CE Version of Mavic Mini. Big disadvantages in UK and EU.

[philh24]

I had the air when it first came out in the uk I never did the hack left it on the Europe settings. It flew easily within line of site never any signal loss, I think it’s recommended 500yds is line of sight for most drones.
I bought a red air to hopefully see it better,if you can see an air at 100yds you have good eyesight,the mini is even smaller I will probably lose sight of it at 50yds.
Before I bought the mini I new what to expect because the range tests are all out there to see.
Personally I wanted something that you don’t have to adjust anything and it flys straight out the bag in focus and no settings to mess around with.

 

[LeSchmoo]

Fly up and over the wall and connection will be lost once out of direct line of sight. No chance of the microwaves penetrating water and concrete.

In that scenario what happens - does the drone automatically initiate a RTH?
If the drone is above the user set RTH height, does it drop to that height , or does it only come into play when the drone is lower than the configured RTH height?

 

[scooot]

In that scenario what happens - does the drone automatically initiate a RTH?
If the drone is above the user set RTH height, does it drop to that height , or does it only come into play when the drone is lower than the configured RTH height?

If the drone is higher than your set RTH it will return at this height until above the home point then descend.If lower than the set RTH will ascend to the set RTH fly until above the home point then descend.
I’m not familiar with the mini yet but on the Mavic you can set the drone to RTH,hover or land if there is a signal loss.

 

[Andart]

As a uk purchaser I have been watching many reviews and as for distance I have noticed some having a range of 500 to 700 M
But I have also seen 1.5km range on euro Mavic Mini .
So I'm sure so many different scenarios will effect all of this BUT I haven't witnessed a video of a European Mavic Mini failing to get at least 500 M .
As the great choice of drones that DJI offer I am so looking forwards to adding this Mavic Mini to my collection.
I see so many positives, to have a drone that I can literally have in my pocket or take zero room in my camera bag is incredible , I will be able to take it every where and launch in seconds and get great photos .
Also because it looks like no filters and no possibility of adding items to drone and keeping to the weight limit then it will always be this super compact drone.
I'm sure many are like me and when I take my Mavic pro with me I almost need a rucksack just for it , as we seem to add a small tablet and a tablet mount and a sun shield and filters leg extenders and on and on it goes, but I truly think the Mavic Mini will always be a pocket size drone that I can take every where I go .

" the best drone in the world won't help if it's at home "

" the best drone you have is the drone you have with you "

 

[WithTheBirds]

In that scenario what happens - does the drone automatically initiate a RTH?
If the drone is above the user set RTH height, does it drop to that height , or does it only come into play when the drone is lower than the configured RTH height?

Thank you @scooot for responding on my behalf- that almost what I would have said- you might have missed a couple of points.

If the drone is within 20m of where you launched from (horizontal direction) it will land where it is. There is probably a second distance (outside the 20m) where it will try and return at its current height regardless of the RTH height you set in the app. This is based on current DJI drones- we will need to wait and see what people report about the RTH behaviour specific to the mini.

 

[brusa69]

If the remote's firmware can be replaced / unlocked, it will boost sales in Europe big times and decrease US imports For sure a lot of people will hesitate to purchase and wait till this is confirmed to be possible.

Perhaps DJI was forced for marketing purpose to use a firmware lock as the GPS based switching is to easy to fake to switch between FCC and CE modes and too well known at this stage .

Most likely the reviewers on youtube who got the mavic mini for free and signed NDA's etc. are too scared to try and talk about the GPS hack, to confirm if this works or not. So we will have to wait till more people get one into their hands and investigate.

I agree, i also suspect the hw is identical, maybe one day someone will find a way.
i came across NLD (nolimitdronez) website and they do pretty everything with firmwares. I will enjoy my CE mini for now , then let’s see

 

[LeSchmoo]

Another CE range test:

 

[Chris Baish]

Another CE range test:

I just watched this too. It's about the same performance as the Mavic Air. Good news considering the size and price.

 

[JeeHaa]

According to the latest info from DJI, the FCC model will be limited to 5.8GHz in CE strength (500m max!) when flying in CE regions!
https://forum.dji.com/for...eid%26typeid%3D712&page=2

If the Mavic Mini you purchased is an FCC version, you can fly normally in FCC and SRRC countries and regions, and CE countries and regions that support 5.8G.
The maximum image transmission distance of the FCC aircraft is 4 km in FCC countries and regions, 2.5 km in SRRC countries and regions, and 500 m in CE countries and regions supporting 5.8G.
But please note it is illegal to use the 5.8 GHz band in Japan, Russia, Israel, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. The app will pop up a disclaimer warning, but the user can still start the motor and take off. But if you keep flying, you may face legal risks.

 

[Chris Baish]

According to the latest info from DJI, the FCC model will be limited to 5.8GHz in CE strength (500m max!) when flying in CE regions!
https://forum.dji.com/for...eid%26typeid%3D712&page=2

If the Mavic Mini you purchased is an FCC version, you can fly normally in FCC and SRRC countries and regions, and CE countries and regions that support 5.8G.
The maximum image transmission distance of the FCC aircraft is 4 km in FCC countries and regions, 2.5 km in SRRC countries and regions, and 500 m in CE countries and regions supporting 5.8G.
But please note it is illegal to use the 5.8 GHz band in Japan, Russia, Israel, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. The app will pop up a disclaimer warning, but the user can still start the motor and take off. But if you keep flying, you may face legal risks.

Yes, that makes sense. The FCC does not have 2.4ghz, so presumably dials down the 5.8ghz frequency power to what's allowable in CE countries. Without the 2.4 it is actually worse to have an FCC model in CE regions.

 

[Louis08]

According to the latest info from DJI, the FCC model will be limited to 5.8GHz in CE strength (500m max!) when flying in CE regions!
https://forum.dji.com/for...eid%26typeid%3D712&page=2

If the Mavic Mini you purchased is an FCC version, you can fly normally in FCC and SRRC countries and regions, and CE countries and regions that support 5.8G.
The maximum image transmission distance of the FCC aircraft is 4 km in FCC countries and regions, 2.5 km in SRRC countries and regions, and 500 m in CE countries and regions supporting 5.8G.
But please note it is illegal to use the 5.8 GHz band in Japan, Russia, Israel, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. The app will pop up a disclaimer warning, but the user can still start the motor and take off. But if you keep flying, you may face legal risks.

Well, actually this information seems to be not as sure as we would like it to be - DJI technical support appears to tell another story, they say FCC transmission power is not reduced in CE region.
Which would make it illegal to fly the FCC in Europe despite the legal frequencies.

Apart from that I am pretty sure even the CE version will have enough signal strength to fly VLOS as required by law....

 

[CharWilts]

If I were to buy a Mavic Mini in the USA and bring it back to Britain with me, firstly, would that be allowed and secondly, would that get around the range issue?

 

[scooot]

If I were to buy a Mavic Mini in the USA and bring it back to Britain with me, firstly, would that be allowed and secondly, would that get around the range issue?

No one would probably know you brought it back but would you be flying it legally,NO.
I see the MM as a close quarter selfie drone with some of the capabilities of a drone more than twice the price.If distance is a issue then I don’t think the MM is the answer.

 

[mavicn00b]

No one would probably know you brought it back but would you be flying it legally,NO.
I see the MM as a close quarter selfie drone with some of the capabilities of a drone more than twice the price.If distance is a issue then I don’t think the MM is the answer.

With such an anemic powertrain I'm not sure I'd even feel comfortable letting the drone get too far away incase it gets caught in a headwind coming home. Suspecting the spark with its 3S LiPo will have way more punch than the Mini in a headwind with its little 2S LiIon cells you'd find in your local vape shop.

 

[WithTheBirds]

With such an anemic powertrain I'm not sure I'd even feel comfortable letting the drone get too far away incase it gets caught in a headwind coming home. Suspecting the spark with its 3S LiPo will have way more punch than the Mini in a headwind with its little 2S LiIon cells you'd find in your local vape shop.

Those little LiION cells are good enough for industrial power tools, Tesla and many commercial and industrial applications. Im not sure your point here has merit with respect to "punch", The Spark is 20% heavier than the Mini with less battery. Three cells isn't necessarily an advantage over two- the specs suggest the mini can deliver higher sustained power with less current demand (C rating) so if anything it should be punchier.

 

[mavicn00b]

Those little LiION cells are good enough for industrial power tools, Tesla and many commercial and industrial applications. Im not sure your point here has merit with respect to "punch", The Spark is 20% heavier than the Mini with less battery. Three cells isn't necessarily an advantage over two- the specs suggest the mini can deliver higher sustained power with less current demand (C rating) so if anything it should be punchier.

With enough of them sure but there's a reason why people prefer use of LiPo over LiIon namely their ability to deliver a higher current albeit at lower energy density. I wouldn't underestimate the little old spark, certainly packed quite a punch for it's size. Even Billie Kylie noted in a recent review the spark seemed to keep up better albeit with a shorter battery life.

I'm quite excited for my mini to arrive but best to understand the limits of the craft early in the piece rather than finding out later down the track when it's too late.

 

[WithTheBirds]

With enough of them sure but there's a reason why people prefer use of LiPo over LiIon namely their ability to deliver a higher current albeit at lower energy density. I wouldn't underestimate the little old spark, certainly packed quite a punch for it's size. Even Billie Kylie noted in a recent review the spark seemed to keep up better albeit with a shorter battery life.

I'm quite excited for my mini to arrive but best to understand the limits of the craft early in the piece rather than finding out later down the track when it's too late.

Interesting. I had understood LiPO to have a higher energy density than LiION. LiPO seemingly can provide significantly higher C ratings however that is arguably irrelevant in an application where the average discharge rate is below 2C (as the Mini is).

I am interested to learn why the mini went with LiION cells. It could simply have been cost considerations. The same volume of LiPO cells would have given more W/h for less weight.

 

[JeeHaa]

FakeGPS FCC hack test does not seem to work for the Fly App (Spanish):

 

[nerkaid]

FakeGPS FCC hack test does not seem to work for the Fly App (Spanish):

Basically you can fake the GPS location for the mobile phone but the application detects thet dron is on a different GPS location and reset the config again to the location of the dron.

 

[droncek]

So drone is switching to fcc with fake gps app, but then when it realizes that it goes for a fake coordinates on the phone it switches back to ce imediately. This meens we have to find a way how to force it to stay in fcc once it is already switched to fcc with fake gps app and not allow to switch back to ce.