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Flying below take-off height

patersonangus

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Hi,

I live in the alps in France and was using my new Mavic Air 2 to film friends skiing or try to at least.

I tried filming by but the drone was behaving oddly. I later tried the follow-me function after trying to film my friends but came up against an odd problem - the drone wouldn't go more than 53m below the height it was at when it took off. I had skied about 80m vertical down by this point.

This was pretty awkward, I had to force it to land and catch it, it wouldn't not fly any lower.

Is this a setting that can be changed or is there a maximum the drone decend too below the take-off height that can't be changed.

We were also struggling on another occasion to get the 'follow-me' function to work. Even in a wide open snow field with high contrast it lost us really quickly,

Advice on the descent below take-off would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Angus
 
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Sorry, I don't have any answers for you regarding your Mavic Air 2. I thought the Skydio2 would be the answer to your problems, but here is a video regarding that:
It looks like the Skydio2 might have similar issues. The Skydio2 has advantages over DJI when it comes to tracking: six obstacle-avoidance cameras to give 360° of obstacle-avoidance, a beacon you can carry that has its own GPS so it can still track you, even if it "loses" you on its main camera, and no magnetic compass to get interfered with near metal objects. I also think that Skydio2 has less "restrictions" or limits that keep you from doing what you are trying to do.
 
bmwbob for clarity are you saying that with the MA2 and perhaps the FLY app there is a limit to how far you can descend below the takeoff point?
I am not arguing but if this is the case I have to wonder why they have done this? I am fairly sure I have had a P3 at -80 to-90m.
 
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bmwbob for clarity are you saying that with the MA2 and perhaps the FLY app there is a limit to how far you can descend below the takeoff point?
I am not arguing but if this is the case I have to wonder why they have done this? I am fairly sure I have had a P3 at -80 to-90m.

I fly in a mountainous area a lot and never had a problem flying over 1000 feet below takeoff point.

Naciamento Road to ocean

 
This happens when manually flying it bellow takeoff point?
Thanks for the replies all.

To clarify, it happened when trying to fly manually.

However, it may have been the case with active track too, but the control was in my bag at the time so I can't be sure that is why I lost contact with me.
 
Hi. Could the rth altitude setting possibly be the culprit here. Just a thought, certainly not an informed one.
 
Thanks for the replies all.

To clarify, it happened when trying to fly manually.

However, it may have been the case with active track too, but the control was in my bag at the time so I can't be sure that is why I lost contact with me.
I would expect the drone to need a constant link with the RC to perform expectations hence putting the controller inside a bag sounds a bit odd ...... why do that? The RC contains the antennae .... ? ?
 
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A message should appear saying what the limit is. Example:
Maximum distance reached
Maximum altitude reached.

You can play back the log in Flight Data Center.
 
Hi,

I live in the alps in France and was using my new Mavic Air 2 to film friends skiing or try to at least.

I tried filming by but the drone was behaving oddly. I later tried the follow-me function after trying to film my friends but came up against an odd problem - the drone wouldn't go more than 53m below the height it was at when it took off. I had skied about 80m vertical down by this point.

This was pretty awkward, I had to force it to land and catch it, it wouldn't not fly any lower.

Is this a setting that can be changed or is there a maximum the drone decend too below the take-off height that can't be changed.

We were also struggling on another occasion to get the 'follow-me' function to work. Even in a wide open snow field with high contrast it lost us really quickly,

Advice on the descent below take-off would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Angus

I do a fair amount of waterfall droning and my typical launch point is higher than where I take the drone - going down far below the 0 altitude at take-off. Done this with both my Mini (1) and Air2 with no issues. I don't know exactly how low beyond 0 altitude I was and I'm also trying to keep my eyes on the drone and where I am - near trees / obstacles / water. I know i've probably been a hundred ft or so below take-off and never had an issue with either drone.
 
I know my pro and when it decides to return home it goes to the return home height and that is usually when it looses signal or get a verbal message asking if the drone can come home. and when u agree it goes to what ever height u have entered until u cancel and take control it will continue I two have lost drones in the rough mountains and 150 ft return leaves you with a drone trying to get home with every thing in front of it I,ve got a great video of this almost makes u sad it trys so hard i,ll figure out how to post to u tube i,ve never done thast
 
Interesting! On the ski slope, I would be concerned enough to ski down first, stop, and launch shooting up the hill. But the waterfall shots from above and lower it down... now that I wouldn't be able to get around figuring this if it confronted my Mini. Anxious to be seeing how Dave/Canada does putting up his video for us to see. Thanks Dave!
 
I have found that when shooting surfing, it’s a good idea to take off near water level to better gauge height above water, and keep it in sight of course. It is fairly easy to get too low and then, higher risk of crash. Speaking from experience unfortunately.

Sometimes, I have to pop it up above the horizon to visually see it again. It’s much more difficult if you are flying below takeoff altitude, for example from the top of a cliff.

I try to avoid that, as it is hard to gauge the height due to visual point of view, and the altitude displayed on the controller and in app are relative to takeoff altitude, so they are all negative heights

Something else to consider is if there could be other drones in the neighborhood. I have come within prop length of one, pure good luck that we did not collide. View from my Mavic Pro 2

7B84F058-8B33-417B-9802-BC2C19C7F666.jpeg
 
Hi,

I live in the alps in France and was using my new Mavic Air 2 to film friends skiing or try to at least.

I tried filming by but the drone was behaving oddly. I later tried the follow-me function after trying to film my friends but came up against an odd problem - the drone wouldn't go more than 53m below the height it was at when it took off. I had skied about 80m vertical down by this point.

This was pretty awkward, I had to force it to land and catch it, it wouldn't not fly any lower.

Is this a setting that can be changed or is there a maximum the drone decend too below the take-off height that can't be changed.

We were also struggling on another occasion to get the 'follow-me' function to work. Even in a wide open snow field with high contrast it lost us really quickly,

Advice on the descent below take-off would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Angus
If you read the user manual of the mavic air 2, it is said that bright surfaces such as water or snow can cause some issues with the sensors, but it doesn't really explain why it was locked at -53m of minimum altitude. I'm guessing you tried moving the drone to a different location, in the shadows maybe, to see if it could descend further?
 
Interesting! On the ski slope, I would be concerned enough to ski down first, stop, and launch shooting up the hill. But the waterfall shots from above and lower it down... now that I wouldn't be able to get around figuring this if it confronted my Mini. Anxious to be seeing how Dave/Canada does putting up his video for us to see. Thanks Dave!
 
the drone is on its own and decides to return becuase flight is to long but i forgot to raise the RTH altitude but it tries !
 
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