I wasn't using WiFi, I was using the RC.

I flew before 1,000 feet altitude and about 1/4 miles away without any issues. Is it the range on the RC 500 meters altitude & 3.2 miles distance?

The RC works on WiFi also

CasanovaRecords Posted at 2017-7-26 17:06
I wasn't using WiFi, I was using the RC.

ya the RC uses Wifi as well, however it has external antennas and better power and greater reach.  

julian46.gmail Posted at 2017-7-26 05:11
Hello all - Gavin (Jazzflask) - thanks for uploading that flight data and putting the link to that site (just joined - will get a Spark soon but waiting till the recent issues to be addressed properly).

In your flight log, there seemed to be quite a few of these (exiting from GPS mode to ATTI mode) warnings even when flying in the air - do you see these warnings in the APP pop up ? - don't mean to sound critical but If it was me I would have not kept flying and brought it in for a landing to re-calibrate or move to a new location.  Maybe just one warning ok keep going, but they appear in the log about have a dozen times.

Hi Julian,

In normal circumstances, I would wholeheartedly agree, and yes I did see the warnings. However, the drone took a mind of its own and flew off and would not let me bring it in to land.

fans9fb836df Posted at 2017-7-22 03:40
I lost my Spark on July 8th while in Italy. It flew perfectly for the first 3 days that I had it. My flyaway log is almost exactly as all of the reports and the log from jazzflask. I'm on my 3rd week waiting for a positive response. The copter had a mind of its own and pushing sticks changed nothing as I watched it fade away.
ve2aed@gmail.com

Sorry for your loss , could you please provide me your case numher so I can look into it? Will do my best to escalate it for you.

DJI Diana Posted at 2017-7-26 23:48
Sorry for your loss , could you please provide me your case numher so I can look into it? Will do my best to escalate it for you.

Hi there, I would also like to escalate my case please. I have been waiting almost 3 weeks for a response. CAS-786444-Q6Z4Z4 is my case number.

Thanks

I saw dozens of videos on youtube from people loosing their drones. So before my spark arrived, i ordered a loc8tor. As soon my spark arrived i taped it on the top of the spark . now it looks like an AWACS (see my avatar). I havnt experienced such behaviour yet  and i hope i wont at all. But get a locator tool, it helps to pinpoint your drone just in case you loose it. Loc8tor is expensive but in the end i think its worth it.

Koppo Posted at 2017-7-27 00:32
I saw dozens of videos on youtube from people loosing their drones. So before my spark arrived, i ordered a loc8tor. As soon my spark arrived i taped it on the top of the spark . now it looks like an AWACS (see my avatar). I havnt experienced such behaviour yet  and i hope i wont at all. But get a locator tool, it helps to pinpoint your drone just in case you loose it. Loc8tor is expensive but in the end i think its worth it.

I was thinking about doing something similar. Do you have any problems with gps reception etc. ?

Monochrome Posted at 2017-7-27 01:10
I was thinking about doing something similar. Do you have any problems with gps reception etc. ?

i havnt noticed anything bad yet.

Jazzflask Posted at 2017-7-27 00:12
Hi there, I would also like to escalate my case please. I have been waiting almost 3 weeks for a response. CAS-786444-Q6Z4Z4 is my case number.

Thanks

I've escalated this case and informed our appropriate team to take case of it, hope we can get it sorted out soon, appreciate your patience.

I just had exactly the same issue

fans61699a75 Posted at 2017-7-27 01:50
I just had exactly the same issue

Yesterday i did firmware update , and tested the spark, took off and suddenly it went in ati mode, no intereference, i was in a grassy open field. It was quite windy, and spark was about 20 feet high, then i had  compass error.fortunately i could land ac safely,but it was not easy.
I did a calibration of compass and it was fine afterwards.
Can it be that you always have to do imu/compass calibtation after firmware update?

Did you fly in rain? I see weather on July 8 2017 in Aberdin, UK: https://www.wunderground.com/his ... gic=&reqdb.wmo=
and I see rain in the weather record.

Oleksiy Posted at 2017-7-27 02:28
Did you fly in rain? I see weather on July 8 2017 in Aberdin, UK: https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/EGPD/2017/7/8/DailyHistory.html?req_city=&req_state=&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=
and I see rain in the weather record.

No the weather was clear that day which is reflected on the flight log. Wind was 12 mph.

DJI Diana Posted at 2017-7-27 01:45
I've escalated this case and informed our appropriate team to take case of it, hope we can get it sorted out soon, appreciate your patience.

Thanks DJI Diana!

fans61699a75 Posted at 2017-7-27 01:56
Yesterday i did firmware update , and tested the spark, took off and suddenly it went in ati mode, no intereference, i was in a grassy open field. It was quite windy, and spark was about 20 feet high, then i had  compass error.fortunately i could land ac safely,but it was not easy.
I did a calibration of compass and it was fine afterwards.
Can it be that you always have to do imu/compass calibtation after firmware update?

have you gotten a response to this question by any chance? if so please post!

ImHereToCrash Posted at 2017-7-26 19:31
ya the RC uses Wifi as well, however it has external antennas and better power and greater reach.

Thank you!  I just completed the firmware update on the RC & Craft. I will try to fly later on today to see if i can reduplicate the issue.

Jazzflask Posted at 2017-7-26 22:18
Hi Julian,

In normal circumstances, I would wholeheartedly agree, and yes I did see the warnings. However, the drone took a mind of its own and flew off and would not let me bring it in to land.

got it - sorry for the loss - hopefully DJI helps out - or you manage to find it.

I still have a Phantom 1 and practice switching to ATTI mode manually and fly / land in this mode with out GPS / Compass assistance (as its just levelling) - you have to learn to compensate for wind though - as in ATTI mode its the only thing that can make it continue to fly away...

fans681e4976 Posted at 2017-7-26 07:24
Hello that happen to me yesterday too. But after few second i do had the control again. And the compass error does happens one time in 2 flights..

After doing the firmware update,i have already flight 2 times and zero errors, seems that the firmware has solved some issues...

If you calibrate your drone on a interference place, the wrong results to the the compass due to interference will be treated like positive results on flight. If you take off with that wrong results and midair are no interference, the right results of midair free of interference place will be treated like wrong, and cause a compass error (missmatch) when the discrepancy between reads are high, leading to problems like out of controll drone, your flight controll will not know what to do when wrong parameters are supose to be right parameters.

Always calibrate drone and NEVER with phone or other things close.

Everyones need to be VERY VERY carefull about where calibrate the drone. Old drone users always be very very carefull, Since phantom 1 ages and old flyaway problems.

No sttech u DONT ALWAYS calibrate drone! Stop spreading bad info ...the manual says only to calibrate if prompted by app! People calibrating every time they fly is bad news what if u calibrate over concrete and didnt know there was rebar in it?  This is well documented look on youtube also there was a guy that calib compass every time he flew ... Well he lost his drone. U new guys really have to start reading manuals

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-7-29 03:30
No sttech u DONT ALWAYS calibrate drone! Stop spreading bad info ...the manual says only to calibrate if prompted by app! People calibrating every time they fly is bad news what if u calibrate over concrete and didnt know there was rebar in it?  This is well documented look on youtube also there was a guy that calib compass every time he flew ... Well he lost his drone. U new guys really have to start reading manuals

If you ALWAYS calibrate on good no interference places, theres no problem to always calibrate before every flight.

For sure theres a problem if you dont know where is safe to calibrate and calibrate, assuming you know exact what to do , THERES NO PROBLEM.

Second, i am not new, have had phantom 1, fc40 , 2, 2v+ , 3 , 4, bebop and many other drones and been flying for almost 4 years without a single crash or problem.

Since phantom 1 i always do a compass calibration every flight, and always see people advising to do this, Spark is the only drone that people advise to dont do this. Maybe thats because the drone are made to "first time users" that dont know a bunch of things related to drones and probably mess with something.

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-7-29 03:30
No sttech u DONT ALWAYS calibrate drone! Stop spreading bad info ...the manual says only to calibrate if prompted by app! People calibrating every time they fly is bad news what if u calibrate over concrete and didnt know there was rebar in it?  This is well documented look on youtube also there was a guy that calib compass every time he flew ... Well he lost his drone. U new guys really have to start reading manuals

Phantom 1-2-3-4 users and other brands ALWAYS do the calibration "dance" before flight, in every video you look is advised to make that calibration and become some type o ritual dance of drone pilot.

Normaly they need to know exactly where is not good to take off and DONT MAKE A CALIBRATION and DONT TAKE OFF. ( iron on floor, etc), i never take off on that places.

And now.. Dji says on spark-p4pro manual that calibration its just need when the drone asks ( yes, i read the manual since the day i bought spark) .. OK , i will just wait for more flyaway issues of people take off without even know what places are not recomended to take off or to calibrate..

DJI aim the Spark to first time users of drone that dont know the "rules" of drone safe take off places and compass calibration, maybe thats why the "dance" its now just recomended just when drone asks, fear of user calibrate on interference place and things goes wrong.

Hi all!

Today, it happened to my Spark as well! I was started the Spark with good GPS and calibrated Compass. Flew up to about 8m to have it safely remember Home position. Then went up to 100m and recorded a panorama video shot. After about 2-3 minutes hovering in 100m suddenly Spark lost Compass and started to fly away to NORTH. I tried to initiate Return To Home, but the drone did not react to any commands anymore. It just accelerated and flew away. I could see the live stream for a minute or two until the connection was lost completely. The drone is lost.

How can I retrieve the flight record from the Android app? I already synced it, but where do I find the synced flight record? What to do?

After reading the news articles and the forum it is clearly a BUG in the Spark Software or Hardware. This is an absolute no-go for such a product! No possibility to track it - no failsafe.

i spoke with a guy lives nearby who has years, of flying quadcopters, mentioned about my spark issues, said sounds like either the spark has onboard software crashing in a thread making it unable to respond at least until that thread closes or restarts.. if that is the case and it certainly is possible but not likely he hopes, it's probably nothing we can do right now.. DJi has to fix that stalled or crashed software thread..  or if any luck its not actually software onboard crashing and getting stuck in thread but rather general lack of redundancies causing it to get confused..

i asked why is that a good thing..or would be of any luck..  he said if it isn't a crashed software thread, and the spark is getting confused, considering it lacks general redundancies its likely.., having the ability to force Atti mode is definitely needed..but oddly missing.    Atti should disable GPS and compass and maybe even disable  the VPS..basically you're in full manual control... if it isn't software/firmware related, Atti mode is a simple cure.  would allow you to tell it which way to face and fly even if it feels like its going completely backwards it wont stop you like it may in GPS mode.  RTH would also misbehave in its confusion..thinks its pointing somewhere else..

he said he had his inspire drones fly away and he dedicated a button to Atti mode moment it starts going off track he uses Atti mode to reel it in..  same for his Phantoms and Mavic Pro... he said Atti has saved him a lot of problem, sometimes compass or something gets thrown off  and yes mid flight its a thing..  or something and having manual control is only way to assure it comes back.. when it does decide to commit to its flyaways..

he did mention if its confused, it wont just right away take off it will appear confused for a moment..could be anything from it stopping in place and hovering without you telling it to, to changing height at random to really anything doesn't appear to be normal operation for a split moment.. when that happens he said its likely going to fly away.. thts when you should press Atti mode if you got that option..before it commits.

so apparently forced Atii mode is saving grace maybe..?   i would dedicate my FN button to Atti mode if i could when i get my next spark..


other theory my GF came up with is maybe the spark doesn't have a built in atti mode on the drone its self.., and only the app does and thus confuses the spark even more with poor connections..   at first i was like..not very likely because Atti mode is basically disabling things and manual.. but she reminded me half the time we inside flying the spark it didn't say Atti Mode it said No GPS in red. when it did say Atti mode in yellow it was slightly more laggy with inputs..    now, idk how likely this is.. but...  its a theory should be put down on the table maybe for DJI to check or fix.  *shrugs*

I dont agree and no phantom 1 2 3 4 users arent supoosed to do calibration dance before every flight! Your spreading bad knowledge dude read the manual!!!! All these new guys going to do that then wonder why there drone flew away

I agree if u do calibrate u should be in an interference free area and u just admitted "ok p4 pro and spark say to do it only when asked" its more like since p3 , p4, p4 pro, mavic, inspire, spark.....U DO NOT CALIBRATE UNLESS APP ASKS U TOO!

I have not calibrated my p4p in 8 months and my spark since i got it a month ago....flying great

STech - Hathder Posted at 2017-7-29 03:53
If you ALWAYS calibrate on good no interference places, theres no problem to always calibrate before every flight.

For sure theres a problem if you dont know where is safe to calibrate and calibrate, assuming you know exact what to do , THERES NO PROBLEM.

i understand your theory..however trust someone who has had a very problematic spark..  only do it when it asks you to..

in theory you are correct it makes sense. want to zero your stuff out..  however in practice it only confuses the spark more,

my spark asked for calibrations fairly often probably had a defective unit..but is why id started to do it every time, i noticed a lot more compass errors. after calibrating every time.. mid flight compass errors.  

from everything i have seen..imu and compass errors seem to cause the most confusion for the spark and theory that it causes some flyaways and some erratic behavior..

my suggestion only calibrate if asked to, if you are asked to calibrate often then not you may have a defective unit.  

I have been looking at the flight record. And this is what happend according to it:

Spark lost GPS signal mid-air in 100m altitude and switched to ATTI mode. Then it immediately began to drift away at approx. 21 km/h. I tried to initiate RTH, but due to missing GPS it could not perform this. I had contact to it for about 1 minute and then I lost signal and it flew away out of sight.  At this moment the battery had approx. 9 minutes flight time left.

Questions:
1. why does the Spark suddenly lose GPS in mid-air at this altitude? It had a very good GPS lock the second before and since the beginning?
2. why does it drift away at such a speed?
3. what happens if the signal is lost? how long will it do nothing before initiate the landing? at what speed will the aircraft descend on failsafe landing in ATTI mode?

Just lost my new three day old Spark!  Am an experienced pilot with over 450 flights on P3A.  2nd flight of day all normal, flight log shows home point was set.  Went up to 300 feet took a Pano and although it was directly above me I hit RTH and it took off South.   It was headed to previous flight Home Point an hour earlier that was three miles away.  Log clearly  indicates that it was headed away from Homepoint where I started flight.  Have sent log to DJI support.   Pretty up upset!!!! Never had any issues like this before.  Staring at the empty spot in my case.

Hi, same thing happened to me. I was flying my SPARK in Sport mode and suddenly it flew away. I didn't have any control over it and got a "disconnected" information on my remote controller. As it happened near a forest, I couldn't find my drone. Is there any chance to get it back? What's the company policy in such cases? Any help is more than welcome.  

stanley_polska Posted at 2017-7-30 10:40
Hi, same thing happened to me. I was flying my SPARK in Sport mode and suddenly it flew away. I didn't have any control over it and got a "disconnected" information on my remote controller. As it happened near a forest, I couldn't find my drone. Is there any chance to get it back? What's the company policy in such cases? Any help is more than welcome.

Upload your log to link below, I will have a look for you, just click on link and follow instructions then come back and post the link.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

stanley_polska Posted at 2017-7-30 10:40
Hi, same thing happened to me. I was flying my SPARK in Sport mode and suddenly it flew away. I didn't have any control over it and got a "disconnected" information on my remote controller. As it happened near a forest, I couldn't find my drone. Is there any chance to get it back? What's the company policy in such cases? Any help is more than welcome.

Here is more information about the flight: https://app.airdata.com/main?fli ... _id=GENERALOverview

Stanley, you receive warnings on dji go screen about compass errors?

You receive at last 15 warnings about compass error during all flight until your drone finally flyaway, the first warnings are at 4s of flight and second at 48s o flight.

So why the hell you dont come back and land and move to another place when you see the warnings in the begining? decided to fly 4 more minutes even after 15 warnings. Warnings are not meant to be ignored, are meant to be usefull.

Ciesnik anything would cause a gps loss could be interference somewhere, it happens. What I'm trying to say is when it goes into atti mode you should be ready to fly it's like flying manual with no assistance yes when it goes into atti mode it will gain speed because it is drifting it has no help from the GPS or barometer it's pretty much like flying a manual quad or acro. And can pick up a lot of speed my phantom 4 going over this one area always seems to lose GPS it goes into atti mode so I will manually fly it till the gains GPS and then everything's good I know for new guys this is harder because they don't really know how to fly but this should be expected GPS is not fail-proof.... Also when the Drone loses connection it searches for 3 seconds as stated in the manual if it does not connect back to the Drone it will all return home on other drones you have the option of return home land or hover depending on what you're doing you want it to return home most of time if you are in a forest you would want to hover ..... Our spark does not have these options it should just return home not fly away if it does fly away that is very unfortunate and I would say that is a malfunction or didn't have a significant GPS signal

I agree with stech you are receiving multiple warnings you should have brought the Drone back right away .... I don't know if you could actually see the warnings but if you did ignore them that would be pilot error it did warn you like I said not jumping to conclusions it could be the app didnt show you any of the warnings ??

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-7-30 11:51
Ciesnik anything would cause a gps loss could be interference somewhere, it happens. What I'm trying to say is when it goes into atti mode you should be ready to fly it's like flying manual with no assistance yes when it goes into atti mode it will gain speed because it is drifting it has no help from the GPS or barometer it's pretty much like flying a manual quad or acro. And can pick up a lot of speed my phantom 4 going over this one area always seems to lose GPS it goes into atti mode so I will manually fly it till the gains GPS and then everything's good I know for new guys this is harder because they don't really know how to fly but this should be expected GPS is not fail-proof.... Also when the Drone loses connection it searches for 3 seconds as stated in the manual if it does not connect back to the Drone it will all return home on other drones you have the option of return home land or hover depending on what you're doing you want it to return home most of time if you are in a forest you would want to hover ..... Our spark does not have these options it should just return home not fly away if it does fly away that is very unfortunate and I would say that is a malfunction or didn't have a significant GPS signal

My Spark was at an altitude of 100m and right above the Home point when it suddenly switched to ATTI mode. It began to drift away, at this height you have no orientation whatsoever to get it back.

I uploaded the flight record, which clearly shows what happend: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/FP73BIFPA00TA7ZFVXO7/

Also, i synched the cached video with the flight record:

The firmware was the latest, compass was calibrated before take-off... I do not see a fault on my side at this point of time. It was not my first flight with the Spark, and I was already afraid that something like this might happen after reading some articles over the last days. And then it happend to me as well and I felt so helpless.