I bought a DJI Smart Controller and still want to use the controller that came with the drone. Is there anyway to link them both so they stay linked or do I have to link everytime I want to switch between controllers?

No you have to link both separately each time. I believe you can link a primary and a secondary controller, but i'm not sure it's usable in a situation that is relevant to you, this is more for when you want to fly with a friend and the master controller can take control away from the secondary, or you control the drone and they control the camera. I haven't looked on the Mavic 2, but this feature was available on the Mavic Pro, so i can't imagine it got removed in the 2nd version. Don't have my Mavic 2 in front of me so i can't check.

You can link each controller to the same drone - one will need to be set as primary and the other secondary. This will enable dual RC operations in flight with the primary controller taking precedence over the secondary as designed for coaching or can be used in a master/slave set up so the secondary pilot can keep their fingers off the sticks and use just the camera/gimbal in a dual op. However, the primary controller will need to be turned on in order for the secondary controller to function as you can not link both controllers as primary/master RC's together.

Got my smart controller linked as main and the original linked as secundairy.
If you use both, the main overides any command of the secundairy .
When using only the secundairy, you can operate the drone fully with it.

A J Posted at 8-14 02:43
You can link each controller to the same drone - one will need to be set as primary and the other secondary. This will enable dual RC operations in flight with the primary controller taking precedence over the secondary as designed for coaching or can be used in a master/slave set up so the secondary pilot can keep their fingers off the sticks and use just the camera/gimbal in a dual op. However, the primary controller will need to be turned on in order for the secondary controller to function as you can not link both controllers as primary/master RC's together.

I think you can fly the drone also with only the secondary controller( primary sc turned off) ,only you do not have all the information on the screen , so only limited info.
I use the original controller more then less as backup , or my wife to watch on the screen the sights i am flying over.

dronie1965 Posted at 8-14 03:26
I think you can fly the drone also with only the secondary controller( primary sc turned off) ,only you do not have all the information on the screen , so only limited info.
I use the original controller more then less as backup , or my wife to watch on the screen the sights i am flying over.

Thats interesting to know - what information specifically is lost using only the secondary RC with the primary turned off? Would it be enough lost info for the flight to be unsafe IYO?  

A J Posted at 8-14 05:26
Thats interesting to know - what information specifically is lost using only the secondary RC with the primary turned off? Would it be enough lost info for the flight to be unsafe IYO?

Yes you can just fly the drone like the primary controller, except you cannot i believe alter flightmodes. But controls and controlling camera and record is no problem. Just try and before taking off , check the modes missing. It shows a limitted display.

dronie1965 Posted at 8-14 06:04
Yes you can just fly the drone like the primary controller, except you cannot i believe alter flightmodes. But controls and controlling camera and record is no problem. Just try and before taking off , check the modes missing. It shows a limitted display.

Thanks very much for the info - so as long as you don't want to use active track, POI etc you can fly manually.

A J Posted at 8-14 06:12
Thanks very much for the info - so as long as you don't want to use active track, POI etc you can fly manually.

One thing i am not sure about anymore , i guess i have to check it again, is if you can alter the height , like for the rth button.

dronie1965 Posted at 8-14 07:09
One thing i am not sure about anymore , i guess i have to check it again, is if you can alter the height , like for the rth button.

Ah - I'll have to test it when I'm able to next. I know you can fly the drone up to 30m with just the RC and no device - perhaps it's similar to that. In which case I'd rather relink to primary separately.

JohnDG Posted at 8-14 03:16
Got my smart controller linked as main and the original linked as secundairy.
If you use both, the main overides any command of the secundairy .
When using only the secundairy, you can operate the drone fully with it.

Does the primary need to be turned on to use the secondary?

Thanks everyone.

BrianKushner Posted at 8-14 09:28
Does the primary need to be turned on to use the secondary?

No, not needed to put the main on. You can fly with just the secudairy

Hi, thanks for the inquiry. If the remote controller would be connected to the aircraft as primary, the previous primary remote controller will be disconnected automatically. Therefore, switching the RC will require you to do the linking procedure again. Hope that this would clarify your query. Thank you for your support.