Air 2 disconnected, returned home, hover disconnected
3093 20 2022-8-9
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alfaholic
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Hello everyone,
Sorry for opening this in Air2S, it is about Air 2.

Just finished this flight, Air 2 got disconnected 500 meters away and did not get connected to the controller at all, then it suddenly appeared over me as return to home worked well.
It began descending but I tried to catch it as I was on some narrow terrace, but after it sensed my hand the drone started hovering 3 meters over me and the controller did not respond.
The controller was disconnected from the drone all the time, I tried restarting it multiple times but nothing happened.
Then it started descending when the battery got low enough and then I catched it.
Air 2 is European model so it often disconnects but it gets back after second or two, but this total disconnection never happened before. There was the message on the screen about interference, however this message came earlier o very often but anyways without problems.After aircraft restarted everything got back to normal. Also the controller battery was at 1 full light and over blinking, relatively low.

Now I don't have a clue what to do, it does not feel safe to fly anymore.
Any idea what happened?

2022-8-9
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Sean-bumble-bee
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Does the controller connect to the drone NOW?

If you go to the webpage https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ you will find instructions on how to retrieve the flight log  and upload that flight log to that website. I suggest you do that and then post the resulting URL here so that someone can look at the log.

From what you describe I think the drone behaved correctly in the circumstances. But when it got close to the ground it rejected the landing site, appropriate behaviour if the landing site was unsuitable and your hand appearing under the drone probably is considered unsuitable, so that would be appropriate behaviour too.
The drone then hovered until the battery was depleted and a forced landing was triggered, again that is correct behaviour.
So it sounds as if the drone's behaviour was correct ..........

BUT ....... the question becomes why the disconnection and more importantly why was there no reconnection?

That said it might be better to choose a better launch landing site or avoid reaching for the drone until it is below shoulder height and read up on the snatch and twist method of grabbing the drone and rolling it through 90deg so that it is, in effect , on its side. That should stop the motors.

BE AWARE that the drone will fight this roll/twist until the motors stop, so you grip needs to be good and the propellors away from your face, arms and body and the grap needs to be fairly accurately placed otherwise the blades are going to get your fingers.

2022-8-9
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alfaholic
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Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 8-9 10:32
Does the controller connect to the drone NOW?

If you go to the webpage https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ you will find instructions on how to retrieve the flight log  and upload that flight log to that website. I suggest you do that and then post the resulting URL here so that someone can look at the log.
I turned on the drone and the controller when I got home and it connected normally.

Yes, the drone acted flawlessly except this strange unpairing during flight.
After watching the SD card video of what was happening I noticed that the drone stopped after losing the signal, then started to turn left and go down and forward, exactly towards the hill for some reason, but fortunately it stopped and then started the return to home procedure by going up to the return to home altitude. Strange really as I do not remember doing anything similar with the controller.

Here is the link to the flight log:

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/46IZDGF8N2K6ZD2MV6B8
2022-8-9
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Sean-bumble-bee
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alfaholic Posted at 8-9 10:46
I turned on the drone and the controller when I got home and it connected normally.

Yes, the drone acted flawlessly except this strange unpairing during flight.

The behaviour 'immediately' after the disconnection may be explained by ".......ally, Failsafe RTH
automatically activates after the remote controller signal is lost for more than 6 seconds. The aircraft will
fly backwards for 50 m on its original flight route, and then enter Straight Line RTH. If the airc....... from page 14 of the manual.
From the Phantomhelp page it looks as it the drone was climbing prior to the disconnection but I can not tell it if was flying away from a  hill just prior to the disconnection.
2022-8-9
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alfaholic
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Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 8-9 11:22
The behaviour 'immediately' after the disconnection may be explained by ".......ally, Failsafe RTH
automatically activates after the remote controller signal is lost for more than 6 seconds. The aircraft will
fly backwards for 50 m on its original flight route, and then enter Straight Line RTH. If the airc....... from page 14 of the manual.

Thanks, this explains the behavior right after it got disconnected.
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alfaholic
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Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 8-9 11:22
The behaviour 'immediately' after the disconnection may be explained by ".......ally, Failsafe RTH
automatically activates after the remote controller signal is lost for more than 6 seconds. The aircraft will
fly backwards for 50 m on its original flight route, and then enter Straight Line RTH. If the airc....... from page 14 of the manual.
Basically the aircraft did everything by the book.
As for the controller, it may be because of a relatively low battery level and strong interference, however it is still strange it did not reconnect when the drone returned and hovered 2 meters away.
I hope someone will be able to read the flight logs.
2022-8-9
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Sean-bumble-bee
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Blimey you must have had a long wait for the battery to drain.

2022-8-9
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alfaholic
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Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 8-9 11:52
Blimey you must have had a long wait for the battery to drain.
Haha, yes... It happened at around 50 percent...
2022-8-9
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v01d
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I'm with new Air2S, only hanfull of flights and I can say, Yes, this disonnection also buggs me, because it's too abrubt and it seems recovery chance is much lower than on my old Mavic Pro version.  Ol Mavic seems had a more ro-bust reconnection scheme..
2022-8-9
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alfaholic
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v01d Posted at 8-9 17:52
I'm with new Air2S, only hanfull of flights and I can say, Yes, this disonnection also buggs me, because it's too abrubt and it seems recovery chance is much lower than on my old Mavic Pro version.  Ol Mavic seems had a more ro-bust reconnection scheme..
This is exactly my experience as I as well had a Mavic Pro.
Air 2 flies and feels more steady, however just as you said the connection falls abruptly and much earlier than before, I believe it is because of the new controller and new antenna that is more directional because of the range while the old controller worked behind the trees and obstacles without major problems, however with less range on paper.
On the open field it is not as problematic, but still every tree or any obstacle can disconnect it. Maybe FCC version works better.
2022-8-9
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v01d
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alfaholic Posted at 8-9 19:14
This is exactly my experience as I as well had a Mavic Pro.
Air 2 flies and feels more steady, however just as you said the connection falls abruptly and much earlier than before, I believe it is because of the new controller and new antenna that is more directional because of the range while the old controller worked behind the trees and obstacles without major problems, however with less range on paper.
On the open field it is not as problematic, but still every tree or any obstacle can disconnect it. Maybe FCC version works better.

Could you explain what did you refer to FCC device  here?
On my Air 2S controller it says  "this device compiles with FCC regulations ..."
I would like to make sure I understand which mode of operation you referring to.
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alfaholic
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v01d Posted at 8-9 19:31
Could you explain what did you refer to FCC device  here?
On my Air 2S controller it says  "this device compiles with FCC regulations ..."
I would like to make sure I understand which mode of operation you referring to.

The same drone works in both modes depending on your location, FCC is for the US and it is much stronger while CE is for Europe with much less wireless power.
FCC has 11 channels while CE has 13, you can check it in your app under transmission.
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v01d
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alfaholic Posted at 8-9 19:44
The same drone works in both modes depending on your location, FCC is for the US and it is much stronger while CE is for Europe with much less wireless power.
FCC has 11 channels while CE has 13, you can check it in your app under transmission.

Oh yes, I see. Thank you
2022-8-9
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Labroides
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alfaholic Posted at 8-9 19:14
This is exactly my experience as I as well had a Mavic Pro.
Air 2 flies and feels more steady, however just as you said the connection falls abruptly and much earlier than before, I believe it is because of the new controller and new antenna that is more directional because of the range while the old controller worked behind the trees and obstacles without major problems, however with less range on paper.
On the open field it is not as problematic, but still every tree or any obstacle can disconnect it. Maybe FCC version works better.

On the open field it is not as problematic, but still every tree or any obstacle can disconnect it.
That's the nature of the radio frequencies used by the controller.
They don't pass through water and trees are full of water.
A branch or two doesn't make much difference, but if there are enough leaves in the way of the signal, it's blocked.
You need a clear unobstructed line of sight between the controller and drone for flying.


Maybe FCC version works better.

There is no FCC version.
The controller is the same for all countries.
In FCC areas, the power output is a little higher (but still gets blocked by trees.
2022-8-9
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DJI Stephen
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Hello there alfaholic. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. May we please know what is the model of the mobile device that you are using please and kindly please fly your DJI Mavic Air 2 to a different location with less interference to see if the issue will still persist? The DJI drone might have picked up magnetic interference on the ground, and you took off from close to a buildings with rebar concrete metal objects on it. Kindly please keep us posted. Thank you.
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alfaholic
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DJI Stephen Posted at 8-10 19:35
Hello there alfaholic. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. May we please know what is the model of the mobile device that you are using please and kindly please fly your DJI Mavic Air 2 to a different location with less interference to see if the issue will still persist? The DJI drone might have picked up magnetic interference on the ground, and you took off from close to a buildings with rebar concrete metal objects on it. Kindly please keep us posted. Thank you.

I am using my Xiaomi Mi10.

This was a highly populated area and many things could interfere with the signal, however I flew earlier in very similar conditions without the controller being totally disconnected in this manner.
There was a lot of metal around me, however I started from a plastic table with the metal fence being 2 do 3 meters away, as I never fly away from a car or any metal surface, but I often hear people say that this is important only during calibration while normally there is no problem in flying from a car for example, which I never do.

Could be the relatively low battery level of the controller, it was at around 30 precent?
2022-8-10
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GaryDoug
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Over the trees in full bloom as opposed to places in the other member's experience. Different hemispheres and environments.
2022-8-10
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alfaholic
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It just happened again. I moved 2000 km to another location, it disconnected 2 or 3 times, and fourth time it did not get back until it landed and I restarted the aircraft. This drone is 2 years old, this never happened for 2 years of flying. Is it maybe ready for service or scrap?
2022-8-29
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Sean-bumble-bee
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Again, flight log and try a different area...... but perhaps move by a few hundred metres, 2000km is a bit extreme
2022-8-29
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alfaholic
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Again, here it is:

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/5FMXFR3HD9OLDGN8Z6CZ
After I restarted the aircraft and got the connection with the controller again I flew almost the same route and everything was normal. Changing the location does not help much, as the next time something bad could happen because of this so there will be no next location.

Not sure what can those files tell us as the app did not colect any data after the aircraft disconnected. Is there some other record in the drone or in the controller we can look at?



2022-8-29
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avinash69
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i'm having the same issue at 30 ft away air 2  i tried everything above even a smart controller but still disconnecting
2-14 01:03
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