First MPP casualty

[f3honda4me]

yeah I actually looked for travel insurance before I flew out. But mainly it was for health reasons type of insurance. The biggest one i researched for lost property insurance was around $200 in claims of lost property. I live in california too so state farm is not applicable.

Update on case- so far i've written them up on Better Business Bureau with poor customer service and delayed response. I've also disputed this case to my credit card for faulty product. Im still waiting for the final response from them. Ive sent them actual video evidence of the gimbal going haywire mid flight and their only response is they could not find any errors on their data log. It's like they are just playing dumb at this point and doing everything possible to not admit fault

It's not them playing dumb. A gimble going "haywire" is usually just a gimble reset, which isn't indicative of a problem. They happen on rare occasion, for various reasons. The gimble had nothing to do with your issue. And they aren't admitting fault because, as I mentioned, there is nothing in the logs that indicates ANY issue whatsoever. None. They aren't lying or trying to cover up some truth. We see the exact same logs they do, and there is not a single thing wrong in the logs. I know you're upset and you want to blame DJI, but look at it from their standpoint. Totally clean logs with ZERO sign of any kind of mechanical issue or failure. (again, the gimble reset has NOTHING to do with the drone flying properly, flight controller working properly, etc) The way the log ends, the most *likely* cause was the battery coming unseated.

 

[f3honda4me]

The mavic behaved completely normal. It followed all commands given to it by your controller, and the flight path matches all commands exactly. The log simply ends, AND it ends at a time that you were giving full elevator and the drone was moving at 17mph. This was after you had JUST done a maneuver in which you flew the drone in one direction at full speed, and then you slammed the elevator the other way, causing the drone to do a hard stop and full reversal to full speed in the other direction in a matter of 4 seconds. And 1 second later, contact was lost. This is the kind of thing that if the battery was not seated properly would cause it to pop loose and cause the sudden loss of transmission, at a time you had elevator full and you were yawing the drone in a turn.

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

 

[dewster]

DJI customer support has been absolutely abysmal (which i already knew) this has been an ongoing case for about two weeks now. I have followed every single direction they have given and I keep getting an email from their team that they have NOT received the droplink email so they cannot further investigate. Ive used two email accounts, and have sent them that link email about 20 times now. Ive called and also use their online chat support but of course all they can do is just notify that specific department (but has no number to call them) so frustrating...........

Man...that's crazy.

 

[dewster]

Does anyone know of issues encountered going into other countries with different cellular carriers and the performance of the Mavic? I know it will switch out of FCC mode, but is there an affect on DJI GO4 app if your cellular data is slow? Can that have an effect on positioning and return to home? What would happen if there is a conflict between the app's home Positioning and the Mavic's Positioning?

 

[alecela]

Well I got this ******** response........no explanation on why the video proof on the gimbal going haywire does not seem like a abnormatlity......thats the end of my droning days.....
.
Hi Gerard,

Thanks for your patience.

For your claimed case CAS-1151499-D5S6K4, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:
1.The drone was working in GPS mode and responded to the remote command well;
2.T=03:01, H=84m, D=359m, the flight record interrupted;
3.The pilot was pushing 100% pitch stick forward before interrupted; The home point:47.5552148 10.7508444; The last point:47.5582233 10.7526082

With the record ended without any sign of abnormality, we could not verify what happened afterwards. We truly appreciate your support for DJI, and especially applied for a 30% off coupon for Mavic Platinum aircraft without charger and remote: Buy Mavic Pro Aircraft (Excludes Remote Controller and Battery Charger)

If you would like to accept the offer, please reply to my email for example “I accept the offer”. Should you have more questions, please feel free to let me know.

Best Regards,
Poppy
DJI Tech Support
http://www.dji.com/Reminder：
Should you have any question about the data analysis result, please reply this email directly in 15 calendar days. Or the case will be closed due to a lack of response.

That really sucks. I actually had similar incident: Flew the drone as normal, lost sight of it, tried to get it back by activating the Return To Home sequence and no luck. Connection lost at some point and apparently it landed somewhere into the water although for the life of me, I could NOT remember I did that.

Worst yet, they only offer 15% discount on replacement so I guess they lost a customer there...

 

[f3honda4me]

Does anyone know of issues encountered going into other countries with different cellular carriers and the performance of the Mavic? I know it will switch out of FCC mode, but is there an affect on DJI GO4 app if your cellular data is slow? Can that have an effect on positioning and return to home? What would happen if there is a conflict between the app's home Positioning and the Mavic's Positioning?

Your cellular connection has nothing to do with how the mavic will perform. The home point is set before takeoff, and has nothing to do with cellular signal or country. Positioning uses VPS and GPS, has nothing to do with cellular signal.

 

[redserv]

All these flyaways make me nervous, I ordered a MPP. And hate when you have no control of stuff like this.

 

[sar104]

All these flyaways make me nervous, I ordered a MPP. And hate when you have no control of stuff like this.

All which flyaways? The number that I've seen that were not obvious operator error is extremely small, and none were actual flyaways - almost all were sudden power loss. Some of those appeared to be battery disconnects, most likely due to failure to engage both clips, and just a very few were completely unexplained failures. If you are looking for advanced technology with zero failure rate then you are in the wrong business.

 

[dewster]

All these flyaways make me nervous, I ordered a MPP. And hate when you have no control of stuff like this.

I haven't experienced any flyaways. I avoided the P3 era after seeing so many videos of flyaways on YouTube. I was sold on the Mavic's redundant Compass, IMU, and error checking processor that verifies the data. I find it hard to imagine what could cause a flyaway unless the Home point wasn't properly verified in DJI's app.

I worry more about the craft losing power and dropping out of the sky which is also rare, but has been posted in this forum. I've experienced two aircraft crashes (home built drones). One due to a prop breaking off, and the other due to a faulty lipo battery. Both crashes put a healthy respect for things falling out of the sky. As such it stays in the back of my mind when flying the Mavic. It's been very reliable for me so far. Check Homepoint, batteries, and props. Pay attention to any warnings received.

 

[redserv]

I guess the most we can do is educate ourselves as best as possible and hope for the best.

 

[Hollow Dog]

I guess the most we can do is educate ourselves as best as possible and hope for the best.

Yea, that's pretty much how life works.

 

[Mossiback]

All these flyaways make me nervous, I ordered a MPP. And hate when you have no control of stuff like this.

It is OK to be nervous at first until you can verify that everything works properly. The MPP is a marvelous piece of engineering and sometimes something does not work as planned. For the first few flights use an open space and keep it close. After all, your flying skills also need to be checked out. Once you verify the MPP and your abilities, just have fun and don't worry about it.

And as for "all these flyaways" keep in mind that people are quick to complain and slow to complement. More are apt to post a bad event than all the days of flying without incident. I have over seven months and 100 miles on my MP without a single mechanical glitch.

 

[BudWalker]

I haven't experienced any flyaways. I avoided the P3 era after seeing so many videos of flyaways on YouTube. I was sold on the Mavic's redundant Compass, IMU, and error checking processor that verifies the data. I find it hard to imagine what could cause a flyaway unless the Home point wasn't properly verified in DJI's app.

I worry more about the craft losing power and dropping out of the sky which is also rare, but has been posted in this forum. I've experienced two aircraft crashes (home built drones). One due to a prop breaking off, and the other due to a faulty lipo battery. Both crashes put a healthy respect for things falling out of the sky. As such it stays in the back of my mind when flying the Mavic. It's been very reliable for me so far. Check Homepoint, batteries, and props. Pay attention to any warnings received.

Most, if not all, launch time fly aways are caused by a geomagnetically distorted launch site - or some variation on this. In these situations more or better compass, IMU or error checking won't make any difference. In fact, the P3 is better at avoiding fly aways, but at the expense of declaring a compass error in situations where none exists. The Mavic, OTOH, will often remain in GPS+ATTI and try to resolve a compass error. Sometimes this works, but when it doesn't erratic flight and/or a fly away is the result.

 

[alecela]

I guess the most we can do is educate ourselves as best as possible and hope for the best.

Agree that we should all learn from our lessons. Trouble is sometimes you don't even know WHERE and HOW you commit the mistake. That's certainly for me so far...

 

[Mitch]

Agree that we should all learn from our lessons. Trouble is sometimes you don't even know WHERE and HOW you commit the mistake. That's certainly for me so far...

Silly question: How is it known if we are launching from a geomagnetically distorted launch site?

 

[dewster]

Most, if not all, launch time fly aways are caused by a geomagnetically distorted launch site - or some variation on this. In these situations more or better compass, IMU or error checking won't make any difference. In fact, the P3 is better at avoiding fly aways, but at the expense of declaring a compass error in situations where none exists. The Mavic, OTOH, will often remain in GPS+ATTI and try to resolve a compass error. Sometimes this works, but when it doesn't erratic flight and/or a fly away is the result.

Good info. I've experienced compass errors and magnetic interruptions when preparing for launch in areas that I didn't see metal, but found out metal was under pavement. I just turn the craft off and find another launch site.

 

[sar104]

Silly question: How is it known if we are launching from a geomagnetically distorted launch site?

It's not necessarily obvious at all. I would recommend using one of the magnetometer phone apps - there are plenty available and they will show you immediately if there is a problem.

 

[BudWalker]

Silly question: How is it known if we are launching from a geomagnetically distorted launch site?

The easiest, single most effective way is to look at the red triangle heading indicator in the Go App. Verify that it's orientation agrees with the actual orientation of the AC. If it doesn't then erratic flight, possibly a fly away, is almost guaranteed.

 

[redserv]

The easiest, single most effective way is to look at the red triangle heading indicator in the Go App. Verify that it's orientation agrees with the actual orientation of the AC. If it doesn't then erratic flight, possibly a fly away, is almost guaranteed.
View attachment 25326

Interesting I must say.

 

[alecela]

Well I got this ******** response........no explanation on why the video proof on the gimbal going haywire does not seem like a abnormatlity......thats the end of my droning days.....
.
Hi Gerard,

Thanks for your patience.

For your claimed case CAS-1151499-D5S6K4, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:
1.The drone was working in GPS mode and responded to the remote command well;
2.T=03:01, H=84m, D=359m, the flight record interrupted;
3.The pilot was pushing 100% pitch stick forward before interrupted; The home point:47.5552148 10.7508444; The last point:47.5582233 10.7526082

With the record ended without any sign of abnormality, we could not verify what happened afterwards. We truly appreciate your support for DJI, and especially applied for a 30% off coupon for Mavic Platinum aircraft without charger and remote: Buy Mavic Pro Aircraft (Excludes Remote Controller and Battery Charger)

If you would like to accept the offer, please reply to my email for example “I accept the offer”. Should you have more questions, please feel free to let me know.

Best Regards,
Poppy
DJI Tech Support
http://www.dji.com/Reminder：
Should you have any question about the data analysis result, please reply this email directly in 15 calendar days. Or the case will be closed due to a lack of response.

BTW, are they offering you a MPP without remote or just MP without remote? The link you provided only points to a MP...