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Trust Issues
1556 17 2018-5-18
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AC5FF
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Flight distance : 65194 ft
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Just got my Spark airborne about a week ago.  I've got about a dozen batteries flying time in on this so far.I've flown gliders and electric planes plenty in the past, but this is really my first quality quad (Blade Nano or Hubsan in the past).

So, everything I've ever flown I have always had eyes on and where it was close enough to maintain orientation.

With this little bugger though - wow.  It'll move out past my range to keep orientation QUICK when I switch over to sport mode.  I know if I could train myself to watch the screen vs keeping my eyes on the Spark I would overcome my issues.  I just haven't been able to let go of trusting where it is going by eyesight.

So, my question is:  how long did it take you?  

I would love to just 'go' but can't get myself to let go to get there...

Thx!

2018-5-18
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HereForTheBeer
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you will learn to use your screen with time.  it took me a while to initially do so too.  what i did was i forced myself to look at the screen once it was away from me.. i only use my eyes when im taking off and landing now.. last and first 50-100 feet is most critical.   just remember that it isn't a racer quad, so the latency is ~1/4 second on average for visual lag. so dont rip around near anything may catch your props like trees and leaves and and curious openings you want to explore...

if you want to fly in tighter spaces by screen only because want a awesome visual effect or exploring something out of curiosity, i suggest using tripod mode as this will keep your drone moving really slow and easier to correct and not over correct as well as it usually better at keeping a straighter line and getting drone between things for amazing shots.  
2018-5-18
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sSunsets
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Hmmm.... It does take pratice. I keep her in eyesight mostly. The further away the craft is the higher it should be. I orient the craft by watching the red flashing lights, keep them in range. I loose good sight after 1000 ft. then I goto the display for status and direction oriention through landmarks.....  I hope you take your time... take it slow, She's trustable...
2018-5-18
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sSunsets
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Oh... sorry I forgot something. Take your craft off Sport mode. Start with beginners mode, learn that limitation, the get out of beginners and set your menu settings.... don't get sporty too soon, You don't need a fly-away... good luck.
2018-5-18
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AC5FF
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Trust me..  Sport mode has been either 1 - over a huge field of grass that's flat for probably 5miles; or 2 - high altitude over the house/trees here for only a short burst.
2018-5-18
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HereForTheBeer
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AC5FF Posted at 2018-5-18 16:53
Trust me..  Sport mode has been either 1 - over a huge field of grass that's flat for probably 5miles; or 2 - high altitude over the house/trees here for only a short burst.

be brave, not stupid   keep working your way up! one day you feel brave and confident enough to get some awesome shots and moves that is difficult to achieve when your afraid of crashing..    but part of that requires your eye on the screen at all times so keep pushing yourself

im flying a mavic pro around at 40MPH and getting it just barely over tops of trees, between buildings, and through support beams on bridges..  but it has taken me a lot of practice and pushing myself to do it..
and mavic pro is little over twice the size of the spark and 4x the weight of the spark so it sometimes gets in its own way..
2018-5-18
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marlowe
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Flight distance : 300932 ft
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Good advice on this thread as to learning to fly via the screen. I'll add that I added some flytron strobon Cree LEDs (red on each side, two white facing rear). They are much brighter than the built in LEDs. When I want to fly around with eyes on Spark it helps greatly with orientation.

On a cloudy day I have been able to see the LEDs to about 400m, less on a sunny day. Of course my eyes are old compared to the average quad flyer, but still I don't always believe the line of sight distance claims I read.

At night you can see the LEDs much farther than that - Strobon claims around 3 miles. I don't know if that's true, but you can probably see them to the spec'ed Spark distance limit.

The biggest problem with keeping eyes on Spark at long distance is finding it again after you look down at the screen - no kidding.  
2018-5-18
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HereForTheBeer
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marlowe Posted at 2018-5-18 21:12
Good advice on this thread as to learning to fly via the screen. I'll add that I added some flytron strobon Cree LEDs (red on each side, two white facing rear). They are much brighter than the built in LEDs. When I want to fly around with eyes on Spark it helps greatly with orientation.

On a cloudy day I have been able to see the LEDs to about 400m, less on a sunny day. Of course my eyes are old compared to the average quad flyer, but still I don't always believe the line of sight distance claims I read.

oh yea! mavic pro is way easier to spot from 1000 feet away vs a spark is just invisible moment you look away and back. may catch a quick flicker of its blinking lights that's it....  and i have good eyes!  

i been seriously considering buying a spark again, saw a refurbished fly more combo from a dji distro for $400, very tempting..
2018-5-18
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Jezmo
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I flew models for 20+ years before I got my private pilots license and then another 10 years passed before I got my first FPV bird. Man what an awesome experience. I just love to go exploring and seeing beautiful things through the lens, things I would never see without the wonderful world of FPV. My path was probably different than many but the switch from LOS to strictly FPV happened within the first couple of flights. My spotter is basically just there to comply with the law and on the small chance of video failure, to get me back home. Every craft I now own that is capable of FPV is also capable of RTH, both on command and failure of radio link. That feature leaves me comfortable knowing loss is highly unlikely. Most of my machines also broadcast their GPS coordinates which I record and if I have a catastrophic failure say an ESC or Motor failure I can review the video and find my craft via the GPS coords. Good luck with getting comfortable flying FULL FPV.
2018-5-19
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sSunsets
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Great advice guys and  gals... Speaking of trust.... My spark has been doing what I want it to do using using original GO4 v.4.2.6  I'm afraid I can't trust the newer versions. I'am gonna start a new tread in the GO4 app disscussion. Thx
2018-5-19
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HereForTheBeer
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sSunsets Posted at 2018-5-19 11:35
Great advice guys and  gals... Speaking of trust.... My spark has been doing what I want it to do using using original GO4 v.4.2.6  I'm afraid I can't trust the newer versions. I'am gonna start a new tread in the GO4 app disscussion. Thx

the .16 update on ios seems okay. but i never had app crashes and stuff on my iPhone X.  .16 some people mentioned better active tracking system, which im excited for,
2018-5-19
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sSunsets
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Oh..My bad...... Forgot to mention, I use ZTE Android SP...Thx
2018-5-19
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JDavidTX
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Flight distance : 604495 ft
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Once you get good and comfortable with it, let her go!  It's a trusty little bird that's well behaved.  Now that doesn't mean you should let your guard down or get crazy with it either.  Things can happen and sometimes you got to keep things in check incase there is an issue.  I routinely have mine out 5800' / 1 Mile+ with no issues.  But I'm like Jezmo, coming from a general aviation background all my life I love to explore and see things from the air.  But I wouldn't suggest you fly it to it's limits right out of the box.  Baby steps, get the mechanics down.  I started with the limits of my yard, worked up to the block I live in.  Then it was around the neighborhood and beyond a little further at a time.  Beginner mode is your friend, use it and learn it.  The forum is a great resource for help and information as well as the user manual!
2018-5-19
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HereForTheBeer
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sSunsets Posted at 2018-5-19 15:25
Oh..My bad...... Forgot to mention, I use ZTE Android SP...Thx

that may explain stability issues.  weaker/slower hardware and poor OS optimizations can cause instability with apps and major updates to them.  

generally speaking (not overall), Dji Go 4 is vastly more stable on 64 bit iOS devices vs android.

i had a few android devices, had an S8 and a Moto G3 and i always had stability issues on android, S8 was terrible experience for me using Dji go 4, lots of app crashes for dji go 4, and corrupted live views disconnections, etc etc.  Moto G3, albeit much weaker device, was vastly more stable than my S8, only issue was it wasnt smoothest or fastest and frequent hiccups in frames..  switched to a iPad Mini 2 and iPhone 7 Plus at first and wow the difference both stability and speed. now i have iPhone X i use with it and its even better.   
2018-5-20
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sSunsets
First Officer
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WOW.... Good review Beer.... I may switch up.
2018-5-20
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HereForTheBeer
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sSunsets Posted at 2018-5-20 15:48
WOW.... Good review Beer.... I may switch up.

when it comes to droning its better to have the stability of the app and smoothness.. even if you are against apple for any reason, worth it for stability and reliability for flying at very least.  that my take on it atleast.
2018-5-20
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DJI Stephen
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Great Advice. Thank you.
2018-5-21
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AC5FF
Second Officer
Flight distance : 65194 ft
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Sorry all; been offline all weekend.  
Some great advice here and I appriciate it.

I did get out a little to fly this weekend.  Took a leap and let it fly out beyond my site.  I could still hear it but it was behind some trees; maybe 1000' out if that.  
Slowly turn it around and fly back, but looking up to expect to see it and not finding it in the sky ... just going to take a while to get past that one gut check.

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2018-5-21
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