
After RTH is activated ; check the distance in the app, value should decrease as it is flying towards home (after climbing first (if flown < rth height setting)  and aligning to home)

More weird is the 12 times "Exited QuickShots", as no Quickshot mode was flown in the log.

At the end in the flight this message "Aircraft may be in violation of local laws and regulations | Check and make sure you have obtained proper authorization to fly in this airspace"
Mayby something to do with the landing message, if drone is flying in a forbidden zone (or think it is there....) it will do an autolanding.

But your flight was close but not in the airspace zones, see the map.

I would suggest to fly in another place, further away from Sofia airspace, see if this kind of messages are seen again when flying.



cheers
JJB

Hi thanks for the input.  Is there any way I can decode this myself with anything besides aridata?  Airdata looks great but they never send me a confirmation e-mail so I can't use it.

I did fly subsequently in other airspaces (even a "reccomended" green zone) but it always says this message about local laws above 120M.  I don't know of any such regulation here. Isn't that a US thing - 400 ft (~120M) maximum?  That message shows up everywhere I fly I ever single time. Even if the safety maximum altitude is set higher. I don't know what that is about or how to disable it.

You are right, I didn't purposefully or accidentally engage quickshots that I know of and definitely not 12 times.  Every time I fly I ensure the firmware and the DJI fly app database is up to date before takeoff.

I subsequently had Gimbal stuck problems.

Thanks.

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-24 03:14
Hi thanks for the input.  Is there any way I can decode this myself with anything besides aridata?  Airdata looks great but they never send me a confirmation e-mail so I can't use it.

I did fly subsequently in other airspaces (even a "reccomended" green zone) but it always says this message about local laws above 120M.  I don't know of any such regulation here. Isn't that a US thing - 400 ft (~120M) maximum?  That message shows up everywhere I fly I ever single time. Even if the safety maximum altitude is set higher. I don't know what that is about or how to disable it.

it always says this message about local laws above 120M.  I don't know of any such regulation here. Isn't that a US thing - 400 ft (~120M) maximum?
Many countries have a 400 ft/120 m rule, including Bulgaria and the rest of Europe.
https://drone-traveller.com/drone-laws-bulgaria/.

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-24 03:14
Hi thanks for the input.  Is there any way I can decode this myself with anything besides aridata?  Airdata looks great but they never send me a confirmation e-mail so I can't use it.

I did fly subsequently in other airspaces (even a "reccomended" green zone) but it always says this message about local laws above 120M.  I don't know of any such regulation here. Isn't that a US thing - 400 ft (~120M) maximum?  That message shows up everywhere I fly I ever single time. Even if the safety maximum altitude is set higher. I don't know what that is about or how to disable it.

Hi,

AFAIK is using "Airdata" the only way to legally decrypt the latest flightlogs.

If the other flights went succesfull than just keep in mind what happend, must have been too close to the airport somehow.

I have set my max height to 120 meter, limit in my country is 120 meter.
If this height is reached i get this message in the app " Max altitude reached (Altitude limit: 120m)"

cheers
JJB

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-24 03:14
Hi thanks for the input.  Is there any way I can decode this myself with anything besides aridata?  Airdata looks great but they never send me a confirmation e-mail so I can't use it.

I did fly subsequently in other airspaces (even a "reccomended" green zone) but it always says this message about local laws above 120M.  I don't know of any such regulation here. Isn't that a US thing - 400 ft (~120M) maximum?  That message shows up everywhere I fly I ever single time. Even if the safety maximum altitude is set higher. I don't know what that is about or how to disable it.

Airdata looks great but they never send me a confirmation e-mail so I can't use it.

You could try contacting Airdata via their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/AirdataUAV/) and tell them you've never received the confirmation email(s) to see if they can assist. Can I assume that you've checked your spam folder to see if the email ended up there?

steamship Posted at 6-24 06:11
Airdata looks great but they never send me a confirmation e-mail so I can't use it.

You could try contacting Airdata via their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/AirdataUAV/) and tell them you've never received the confirmation email(s) to see if they can assist. Can I assume that you've checked your spam folder to see if the email ended up there?

Yea I simply never got it.  I signed up with a friend's email and it worked.

JJB* Posted at 6-24 04:29
Hi,

AFAIK is using "Airdata" the only way to legally decrypt the latest flightlogs.

Legally decrypt? Why would there be a legal issue to read my own data? Why is it encrypted so I can't read it in the first place? Is it perhaps just binary or compressed data rather than encrypted?  And why does Airdata have some specially permission?   Doesn't really matter, just curious. Sounds weird.

steamship Posted at 6-24 06:11
Airdata looks great but they never send me a confirmation e-mail so I can't use it.

You could try contacting Airdata via their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/AirdataUAV/) and tell them you've never received the confirmation email(s) to see if they can assist. Can I assume that you've checked your spam folder to see if the email ended up there?

I just signed up with a friend's email. Works now.

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-25 01:10
Legally decrypt? Why would there be a legal issue to read my own data? Why is it encrypted so I can't read it in the first place? Is it perhaps just binary or compressed data rather than encrypted?  And why does Airdata have some specially permission?   Doesn't really matter, just curious. Sounds weird.

DJI encrypt their flightlogs and DAT files.
Airdata is affiliate with DJI, so they can read DJI flighlogs, but they don`t show all the details though.

Why encrypting their data, simple reason imo ; so that users cannot change their logs for warranty claims ect.

cheers
JJB

sensiblesnake Posted at 6-25 01:10
Legally decrypt? Why would there be a legal issue to read my own data? Why is it encrypted so I can't read it in the first place? Is it perhaps just binary or compressed data rather than encrypted?  And why does Airdata have some specially permission?   Doesn't really matter, just curious. Sounds weird.

Legally decrypt? Why would there be a legal issue to read my own data?
There isn't any legal issue.
It's encrypted and that's all there is to it.

Labroides Posted at 6-24 04:13
it always says this message about local laws above 120M.  I don't know of any such regulation here. Isn't that a US thing - 400 ft (~120M) maximum?
Many countries have a 400 ft/120 m rule, including Bulgaria and the rest of Europe.
https://drone-traveller.com/drone-laws-bulgaria/.

If that's accurate info about the 120M/400ft limit then the app is wrong because it says the limit is 150 meters even in a section of the flight path into Burgas airport!

sensiblesnake Posted at 7-1 06:29
If that's accurate info about the 120M/400ft limit then the app is wrong because it says the limit is 150 meters even in a section of the flight path into Burgas airport!

[view_image]

You are talking about two different things.

Labroides Posted at 7-1 07:18
You are talking about two different things.

How so? There is an altitude restriction that's above the altitude restriction?  

I hope you're not going to say that this is an altitude restriction for all/any aircraft because this is a drone app and it should be giving info for drones not jet packs or ultra light experimentals or anything else that's not a drone.

sensiblesnake Posted at 7-1 07:21
How so? There is an altitude restriction that's above the altitude restriction?  

I hope you're not going to say that this is an altitude restriction for all/any aircraft because this is a drone app and it should be giving info for drones not jet packs or ultra light experimentals or anything else that's not a drone.

European rules have an overall 120 metre limit.
That is accurate.

You'd have to ask someone who knows the details of that altitude zone.

Labroides Posted at 7-1 07:27
European rules have an overall 120 metre limit.
That is accurate.

Doesn't make much sense that you can fly higher than the overall rule in that zone so it's gotta be wrong.

Maybe Bulgaria didn't have such rules before the EU came and in and ruined it for everyone as they love to do with much more than just drones.

sensiblesnake Posted at 7-1 06:29
If that's accurate info about the 120M/400ft limit then the app is wrong because it says the limit is 150 meters even in a section of the flight path into Burgas airport!

[view_image]

HI,

In the EU im most countries, if not all all, the max height to fly a drone is 120 meter.
If you set the height higher in the FlyApp you will see a general message about this.
But DJI will not stop you from flying higher!

In free airspace, without specific rules (prisons, no fly zones, airports etc etc), DJI do limit their drones to 500 meter, reference zero height is the takeoff height.

So in your BURGAS example ; if you fly at 140 meter you can enter the airspace. (but illegal when the general rule = max 120)
If you fly at 150 and more your drone will stop at the zone boundary.

cheers
JJB

sensiblesnake Posted at 7-1 07:36
Doesn't make much sense that you can fly higher than the overall rule in that zone so it's gotta be wrong.

Maybe Bulgaria didn't have such rules before the EU came and in and ruined it for everyone as they love to do with much more than just drones.

Doesn't make much sense that you can fly higher than the overall rule in that zone so it's gotta be wrong.

It doesn't make any sense and 150 metres seems much too high for an airport authorisation zone.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's actually 150 ft.

Labroides Posted at 7-1 08:18
Doesn't make much sense that you can fly higher than the overall rule in that zone so it's gotta be wrong.

It doesn't make any sense and 150 metres seems much too high for an airport authorisation zone.

You see the same thing around many airports. There are at least two grey zones near multiple major airports, the closer grey zone is 60 meters (before the red zone that is totally forbidden) and the further away grey zone is 150 meters.

sensiblesnake Posted at 7-1 12:08
You see the same thing around many airports. There are at least two grey zones near multiple major airports, the closer grey zone is 60 meters (before the red zone that is totally forbidden) and the further away grey zone is 150 meters.

               .

Have you double checked the units for those heights? Looking at similar authorisation zones for US airports, there are none that high. It's very likely the units you are looking at are in feet....

If the units are wrong it has to be a bug in the app. My app is absolutely set for meters/metric. Everything else is shown in metric (speed, distance, height, etc.). The whole country uses metric. There is no reason for the warnings to be in feet.

sensiblesnake Posted at 7-2 00:34
Have you double checked the units for those heights? Looking at similar authorisation zones for US airports, there are none that high. It's very likely the units you are looking at are in feet....

If the units are wrong it has to be a bug in the app. My app is absolutely set for meters/metric. Everything else is shown in metric (speed, distance, height, etc.). The whole country uses metric. There is no reason for the warnings to be in feet.

I haven't had any experience with airport altitude zones but I know they are quite different from overall altitude restrictions.
I see somewhere that DJI does have a 150 metre airport altitude zone.
But that doesn't mean you can fly at 150 metres, when your country has an overall height limit of 120 metres.