Japan Batteries: Better for High Altitude?

[Taiwanmini]

I’m wondering if the light Japanese version of the Magic Mini batteries will make it preform better at high altitudes?
I flew mine once at about 3,200m and it was very “crashy” so I haven’t tried again yet. I’m currently in Japan and am thinking If I pick up a few of the lighter ones, it won’t be so willing to kill itself at altitude.

What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

 

[boredom.is.me]

This is why we can't have nice things...

 

[waylander]

Taiwanmini
You do realise that in nearly every responsible country the maximum height that you are allowed to fly a drone is 400 feet ( 120 metres ), why would you want to fly at 3200 meters
Waylander

 

[slup]

Taiwanmini
You do realise that in nearly every responsible country the maximum height that you are allowed to fly a drone is 400 feet ( 120 metres ), why would you want to fly at 3200 meters
Waylander

What he is saying is probably above sea level, not height above ground ... he's reasoning about the maximum service ceiling that is 3000 meter according to the manual.

 

[Mavic_Mini_Pilot]

What he is saying is probably above sea level, not height above ground ... he's reasoning about the maximum service ceiling that is 3000 meter according to the manual.

Yes obviously he means that, he was in a place with a natural high elevation, so his 0 meters is at 3200 which is his ground height above sea level. The Mini has a Software limit of 500 meters above where you take off from, so you can;t physically make the Mini go 500 meters above where you take off from. In the high places, high above sea level I mean the air is way thinner and hence all 4 motors on our Minis have to spin faster and work harder to keep the drone in the air! I think that DJI should just also make special propellers for high altitudes above sea level, like props with way more pitch, so they bite more air - then the Mini will have normal RPM on its motors! Such propellers could also give longer flight times if used at sea level! But for that to work well you'd have to change the Motor-Timing of all 4 ESCs to LOW or the lowest it can handle, so that the BL motors produce more torque and also spin a bit slower at max throttle(its hardly noticeable). I always change the Motor Timing of my RC Helis depending on how I want to fly. If its hard flying I'm gonna do then HIGH Motor-Timing is a must, NORMAL Motor-Timing is for average flying, and LOW is for when you put propellers with higher pitch and expect more torque out of the machine.



Here in Sofia where I fly my Mini its about 582m(that's what my Huwawei Mate 20 Pro's barometer showing in combination with GPS), so I fly at about 600 meters above Sea level, that's my 0m (ground). I have had no problems at all yet with my Mini, flies very solidly and smoothly and it has amazing video capabilities for its sweet size!

Awesome stuff...

I'm gonna fly my Mavic Mini today after work, I'll have super great fun with it..

 

[old man mavic]

i dont think 50g difference in battery weight, would make any significant difference to flight performance ,its the lack of lift at high altitude that is the issue

 

[Mavic_Mini_Pilot]

i dont think 50g difference in battery weight, would make any significant difference to flight performance ,its the lack of lift at high altitude that is the issue

I think that 50g less on a machine that weighs 250g will make a quite a noticeable difference! The Mini will surely be able to fly better when 50g lighter at altitudes over 3000m above sea level! The Mini already flies at altitudes over 3000m as we've already seen, like 3200m above sea! It will still be a "floaty" & "crashy" drone at that altitude, but I think it will make a difference.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally with you 100% that it is a lack of lift at high altitudes - BUT listen to that: what you've said LACK OF LIFT! A lack of lift can be fixed by what? Reducing the weight!

Think about it - a lack of lift means it cannot lift itself well enough. Making it lighter will make a difference, just not sure how SIGNIFICANT of a difference it will really be - but there should be a diff.

cool cool

 

[old man mavic]

I think that 50g less on a machine that weighs 250g will make a quite a noticeable difference! The Mini will surely be able to fly better when 50g lighter at altitudes over 3000m above sea level! The Mini already flies at altitudes over 3000m as we've already seen, like 3200m above sea! It will still be a "floaty" & "crashy" drone at that altitude, but I think it will make a difference.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally with you 100% that it is a lack of lift at high altitudes - BUT listen to that: what you've said LACK OF LIFT! A lack of lift can be fixed by what? Reducing the weight!

Think about it - a lack of lift means it cannot lift itself well enough. Making it lighter will make a difference, just not sure how SIGNIFICANT of a difference it will really be - but there should be a diff.

cool cool

it will not make the props give more lift ,and the already reduced flight time of the lighter battery, will be significantly reduced even further as the motors will be working harder,the props abilities in the thin air are greatly reduced ,but if you think the lighter battery will be the answer then go ahead and give it a go good luck

 

[waylander]

Doh... OK my bad....sorry didn't read it like that...
Have a nice day
Waylander

 

[JABA1954]

ADVERTENCIA, al parecer los conectores son distintos, y las baterías japonesas no sirven para los minis del resto de FCC y CE, eso es lo que lei en una comunicación ajena a este foro.

 

[boredom.is.me]

With all the stupid crap people do with these, I automatically assumed the worst. I do apologize. I'd be amazed if it can actually climb that far.

 

[WithTheBirds]

it will not make the props give more lift ,and the already reduced flight time of the lighter battery, will be significantly reduced even further as the motors will be working harder,the props abilities in the thin air are greatly reduced ,but if you think the lighter battery will be the answer then go ahead and give it a go good luck

In theory the power to weight ratio will be improved. If you could reduce the weight of a car by 20% removing fuel the ET over the 1/4 mile would improve noticeably- you wouldn’t be able to drive as far or for as long however.

Instinct tells me this is an experiment worth pursuing.

 

[RogerDH]

With all the stupid crap people do with these, I automatically assumed the worst. I do apologize. I'd be amazed if it can actually climb that far.

Even if a Mini was able to climb to 3500 m (which I doubt, too), at 4 m/s maximum ascent in S mode, it would take about 14 minutes 35 seconds. Then, at 3 m/s maximum descent, it would take 19 minutes 26 seconds to get down safely, so if it really only had about 10 minutes of power left, it would run out of power when it was still about 1700 m up. Obviously, you should never try to fly your Mini more than about 2500 m AGL.

 

[RogerDH]

Even if a Mini was able to climb to 3500 m (which I doubt, too), at 4 m/s maximum ascent in S mode, it would take about 14 minutes 35 seconds. Then, at 3 m/s maximum descent, it would take 19 minutes 26 seconds to get down safely, so if it really only had about 10 minutes of power left, it would run out of power when it was still about 1700 m up. Obviously, you should never try to fly your Mini more than about 2500 m AGL

 

[Taiwanmini]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Yes, I’m talking about hiking to high altitudes and flying the drone there. I’m a mountain guide in Taiwan (one of the most mountainous countries in the world) and bought the mini to fly when I have some spare time on hikes.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t fly well in the thin air of 3,000+ meters and I had so much trouble with it that I haven’t flown it again. In another thread in this forum there is a discussion about this problem, but basically, it’ll fly well for a few minutes, then suddenly dive for the ground in a suicide attempt. I’ll usually get a message that says the motors are at full power.

After I posted this, I was thinking about a documentary that I watched in which people were getting rescued from Mt Everest by helicopter. To get the helicopter to that altitude, they removed everything not absolutely necessary to make it as light as possible. So I’m thinking that those light batteries might make a huge difference for flying the mini at high altitudes.

A 199g drone is 20% lighter than a 249g drone, and that is a huge significance in weight savings that might make a big difference at altitude.

Well, I’ve decided to buy 2 or 3 and give it a go. I’ll start another thread with my findings, but it might not be for a few weeks... this coronavirus is putting a serious dent in my upcoming work schedule!

 

[WithTheBirds]

What you really need is higher pitch propellors. Motors are reaching max RPM trying to create thirst- obvious fix is greater thrust at Lower RPM.

Edit: *thrust

I do suspect however watching the mini in an uncontrolled descent might make me thirsty.

 

[AboriginalBrotherhood1162]

Taiwanmini
You do realise that in nearly every responsible country the maximum height that you are allowed to fly a drone is 400 feet ( 120 metres ), why would you want to fly at 3200 meters
Waylander

Above Sea Level!

 

[RogerDH]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Yes, I’m talking about hiking to high altitudes and flying the drone there. I’m a mountain guide in Taiwan (one of the most mountainous countries in the world) and bought the mini to fly when I have some spare time on hikes.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t fly well in the thin air of 3,000+ meters and I had so much trouble with it that I haven’t flown it again. In another thread in this forum there is a discussion about this problem, but basically, it’ll fly well for a few minutes, then suddenly dive for the ground in a suicide attempt. I’ll usually get a message that says the motors are at full power.

After I posted this, I was thinking about a documentary that I watched in which people were getting rescued from Mt Everest by helicopter. To get the helicopter to that altitude, they removed everything not absolutely necessary to make it as light as possible. So I’m thinking that those light batteries might make a huge difference for flying the mini at high altitudes.

A 199g drone is 20% lighter than a 249g drone, and that is a huge significance in weight savings that might make a big difference at altitude.

Well, I’ve decided to buy 2 or 3 and give it a go. I’ll start another thread with my findings, but it might not be for a few weeks... this coronavirus is putting a serious dent in my upcoming work schedule!

Did you see the warning above from Jaba1954? (Translation)

WARNING, it seems that the connectors are different, and the Japanese batteries do not work for the minis of the rest of FCC and CE, that I read in a communication outside this forum.

 

[Mavic_Mini_Pilot]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Yes, I’m talking about hiking to high altitudes and flying the drone there. I’m a mountain guide in Taiwan (one of the most mountainous countries in the world) and bought the mini to fly when I have some spare time on hikes.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t fly well in the thin air of 3,000+ meters and I had so much trouble with it that I haven’t flown it again. In another thread in this forum there is a discussion about this problem, but basically, it’ll fly well for a few minutes, then suddenly dive for the ground in a suicide attempt. I’ll usually get a message that says the motors are at full power.

After I posted this, I was thinking about a documentary that I watched in which people were getting rescued from Mt Everest by helicopter. To get the helicopter to that altitude, they removed everything not absolutely necessary to make it as light as possible. So I’m thinking that those light batteries might make a huge difference for flying the mini at high altitudes.

A 199g drone is 20% lighter than a 249g drone, and that is a huge significance in weight savings that might make a big difference at altitude.

Well, I’ve decided to buy 2 or 3 and give it a go. I’ll start another thread with my findings, but it might not be for a few weeks... this coronavirus is putting a serious dent in my upcoming work schedule!

Well, please do let us know what happens. But be sure to take your normal batteries with you and then also get the Japan ones and do a comparison, that will be awesome! I wish I could get some of those Japan batteries, but even better I wish I could get the FCC version to fly here in Bulgaria. Amazing it will be not to have to worry about signal at like 800 m! Now with my CE version I'm afraid to fly it far out, as when I boot it up the transmission always seems to like to be in 5.8ghz and Ive already experienced some very small video lag and my Mini was about 125m away only! I mean I do live in quite a Wi-Fi clustered place but that's why it uses the 5.8ghz instead of the 2.4ghz which is what pollutes the atmosphere around my area! Anyway, so I've even been thinking of doing the FCC Hack just to get better reception in 5.8ghz - its just that I'm a bit lazy and I gotta figure out exactly how to most easily and efficiently do it - as I want my map and GPS to be working properly during the whole flight.

So I'm not sure if I can even buy the FCC version here in Bulgaria, I'd have to like ask someone who lives in another FCC country like USA to buy one for me and send it over or something! So I'll try the FCC Hack today after work just to see if it really does make such a noticeable difference. If I do see a cool boost in my signal I may just resort to the FCC Hack instead of just buying another FCC Mavic Mini..

cool cool