Mavic 3 Cine Chicago Gone!

[FangsCPO]

Chicago just like any Metro City is full of a number of signals that can through off a drones navigation system. Also, I'm curious, how long did you wait after you lost connection with the M3? I recently lost connection with my M3 and it took almost 4 minutes for the RTH to kick in. It was an agonizing wait. I was freaking out. Also, upon lift-off did you wait at least 5-10 seconds before flying away?

 

[LA 2020]

Thanks for letting me down DJI having 500gigs of the best Chicago pro res footage I ever captured and becoming unresponsive and breaking total connection to my app and flying away on me and recording an inaccurate home point….$5k gone and priceless footage for a client! SO bummed on DJI right now.

I wouldn't fly an expensive drone with priceless footage aboard without having my Marco Polo transmitter mounted on the drone. It can be tracked anywhere in the world as it does not depend on cell or GPS it is entirely self contained. They are around $300 but well worth it. You need to plan ahead a little better if you're flying commercially.

 

[LA 2020]

Technically it's still just bluetooth tracking like Tile but proprietary to Apple products using their find my phone feature whereas Tile is OS agnostic but requires the phones nearby to have the Tile app or there to be certain Ring and Echo devices in range and connected to Amazon Sidewalk

I wouldn't fly an expensive drone with priceless footage aboard without having my Marco Polo transmitter mounted on the drone. It can be tracked anywhere in the world as it does not depend on cell or GPS it is entirely self contained. They are around $300 but well worth it. You need to plan ahead a little better if you're flying commercially.

 

[sar104]

I wouldn't fly an expensive drone with priceless footage aboard without having my Marco Polo transmitter mounted on the drone. It can be tracked anywhere in the world as it does not depend on cell or GPS it is entirely self contained. They are around $300 but well worth it. You need to plan ahead a little better if you're flying commercially.

I use the Marco Polo too, but I doubt that it would work very effectively in that kind of urban environment, with all the reflections and vertical terrain.

 

[LA 2020]

Not sure how well it would work with a camera drone, since you're flying very far away and the search area is much bigger. But, with AirTags the network is much larger than the bluetooth network Tiles are on, so who knows. Worth a shot since they're so cheap and light.

I wouldn't fly an expensive drone with priceless footage aboard without having my Marco Polo transmitter mounted on the drone. It can be tracked anywhere in the world as it does not depend on cell or GPS it is entirely self contained. They are around $300 but well worth it. You need to plan ahead a little better if you're flying commercially.

 

[stevie gee]

I’m nervous every time I throw a thousand dollars into the sky. I’ve lost connection on my brand new MA2 in close proximity several times. Yes we have logs and techie tools but I’m not a nasa engineer & never will be.

 

[stevie gee]

I know you're joking, but it's not a joking matter. In areas where previously there was virtually no crime, there have been a rash of car jackings. It's scary. There is a medical clinic right in that "rash" area that I have to visit frequently and my other half has to park in front to wait for me. I've beat into her head that she has to lock the car the moment I exit and not open it until the moment I return. I tell her not to be so engrossed in her phone that she loses situational awareness as this stuff happens so fast. It wouldn't surprise me that a whole lot more people are "carrying" who never did before (I know a few).

Just read a story where a mother was killed when she was laying flowers at the site her son was just killed. Insane beyond insane.

 

[Surge]

The fact that the OP hasn’t posted any logs is very telling. Obviously, he messed something up and is afraid of posting it because DJI will deny his Refresh replacement.

He’s spewing all kinds of BS on YouTube, when it was in fact his fault. Also, the Refresh fee is higher for the Cine - it is probably stated on the DJI website, no clue why he thought it was the same as for the non-Cine, but it’s there in plain sight.

Move along…

 

[timinator]

I’m nervous every time I throw a thousand dollars into the sky. I’ve lost connection on my brand new MA2 in close proximity several times. Yes we have logs and techie tools but I’m not a nasa engineer & never will be.

You don't need to be nervous but you do need to be concentrating on what your doing, paying attention to any warnings that may appear and flying within your skillset. People get into trouble when they disregard these.

 

[vindibona1]

Just read a story where a mother was killed when she was laying flowers at the site her son was just killed. Insane beyond insane.

I saw that too. It's more than just a shame. It's purely disgusting.
Sadly, we law abiding citizens have been told by government, that government bears the sole responsibility of protecting us from such things, and have gone out of their way to make sure we don't take measures to protect ourselves. But often they do a dandy job of protecting the criminals.

 

[mhm]

Does anyone do a compass recalibration before the first flight?

 

[timinator]

Does anyone do a compass recalibration before the first flight?

In general or M3 specifically?

Generally, I just check it during preflight. Don't have M3 but unless it asked for it, I would just check it.

 

[slup]

Does anyone do a compass recalibration before the first flight?

A compass calibration doesn't do anything else than letting the compass know the mag. fields of the drone itself so it can deduct those when measuring the earth mag field.

So If you haven't added or taken away anything from the drone a compass calibration will not do anything & is totally unnecessary to perform on regular basis.

And note ...

A compass calibration will NOT save you from a Yaw error coming from a POWER ON of the drone in a magnetic disturbed location, it will lead to a following flyaway on height anyway.

 

[Perceivedshift]

Who the heck takes off in the middle of the city and flies when your home point is off? (Someone asking for trouble, thats who) When you hear... "The home point has been updated, please check it on the map." CHECK THE MAP!

Yes, flying in such an area will mess with your GPS, yes you should take extra precautions. Sounds like OP threw his drone in the air without making any pre-flight checks and proceeded to take a risky flight with very questionable legality. These drones can't magically maintain GPS in the middle of downtown Chicago.

I've done some risky flights in my day, but I also take every precaution to make sure my flights are safe and my drone comes back if I lose connection. For that reason I have a perfect record on DJI drones and have only lost connection for a brief moment....once.

 

[Hugabeen]

I've scanned through this thread in hopes that there was a Log file to see what possibly happened. This is concerning and I hope it's not a common equipment failure. But your apparent lack of willingness (or possibly knowledge) to post a Log file could indicate you made some very critical errors (including unlawful BVLOS flight) and you're understandably embarrassed? As a professional with a Part 107 certificate, disregarding the law and safety principles we all adhere to only serves to reinforce the negative image many people hold against those of us who take this business very seriously. I'm sorry you lost your $5k drone. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Perhaps you should have purchased a less expensive aircraft to gain experience first?

 

[vindibona1]

Who the heck takes off in the middle of the city and flies when your home point is off? (Someone asking for trouble, thats who) When you hear... "The home point has been updated, please check it on the map." CHECK THE MAP!

Yes, flying in such an area will mess with your GPS, yes you should take extra precautions. Sounds like OP threw his drone in the air without making any pre-flight checks and proceeded to take a risky flight with very questionable legality. These drones can't magically maintain GPS in the middle of downtown Chicago.

I've done some risky flights in my day, but I also take every precaution to make sure my flights are safe and my drone comes back if I lose connection. For that reason I have a perfect record on DJI drones and have only lost connection for a brief moment....once.

It's not like this was a beginner was flying. @AtortPhotography is a pretty accomplished flying and film maker and has flown a lot in the city. I'm just surprised he hasn't responded to this thread.

 

[slup]

It's not like this was a beginner was flying...

Mmm ... maybe not a beginner, but maybe ignorant or a hothead.

Early this year he crashed his M2P due to loss of GPS lock & reverting into ATTI ... even then flying in a skyscraper valley. He blamed DJI in that incident also & it took 7 pages to convince him that the crash was on him.

Here --> Mavic 2 Pro Crash out of Control
The reason here --> Mavic 2 Pro Crash out of Control

 

[Point Zero]

To all those questioning the working environment the OP was in.

So here you will all find a DJI official tutorial for camera options.

The guy demonstrating the tutorial is doing so in pretty much the same densely populated city environment that the OP was working in. That strongly suggests that this is a perfectly suitable place for the Mavic 3 to be flown in no? (with appropriate permissions within the law of course)

260

Check out DJI Air 2S specs for product features and detailed explanations. Integrated with a 1-inch camera sensor for up to 5.4K UHD video, 12km transmission range, and intelligent shooting modes like MasterShots, DJI Air 2S is an all-in-one film crew that records your adventures with ease.

www.dji.com

 

[timinator]

Mmm ... maybe not a beginner, but maybe ignorant or a hothead.

Early this year he crashed his M2P due to loss of GPS lock & reverting into ATTI ... even then flying in a skyscraper valley. He blamed DJI in that incident also & it took 7 pages to convince him that the crash was on him.

Here --> Mavic 2 Pro Crash out of Control
The reason here --> Mavic 2 Pro Crash out of Control

Ahhhhh, Now it all makes sense! Not the first time around for him!

 

[Kentucky Ranger]

This reminded me of when I took off from a large "patio" area on the 7th floor of a high rise with tall buildings ahead, about 100 ft or more apart. Ahead about 1/2 mile I could see church that looked like an interesting subject to head for. As my M2P got about 200 ft out it kicked into atti mode and was like driving on black ice without brakes. It was scary as I struggled to maintain control and not crash into either buildings on the sides, but again, 100 feet apart, leaving at least 50 ft of space on each side of center. I felt totally lucky to be able to bring my drone back and land it. In this case I believe that the buildings had to eclipse the GPS, but I've also flown in high rise areas where my M2 hadn't flown far away and gotten interference. One would think that the M3 would be way more solid in urban environments.

Apparently not…
When flying in large city centers, especially ones with many high rise buildings, it’s going to be a total crap shoot.
The only safe way to record in big cities like that is to have several people keep visual sight of the drone, and fly it manually.
While it stinks, this was a $5k lesson in drone flying in large urban areas.
And no, it’s not DJIs fault, but 100% pilot error.