Loose antennas.

Maviac · Jan 30, 2019

Has anyone here sent theirs in? It’s not an annoyance enough for the downtime of doing so in my opinion, but it does seem to be a widespread problem.

CanadaDrone · Jan 30, 2019

The most surprising thing to me is that it literally happened on it's own. I put my controller away one day after it was completely fine, it sat in a padded case on a shelf in a pet free, child free home. I haven't even peeled off all the factory plastic yet. When I took it out a month later, it had the issue described. Maybe there was something under tension that finally gave way.

Milkman670 · Jan 30, 2019

Same issue here.

Blaksony · Jan 30, 2019

Wow. I’ve had two controllers (Mavic Airs) and I’ve never had that problem. How old are these units? Is this something I have to look forward to dealing with? I’m thinking about selling this unit but I don’t want to sell a problem to someone else.

rddl · Jan 31, 2019

Same problem on my left antenna, as mentioned in the above video and by other members.
I cannot open the controller to service it : it's probably clipped as I cannot see any screw.
I've tried using a thin sewing threads, but I cannot insert it below the rotating washer.
Using a piece of adhesive tape does the job, but I must change it quite often !
May be using some thread-lock (loctite) could help but it has to be like rubber once dry so that I can fold, unfold the antenna.

rddl · Jan 31, 2019

Opening the Rc is not so easy : see this video
But I can understand from that picture : the antenna is clamped on the Rc.
Again, may be some loctite will fix the problem ...

CWhitworth · Feb 16, 2019

Mine has the same issue. Started on the third time I used it!. I am sure that you could get some sort of shim in there to keep it upright, but seems like a QC issue for sure.

Sky1 · Feb 16, 2019

I use the reflector dishes to hold the antennas up right

Mtbdave · Mar 17, 2019

Mine is doing the exact same, put it away for the winter, took it out the other day and they just flop down.. Very disappointed. My gear is like brand new and these antennas will not stay up

msinger · Mar 17, 2019

Would anyone be interested in using a brace like this? I realize it would just be a crutch, but it might be easier and/or less expensive than getting the remote controller repaired.

larryc43230 · Mar 17, 2019

msinger said:
Would anyone be interested in using a brace like this? I realize it would just be a crutch, but it might be easier and/or less expensive than getting the remote controller repaired.

View attachment 66354

I would definitely be interested. All I need is something to keep the antennas vertical, and that looks like it would do the job.

Larry

msinger · Mar 17, 2019

larryc43230 said:
I would definitely be interested.

I designed a part similar to what's shown in the photo above. PM me your mailing address and I'll send it to you tomorrow to try. I don't have a broken Mavic Air remote controller to test, so I'm not sure if it'll fix the issue 100%.

MichiganMavic · Mar 17, 2019

Very cool of you msinger [emoji106]. You’re one of the reasons this Forum is great.

larryc43230 · Mar 17, 2019

msinger said:
I designed a part similar to what's shown in the photo above. PM me your mailing address and I'll send it to you tomorrow to try. I don't have a broken Mavic Air remote controller to test, so I'm not sure if it'll fix the issue 100%.

Done; Thanks!

Larry

msinger · Mar 17, 2019

Got it! I just sent an email with the tracking information for your package.

larryc43230 · Mar 17, 2019

msinger said:
Got it! I just sent an email with the tracking information for your package.

Sounds great. I'll report back after it arrives and I get a chance to try it out. Thanks again!

Larry

msinger · Mar 17, 2019

Sounds good. And let me know if anything could be tweaked to make it work better for you.

Spin · Mar 17, 2019

I just picked up a new Mavic Air and right out of the box the left controller antenna was loose and flopping over. I contacted DJI and they have issued me a return label to send it in for repair. I will probably do that as I want it to be right, but I have done a couple things that will work in the meantime if you do not want to send your controller back right away. First thing is go to the hardware store and pickup small thin rubber O-rings. Try different sizes until you find the one that works best. Just roll it down over the antenna and it will snap up around the base of the antenna and it will work perfectly fine and keep your antenna snug.

Now, depending on how thick of a rubber O ring you use will determine who much the antenna will stick up a little when you go to fold/collapse the antennas for storage. Other then that the rubber O rings work great and you don't even notice it (assuming they are the black ones)! The other fix is like the one post shows a plastic brace for support, which I happen to have one of those as well from one of my old Inspire 1 controllers. Just clips around both antennas and keeps them parallel. Its all good , but I'm still sending my controller back to DJI regardless at some point for the antenna repair or replacement.

monty.roman · Mar 18, 2019

Having the same problem with my second Mavic Air. This time it came out of the box like this - right antenna floppy but still kinda hold in position when I unfold it horizontally with controller and fold it back up in position. On my previous controller I've done fix myself disassembling the controller and it helped a lot. All I can say is that antenna is mounted pretty bad in the controller (just clipped in) so I believe that it would be the same after couple uses even if I would go for replacement.

Don't wanna dismantle brand new controller so I'll go with making some kind of holder.

Spin · Mar 18, 2019

We

monty.roman said:
Having the same problem with my second Mavic Air. This time it came out of the box like this - right antenna floppy but still kinda hold in position when I unfold it horizontally with controller and fold it back up in position. On my previous controller I've done fix myself disassembling the controller and it helped a lot. All I can say is that antenna is mounted pretty bad in the controller (just clipped in) so I believe that it would be the same after couple uses even if I would go for replacement.

Don't wanna dismantle brand new controller so I'll go with making some kind of holder.

Well, I don't know why DJI MA's controller antennas would be assembled any differently then a Sparks or Mavic 2 controller which I also own and have stayed tight just fine over many uses. They should not just come loose like this in normal use or right out of the box. Its weird...