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I am thinking about buying the mini...is my research and assumptions correct

CMILD561

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First post, greetings all. I am coming from a DJI phantom original, and then the phantom 3 standard and advanced. And now I just crashed my phantome 3 advanced after a freak battery accident and am trying to repair it.

It seems that from my research the Mini is for me.
-Small. I hate lugging around a phantom 3 in a backback. It allows room for nothing else. I either have to pack for a long hike, or pack to fly the drone, but not both. I just got back from a beautiful vacation in St John and was wishing I had my drone all the time. But there wouldnt have been room for it in my carry on. It seems the mini would have solved that.
-Price seems right on point.

There are some common "complaints" against the mini, for lack of a better term. But I dont think they really apply to my needs. Let me see if I understand correctly?
-range is less. people complain about the transmission signal can breakup up easily. But I dont fly miles out or in city areas so that shouldnt apply to me.
-cant handle as strong of a wind. it still seems to do pretty good though, and again I dont fly during known super windy conditions
-doesnt do 4k. I am not a professional. I shoot pics and videos for my own pleasure and upload them to youtube in 1080. Half the population is still living in a 1080 world so that shouldnt be obsolete any time soon.

I pretty much go out to the mountains and fly there and take pics of mountains or sunsets for my own pleasure. I dont do fancy movies or maneuvers or fly miles away out of sight with waypoints (though i do admit, waypoints seem cool and something id like to do eventually).

Are there other things I may be missing in my research that i should consider before I make the purchase as to whether or not this is the right drone for me.
 
also is the 400 AGL restriction still just a suggestion, or is it baked into the firmware? meaning there is no way I can get it higher than that?
 
You pretty much checked all known "weaknesses", so I guess you already made up your mind. If so, sure, go ahead, know the limits and enjoy. Somebody will answer the second part surely. Happy flying!
 
also is the 400 AGL restriction still just a suggestion, or is it baked into the firmware? meaning there is no way I can get it higher than that?
No it is not baked in.
 
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First post, greetings all. I am coming from a DJI phantom original, and then the phantom 3 standard and advanced. And now I just crashed my phantome 3 advanced after a freak battery accident and am trying to repair it.

It seems that from my research the Mini is for me.
-Small. I hate lugging around a phantom 3 in a backback. It allows room for nothing else. I either have to pack for a long hike, or pack to fly the drone, but not both. I just got back from a beautiful vacation in St John and was wishing I had my drone all the time. But there wouldnt have been room for it in my carry on. It seems the mini would have solved that.
-Price seems right on point.

There are some common "complaints" against the mini, for lack of a better term. But I dont think they really apply to my needs. Let me see if I understand correctly?
-range is less. people complain about the transmission signal can breakup up easily. But I dont fly miles out or in city areas so that shouldnt apply to me.
-cant handle as strong of a wind. it still seems to do pretty good though, and again I dont fly during known super windy conditions
-doesnt do 4k. I am not a professional. I shoot pics and videos for my own pleasure and upload them to youtube in 1080. Half the population is still living in a 1080 world so that shouldnt be obsolete any time soon.

I pretty much go out to the mountains and fly there and take pics of mountains or sunsets for my own pleasure. I dont do fancy movies or maneuvers or fly miles away out of sight with waypoints (though i do admit, waypoints seem cool and something id like to do eventually).

Are there other things I may be missing in my research that i should consider before I make the purchase as to whether or not this is the right drone for me.
I don't want to spoil the excitement but recommend a visit here for a read up regarding the Mini --> Mavic Crash & Flyaway Assistance

Then regarding the 400ft AGL ... it's the law ?
 
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also is the 400 AGL restriction still just a suggestion, or is it baked into the firmware? meaning there is no way I can get it higher than that?
You can set a maximum altitude up to 1640 feet (0.5 km) and the drone will not go above that limit. The 400 feet AGL regulation can't be enforced by the firmware because it doesn't really know how far the drone is above the ground at any given point. It only knows how far above or below the takeoff point it is. If your planned flight path takes you to ground that is, say, 400 feet above your takeoff point, you need to be sure that the drone is set to allow an 800-foot ceiling so you can go 400 feet AGL there. There is also an exception to the 400 feet AGL regulation: If you're flying over structures, you're allowed to fly at 400 feet over them.
 
First post, greetings all. I am coming from a DJI phantom original, and then the phantom 3 standard and advanced. And now I just crashed my phantome 3 advanced after a freak battery accident and am trying to repair it.

It seems that from my research the Mini is for me.
-Small. I hate lugging around a phantom 3 in a backback. It allows room for nothing else. I either have to pack for a long hike, or pack to fly the drone, but not both. I just got back from a beautiful vacation in St John and was wishing I had my drone all the time. But there wouldnt have been room for it in my carry on. It seems the mini would have solved that.
-Price seems right on point.

There are some common "complaints" against the mini, for lack of a better term. But I dont think they really apply to my needs. Let me see if I understand correctly?
-range is less. people complain about the transmission signal can breakup up easily. But I dont fly miles out or in city areas so that shouldnt apply to me.
-cant handle as strong of a wind. it still seems to do pretty good though, and again I dont fly during known super windy conditions
-doesnt do 4k. I am not a professional. I shoot pics and videos for my own pleasure and upload them to youtube in 1080. Half the population is still living in a 1080 world so that shouldnt be obsolete any time soon.

I pretty much go out to the mountains and fly there and take pics of mountains or sunsets for my own pleasure. I dont do fancy movies or maneuvers or fly miles away out of sight with waypoints (though i do admit, waypoints seem cool and something id like to do eventually).

Are there other things I may be missing in my research that i should consider before I make the purchase as to whether or not this is the right drone for me.

Hi, I think you made the right analyse, the Mini should be good for you! Just one thing because you are coming from phantom 3: there is no follow-me mode, neither front/back sensor. For me it's not an issue.

Do not underestimate the wind limitation, you will be in trouble not only with "super windy " condition, but even just "windy" days!

Have fun (sure you will with a Mini!)
 
I don't want to spoil the excitement but recommend a visit here for a read up regarding the Mini --> Mavic Crash & Flyaway Assistance
eeek, that link is sobering. Still thanks for sending it. Its hard to quantify as any drone has a chance of flying away, but does it seem that the Mini (or the mavic series in general) has a greater percentage of flyaways?
 
No, seems like it's just Mini... They're just too weak to fight any wind by the looks of it. As you said, "any drone has a chance of flying away", but what I read about Minis, that chance is much bigger. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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eeek, that link is sobering. Still thanks for sending it. Its hard to quantify as any drone has a chance of flying away, but does it seem that the Mini (or the mavic series in general) has a greater percentage of flyaways?
It's mainly 2 thing's with the Mini that's a never ending story ... first BlowAways, then second the "uncommanded descent" cases.

The first is easily remedied by simply follow the wind spec, understanding of stronger winds at altitude, knowledge about the weakness of the RTH function in BlowAway situations & go for Sport mode, descent and maneuver manually. The Mini's drawback in this is that the wind spec isn't that high ... it's on an average wind strength globally ... and it can barely manage even that, whilst the bigger Mavics still have a power reserve left when they reach their spec.

The second one is more difficult ... that involves a possible design flaw, so far not handled or mentioned by DJI ... which lead to that the Mini isn't safe to fly.
 
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eeek, that link is sobering. Still thanks for sending it. Its hard to quantify as any drone has a chance of flying away, but does it seem that the Mini (or the mavic series in general) has a greater percentage of flyaways?
You sound as though you have a lot of common sense (until you mention flying above 400 Feet) so I think you and your Mini will be a good match. ☑️
 
You sound as though you have a lot of common sense (until you mention flying above 400 Feet) so I think you and your Mini will be a good match. ☑
Common sense will not stop a "uncommanded descent" incident ... the Mini will go down with full RPM's on the rear props not generating enough pitch & lift ... & this with a full positive throttle applied.

If portability is important a Mavic Air with 2 batteries is a better choice ...
 
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I bought a Mini a few weeks ago and it's absolutely useless where I live.

There's a persistent light breeze here, and the Mini can't even handle that - so I just don't trust it.

I also feel it's very flimsy. People say it's at a great price point, well that's because it's been built cheaply. It's still a lot of money relatively speaking.

DJI spent too much time trying to keep the weight down which ended up in a flimsy product, which is pointless as regulators are moving to remove weight as a factor (in the UK and EU all drones with cameras need registration regardless of weight from June)

I've had no issue with any of my other Mavics, and they fly very well where I live.
 
very good insights, that exactly why I came here. Perhaps I just spend the extra money for an Air and know that I will be good for the next...? 5+ years?
Of all my drones, the Air is my favourite. You won't be disappointed with it.

That said - unless you're in a huge rush to get a drone, the I'd wait. Depending on how CV19 pans out, DJI have new drones in the pipeline for this year. If your luck is anything like mine, you'll buy one and a new one will come out the week after that.
 
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The Mini is very good if you respect and understand it’s specifications, common sense goes along way also. I’ve flown the Mini off mountain ridges in strong winds, I fly to a plan with a good understanding of terrain and where I would land if I got into trouble, it’s worked well for me. I have also flown it aggressively in sport mode and for a few months had no issues, I’m now suffering prop strikes on the body sometime, not sure if the front arms weaken over time, more likely I need to replace my props which are far from perfect condition. I managed 1300m range at 70m when I tested my range (CE) which was better than my old Mavic Air. I find the Mini more relaxing to fly due to battery length and significantly lower prop noise. Yes I’d like to see active track maybe in the form of ‘spot light’ mode and some form of ’tap to fly’, also fly with a mobil. It’s small fits in my mount bike pack without issue
 
I think you have covered it. I am a relatively new mini owner and totally new to piloting a UAV until my purchase at the beginning of the year. I have now logged many miles over many flights; all in cold weather Michigan. Note that batteries generally don't like the cold and flight times may be reduced accordingly by as much as 15-20% to play it safe. As you noted, Mini doesn't like a lot of wind, especially gusting conditions. Fly accordingly. Video quality? Nothing but outstanding from my point of view, especially whem using cinematic mode. BIGGEST and only real issue I have with my Mini is visibility! Once it is as little as a couple hundred yards distant, I have two chances to spot it: None and Never. Therefore, I highly recommend that you be absolutely comfortable flying with visibility restricted to Mini's camera as your 'eyes.' I fly in area with relatively low wi-fi interference, but an abundance of tall trees. I have logged flights over a mile distant without incident. Maintaining good elevation is beneficial to maintaining good signal strength, IMO. Lastly, if flying at such distances, be sure to set your RTH elevation higher (plus a safe margin) than the highest point Mini may fly over on a straight line to 'Home.' Have fun; Mini is a blast!
 
The Mini is very good if you respect and understand it’s specifications, common sense goes along way also. I’ve flown the Mini off mountain ridges in strong winds, I fly to a plan with a good understanding of terrain and where I would land if I got into trouble, it’s worked well for me. I have also flown it aggressively in sport mode and for a few months had no issues, I’m now suffering prop strikes on the body sometime, not sure if the front arms weaken over time, more likely I need to replace my props which are far from perfect condition. I managed 1300m range at 70m when I tested my range (CE) which was better than my old Mavic Air. I find the Mini more relaxing to fly due to battery length and significantly lower prop noise. Yes I’d like to see active track maybe in the form of ‘spot light’ mode and some form of ’tap to fly’, also fly with a mobil. It’s small fits in my mount bike pack without issue
I bought my Mini in December and it continues to amaze me. Photos and videos are surprisingly good. If it’s really windy, I’ll fly my H Plus, Evo or M1. I don’t find any wind problems with the Mini up to around 18 mph. Works just fine. I think many are surprised at just how good the Mini really is.
 
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