Friend loaned me his Mavic Air, is the small remote cable necessary?

[Benlavnz]

Hi all,

My friend and i are off on a motorcycle trip in a few weeks and he bought the drone and never used it. He has lent it to me to do the footage as i am the resident tech geek.

He uses an iphone. I have zero experience with drones, but i have one question...

The small cable from the remote to the iphone, is this necessary for operating the drone? Im on android and need a usb c connection which i can buy tomorrow, but do i need to? The unit is completely flat so i have some charging to do before figuring out if there is a bluetooth connection possible.

TIA

Ben

 

[Killowatt]

I'm new to all this as well, with a S9+ phone, yes a cable is required to run everything going on in the DJI fly app, while using the drone. It will also charge the phone so it won't go dead. As far as I know, blue tooth isn't used at all.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Strictly speaking the cable may not be needed every time but in certain circumstances it IS NEEDED. Besides there are settings which you may wish to change and you will be UNABLE to change ANY settings with out the phone being connected to the controller via such a cable.
I would have thought your friend should have the appropriate cable.
Make sure everything works BEFORE you leave.
I would also suggest you read the manual before you leave and put a copy on your phone, these things a quite complicated and their behaviours nay catch you out. You really shoiuld get some practice flying in, in a safe wide open space, before you leave. I strongly suggest you work your way through the RTH behaviours at least.

 

[Meta4]

The small cable from the remote to the iphone, is this necessary for operating the drone? Im on android and need a usb c connection which i can buy tomorrow, but do i need to?

Yes, you need a cable to connect the phone or tablet with the controller.

The unit is completely flat so i have some charging to do before figuring out if there is a bluetooth connection possible.

There is no Bluetooth connection.
Here's the manual for the Air.
It might come in handy:

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic%20Air/Mavic%20Air%20User%20Manual%20v1.0.pdf

You'll find on p44 that it has a section about controlling from your phone without the controller.
Although it's possible, it has limitations and isn't a good substitute for using the controller.

 

[Benlavnz]

Thanks All. He's had it a while so the supplied usb c remote cable is probably sitting somewhere in his home office. Will be easier for me to get a new one.

it looks like the batteries are well dead unfortunately. Of the three, only 1 provides any form of rolling light feedback. The other 2 have no lights flashing when connected to the charger.

thanks for the heads up re practice. I probably have 3 or 4 nights between now and next week when i can have a practice.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

The cable might need to be OTG, you should look into that before ordering. Regarding the 'dead' batteries, try charging them directly from the charger, do not use the charging hub. I have seen that it can make a difference, whether that is true I do not know but it will not make things worse.

 

[spamgnome]

The cable might need to be OTG, you should look into that before ordering. Regarding the 'dead' batteries, try charging them directly from the charger, do not use the charging hub. I have seen that it can make a difference, whether that is true I do not know but it will not make things worse.

Keep in mind how the charging hub works. It charges the batteries 1 at a time starting with the fullest one. Presumably this is so that you can take that one off when done, and use it. Once the 1st one is done, it'll start charging the 2nd and then the third one. As for the cable, I've used all sorts with various iOS and Android devices. The simplest way is to buy a USB to USB-C cable and plug it in to the bottom of the controller.

 

[Chris Baish]

You need to use the DJI Go 4 app (not Fly app) if it is the original Mavic Air.