i wsnt recording because i was still testing how i want to use active track with surface streets and fingind the right streets. i found what seemed to be best open street today very little in the way of cars, double lane and semi abandoned back road.  weather was overcasty supposed to more sun but watever softlight is the best for active track i figured, winds calm but occassional 2mph breeze.   figured ok ill have my GF do her morning jogs and ill have the mavic follow her, did that but found the mavic was struggling to maintain a set distance but it was acceptably smooth. i thought well maybe cuz she jogging to slow maybe active track likes faster moving things so i told her to sprint hard as she can, my theory seemed solid since the mavic kept up and was not panicy and was smooth, but only for sprinting..  so then she wanted to ride her bike see if it kept up smoothly with her on that, and it didnt seem to however it was finchy and panicy lot of self breaking and and sport mode level racing to catch up. i wasnt touch any sticks she thought i was toying with her, but it was on its own panicking.. i felt like ok scary it started acting really weird but its following an exact path so it isnt completely out of control.  boy was i wrong, since nothing right there for the mavic to ram itself into so i had to track my car.. this is where things go crazy!   it started swerving side to side almost rammed into back of my car and panic breaked its self swerved way off the road then back.. and it was super twitchy even hovering in place after that flight.. entirte time i had it track my car i had constant 20mph set on my casr's cruise control and i even slide the mavic pssed priority to 20mph just incase.    my gf had control of it because she saved the day with it panic swerving so didnt strike a tree and got it behind us, i had her land it. yes a tree i felt was of no issue, 20 some feet away was too close for active track to trace us.in a car with..  and we did a close check of my blades because i felt like since i had one blade cracked on its own without nailing anything last time, maybe another blade cracked on its own and causing erratic behavior.. sure enough!  rear right blade was cracked but not alot, not as deep as the last crack but definatly a crack, it is weird because the last crack i spotted wasnt causing twitchy panicy behavior and it was catching so much air that it was making a differance sound hovering, this crack isnt creatign a differant tone so not much if any air is catching on it, i think but it is still causing odd behavior.


TL;DR version: check your blades on your mavic before flying, specially in active track mode useage.  i have had 2 blades on there own (as far as i know) crack themseves from general use, havent struck anything yet with them or with the mavic body. dont just assume the blades dont crack because of nothing.  and yes before people ask, these are included blades with the brand new mavic pro, not aftermarket blades, it happens, every manurfactor has a few that slip through.  i cannot 100% say cause of the erratic behavior was due to the crack, i have a good feeling it probably was related... but it is possible maybe my active track isnt functional or maybe  something else confusing my mavic.

sidenote: my GF is right, same corner of the mavic as last blade maybe my mavic having issues with rear right side?  anyone know how to test for that?

Your gonna kill your Mavic.  You know that right?  It's gonna come flying back to you and die at your feet like an abused sled dog.  Wish, I had a more helpful answer for you, but although my Mavic is only a few weeks old, I have not experienced anything like that yet.  The props appear to be holding up, but that doesn't really mean anything.  I hope you figure out what's going on.  I seem to remember a thread that had a Mavic that was also having an odd problem where the prop was hitting the front side of the quad causing damage to prop and front of the quad.  

Oracle Miata Posted at 2017-8-27 10:31
Your gonna kill your Mavic.  You know that right?  It's gonna come flying back to you and die at your feet like an abused sled dog.  Wish, I had a more helpful answer for you, but although my Mavic is only a few weeks old, I have not experienced anything like that yet.  The props appear to be holding up, but that doesn't really mean anything.  I hope you figure out what's going on.  I seem to remember a thread that had a Mavic that was also having an odd problem where the prop was hitting the front side of the quad causing damage to prop and front of the quad.

ya i'm keeping an eye out seeing if its hitting anything on the quad itself.   but it seems to clear it..   but it is consistently that back right prop cracked twice now.   and i noticed scruffing on the underside of the props but because i keep the blades folded up and let the take off unfold them i just assumed that that's blades rubbing across each other... all the blades now showing that white streak/scuff  on undersides with rear right blade showing a little less because its been swapped out..  i'm just hoping that i had 2 bad blades in the box and nothing actually wrong with the motor or arms or anything...
sidenote: i just realized i may need to get amazon to send me more props, they send me props with no white cucles in them.. shoot i cannot replace it now   i should have inspected it upon recieiving it yesterday.. oh well..

Maybe that rear right motor is unbalanced? Also i hope u extend your blades out then start to fly....makes me cringe when people keep them folded and take off! U actually see tye mavic jump a littke bit because of the unbalance when folded .....active track should be behaving better mine does not do this maybe do a vision sensor recal on asst . After upgrading from .400 to latest when i got my mavic i kept getting sys error on controller ....had to cal vision sensors all good now

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-8-27 10:54
Maybe that rear right motor is unbalanced? Also i hope u extend your blades out then start to fly....makes me cringe when people keep them folded and take off! U actually see tye mavic jump a littke bit because of the unbalance when folded .....active track should be behaving better mine does not do this maybe do a vision sensor recal on asst . After upgrading from .400 to latest when i got my mavic i kept getting sys error on controller ....had to cal vision sensors all good now

i usually keep them folded because they unfold themselves.  and i haven't seen any jumping or movements of my mavic before it lifts off.. it does it double or triple spin up thing and sitting solidly before the burst to take off.  

ill try vision sensor/system calibration.  i have seen a few times where my mavic randomly blipped to vision mode then back to gps mode, didn't happen that i saw during active track testing though but i do occasionally see it ..

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-8-27 10:54
Maybe that rear right motor is unbalanced? Also i hope u extend your blades out then start to fly....makes me cringe when people keep them folded and take off! U actually see tye mavic jump a littke bit because of the unbalance when folded .....active track should be behaving better mine does not do this maybe do a vision sensor recal on asst . After upgrading from .400 to latest when i got my mavic i kept getting sys error on controller ....had to cal vision sensors all good now

help me out here.. vision calibration keeps failing i think.  app says detects screen size as  ..(blank)  enter correct size.. i did and i cant adjust anything



edit: never mind i figured it out, use my gaming/editing rig not my laptop.  not sure why on my laptop it was very unhappy but it was...


combined update forgot to include: as for the crack and its usability, while i do not recommend using props with cracks but it didnt fail.  my GF took my mavic out after i got it working again with its avoidance thing..  told her don't touch active track, she didn't, but she had a blast with it! she actually conceded finally its fun and worth its price.  also she now wants one herself...  anyway, she ran down 1 and half batteries, made great time on them too.  no weird behaviors she said and even even trolled a guy on a bike for over a mile made him worry wat what going on xD.  and no problems to report apparently.  i checked the prop and its still good, the crack hasn't expanded the hovering sound isn't louder or quieter it sounds the same as it has..   

the only weird issue she said she had was it didn't like landing on anything except grass, it said sidewalk, her car, the parking lot gravel, everything was unsuitable but grass it didn't have an issue with..i dont know if my calibration has thrown something off there..  im guessing it has..

so i'm guessing the active track issue is related to something else not the prop cracking on its own, it is possible that avoidance system was unhappy, i need to test it again..

ImHereToCrash Posted at 2017-8-27 11:58
help me out here.. vision calibration keeps failing i think.  app says detects screen size as  ..(blank)  enter correct size.. i did and i cant adjust anything

I have a 4K monitor and it would fail on it every time.  However my other computer has a 1080 screen and it did it on the second attempt.  So set your monitor to 1920 x 1080 or near that and see if it makes a difference.

Bill in Ohio Posted at 2017-8-27 12:52
I have a 4K monitor and it would fail on it every time.  However my other computer has a 1080 screen and it did it on the second attempt.  So set your monitor to 1920 x 1080 or near that and see if it makes a difference.

it was the other way around for me.  my 4K monitor/setup worked a treat but my 1080P laptop didnt.   
then again i think i know why.. my 4K monitor is larger and has clear boundries.  byt my laptop has what dell calls "infinity display" which has thin nearly impossible boarders around the LCD..  im guessing it failed because the boundries not as clear on the laptop

You should always check EVERTYHING before you fly and NOT only the props. As Bambino said, you always have to open the props up, check to see if they are locked firmly in the motors, check for cracks, check the sensors, the battery, the RTH etc.

After every flight you should also check the props, batteries, etc...

You were a lucky dude!

Bambino hahaha anyways yea for the odd grass behavior turn off landing protection. Amd i can almost guarantee u are cracking props because they are folded when u start them. I lt happened to not one but 2 also u ever notice how some blades are tighter then other sets? Take my advice trust me . Been flying for 10 years. Dont wanna see ya crash your mavic because of a failed prop.....eek reminds me of the 350 qx days.. props didnt fold but they sure failed..

Even tho dji say yea u can start drone with props folded i just think they mean like tgey dont have to be perfectly straight .....but def dont think they should be folded i watched my buddys violently jump  when it does its double ramp up when he lifts it off I told him to just unfold the props and what do you know it was a way smoother start up

dronist Posted at 2017-8-27 15:36
You should always check EVERTYHING before you fly and NOT only the props. As Bambino said, you always have to open the props up, check to see if they are locked firmly in the motors, check for cracks, check the sensors, the battery, the RTH etc.

After every flight you should also check the props, batteries, etc...

i do checks for all that. check to see if my battery is secure, if legs fully locked out, if the props are locked in (this i admit i forget every once and a while),  if the ground and the belly is clear, if the camera is seated right and globe is off then i turn it on, let it start up, wait for at least 11 satellites then i take off..   i just dont open my props.  the mavic does it itself, plus that's as i see it a flaw in design if it can safely deploy its own props from centripetal force.  i think that's one of the reasons the mavic does those pulsating buzzes before taking off completely.. unwind the props and check for balance..

as for active track panicking, i dont know why it did that, since the crack my GF flown it for 1 and half batteries and i flown it for 1 battery worth of time and the crack has not extended or gotten bigger, moved or anything its still same exact sound flying around, i did active track for around a tree in a field and it was completely stable now, not a bit of wobble or anything just side it to go toward the right in a circle and it did it..with cracked blade... so i dont know..  unfortunately i'm going to have to wait 3 days for amazon to ship me replacement blades, very nice lady on amazon said they will send me 2 sets right away but right away is apparently thursday at earliest it seems. like i just want it to work for some basic tracking functions like following my golf cart on my farm or my ATVs or something..  but how its currently working it pretty panicky following faster things..


its puzzling but makes some sense, since my mavic and my spark didn't do very well with active track.. but my mavic is way more stupid with basic stuff it seems..  im going to try follow me mode  tomorrow as well as retry active track with my GF  who hopefully with be in the mood..

ImHereToCrash Posted at 2017-8-27 15:57
i do checks for all that. check to see if my battery is secure, if legs fully locked out, if the props are locked in (this i admit i forget every once and a while),  if the ground and the belly is clear, if the camera is seated right and globe is off then i turn it on, let it start up, wait for at least 11 satellites then i take off..   i just dont open my props.  the mavic does it itself, plus that's as i see it a flaw in design if it can safely deploy its own props from centripetal force.  i think that's one of the reasons the mavic does those pulsating buzzes before taking off completely.. unwind the props and check for balance..

as for active track panicking, i dont know why it did that, since the crack my GF flown it for 1 and half batteries and i flown it for 1 battery worth of time and the crack has not extended or gotten bigger, moved or anything its still same exact sound flying around, i did active track for around a tree in a field and it was completely stable now, not a bit of wobble or anything just side it to go toward the right in a circle and it did it..with cracked blade... so i dont know..  unfortunately i'm going to have to wait 3 days for amazon to ship me replacement blades, very nice lady on amazon said they will send me 2 sets right away but right away is apparently thursday at earliest it seems. like i just want it to work for some basic tracking functions like following my golf cart on my farm or my ATVs or something..  but how its currently working it pretty panicky following faster things..

Dude, NEVER fly with a cracked props. Do you thinK a pilot will ever fly his plane with a crack in the wing or props???

Spend $9.00... It is worth the peace of mind and NOT loosing a $1000+ drone because of a $9.00 props!!!

dronist Posted at 2017-8-27 16:15
Dude, NEVER fly with a cracked props. Do you thing a pilot will ever fly his plane with a crack in the wing or props???

Spend $9.00... It is worth the peace of mind and NOT loosing a $1000+ drone because of a $9.00 props!!!

and how?..  believe me, i would have but nothing here that sells them.. i already used one white ring prop from my basic mavic pro bundle.  i dont have two.  

i already purchased a spare set on amazon and it arrived and its two identical props neither have white rings .. amazon are sending me free replacements and refunding me, but thats thursday at earliest before they will arrive because some delay placed on them..

the cracked area is only 1/4 way in, i seen videos people launched them with half a blade and it works, i wouldn't do that, but if it snapped off in flight im hopeful at least that it will not fall out of the sky. and if it snapped off the tip then i would ground it until new sets arrive.  if worst comes to worse and it falls to its death, state farm has my back and they will cut me a check...ill upgrade to the fly more bundle as well..