iPad mini problems

[Vegasrobbi]

Honestly GPS tracking with the P4 or Mavic Pro, using GO 4, sucks pretty bad. Either one will wander the countryside like a blind pig looking for an apple when in GPS follow mode.

Active track works much better albeit not that good.

The iPad Mini 4 cellular is a powerful follow tool when used with a proper follow drone like a 3dr Solo. The iPad Mini 4 has good GPS accuracy and an onboard barometer for dynamic altitude. Go 4 does not support Dynamic altitude but proper follow drones that do make use of the onboard barometer for elevation changes.

I have retired my DJI drones for follow tasks, they are very good at getting quality images with good flight time, but not follow.

So in my opinion if you want to do good follow shots invest in a good follow drone first.

 

[slkfis]

I know I have beat on this “which tablet“ to buy subject a great deal lately but I am on the verge of going iPad mini 4 to use as a dedicated device for flying. I have never owned an Apple product before but I am somewhat familiar with some of their methods. Particularly iTunes.

I am sure you have recognized that I am new to the Mavic world. I flew a P3P for a while with a Samsung Galaxy Tab S SM-T700. It did very well for a while and then the video got garbled and I could never figure out how to fix it. Anyone know how to fix garbled video?

I will buy the wi fi version and plan to use my T Mobile Hotspot for internet to get GPS when needed. Will that work? I don’t use a Smart Phone.

I see the 4 does not have a slot for a SD card so I will get the 128 GB version, but I have noticed in several places 128gb is the cheaper of the 3 selections.

Can I download info from the 4 to a pc or an android device?

Will I be able to delete apps I don’t want and prevent automatic updates?

If I want can I stop the auto backup to their cloud?

Is there any more special tricks or tips to have a trouble free experience. Such as the one tinmania posted about the turning off location services?

Would there be any reason I could not put DJI Go app and the Go 4 on the device in case I wished to fly a Phantom series?

Thank you very much for all your help.

slkfis

 

[Tinmania]

I will buy the wi fi version and plan to use my T Mobile Hotspot for internet to get GPS when needed. Will that work? I don’t use a Smart Phone.

It will work for Internet but definitely not for GPS. You only need GPS on an iPad if you want to use follow me and dynamic home point. I don’t think I have ever used either of those so it’s not a big deal to me. But if you want to use those features you will either need an iPad mini 4 with cellular which has a GPS chip, or a dedicated Bluetooth GPS unit to use with the iPad mini. Other than those two features the T-Mobile hotspot should work fine.

I see the 4 does not have a slot for a SD card so I will get the 128 GB version, but I have noticed in several places 128gb is the cheaper of the 3 selections.

Can I download info from the 4 to a pc or an android device?

There are many methods to transfer data from an iPad, depending on what you want to transfer. If you are talking about the logs from go4 you will usually need to transfer via iTunes. But not hard.

Will I be able to delete apps I don’t want and prevent automatic updates?

If I want can I stop the auto backup to their cloud?

Yes to both.

Would there be any reason I could not put DJI Go app and the Go 4 on the device in case I wished to fly a Phantom series?

Should be fine. But be sure only one is loaded before flying. If you don’t know how to selectively force close Apps on an iPad you can just shut down the iPad completely and turn it back on before your flying session, and then load only the appropriate control app.




Mike

 

[mrreddog]

So without true gps, what do you do if you have to set down before returning all the way back to home due to low batt., or have a crash, how are you able to see the drone in relation to yourself? Most places I fly are somewhat remote with very little to none wifi routers to trianglate from. I suppose Hotspoting from phone would work in a crash or recovery but I won't fly with wifi on because it just interferes with the mavlink signal wich cuts range and reliability.
I just picked up both Huawei mediapad m3 and m3 lite to test along with the mini 4, just waiting on decent weather. Their calling for 3-4" snow tonight here in Michigan. Yuck..

 

[msinger]

I will buy the wi fi version and plan to use my T Mobile Hotspot for internet to get GPS when needed. Will that work?

You could connect an external Bluetooth receiver (like the Garmin GLO or one of these) to your mobile device if you need to add GPS to it for some reason.

Can I download info from the 4 to a pc or an android device?

What kind of info are you referring to?

Will I be able to delete apps I don’t want

Apple does prevent some apps from being deleted. I move those apps to a separate folder and move that folder to its own screen so it does not get mixed into the icons I want to see.

Is there any more special tricks or tips to have a trouble free experience.

You can find lots of tips here:
Install DJI GO on an Apple Tablet or Phone (Step-by-Step Guide)

Would there be any reason I could not put DJI Go app and the Go 4 on the device in case I wished to fly a Phantom series?

Nope. I have both DJI GO 3 and DJI GO 4 installed on my iPad Mini 4 and all of the other mobile devices I use.

 

[msinger]

So without true gps, what do you do if you have to set down before returning all the way back to home due to low batt., or have a crash, how are you able to see the drone in relation to yourself?

The drone uses data from its internal GPS receiver to figure out where it's located. Seeing the drone in relation to yourself would require GPS on your mobile device (since the drone is not able to tell where you're located if you move away from the home point).

I suppose Hotspoting from phone would work in a crash or recovery

Hotspotting would do nothing but share the Internet connection. That could be helpful if using the Find My Drone feature in DJI GO since it would allow you to see your current location on the Find My Drone map.

 

[slkfis]

msinger's question. What kind of info?

I was mostly thinking about the video that will be stored. I always downloaded from the drone SD card on the P3P. Would I have to download through iTunes?

 

[msinger]

Would I have to download through iTunes?

No. You can remove the SD card and transfer the files to a computer and/or another device.

 

[Tinmania]

So without true gps, what do you do if you have to set down before returning all the way back to home due to low batt., or have a crash, how are you able to see the drone in relation to yourself?

I don't need GPS on the iPad to do that. All I need is a map, which could very well be on the iPad, of the location where the drone is located. A compass would help, but the mini 4 wifi has a compass.

I think perhaps you are overthinking it: If I gave you a paper map of your surroundings with a red X marking a spot to be found, you don't think you could find that X without GPS? What about with a compass? With a $1,000 finder's fee??



Mike

 

[slkfis]

msinger, I found this?



Can you put a SD or mini SD or micro SD in the ... | Official ...
Can you put a SD or mini SD or micro SD i… - Apple Community
Jan 15, 2016 - 3 posts - ‎2 authors
There is no way to install an SD card into an iDevice. The only way to get more internal storage on aniDevice is to purchase a larger internal capacity iDevice. If you need more storage on your iPad, you caneither backup your data by connecting up to a computer running iTunes and if yoo use a Mac,msave ...

People also ask

 

[msinger]

msinger, I found this?



Can you put a SD or mini SD or micro SD in the ... | Official ...
Can you put a SD or mini SD or micro SD i… - Apple Community
Jan 15, 2016 - 3 posts - ‎2 authors
There is no way to install an SD card into an iDevice. The only way to get more internal storage on aniDevice is to purchase a larger internal capacity iDevice. If you need more storage on your iPad, you caneither backup your data by connecting up to a computer running iTunes and if yoo use a Mac,msave ...

People also ask

That's referring to the storage on the Apple device. Above, I was referring to copying photos/videos from the drone's removable memory card.

 

[slkfis]

That's referring to the storage on the Apple device. Above, I was referring to copying photos/videos from the drone's removable memory card.




Sorry, I misunderstood. That's what I did on the P3P.

thxxs
slkfis

 

[caspian]

Apple does prevent some apps from being deleted. I move those apps to a separate folder and move that folder to its own screen so it does not get mixed into the icons I want to see.

exactly why I did. the folder is called Crapplications.

 

[mrreddog]

I don't need GPS on the iPad to do that. All I need is a map, which could very well be on the iPad, of the location where the drone is located. A compass would help, but the mini 4 wifi has a compass.

I think perhaps you are overthinking it: If I gave you a paper map of your surroundings with a red X marking a spot to be found, you don't think you could find that X without GPS? What about with a compass? With a $1,000 finder's fee??



Mike

That's like a needle in a haystack if it's a mile out in woodsy swamp or river crossings, but I get your point. I would rather have all the tools that are possible, like Real gps and downloadable maps data stored if it's available.. I notice that the Ipad mini 4 holds the map data for a couple days in cache, than its gone, why doesn't it clear that data on the following shut down? The mediapad m3 did very good and the lite version seemed a little flakey, I will continue to fly all 3 tablets when the weather allows, just wish it would quit snowing and start warming up. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Thomannjf]

With WiFi I keep losing contact with my DJI drones. I read somewhere that cellular connection does a better job maintaining contact. Anyone herd tell of experienced any difference?

 

[SteveP55]

Hi Thomannjf,
I fly using my iPad mini 3 it is cellular equipped but does not have a sim card installed, I have found it worked great for a while but as firmware updates got more added into them I started having connection problems, I read on here from some really tech savvy guy's that it's possible that the older iPads such as mine don't have enough RAM and the CPU can't handle all the info feed into them from the app, and that maybe causing some connection problems from time to time. So I can't really tell you if a cellular connect would or would not help. I'm going to upgrade to either an iPad 6th Gen with wi-fi and cellular or an iPad Mini 4 they have more RAM and a faster CPU. I'm sure someone on here will be able to help you figure out the connection problems you're having.
GOOD LUCK and FLY Safe my friend.
SteveP55

 

[Thomannjf]

Thanks Steve. Just so you know I have have the Ipad mini 4 wifi only.

 

[slkfis]

I have iPad mini 4 that I use just for flying my Mavic Pro. It is cellular capable but has no cellular plan and it works great, but If I am correct, if it's cellular capable then it has GPS where the wifi only does not.

That may be your problem. Maybe you can get one of the experts to chime in here.

thxs
slkfis

 

[Wilbur]

I'll add, don't make my mistake and get the 16gb. I have the wifi only mini 4, and it works fine for me with tethering.

 

[msinger]

don't make my mistake and get the 16gb

What's wrong with the 16GB model?