First scare with Mavic Pro. What on earth happened?

WilliamG · Jul 27, 2018

OK so this one was hard to search for since I don't have much to go on...

Basically, my neighbors wanted me to get a picture of them on their deck, so I happily obliged with my Mavic Pro. Connected to my iPhone X running latest DJI GO app, I sent the Mavic up, lined up the image, and hit the photo button on my iPhone X.

At that point I realized it was on panorama, and hit the button to cancel the images being taken. I went to switch the image to regular photo, and at that point I lost control of the Mavic Pro, and on the controller screen it said "JOYSTICK."

I seriously was freaking out as I had zero control over the Mavic Pro. However, the joysticks seemed to be doing a LITTLE something to the camera, as the gimbal was jiggling a little as I moved the joystick, but it was... odd.

I disconnected my iPhone, still nothing. Drone is hovering there, and the battery is draining, and still the word "JOYSTICK" on the screen of the controller. I had no choice but to reboot the controller. After rebooting the controller everything worked again. I was able to take over the Mavic Pro controls while the drone was in RTH.

I'm hoping I just hit something funky, but I can't figure out what it was, and it was a serious freak out as this issue happened at 40%, with the drone maybe 50 feet from me with no apparent control. Oy...

Someone put my mind at ease? What happened? Thanks.

BossBob · Jul 28, 2018

If you had your phone connected using one of the short cables supplied with the drone and RC this is not uncommon. Try using a standard lightning cable connected to the bottom usb on the remote. Seasoned pilots find this setup more reliable.

WilliamG · Jul 28, 2018

BossBob said:
If you had your phone connected using one of the short cables supplied with the drone and RC this is not uncommon. Try using a standard lightning cable connected to the bottom usb on the remote. Seasoned pilots find this setup more reliable.

Cable issue causing THIS phenomenon not uncommon? Source? I had unplugged my phone which did not fix it.

Irish-apple · Jul 28, 2018

WilliamG said:
OK so this one was hard to search for since I don't have much to go on...

Basically, my neighbors wanted me to get a picture of them on their deck, so I happily obliged with my Mavic Pro. Connected to my iPhone X running latest DJI GO app, I sent the Mavic up, lined up the image, and hit the photo button on my iPhone X.

At that point I realized it was on panorama, and hit the button to cancel the images being taken. I went to switch the image to regular photo, and at that point I lost control of the Mavic Pro, and on the controller screen it said "JOYSTICK."

I seriously was freaking out as I had zero control over the Mavic Pro. However, the joysticks seemed to be doing a LITTLE something to the camera, as the gimbal was jiggling a little as I moved the joystick, but it was... odd.

I disconnected my iPhone, still nothing. Drone is hovering there, and the battery is draining, and still the word "JOYSTICK" on the screen of the controller. I had no choice but to reboot the controller. After rebooting the controller everything worked again. I was able to take over the Mavic Pro controls while the drone was in RTH.

I'm hoping I just hit something funky, but I can't figure out what it was, and it was a serious freak out as this issue happened at 40%, with the drone maybe 50 feet from me with no apparent control. Oy...

Someone put my mind at ease? What happened? Thanks.

just an observation from me please not a dig YOU did wrong just asking ..

ive been there before and the neighbours asked the same thing can I do a photo I obliged !

but they were asking do I always have to go through the set up and check before a flight which I didnt that day

did you go through a few checks / props / gimbal / sensors / imu and home point etc ..

your posts suggest a good pilot you are as no other crashed report yet { or I havent seen one lol }

I had this happen before and heres what happenned me ..

I rushed it .. put down the bird turned it on turned on the controller connected dji go 4 and punched it up .. within 25 feet it just started showing all kinds of errors on the screen I only seen half of them as I was keeping the eye on the bird ..I got her home but since then rookie mistake I made I was to confident .. the trousers I wore that day had to be thrown out by the way , no wash would of got that stain out lol

you made it home and im glad you did ... did you run the checks or like me get a little to confident and punch the bird up the way ?

Jeff7577 · Jul 28, 2018

There was a problem with your remote. Have you tried calibrating? Were you wearing rings or a watch?

4wd · Jul 28, 2018

This has been seen before, I think it was still in or partly in the special mode for panorama in this case.
Switching to sport mode and back would likely immediately exit the automated mode.