Mavic 2 Dual Controllers anyone?

[vindibona1]

I was thinking, there are moments that I'd like to have a friend see what I'm seeing on a separate device or even teach my young grandson to fly, yet be able to step in before he crashes my M2P. I think he would have a blast as he likes to be with me when I'm flying and he is super mechanical for his age. I'd like to be able to have a second pilot/VO with sticks where one of us can focus on shooting and or one of us could be in FPV goggles.

I googled Dual Controllers for Mavic 2 and the only thing that came up was an old Mavic Pilots Forum discussion. I'd seen nothing anywhere since... until a moment ago when I did a search and some more stuff came up. I didn't know if the dual controller thing was wishful thinking or something that folks have tried that actually worked. I'm not going to part with my M2P any time soon. The M3 isn't appealing enough to spend the $$$$ for the potential benefiits. I love my M2P and have lots of reasons not to "upgrade"... So the dual controller thing popped into my head.

However, there is no discussion of this topic that I can find since 2019 and was wondering if anyone here had worked with two controllers and what they thought. And/or if anyone has a M2 controller that they're not using and wants to part with it for a friendly price?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

You might like to try a search for "primary and secondary controllers".
If you go for this set up and assuming you are using ONLY the std controllers, try to ensure that at least one of the controllers is an RC1A and use that as your primary controller.
The RC1A creates DAT flight logs on the screen device, the RC1B does not create DATs and the secondary controller does not create ANY flight logs that I have seen.
The secondary also provides VERY LIMITED control menu access.
I once did a stupid thing, flew from my house with a low charged primary, it shut down mid flight. I ran into the house grabbed and booted the secondary and regained control before the drone returned home.
Not recommended.....but perhaps a useful feature lol

 

[vindibona1]

You might like to try a search for "primary and secondary controllers".
If you go for this set up and assuming you are using ONLY the std controllers, try to ensure that at least one of the controllers is an RC1A and use that as your primary controller.
The RC1A creates DAT flight logs on the screen device, the RC1B does not create DATs and the secondary controller does not create ANY flight logs that I have seen.
The secondary also provides VERY LIMITED control menu access.
I once did a stupid thing, flew from my house with a low charged primary, it shut down mid flight. I ran into the house grabbed and booted the secondary and regained control before the drone returned home.
Not recommended.....but perhaps a useful feature lol

As you can see or might have missed, I copied the pages from the DJI Mavic 2 manual. I'd heard about the dual controller thing randomly but hadn't heard of anyone trying it. One would think that someone on this forum had used the feature some time and could provide first hand anecdotal information.

Since posting I've looked on line, but the pricing that I found (only on Ebay so far) was more than I wanted to pay for a fanciful idea that would only be used a number of times. But what I found even more interesting was that people were selling Mini2/Air2/M3 controllers for half the price of a used Mavic 2 controller! It stands to reason because the supply is so much greater because of people having multiple drones that can use the same controller or folks that want a smart controller. Used smart controllers for the Mavic 2 are going for around $500. What were they new, $700?

 

[vindibona1]

Just found...
I was also surprised to learn that the smart controller (see photo below) is compatible with the mini 2, Air2s and Phantom 4. DJI doesn't make the specific model numbers of their controllers easy to find, nor easy to identify which models they are compatible with.

If I can find one of these in like new/refurb that might be the ticket for now as I'm not upgrading from the Mavic 2 any time soon. DJI refurbs are priced $600, but none in stock at the moment. If I found a used one for a bit cheaper that might be a good way to go. Options are open.

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

I’ve used dual controllers on my MPP and it works great. I even let my friend (who is unskilled at boiling water) fly my MPP. I also would like to get a second controller for the M2.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I am confused.
I thought my post made it clear that I have a Mavic 2 pro/zoom set up with primary and secondary controllers. Does it not?
In fact, I have primary and secondary controllers set up on both an M2P and an M2Z.
The system works, you should ensure that you use the primary and the other person the secondary. That way you can override the commands issued by the other person at any time.

For clarity which controllers are you hoping to use?
I paid an average price of £99 + P&P for my RC1*'s.
I do not know if you can use a smart controller and an RC1* but the second person DOES NOT need an smart controller. Unless your were buying a 2nd smart controller to serve as a spare for an existing smart controller a smart controller for the second person would be a waste of money in my opinion.

 

[Arnold LeVine]

Just found...
I was also surprised to learn that the smart controller (see photo below) is compatible with the mini 2, Air2s and Phantom 4. DJI doesn't make the specific model numbers of their controllers easy to find, nor easy to identify which models they are compatible with.

If I can find one of these in like new/refurb that might be the ticket for now as I'm not upgrading from the Mavic 2 any time soon. DJI refurbs are priced $600, but none in stock at the moment. If I found a used one for a bit cheaper that might be a good way to go. Options are open.

View attachment 148372

To be clear, the Smart Controller is only compatible with the Phantom 4 Pro V2, not the v1

 

[vindibona1]

To be clear, the Smart Controller is only compatible with the Phantom 4 Pro V2, not the v1

Ok... The pasted image was from DJI's website. I checked the used prices and they are too high to consider buying one for my M2P, now considered a "legacy" drone. Ultimately there will be something that comes along to replace it. Under what circumstances are only to be discovered. I had it out flying today and it is one terrific piece of equipment. The "standard" controller of the M2P wipes the floor with DJI's new "standard" controller. I think the DJI marketing honchos figured out how to extract much bigger margins with their package structures and the controller plays a big part of the strategy..