Hey guys,


Bought a 2nd hand spark that turned out to have a HW issue (Live Feed and video recording was distorted but pics and flying were perfect). Fly my Spark 40 or so times before sending it away and was told it was the main core (Mainboard) that needed to be replaced. So got it replaced and they advised they test flew it and calibrated it, so when I got it back, me and the kids went out and I flew it up in my yard like I did atleast 20 times before, except this time I lost control, RTH did not work and it lost GPS and went into ATTI mode. It is now in the woods somewhere and cuz I was home with the kids I was unable to leave to look and now today it is downpouring (my luck). I still plan on heading out in the rain to look for it... but wanted to share my flight data and get some feedback... was this my fault or what do all these errors mean? 74 warnings in 2 mins...


https://app.airdata.com/flight/4 ... 74f37094702/GENERAL

Ps. flew from phone, have never used an RC to date.

Appreciate it!

Thanks,
David

Hi, we are sincerely sorry for the unpleasant experienced. I would suggest you contact our support team to start up a case: https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav. We have the professional data analysis team who would do their best to find out the reason of the incident and then the corresponding resolution would be provided. Thanks for your support.

Quick question.  Did you calibrate the compass prior to take off?  You have multiple compass errors and my limited knowledge about compass errors is to immediately land if this error occurs and shutdown everything and start over with a proper compass calibration.

Ow. Hope the repair has a warranty.

Have you checked with the "find my drone" function in the app?
Or load the kml direct into google earth on your phone/tablet

Hi David,

Had a look at your flight ; sorry for your loss!

After 16 seconds after take-off only errors in your file, compass, yaw and speed.Spark into ATTI and drifts away. Because no remote controller no stick inputs in te log.

Hope you find your drone, my guess that your Spark landed 200-240 feet further than the last recorded postion, in the heading....just follow the last red direction!

Compass fail with yaw often occurs after a wronlgly calibrated compass, only you know how that was done.Other possibility ofcourse is a hardware fail on components, so seek advice from DJI ; they should know the reason of this failure.

cheers
JJB

Can't say thanks enough for everyone's help and input on this!! I'm seriously blown away!

So after talking to the company that repaired it and also everyone's comments here this was completely my fault, due to lack of knowledge... I didn't calibrate the compass and honestly it didn't even cross my mind, but you live and you learn. What a time for it to happen to, beautiful and clear yesterday and 60MM downpour rain today. On the plus side, I replaced the camera on this Spark all by myself and am confident I could replace the board again if need be. I went out today in the rain looking, used the find my drone feature of DGI Go app but no where to be found in the last known location or 50ft around it.... and unfortunately it is heavy woods... I like JJB Sparks recommendation though of 200-240ft past the last spot..... I will head out again tomorrow, and hopefully round up a friend this time, and hopefully locate it. I will keep everyone posted!

Thanks everyone!!

David

You shouldn't have to calibrate the compass. And if you do see compass related warnings prior to taking off, they are most likely telling you to move your Spark to a safe takeoff location.

Before taking off next time, make sure you do these checks. That should help you avoid something like this again.

Damn, that’s nearly identical how I lost my first spark, I mean identical in where it landed,in the woods
But mine got carried away by strong wind, no errors.
Sorry for you loss, I know exactly how you feel, in June I was in your place
But my error teached me a lot about drones,
I bought another spark, then a Yuneec q500 and couple of days ago a mavic pro.
Hope you get back in the air soon!

Fly safely all and never fly with a bad compass! Be sure it’s properly calibrated before taking off, if you see any compass errors then land immediately!!!
Alex

What would you consider "near" magnetic metal objects?  I try to stay at least 50 feet away from anything metal when finding a takeoff location, to cautious?   

Also I advise you to get an independent gps tracker that works all the time.
I use tk102 gsm gps tracker and it works perfectly!!! No interference whatsoever!

Fly safely all
Alex

Laz22 Posted at 2018-10-24 09:54
What would you consider "near" magnetic metal objects?  I try to stay at least 50 feet away from anything metal when finding a takeoff location, to cautious?

Near would mean close enough to negatively affect the compass. See this thread for the signs that show the compass is being negatively affected.

So this is exactly what happend today with my new warranty Spark.. When i look in the logfile it says magnetic field interference... Impossible 120 meters over plain forrest... I contatced DJI, keep on searching tomorrow in daylivht and have a friend calculate the possible landing site using the last positions and terrainmap...  

I'ts beginning to sound like  repaired birds are FAULTY... people with lots of previous flights in the same areas are loosing their drones AFTER they have been repaired.

And there should be no need to re-calibrate the compass UNLESS PROMPTED to by the software .

White Ox Posted at 2018-10-24 15:28
I'ts beginning to sound like  repaired birds are FAULTY... people with lots of previous flights in the same areas are loosing their drones AFTER they have been repaired.

And there should be no need to re-calibrate the compass UNLESS PROMPTED to by the software .

Well....a good performed compass calibration can be done daily if you want to do that!
It does not harm in any way your drone/compass system.

But if its done not properly you will get in flight compass errors and so on....

My spark had a lot of error at one time, did a compass calibration real slow ( and i mean sloooow). Never had errors again.

My MA asked for compass calibration now and than, if done OK not probs at all after that.

cheers
JJB

Alex B. Posted at 2018-10-24 09:57
Also I advise you to get an independent gps tracker that works all the time.
I use tk102 gsm gps tracker and it works perfectly!!! No interference whatsoever!

Thanks Alex, I have been looking at the Tile.. small and has battery life of 1 year.... but will check this out too! Thanks! I will definitely be investing in one of these devices.

Could it be that when the Sparks are being repaired it gets in contact with a magnet or something that puts the compass out of calibration. So unless people recalibrate it after they get it back from the repair shop they might run into trouble ?

BMDK Posted at 2018-10-25 03:36
Could it be that when the Sparks are being repaired it gets in contact with a magnet or something that puts the compass out of calibration. So unless people recalibrate it after they get it back from the repair shop they might run into trouble ?

Doubtful.

There is no way to do a compass calibration improperly. When not done properly, it fails.

If the compass had somehow been magnetized, DJI GO should display a message before a takeoff is possible. And doing a compass calibration would not fix a magnetized compass. You'd have to degauss it.

Alex B. Posted at 2018-10-24 09:57
Also I advise you to get an independent gps tracker that works all the time.
I use tk102 gsm gps tracker and it works perfectly!!! No interference whatsoever!

Any chance you could show a photo of how and where you mounted this to your bird?  This would also give me a good idea on it's size.

Thanks!

msinger Posted at 2018-10-25 04:27
Doubtful.

There is no way to do a compass calibration improperly. When not done properly, it fails.

Actually I just remembered just prior to all this happening I did take it up for a few seconds and realized right away that my media card was not in, so I landed... didn't notice any errors at the time, but appears to be warnings in the log file. Seems like the compass errors were present from the get go... even in this flight which was a very short distance and height.

https://app.airdata.com/flight/6 ... ENERALNotifications

Rain finally stopped this morning, so once I get off work I will be heading out again to search for it.... I won't give up til I find it. Before I even launched it, I hit record right away, and you can see me and the kids all excited as it took off.... alot of the flight recorded and saved but cuts out before the crash and doesn't tell me anything more then I already know about possible location. The whole flight from start to finish is most likely recorded to the SD card in my Spark.

Alex B. Posted at 2018-10-24 09:54
Damn, that’s nearly identical how I lost my first spark, I mean identical in where it landed,in the woods
But mine got carried away by strong wind, no errors.
Sorry for you loss, I know exactly how you feel, in June I was in your place

Is the q500 any good, I was going to get that over the spark but decided against it for the spark portability. I am really regretting that decision right about now. thanks

Mine spent 3 nights in a tree, upside down... about 60ft up... during torrential rains.

Once I retrieved it, I took the cover off, blew it out with low pressure compressed air...and let it set for a week in a ziplock full of desiccant bags.  Of course all the water intrusion tattle tales were red, but everything checked out as good as new.

Don't loose hope, just because it got wet doesn't mean that it's ruined.

BTW... searching in trees SUCKS... Binoculars are a must - and if you use the focus correctly, you can learn to see past groups of leaves into the crevices behind them.

After 2 days of searching, everyone in the family had VERY sore necks for a week.

If you were close, I'd offer to come help with reconasence from above - as finding it is the hardest part.

Shout out to JJBSpark !!!! He was right on the money...  found my Spark !!  He was right on the money with following the direction it was headed and went 240 or so past the last known spot, was walking and not seeing anything,  then a swamp to my right caught my eye, said magine if it landed there, be screwed, anyway I went over and what ya know .. There she is dangling over the swamp! Drying it out now and will test tomorrow and keep you guys posted . I'm super pumped to have it back in my hands !

That’s great news!

Yay.... and holy cow, I can't believe you spotted it  in that brush... Time for some HIGHLY florescent  colors to help it pop against the background, eh?  Or at minimum, some highly reflective white tape to help it be viewable with a flashlight at night?

great news . take the top off and put it in a tub of calcium chloride ( snow melt or damp away , they are the same  ) or rice but i use calcium chloride it will remove all the moisture . after that place your spark in the sun for a few hours just to be sure every thing is dry , moisture and electrics circuits dont do well .

trey67 Posted at 2018-10-24 06:18
Quick question.  Did you calibrate the compass prior to take off?  You have multiple compass errors and my limited knowledge about compass errors is to immediately land if this error occurs and shutdown everything and start over with a proper compass calibration.

calibrating a compass doesnt mean taking away errors from the compass. It means that the compass makes the right readings of the earths magnetic field. If errors from the compass persist, than its time to call in service..

White Ox Posted at 2018-10-25 15:57
Yay.... and holy cow, I can't believe you spotted it  in that brush... Time for some HIGHLY florescent  colors to help it pop against the background, eh?  Or at minimum, some highly reflective white tape to help it be viewable with a flashlight at night?

Being just through the same .. I am thinking also some kinda of small beeper with a high pitch and a small battery which makes it beep long enough to locate. Its not always said that there is contact with the RC to use the "find my drone" beeps and flash. And also the Sparks own beep is too quet..

BMDK Posted at 2018-10-25 03:36
Could it be that when the Sparks are being repaired it gets in contact with a magnet or something that puts the compass out of calibration. So unless people recalibrate it after they get it back from the repair shop they might run into trouble ?

It’s recommended to calibrate the compass every time that you change the country, so yes you need to calibrate after receiving it from China

Fly safely
Alex

H. Arif - 6IX Posted at 2018-10-25 06:20
Is the q500 any good, I was going to get that over the spark but decided against it for the spark portability. I am really regretting that decision right about now. thanks

They are very different drones. I like them both
The q500 you can fly without gps and master your flying skills,it’s like atti mode on the spark I think.
Spark is better for beginners I think, a lot more technology, but I don’t why but it’s missing headless mode, which the q500 has. I think it’s really usefull for beginner flyers.
Also the q500 has watch me, it’s when you fly and the drone point at you, on DJI drones I have to spend some time and some laps looking for me on the ground sometimes;)
The altitude limit on the q500 is 1000 meters))
But one thing thats muuuch worse is the video feed quality that you get on the remote.
I got it real cheap, but the camera was half broken and now it broke completely.
I’m going to get the cgo3 which is 4K, the one I have is cgo2 which is 1080p only, and I tell you that the video quality is way worse than on the spark. But im getting a 4K camera,so that will be different.
The q500 is very slow, max 35 kph and it’s waaay bigger than the spark!

Fly safely all and enjoy
Alex

ChizzlerCB Posted at 2018-10-25 13:54
Shout out to JJBSpark !!!! He was right on the money...  found my Spark !!  He was right on the money with following the direction it was headed and went 240 or so past the last known spot, was walking and not seeing anything,  then a swamp to my right caught my eye, said magine if it landed there, be screwed, anyway I went over and what ya know .. There she is dangling over the swamp! Drying it out now and will test tomorrow and keep you guys posted . I'm super pumped to have it back in my hands !

Congratulations!!!! I wish I had found mine

Fly safely
Alex

White Ox Posted at 2018-10-25 06:10
Any chance you could show a photo of how and where you mounted this to your bird?  This would also give me a good idea on it's size.

Thanks!

Sure,here you go!


Fly safely all
Alex

ChizzlerCB Posted at 2018-10-25 13:54
Shout out to JJBSpark !!!! He was right on the money...  found my Spark !!  He was right on the money with following the direction it was headed and went 240 or so past the last known spot, was walking and not seeing anything,  then a swamp to my right caught my eye, said magine if it landed there, be screwed, anyway I went over and what ya know .. There she is dangling over the swamp! Drying it out now and will test tomorrow and keep you guys posted . I'm super pumped to have it back in my hands !

Hi ChizzlerCB,

Great news, happy for you that you have your Spark back!!

Do you have the LatLon postion for me where it was landed?

cheers
JJB

I mounted it with Velcro. And past the bottom sensors, so that they don’t get blocked.
When I first installed it, I blocked the bottom sensors with the gps and the bird would go up non stop!!! So just be careful not blocking the sensors, apart from that all is good, no interference issues whatsoever!

Fly safe and enjoy all
Alex

JJBspark Posted at 2018-10-26 02:43
Hi ChizzlerCB,

Great news, happy for you that you have your Spark back!!

Thanks JJBSPark ... I don't have the lat and long but I will get this for you as I know the exact location where it was. I should have it within the next week... I am curious to see how far away it actually was.

David

Alex B. Posted at 2018-10-26 02:35
They are very different drones. I like them both
The q500 you can fly without gps and master your flying skills,it’s like atti mode on the spark I think.
Spark is better for beginners I think, a lot more technology, but I don’t why but it’s missing headless mode, which the q500 has. I think it’s really usefull for beginner flyers.

honestly, the q500 with the CGO3 looks great, i leak that handheld grip a lot too. but it seems like great value, i once found it for 500CAD but thought I could get a better deal.

Alex B. Posted at 2018-10-26 02:36
Congratulations!!!! I wish I had found mine

Fly safely

Yeah but you got a Mavic, I got nothing. I'm still contacting DJzi but they haven't contacted me yet.

Thanks, Alex!  That helps on both fronts.

White Ox Posted at 2018-10-26 05:02
Thanks, Alex!  That helps on both fronts.

You are very welcome!

Fly safe and enjoy
Alex

ChizzlerCB Posted at 2018-10-26 03:27
Thanks JJBSPark ... I don't have the lat and long but I will get this for you as I know the exact location where it was. I should have it within the next week... I am curious to see how far away it actually was.

David

Nu hurry David, busy now with an manual/automatic find my drone search point in FRAP

cheers
JJB