A few Questions for Mavic Owners

ovisopa · Jul 18, 2018

Hello everyone,

I used to build a few drones myself back in 2010 - 2015 .. than purchased an inspire 1, I still fly from time to time with it but I wanted a smaller drone, it's been more than an year since I wanted an Mavic, but now as I started to ride again my enduro bike, I want an portable drone even more!

Now, regarding Mavic Pro vs Mavic Air, I want to be sure that I will be happy with Mavic Air, as this is the one I want.

1. I seen there is an limitation of 100m from homepoint when starting active track while using only the mobile phone as a "remote" , if I use the remote also, is this limitation gone? can I fly it for a few kilometers in one flight ?

2. Any news about Dynamic Homepoint ? Is it available yet? if I use the remote also it still doesn't have the dynamic homepoint ? If I traveled 1 km with active track ON, and than the Air is losing me, it will return 1 km back ?

3. Any posibility to set it to follow the GPS from the phone or remote (if it has one) if the active track fails to track me visually ? I think Mavic Pro has this ability, to follow the remote coordonates if visualy following is failing.

4. Still regarding Follow me modes / Active track. Can it descend under it's homepoint altitude while following me ? If I ride down the mountain the altitude will change rapidly, also when snowboarding it's the same, the altitude is lowering fast.

5. For the Inspire1 I also purchased Litchi app, will this app help me in any of the above situation (follow me by gps, follow me and descend unde initial homepoint altitude) if the official app doesn't supports those features ?

6. Can it circle around me if I still move ?

Thank you for any advices!

Mossiback · Jul 18, 2018

I will throw in my 2 cents worth:

Pro vs Air - I favor the Pro because of Occusync, RC display, and longer flying time. Full Disclosure: I am biased toward the Pro because that is what I own and have no Air experience.

Regarding your questions; My answers may not be correct because they are based on my Pro experience and I have not flown an Air. Hopefully, an Air pilot will jump in with more accurate information.

Distance is limited using the phone as a remote. The RC has much better range and the benefits of tactile feel of the sticks. I have never flown my Pro with phone only because of these reasons. When using the RC the phone is used for telemetry display, camera, mode control, maps, and other settings.
I have no experience with Dynamic Homepoint. If using Active Track and the Mavic loses the target it will stop and try to re-acquire it. It will only return home if it loses connection to the RC or in a low battery condition. When I move around while flying I reset the homepoint periodically to my future expected position.
The Pro will follow the phone/tablet plugged into the RC if it has a GPS receiver built in. The RC does not have GPS capability.
In my version of Go 4 (4.1.15) active track will not lower elevation but it will rise. As mentioned above, it follows the display GPS coordinates, not the remote.
I have only used the Waypoint feature of Litchi and it has worked very well. The Litchi features are unique to Litchi but I cannot confirm how they work for the Air.
Yes, as long as it does not lose tracking.

I hope this helps.

ovisopa · Jul 19, 2018

Thank you @Mossiback I'm also curios to have a few replys from Air owners, as I'm more decided to get the air because of it's reduced size, I can get locally both Mavic Pro or Air at the same price. I just need to find out about the disadvantages that could affect me.

1. I think the Air RC maximum distance should be ok, I did fly my Inspire at a distance more than 2km only a few times, 2 - 3 times maximum (and I did fly hundreds of km manually, and more than 1000km in autonomous flights - missions using MapPilot), and I'm not very comfortable not seeing it. For sure I won't fly the Mavic more than 1km away.

2. I wished it had this Dinamic Hompoint feature, to update itself the homepoint with the new location, I plan to mount the remote on my backpack while riding or somewhere on the saddle, but I prefer the backpack, so I will not be able to press any button while riding.

3. I need to know if Air will also follow tablets GPS

Any Mavic Air Owners around ?

Now 2 days ago I was on a mountain top trail, it was a perfect weather, perfect time (golden hour) .. everything was just perfect, the only issue was I don;t have a drone with me

ovisopa · Jul 20, 2018

Nobody around with an Mavic Air to give me some answers

?

I seen another video today, is OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE disabled in all ACTIVE TRACK modes , or only in the circling mode ? Kind of stupid if it will disabled in all modes, if it's only in the circling mode, I understand, as it doesn't have side sensors.