Friday we were home again.
I was anxious to try out the tracking (trace) function on my car.

I went to a spot I knew had quiet roads on the coast.
When I got there it seemed pointless to go forward with the idea, for there was a very firm wind.
I gave it a try anyway and I must say that I'm impressed.

It followed up to driving around 30km/hour in normal flight mode.
With firm headwind.
That is close to the maximum speed in normal.

The footage was nice and stable.

I did have trouble updating the homepoint for the controller didn't connect to my phones hotspot. I need to look into that.

nicely done ! !

Good video.
When you work out how to connect to your mobile hotspot, (iPhone) please let me know how you did it as I can’t either. The controller doesn’t even see it and I'm baffled.

Hello there Han. Good day and thank you for posting this cool aerial video that you have filmed. Great work and keep flying. .

davidy61 Posted at 9-4 01:28
Good video.
When you work out how to connect to your mobile hotspot, (iPhone) please let me know how you did it as I can’t either. The controller doesn’t even see it and I'm baffled.

I connected to the phone’s hotspot earlier, but it wouldn’t pick it up during the session.
I use the DJI RC controller and WiFi on the controller does not show my iPhone’s hotspot in the list of available networks.

I needed to add it manually:
SSID: hotspot name (in my case the name I gave to my iPhone)
Encryption choose highest: SAE/WPA3
password: the password you configured in the hotspot

I see now that the controller only connects to my hotspot when I long press the WiFi button in the drop down menu. Once it openes that it also connects to the hotspot right away.

Cool video Hannibal.    Tracking on Mini 3 worked quite well.  

Very nice, tracking and change-up in directions was smooth. Beautiful area, thanks for the video.

DJI Stephen Posted at 9-4 02:01
Hello there Han. Good day and thank you for posting this cool aerial video that you have filmed. Great work and keep flying.  .

Thanks!
Nice gear makes all the difference

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-4 02:50
I connected to the phone’s hotspot earlier, but it wouldn’t pick it up during the session.
I use the DJI RC controller and WiFi on the controller does not show my iPhone’s hotspot in the list of available networks.

It sure does. It was so windy, I never expected this result

FL_Flyer Posted at 9-4 06:41
Very nice, tracking and change-up in directions was smooth. Beautiful area, thanks for the video.

Well… I did not much on the direction changes.
The bird decides itself.

I think that when you catch up too close when it flies backwards in front of you, it makes the decision to change.

It does make the footage interesting imb

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-4 02:50
I connected to the phone’s hotspot earlier, but it wouldn’t pick it up during the session.
I use the DJI RC controller and WiFi on the controller does not show my iPhone’s hotspot in the list of available networks.

Thanks

Will give it a go as soon as I can

NEAT!  Should have gone all the way to the lighthouse though.  It did what it was supposed to, thanks for sharing.

Either I’m doing something wrong or it’s just not working.

It's an iPhone 8
I enter my iPhone SSID address and password, but it won’t connect

The hotspot is enabled as I can connect my iPad to it straight away

It did connect once in about 10 goes but not sure what fluked that as I can’t do it again

I get an out of range message occasionally but the phone is next to the RC controller

Have tried different security protocols too with no success

Bluetooth connects to my phone straight away

So does my home network or the network in the motel we are staying at whilst away.

Must try the wife's iPhone and see if it works on hers when she's here

Looks pretty good I assume you kept your speed under 30mph?

Bob-Mini-2 Posted at 9-4 16:45
NEAT!  Should have gone all the way to the lighthouse though.  It did what it was supposed to, thanks for sharing.

Yes... that lighthouse...
I did a try out of some footage with my mini 2 last year and it was also a remark at the time, to have some close up footage of that thing.

Now the focus was tracking and the car cannot drive round it to my knowledge,

But... it is on the list to do some flying with the lighthouse as primary object of interest.
Not really sure if it is worth it though, haven't given it much attention yet.
(consumed by other tryouts)

DAFlys Posted at 9-4 22:56
Looks pretty good I assume you kept your speed under 30mph?

Well... even worse, the maximum speed in the heavy wind I could make it follow was around 30KM/H.
I didn't want to switch to the speed mode because I didn't want to loose obstacle detection on the first try's.

(I did speed up the footage in post, though, to prevent you all from getting really bored )

Very nice video!

davidy61 Posted at 9-4 17:22
Either I’m doing something wrong or it’s just not working.

It's an iPhone 8

The SSID i mentioned is in the manually adding a wifi connection on the controller.
You should (imo) set that with the name of the hotspot on your iPhone.
On my phone that is the same as my iPhone name.
(including spaces if any)

The password that you need to enter on the controller is the one you configured in the hotspot.

For me the highest level of encryption works.

Is that what you tried?

DowntownRDB Posted at 9-4 05:30
Cool video Hannibal.    Tracking on Mini 3 worked quite well.

It sure does. It was so windy, I never expected this result

Montfrooij Posted at 9-5 03:24
Very nice video!

Thanks!

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-5 03:39
Thanks!

You're welcome!

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-5 03:38
It sure does. It was so windy, I never expected this result

For a drone this small it sure is a beast.  Much better windy day flyer than the Mini 1 or Mini 2 for sure.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 9-5 05:19
For a drone this small it sure is a beast.  Much better windy day flyer than the Mini 1 or Mini 2 for sure.

It seems indeed stronger than the mini 2 I have.
I have no experience with the mini 1.

The stability of the footage is what striked me most.

Excellent video, fun to watch!  I also wondered how you managed it to track from the front and then the rear, guess the drone knows what it is doing!

smbishop Posted at 9-5 10:06
Excellent video, fun to watch!  I also wondered how you managed it to track from the front and then the rear, guess the drone knows what it is doing!

Thank you!
The transition? There was actually nothing to that.

If you start with the bird on front, it seems to make that transition automatically (and elegant) when you get to close to it (speed too high). It is easy to initiate.

Sometimes she stays a bit halfway on the side if she can keep up like that.

When she’s behind you and you go to fast… well it takes quite a distance but eventually she loses you.

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-5 02:01
Yes... that lighthouse...
I did a try out of some footage with my mini 2 last year and it was also a remark at the time, to have some close up footage of that thing.

It is your drone and time, IF you feel like doing a video of the lighthouse, at your leisure.  ENJOY

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-5 02:06
Well... even worse, the maximum speed in the heavy wind I could make it follow was around 30KM/H.
I didn't want to switch to the speed mode because I didn't want to loose obstacle detection on the first try's.

Speeding up the video in post really made me think that the Mini 3 was more capable at Active Track than it really is.

Great video!

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-5 03:36
The SSID i mentioned is in the manually adding a wifi connection on the controller.
You should (imo) set that with the name of the hotspot on your iPhone.
On my phone that is the same as my iPhone name.

Thanks for your help

It’s a weird thing, I tried my wife’s phone, the rc saw her phone, tapped, entered the password and all connected.

Disconnected and tried to reconnect. No go. Played for ages with both her phone and mine and what I found was that for some reason I have to turn mobile hotspot off, Then on again and then it seems to be able to both find and connect to the rc controller.

Very fiddly.   NormallyI wouldn’t bother as I always update at home on the Wi-Fi, but the rc controller seems to need to be connected to the phone so that the controller knows where it is to update the home point to the controller

Yet another silly problem I’ve had that I’ve struggled to try and solve easily/quickly with no real sensible success

davidy61 Posted at 9-5 17:41
Thanks for your help

It’s a weird thing, I tried my wife’s phone, the rc saw her phone, tapped, entered the password and all connected.

Ohhh sorry... Forgot to mention that.
This happenes here too, the DJI RC does not ACTIVATE the hotspot, even if it is enabled.
If the iPad was connected on holiday, the controller also picked up the hotspot (the ipad had activated it) directly. Otherwise i need to go into the list of networks on the controller and silly enough the hotspot is connected directly. An alternative is to open the hotspot on the phone.

fiddely indeed

KLRSKIR Posted at 9-5 11:52
Speeding up the video in post really made me think that the Mini 3 was more capable at Active Track than it really is.

Great video!

We have very fast bicycle riders in the Netherlands

I think it will perform even better in terms of speed in the sports mode of course.
Without the obstacle detection of course.

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-5 02:06
Well... even worse, the maximum speed in the heavy wind I could make it follow was around 30KM/H.
I didn't want to switch to the speed mode because I didn't want to loose obstacle detection on the first try's.

Nice,  that worked really well then.  

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-5 06:04
It seems indeed stronger than the mini 2 I have.
I have no experience with the mini 1.

No doubt about stability in that footage and with the windy conditions.  

I considered the Mini 1 a "learning curve" for DJI as it was there first sub 249G drone.  Signal strength was not that good and it for sure couldn't fight winds very well.  

I'm confused, doesn't the DJI RC have built in GPS?  I thought somebody posted a spec sheet for the RC showing built in GPS capability.  So in order to update the home point after taking off, you need to swipe down on the RC and re-enable WiFi, reconnect to your phone's hotspot (which might require restarting the hotspot), then go into the settings to update home point?  Messy!  Sure hope DJI fixes that!

Super Nice!  

I so want to try this in my convertible after my Mini 3 is revived.

Hannibal_ Posted at 9-4 08:55
Thanks!
Nice gear makes all the difference

Hi there Han. Thank you for the reply and you are very much welcome. Have a safe and a happy flying always. .

dooger Posted at 9-7 14:59
I'm confused, doesn't the DJI RC have built in GPS?  I thought somebody posted a spec sheet for the RC showing built in GPS capability.  So in order to update the home point after taking off, you need to swipe down on the RC and re-enable WiFi, reconnect to your phone's hotspot (which might require restarting the hotspot), then go into the settings to update home point?  Messy!  Sure hope DJI fixes that!

Yes, is supposedly does have its own GPS Chip
I thnk that is the only way I have ever been able to get the blue dot of the controller to show on my map, so I can then update my home point to the controller if I have moved from takeoff point.

If not I get an out of range message and it does not seem to work

Really annoying and a problem I am yet to easily solve.

I don’t even think the connect to phone bit always makes it work.

Once home from holiday I will contact DJI support for their input. I can’t be the only one having this issue.

Sorry to hijack the thread Hannibal

DowntownRDB Posted at 9-6 02:08
No doubt about stability in that footage and with the windy conditions.  

I considered the Mini 1 a "learning curve" for DJI as it was there first sub 249G drone.  Signal strength was not that good and it for sure couldn't fight winds very well.

thanks! I got questions from a friend, if he should go for the mini 1...

I quess not if he has the budget for higher versions

dooger Posted at 9-7 14:59
I'm confused, doesn't the DJI RC have built in GPS?  I thought somebody posted a spec sheet for the RC showing built in GPS capability.  So in order to update the home point after taking off, you need to swipe down on the RC and re-enable WiFi, reconnect to your phone's hotspot (which might require restarting the hotspot), then go into the settings to update home point?  Messy!  Sure hope DJI fixes that!

I did have the blue dot indeed... But couldn't update homepoint because of the map missing (i thought)

davidy61 Posted at 9-8 00:38
Yes, is supposedly does have its own GPS Chip
I thnk that is the only way I have ever been able to get the blue dot of the controller to show on my map, so I can then update my home point to the controller if I have moved from takeoff point.

no problem for the hijack...

but I am confused on your issue?
also missing the map on the DJI RC?

ZippyDue Posted at 9-7 15:53
Super Nice!  

I so want to try this in my convertible after my Mini 3 is revived.

LOL...

Yes, it actually is great fun...
With the little shadow following you in your car

Just don't go speeding for you will loose it