Sliderul
 lvl.2
Flight distance : 501942 ft
United States
Offline
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Background: When I first received my Spark Fly Away package with remote control I was disappointed with the range verses the 1.2 miles advertised. I would get frequent but temporary lost connection and weak video transmission warnings at around 1000 ft (documented in previous threads). In my efforts to resolve this issue I purchased OTG adapter cables from Amazon and I was very pleased with the results. I connected my Samsung Galaxy S5 phone to the RC and I could fly out over 2000 ft and 250 ft elevation with no issues at all. Then I foolishly refreshed the Spark Firmware with each battery in place per a suggestion in this forum - suddenly I ran into significant video lag - so significant it was impossible to fly by watching the video screen. If I held the Spark in one spot and turned 360 degrees in "P" mode I would only see 15 degrees at a time then a lag and another 15 degrees. Not only a lag but a broken pixelated picture. After several discussions with Technical Support they asked me to send the Spark in for evaluation. I declined as I wasn't convinced the issue was in the AC and I wanted to test connecting to other devices. Meanwhile, I found I could connect phone to RC through wireless with much improved performance over my initial experience.
UPDATES: Yesterday I received and installed firmware updates to the Spark as well as the RC so I decided to try to the OTG connection again to see if the video lag issue had been resolved. Voila - It was great. I immediately flew the drone over 3000 ft away with superb video signal and no connection issues. I didn't do much messing around with gesture mode because it's not something I have much interest in, but the few things I tried seem to work fine. I did try the panorama but didn't see anything different than prior to the FW upgrades.
Today I got hold of the DJI GO 4 4.1.4 upgrade through a link provided by a forum contributer. I was so happy with the performance following the FW upgrades I was leery about upgrading the APP. So I saved the 4.1.3 APK file, uninstalled the app and then installed the 4.1.4 App. Then I connected everything, still using the OTG cable. At first, everything seemed fine and I took a couple of really good 180 degree panorama photos. Then I noticed the video lag cropping up again; not as severe as earlier, but still a lag. So I uninstalled 4.1.4 and reinstalled 4.1.3, hooked up through OTG and made another test flight. I took the Spark out 1000 ft and 300 ft elevation and spun it around 720 degrees in sport mode with no lag. I ran the Spark as fast as I could and then made the tightest possible 270 degree turn with no lag.
I'm convinced that something in the 4.1.4 update re-introduced the video lag issue. I would rather have the lag free video than the 180 degree panoramic photo capability so I'll stick with this version. I read where DJI GO 4.1.5 will be out soon to correct some of the glitches introduced with 4.1.4 and I'll wait and try again.
Meanwhile, as opposed to all the negative comments I see in this forum, I think DJI has produced a great drone. There are issues that will need to be resolved, but I'm impressed with the quality of the Drone, the RC and the software. However, I think the technical support I received through e-mail leaves much to be desired. I never had the sense that the responders really read and understood my issues and I got stock answers to other issues until they gave up and asked me to send in the drone for evaluation.
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lvl.4
Second Officer