Intial Setup

[Fonejacker]

Hi all, what are the first things you should do when you get the Mavic? There isn't really a 'set up' in the manual, its a lot of guess work.

I did a compass check but i didn't do any other calibrates as it wasn't promoting me to? is there anything else i should be doing before lifting off?

 

[rockydog]

Have you got the full manual? If not, download from here Mavic – Specs, FAQ, Tutorials and Downloads. Lots of good info.

 

[BD0G]

Pull the little plastic coverings off the forward position sensors or the Mavic will constantly think there is an obstacle in your path. Make sure to pull that gimbal clamp BEFORE powering on the Mavic itself. Not doing so stresses the gimbal motors.
Pull that little plastic tab that is on top of the gimbal as well.

Survey your flight area and judge what the tallest obstacle is . Then set your RTH altitude above that by a decent margin.

Upon lift off. Just hover near you and take fingers off sticks. Make sure that the Mavic can hold position forward backward and up and down. Check number of satellites for good GPS lock. Fly close and tight at first even if tempted to do some long distance runs. If you notice lots of lateral drift make sure to calibrate the RC. Were talking about multiple feet when hovering.

Condition batteries by flying first 10 flights to only 50 percent and then recharge. This is for the hard core battery guys.

Do not take off over any large concrete surface or near any vehicles. Magnetic interference can do wonky things to your compass.

Oh, and Dont use Auto Take Off. There was an issue with this "feature" that may or may not be resolved by latest firmware. The Mavic would auto take off and then ascend a number of feet and then all motor shut off allowing the Mavic to drop to the earth.

 

[Fonejacker]

Holy ****! Is that just on a few mavs?

Yeh I've started up 2 times already with the guard on (not flown just on the floor), I've now stuck some ribbon to the guard so I shouldn't forget in the future!

Bloody guard!




Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[Gray52]

Remember it's gets full cooling when in flight, try to avoid running it when your not going to fly. So it all turned up then? Hopeing mines here tomorrow!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[bsshog40]

I have only flown mine twice but I used auto takeoff both times and no issues. I did a full firmware update when I got my mp before I ever flew it.

 

[SteelFlyer]

Pull the little plastic coverings off the forward position sensors or the Mavic will constantly think there is an obstacle in your path. Make sure to pull that gimbal clamp BEFORE powering on the Mavic itself. Not doing so stresses the gimbal motors.
Pull that little plastic tab that is on top of the gimbal as well.

Survey your flight area and judge what the tallest obstacle is . Then set your RTH altitude above that by a decent margin.

Upon lift off. Just hover near you and take fingers off sticks. Make sure that the Mavic can hold position forward backward and up and down. Check number of satellites for good GPS lock. Fly close and tight at first even if tempted to do some long distance runs. If you notice lots of lateral drift make sure to calibrate the RC. Were talking about multiple feet when hovering.

Condition batteries by flying first 10 flights to only 50 percent and then recharge. This is for the hard core battery guys.

Do not take off over any large concrete surface or near any vehicles. Magnetic interference can do wonky things to your compass.

Oh, and Dont use Auto Take Off. There was an issue with this "feature" that may or may not be resolved by latest firmware. The Mavic would auto take off and then ascend a number of feet and then all motor shut off allowing the Mavic to drop to the earth.

Great list. I especially like the bit about the plastic on the forward sensors. Didn't catch that on my first flight and kept getting a warning about need to calibrate sensors. Like others, I have the latest firmware and have not had any trouble with auto takeoff, but hurts nothing to do it manually.

One other suggestion would be to read the manual a couple of times and make sure you understand what it is telling you on the controller screen and the DJI Go 4 app.

 

[mjmcoh]

Awesome tips guys.

 

[rajun50]

Oh, and Dont use Auto Take Off. There was an issue with this "feature" that may or may not be resolved by latest firmware. The Mavic would auto take off and then ascend a number of feet and then all motor shut off allowing the Mavic to drop to the earth.

Well crap, I hadn't heard of that one. I've used auto takeoff on every single one of my 19 flights.

 

[BD0G]

Holy ****! Is that just on a few mavs?

Yeh I've started up 2 times already with the guard on (not flown just on the floor), I've now stuck some ribbon to the guard so I shouldn't forget in the future!

Bloody guard!




Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

The falling from the sky after using Auto Takeoff was reported on this forum by more than a few pilots and after I read about the motors just stopping in mid air. I made it a point to never ever even try that feature so that I would not have the "possibility" of this occurring. I am more than capable of taking off using the sticks and would much prefer my fingers on the sticks instead of swiping a screen when the Mavic Pro lifts off.

Wouldn't you? There is no wait time to control the Mavic Pro as you fingers are already on the sticks and not swiping a screen and thinking how cool is that and then WHAM!

Believe it or not that was my short list LOL!

Starting up with the guard on is a no-no! Stressing those gimbal motors is not such a great thing to do.

 

[BD0G]

Awesome tips guys.

In my best Elvis voice "Thank you, Thank you very much" "This is my lovely wife cilla' ".

There is this thing called a Like button and it makes me happy when people use it. LOL

 

[BD0G]

Well crap, I hadn't heard of that one. I've used auto takeoff on every single one of my 19 flights.

You may want to reconsider this as it may be russian roulette .

 

[BD0G]

Great list. I especially like the bit about the plastic on the forward sensors. Didn't catch that on my first flight and kept getting a warning about need to calibrate sensors. Like others, I have the latest firmware and have not had any trouble with auto takeoff, but hurts nothing to do it manually.

One other suggestion would be to read the manual a couple of times and make sure you understand what it is telling you on the controller screen and the DJI Go 4 app.

Im amazing ! What can I say? LOL!

 

[BerndM]

I agree with the OP's first post.
I got mine with Fly More option yesterday and after getting everything unpacked and all the batteries charged I printed out all the manuals that my old eyes can actually read without a magnifying glass I proceeded to start going thru the manuals.
I found it to be very confusing as compared to my original DJI F450 Flamewheel and even more so than my Yuneec Q500+ 4K.
Assuming that a 100% Quad virgin with ZERO knowledge of these things finally gets his delivered, what is sorely missing IMHO are numerically numbered step by step instructions of EXACTLY what to do, IN ORDER, including updating software or firmware, downloading any apps, installing them, hooking up your smartphone/tablet, and doing all the setups, calibrations of flyer and controller and testing BEFORE YOU FLY.
Going back and forth between the various parts of the manual is asking for a disaster to happen.
Surprising that DJI does not appear to have such concise step by step instructions.
Just thinking out loud here.