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Height restriction with no GPS?

rwilliam99

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Hello

New Mavic Mini user here. I'm actually on my second unit. The first one I lost trying to video a waterfall in a tight canyon - it went up, hit a branch and fell in the creek,never to be seen again. We searched for a couple of hours, but never found it. Since it went into the water and never had a good GPS lock, it was lost. Anyway, I bought another one and have experimented a lot more before doing anything like that again. I was on a hike last week in a much more open waterfall canyon and decided to try again - I wasn't going to fly right over the water. Anyway, all was good, I got it taken off and hovering however it wouldn't go higher than about 15' since it couldn't get a GPS lock. I've searched and searched and I've not been able to find any resolution to this. I can't believe that if it can't get a GPS lock (like in a waterfall canyon) that it can't go higher than 15'.

Does anyone have any advice on this? How can I get my drone to go higher than 15' when it can't get a GPS lock? I don't think I will probably ever fly this out of sight - I will most likely just use it for taking aerial videos.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
 
I've searched and searched and I've not been able to find any resolution to this. I can't believe that if it can't get a GPS lock (like in a waterfall canyon) that it can't go higher than 15'.
The manual describes what's going on:
2020-04-17_4-43-51.png
 
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The manual describes what's going on:
View attachment 98862
Thank you for this.

That is exactly what was happening - the status indicator on the mini was blinking green and red alternately.

So - if I am in this same spot again, there is nothing that can be done? Would putting tape over the downward sensors allow it to go to 30m in this situation? It seems odd that there isn't some way to get around this, however I do understand there have been certain concessions made on the mini in order to achieve the cost and weight goals.
 
Thank you for this.

That is exactly what was happening - the status indicator on the mini was blinking green and red alternately.

So - if I am in this same spot again, there is nothing that can be done? Would putting tape over the downward sensors allow it to go to 30m in this situation? It seems odd that there isn't some way to get around this, however I do understand there have been certain concessions made on the mini in order to achieve the cost and weight goals.
I don't think so, it uses a barometer to gauge it's height AGL. Maybe try taking off at an elevated position?
 
Taping over the downward sensors may well let you go up to 30m above takeoff point, as per what it says in the snip from the manual in post #2. Beware though that the drone will drift around in even the slightest breeze and you'll have to manually control it to hold position (attitude mode).
 
Taping over the downward sensors may well let you go up to 30m above takeoff point, as per what it says in the snip from the manual in post #2. Beware though that the drone will drift around in even the slightest breeze and you'll have to manually control it to hold position (attitude mode).

I simulated that in the back yard by wrapping it in tin foil - I did pretty good most of the time, but a few times it did get away from me - fortunately I was close to the ground and no damage. I'm continuing to practice flying in these circumstances. Flying it without all the electronics aids is WAY different than flying it with them!
 
Your going to lose this drone too if you experiment too much with attitude mode.My MM has gps problem i cant get enough sats locked and as soon as i get them it looses them quickly so i have been in attitude mode very often and i can tell you its very difficoult to control.Once i lost gps at 600m distance oh man the wind raped the little guy.If you want to try ok but never in sport mode.
 
Your going to lose this drone too if you experiment too much with attitude mode.My MM has gps problem i cant get enough sats locked and as soon as i get them it looses them quickly so i have been in attitude mode very often and i can tell you its very difficoult to control.Once i lost gps at 600m distance oh man the wind raped the little guy.If you want to try ok but never in sport mode.

When I've experimented with attitude mode (using the foil) it was in the backyard and flying very low - relatively safe. I can't imagine flying in attitude mode when you can't physically see the drone. It is very difficult to control, but I'm trying to get better at controlling it myself (improving my pilot skills) and attitude mode definitely does that.

I did see a youtube video today about "flying the box" which sounds much safer and is a good way to practice pilot skills. I will be doing more of that, and less with the tin foil. I think attitude mode is why I lost my first drone. I took a look at the flight log (which I didn't know it kept when I was flying it - I've learned a lot since then), it did go into atti mode which is why it went sideways into a tree branch and then got washed away in the creek.
 
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