Hello fellow San Diegan and Miata owner. Happy 4th of July to all. Just came back from two hour drive through the canyons and wished I had the Mavic Air with me. Such a beautiful day. First time with a drone and still learning.
Hello, everyone! New pilot here in San Diego's east county, Rancho San Diego area. I've been serious about photography since the first digital camera came along (Apple QuickTake) but, for some reason, only recently started feeling the urge to get a drone. It didn't take much research to realize that the best choice for my needs and wants (based on price, features, portability, etc.) was the Mavic Pro.
Even though the regular Mavic Pro was on sale for $150 off (Fly More combo), the one I really wanted was the Mavic Pro Platinum. My wife reminded me that it's always better to get what you REALLY want, regardless of price. She's a keeper!
It took 3 days for the Platinum Fly More combo to arrive (Fry's and Best Buy didn't have the Platinum in stock). During that time I watched all of the DJI Mavic Pro tutorials plus read a lot of information in this forum and the DJI forum (no offense to DJI, but I prefer Mavic Pilots). I downloaded all of the Mavic Pro documentation and read it to prepare for my first flight.
The MP Platinum arrived yesterday. The first thing I did (after unpacking the box) was charge all 3 batteries and the controller. The batteries were all quite low but the controller was sitting at 57%. Next I updated the firmware on both the drone and the controller. Then I mounted my iPhone 6 to the controller, turned everything on, and checked all of the settings and familiarized myself with the various settings and controls. I also spend time re-watching a couple of the DJI tutorials.
Finally, off to the back yard for my first flight. I powered everything up again and got the Ready To Go notification. I pulled the two joysticks down and inward and.... nothing! Nothing happened. The props didn't spin up at all. Thats' when I realized I wasn't seeing the Mavic's camera image on my iPhone. I checked and rechecked the settings. I turned everything off, quit and restarted the DJI Go 4 app, powered everything up again and it was the same thing. No camera image on the iPhone and, despite having the Ready to Go notification, nothing happened when I pulled those sticks inward.
The next step was to place a call to DJI's technical assistance. The first person I spoke with was clearly a total rookie at his job and I had a difficult time understanding him. The second rep was much better. After a little back and forth, his advice was to delete the DJI Go 4 app from my iPhone and download it again from the iOS App Store. THAT did the trick! After logging back into my DJI account and powering up the controller and drone, BINGO, I finally had video feed. I got a huge grin on my face when I pulled the sticks down and inward and the propellers started singing! That grin remained glued to my face while I flew the Mavic around my back yard. I practiced multiple takeoffs and landings, both manual and return to home. I went through an entire battery familiarizing myself with how the Mavic responded (in Beginner mode).
I am HOOKED! This thing is incredibly addictive! I didn't even shoot any video (yet) because I wanted to concentrate on learning to fly.
The only negative was that the iPhone screen is too small and, despite the fact that my iPhone 6 has a new battery (3 months ago), the battery was getting eaten up all too quickly. So my next accessory purchase for the Mavic will be an iPad mini 4. I already have an iPad Air 2 but that's too heavy and bulky. At some point I may mount the iPad Air 2 on a tripod with a sunshade and connect it to the controller with a long USB cable. But, for now, I like the portability and lighter weight that an iPad mini would provide.
Anyway, after some additional flying practice I'll start playing with shooting some video. The first subject will likely be my 2016 Mazda Miata, another passion of mine (Miatas). I already have a spot in mind in a canyon area where I can park my Miata and shoot some video that should be relatively scenic (in a dirt road & canyon sort of way).
My thanks to everyone for your many posts here that have proved very helpful. Like, what about that little yellow tab attached to the top of the Mavic's gimbal! I'm leaving it attached. (I later noticed in one or two of DJI's tutorial videos that the yellow tab is still attached to the gimbal.)
Mark
