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Huge dilemma with DJI return home policy

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So this is still pilot fault. Where is the responsibility of DJI on this? Why do they want us to spend so much money for a product that doesn't worth it? This is really frustrating me.
 
actually, with his defective battery, and the wind, he might not of made it home if he hadn't canceled rth
not sure about that, if he was he was going out of range to cause a disconnect would that effect the transmission of the battery condition?
 
In truth, the Mavic is more battery efficient when it's in motion, vs. hovering. Odd, but true. I have a feeling that we're never going to be hearing from the OP again.
It is not odd, it is perfectly as it should be, and connected to tourbulence near propellers in hover mode, hovewer when you move you constantly move into "clean" air without vortexes. This effect should be less than in helicopters because even in motion part of propellers will be behind others.
Understanding Helicopter Power Requirements: The Power Struggle - Rotor & Wing International

Moving from hover into forward flight brings a rapid decrease in required power, due to a change in inflow angle of oncoming air. This is the induced power decreasing as the rotor becomes more efficient (translational lift).
 
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Yep. My car says I can get 54 miles a gallon tank holds 20 gallons so I’m not filling up till I’ve done a least 1000 miles, regardless what the gauge says.

Excuse me but this is a totally different scenario.
 
Sorry for your loss BUT why did you send your drone 7KM away? If I want to see something from my drone's perspective that is 7KM away I get closer before launching--like 6 KM. You should keep your drone in your line of sight. That is the only way to know what is really going on with your drone. Just because DJI says it can travel 7 or 8 KM away does not mean you have to go that far. Your car will probably go 100 mph but that doesn't mean you should do that. Use your head.
Man drone was 4.8km. About 2/3 of the distance they advertise on their box in Europe.
 
I would not characterize the early battery warning as "low battery". There's a difference between a low battery warning and a "you flew so far away you need to turn back now" warning. The app was telling him to bring the Mavic back ASAP and he was apparently unhappy that it occurred only 10 minutes into the flight. Well, he burned HALF the safely available battery life in that time. 100% to 62% in 10 minutes. Hovering doesn't burn as much energy as flying at a constant 19-20 mph.

3 miles out and didn't heed the warning to come back. Not DJI's fault.

Mark

Mark thanks for the post. Do you know why the drone was hovering? Because I was trying to restart the app then plug and unplug the usb cable to regain visibility on the app and command of the drone.
During that time all the time I attempted to reconnect the app, I had about 5 seconds to press return to home then app disconnected again. This still didn't happen. Why? Why the drone didn't started it's way back home and then start descending later? After the first time I have never cancelled the RTH again. Isn't 51% not enough to go back? If only you go back 21% and then start descending when below 30% I'd have regained visual visibility and could have landed and recovered. Why this didn't happen? Is this all pilot fault?
 
Man, I have just read Spanish specs. 7km
from DJI
Fly further

Inside the Mavic’s pocket-sized remote controller is DJI’s brand new OcuSync transmission technology, with a range of 4.3mi (7km)*, HD 720p long range and Full HD 1080p short range video streaming.*Unobstructed, free of interference, when FCC compliant.
 
I agree with others. Pilot error. You cancelled RTH and, based on flight logs, ignored REPEATED warnings about remaining battery.

I suspect you were thinking too linearly with regard to the battery. I've noticed that, in general, the first 20% of battery life (from 100% to 80%) doesn't get burned up as quickly as the last 20% of battery life (40% to 20%). Yes, I consider 20% to be the END of battery life. I occasionally land my Mavic at about 15% battery life but 99% of the time I land when it's between 20% and 30%. LAND at that point, not start bringing it back home. So, the "halfway" point in battery life is 60% (100 - 20 = 80 / 2 = 40, 100 - 40 = 60%).

You got your first battery warning at 62%. Halfway. In your mind you were probably thinking you could hang out around 3 miles out until 50%. Mistake.

Sorry, pilot error.

Mark

Man, I have never ever ignored the warning messages. Drone simply failed to go back when I was pressing return home before the app disconnected from the RC. Why the drone didn't started it's way back?
 
I don't think the OP liked all those reasoned responses and left.

I am curious how his charge back went. Will he get in trouble for it? Is it analogous to cancelling a cheque/check after receiving goods in proper conditions?

Sorry by OP are you referring to me? I am here and ready to reply to any question.
I am glad I am learning from all professional pilots and I think best thing I should is basically pay for a professional pilot if I want to make a video. I am fed up. This all thing is not for me. I won't accept the 15% but I will proceed with the charge back and end my pilot experience. The only thing I'd like to highlight among you all super professionals is that if I rely to the stupid marketing dream they sell. Some of you compares to cars and other marketing bullshits of other products. I want to say that I didn't everything within specs and that I don't have to know about hills of interference. I should just check if there is wind. If the app gives me alert of wind or other things. 62% battery you advertise 7km, where is the 30 minutes battery advertised on the box? Shall I go an read that this possible only in wonderful California? It's written on the box I have at home too. How come? Plus the return home was cancelled once and didn't trigger never again. Even when I pressed it repeatedly. So I can take pilot error to a certain extend but I didn't find the drone and I am not paying it back in full. That's the end of the story and my pilot short career.
 
Sorry by OP are you referring to me? I am here and ready to reply to any question.
I am glad I am learning from all professional pilots and I think best thing I should is basically pay for a professional pilot if I want to make a video. I am fed up. This all thing is not for me. I won't accept the 15% but I will proceed with the charge back and end my pilot experience. The only thing I'd like to highlight among you all super professionals is that if I rely to the stupid marketing dream they sell. Some of you compares to cars and other marketing bullshits of other products. I want to say that I didn't everything within specs and that I don't have to know about hills of interference. I should just check if there is wind. If the app gives me alert of wind or other things. 62% battery you advertise 7km, where is the 30 minutes battery advertised on the box? Shall I go an read that this possible only in wonderful California? It's written on the box I have at home too. How come? Plus the return home was cancelled once and didn't trigger never again. Even when I pressed it repeatedly. So I can take pilot error to a certain extend but I didn't find the drone and I am not paying it back in full. That's the end of the story and my pilot short career.
its sad you feel this way really.
us "all professional pilots" have tried in vain to point out your mistakes, but it seem we are all idiots and DJI are lying to you.
in your first post you actually inserted a link from Dji that you misunderstood or selectively ignored.
good luck in getting your money back without having a drone to give back to them.
move on and have a good day
 
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Sorry by OP are you referring to me? I am here and ready to reply to any question.
I am glad I am learning from all professional pilots and I think best thing I should is basically pay for a professional pilot if I want to make a video. I am fed up. This all thing is not for me. I won't accept the 15% but I will proceed with the charge back and end my pilot experience. The only thing I'd like to highlight among you all super professionals is that if I rely to the stupid marketing dream they sell. Some of you compares to cars and other marketing bullshits of other products. I want to say that I didn't everything within specs and that I don't have to know about hills of interference. I should just check if there is wind. If the app gives me alert of wind or other things. 62% battery you advertise 7km, where is the 30 minutes battery advertised on the box? Shall I go an read that this possible only in wonderful California? It's written on the box I have at home too. How come? Plus the return home was cancelled once and didn't trigger never again. Even when I pressed it repeatedly. So I can take pilot error to a certain extend but I didn't find the drone and I am not paying it back in full. That's the end of the story and my pilot short career.

Okay, I was trying really hard not to comment on this thread for a multitude of reasons, one of them being your refusal to understand logic. But let me try, nevertheless. Many of the people here may be seasoned pilots. I, on the other hand, have never flown a drone or an RC before this. Maybe a mini-copter inside the house, but that does not count. So, I am, for all practical purposes, in the same boat as you are. I have probably 5-7 flights under by belt (two of them today).

1. Even I was wow'ed by the DJI marketing initially as a drone with such amazing capabilities. But logic, actually strike that, common sense dictates that you do your ground work before you buy it. For me, I read all I could about the Mavic. Next stop was this forum. Mostly lurking silently, ingesting all the knowledge you can get from people.

2. Realize that even though DJI calls it a flying camera, that thing is a serious piece of equipment, electronics and engineering. The cost itself should have told you that.

3. Most importantly, I Read The F*%&^*^ Manual (RTFM) that people are referring to. Common sense again dictates that when you have paid 1299 for a gadget, you will spend time reading the manual to know how it operates.

4. As a beginner, I am terrified to let my drone out of sight. But that does not mean I keep it wrapped in slick wrap inside my house. I fly to practice. There is a reason people ask you to maintain VLOS. So that things like this do not happen. If you are a seasoned flyer, sure enough. Fly wherever you want. Otherwise, first practice. Which most definitely translates to DO NOT FLY OUT OF SIGHT.

5. Yes, again DJI's marketing claims tons of things. Actually, they are not claims. They have been demonstrated to be true by many people on these forums. Please ingest information before you want to set out on a foolhardy mission. I read stuff here for about 3-4 days before I even ventured to fly my drone.

6. I too made mistakes. Third flight out, backyard, vertically climbing to about 200 ft, ground conditions said no wind, higher conditions mentioned 5-10 mph gusts. Mavic was hovering for the most part. When I tried to bring it back in when it gave me a wind warning, the wind pushed it farther out. Out of sight. Was flying VLOS from inside the house, since it was directly overhead. Had to jump into 12 inches of snow in shorts and tees, no footwear. From then on, lesson learnt. VLOS means controllable VLOS. If I had not read the forums about switching to sport mode and dropping altitude, I may have had a broken Mavic, or lost one, much like you. The difference, I took time out to learn things. Not go by specs and marketing.

Take it from a newbie, you were stupid to fly without doing your due diligence in learning how to fly the **** thing. You did everything wrong from A-Z. I beg to differ with people here. This was not pilot error. This was stupidity. Plain and simple. People are here to help. In the 3-4 weeks I have been on this forum, I have learnt more about flying drones than I would have done so in probably a year. When you buy something sophisticated, learn to understand and appreciate it. Most importantly, LEARN ITS LIMITS. That is your responsibility.
 
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Man drone was 4.8km. About 2/3 of the distance they advertise on their box in Europe.
From their specs on the website:
--- snip ---
Max Transmission Distance FCC Compliant: 4.3 mi (7 km);
CE Compliant: 2.5 mi (4 km)
SRRC Compliant: 2.5mi (4 km)
MIC Compliant: 2.5 mi (4 km) (Unobstructed, free of interference)
--- snip ---

The CE marking is the manufacturer's (DJI) declaration that the product meets the requirements of the applicable EC directives.
That means the the transmit power has to meet a criteria as follows:

Transmitter Power (EIRP)
FCC:<=26 dBm
CE:<=20 dBm
SRRC: <=20 dBm
MIC: <=18 dBm

In simple words: while being somewhere in the European Union, there is a limited power output. (less range)
 
Man, I have never ever ignored the warning messages. Drone simply failed to go back when I was pressing return home before the app disconnected from the RC. Why the drone didn't started it's way back?

Also, just pressing the RTH button does not initiate RTH. You need to hold it down for a second until it registers RTH. Again, part of the effing manual. If you had read it, that is. :mad:

Oh wait, you probably did not even know there was an RTH button on the controller. Never mind. And in case you are wondering what VLOS/LOS means, since you have ignored that time and again from the posts and continue to parrot the 7 km range, it means LINE OF SIGHT. Just FYI. :p

*walks away muttering, wishing there was a facepalm emoticon, musing about ineptitude*
 
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As a new pilot (very similar to adwaraki although I flew RC aircraft years ago) this thread has been an experience and revelation. The OP had taught me how not to fly, not to listen to others who know better and not to recognise your own failings, but instead to go against all perceived wisdom, advice, regulations, throw a tantrum, stick your thumb in your mouth and go WAH WAH!
 
The battery definitly seems defective. It jumped from 57% to 51%, and 5 other times
including 48% to 34%, I've never seen my batteries move by more than 1% at a time.
That is becasue he was too far and lost connection multiple times. The jumps are drops in the log becasue of nonexistent communication.

I have checked the Spanish one and it's 7km range.
Point out to what you're referring to becasue that's incorrect.

vertical is 0 m/s
Again that has NOTHING to do with the wind. Vertical speed depends on one and only thing in normal flight, it's what you do with the left height stick.

Now tell me, do you have to buy this super drone only if you are an expert
No, but you do need to learn how things work, what is possible and allowed. It seems that from the specs to the operation you always assumed you knew what you were doing, but never did. First thing being that regardless of specs of you checked what you were allowed to do in your country you would see that you were not allowed to do any of what you did in the first place.
 
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No it’s not a different situation you expected to get 30mins of flight which in only possible in controlled conditions. 30 mins is the maximum possible, wind, temperature, speed, signal strength and handling can all affects the battery life.
Also at that distance you can’t see anything around you so unless you were flying in an area where you knew intimately the landscape and where obstacles were you will never know the reason for failure to return. It could have hit overhead wires or been attacked by birds or any other random incident which other pilots have encountered

It’s been a tough and expensive learning experience I know. But unless you learn from it and moderate your expectations accordingly your going to risk repeating the error of your ways
 
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