Mavic Radio Mods Primer

[mnoutdoors]

Thanks B.B. for all your effort
I still would love to know what happened to the first 7 mavics im sure there is a story somewhere

 

[droneuser]

question wont boost overdrive the amps and make them heat up more? or its not the 1.5 watt boost?

 

[beanbubba]

Thanks B.B. for all your effort
I still would love to know what happened to the first 7 mavics im sure there is a story somewhere

Mavic#1 - clipped a tree branch week 1 and broke a rotor arm. Sent to DJI for repair and they sent me a brand new one for minimal fees.

Mavic#2 - after a long range test and in critical battery auto landing, there was an issue a year ago where the bird would helicopter while trying to land. Bird crashed atop a 100 foot tree canopy just a couple dozen yards from the home point.

Mavic#3 - I was not able to extricate Mavic#2 and was jones-ing to keep flying and bought a new unit. Mavic#2 fell from the tree a couple months later and used for parts. Lolo actually bought the motherbordd a few months later from me to replace a bad board in one of his birds.

Mavic#4 - Mavic#3 was torn down for the weight reduction project because of Lolo and his weight reduction disease. I needed a dependable bird for usual daily flight operations and bought a new Pro.

Mavic#5 - I completley screwed up Mavic#3 while attempting the weight reduction project and it ended up as spare parts. Mavic#4 becomes the new weight reduction bird and needed a dependable bird for usual daily flight operations and bought a new Pro.

Mavic#6 - after a night test flight with a bird side dragon amp on board, this was prior to my understanding that external amp's placed too close to the GPS unit will cause the GPS to fail. When flying at night, you are completley hosed if you lose GPS. I had another helicopter style crash, but it was a couple miles from home and I never found it. I started using a Trackimo after this event and procurred a new bird.

Mavic#7 - my first Plantinum Pro as a replacement for Mavic#6. Attempted a personal best distance record and didn't make it all the way home. Crashed a couple miles from home and found it using the Trackimo iphone app with "send beep" when getting close to the unit. Had a hard crash and the bird errors out and would never fly right again. Now used for parts.

Mavic#8 - I couldn't tell a difference of the Platinum, so I bought a Pro replacement since I had Platinum details fresh on the mind and trying to determine if I can decipher any tangible evidence between the flight characteristice between the Pro and Plantinum.

Current status:

Mavic#4 is my current weight reduced long range bird (currently at Lolo's shop for motor efficiency testing).
Mavic#7 is fully intact, but not flight worthy.
Mavic#8 is my only current fully operating bird.

Only Cybernate has a more colored story (and bird count) that I know of

 

[droneuser]

Mavic#1 - clipped a tree branch week 1 and broke a rotor arm. Sent to DJI for repair and they sent me a brand new one for minimal fees.

Mavic#2 - after a long range test and in critical battery auto landing, there was an issue a year ago where the bird would helicopter while trying to land. Bird crashed atop a 100 foot tree canopy just a couple dozen yards from the home point.

Mavic#3 - I was not able to extricate Mavic#2 and was jones-ing to keep flying and bought a new unit. Mavic#2 fell from the tree a couple months later and used for parts. Lolo actually bought the motherbordd a few months later from me to replace a bad board in one of his birds.

Mavic#4 - Mavic#3 was torn down for the weight reduction project because of Lolo and his weight reduction disease. I needed a dependable bird for usual daily flight operations and bought a new Pro.

Mavic#5 - I completley screwed up Mavic#3 while attempting the weight reduction project and it ended up as spare parts. Mavic#4 becomes the new weight reduction bird and needed a dependable bird for usual daily flight operations and bought a new Pro.

Mavic#6 - after a night test flight with a bird side dragon amp on board, this was prior to my understanding that external amp's placed too close to the GPS unit will cause the GPS to fail. When flying at night, you are completley hosed if you lose GPS. I had another helicopter style crash, but it was a couple miles from home and I never found it. I started using a Trackimo after this event and procurred a new bird.

Mavic#7 - my first Plantinum Pro as a replacement for Mavic#6. Attempted a personal best distance record and didn't make it all the way home. Crashed a couple miles from home and found it using the Trackimo iphone app with "send beep" when getting close to the unit. Had a hard crash and the bird errors out and would never fly right again. Now used for parts.

Mavic#8 - I couldn't tell a difference of the Platinum, so I bought a Pro replacement since I had Platinum details fresh on the mind and trying to determine if I can decipher any tangible evidence between the flight characteristice between the Pro and Plantinum.

Current status:

Mavic#4 is my current weight reduced long range bird (currently at Lolo's shop for motor efficiency testing).
Mavic#7 is fully intact, but not flight worthy.
Mavic#8 is my only current fully operating bird.

Only Cybernate has a more colored story (and bird count) that I know of

wow I am speechless lol lol R.I.P mavic's lol lol it was for a good cause thanks a bunch on the info!!!!

did you see my other posts about boost?

 

[droneuser]

I hear taps playing

 

[droneuser]

also do you have any videos you could share how do you fly at nite? did you install lights on the mavic?

 

[beanbubba]

I hear taps playing

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[beanbubba]

also do you have any videos you could share how do you fly at nite? did you install lights on the mavic?

I talked about night flying earlier in this thread:

Mavic Radio Mods Primer

 

[droneuser]

I talked about night flying earlier in this thread:

Mavic Radio Mods Primer

ok and thanks for the tap video too! question about boost wont that overdrive the amps and make them overheat faster?

 

[droneuser]

yes I did see your shop post but how does the mavic see at night? did I miss something in that post? I mean if you are 1,000 or so feet away how can the mavic see at nite? meaning see anything on your screen??

 

[beanbubba]

ok and thanks for the tap video too! question about boost wont that overdrive the amps and make them overheat faster?

Your question is valid and I did notice and address this.

If you noticed in the video results, the Sunhans amp was by far the most efficient bird side amp for the video stream boosting. Only constant stream traffic will tax and over heat the amp's (i.e. the bird video stream). While performing all the tests I pulled out my Flir IR camera and recorded the amp temps during all the tests. ONLY the Sunhans while bird side experienced any abnormal heat events (recored at 120F). This is not ideal, but still acceptable for a sub 40 minute flight. All the other amps/configurations were sub 100F). For whatever reason the Sunhams is super efficient for the bird side video stream boosting, but still in the "just safe" realm. Every other possible amp and config RC side didn't even get past warm because of the infrequent narrow band radio comms.

 

[droneuser]

Your question is valid and I did notice and address this.

If you noticed in the video results, the Sunhans amp was by far the most efficient bird side amp for the video stream boosting. Only constant stream traffic will tax and over heat the amp's (i.e. the bird video stream). While performing all the tests I pulled out my Flir IR camera and recorded the amp temps during all the tests. ONLY the Sunhans while bird side experienced any abnormal heat events (recored at 120F). This is not ideal, but still acceptable for a sub 40 minute flight. All the other amps/configurations were sub 100F). For whatever reason the Sunhams is super efficient for the bird side video stream boosting, but still in the "just safe" realm. Every other possible amp and config RC side didn't even get past warm because of the infrequent narrow band radio comms.

ahh ok that makes sense thanks for explaining that yes that is very interesting that the sunhans amps were better at that

 

[beanbubba]

yes I did see your shop post but how does the mavic see at night? did I miss something in that post? I mean if you are 1,000 or so feet away how can the mavic see at nite? meaning see anything on your screen??

No, you can't see anything except for lighted reference points and the horizon. I am 100% dependent on instrument flying and the GPS maps in the Go4 app. This is not a task for the faint hearted

I have a 500W lamp to illuminate my landing pad that I can see when I get about 1000 feet away and that guides me in for landing (if not doing auto landing).

People always ask me why I fly so much at night. My answer is that is when I am usually home and the wife is asleep

 

[droneuser]

No, you can't see anything except for lighted reference points and the horizon. I am 100% dependent on instrument flying and the GPS maps in the Go4 app. This is not a task for the faint hearted

I have a 500W lamp to illuminate my landing pad that I can see when I get about 1000 feet away and that guides me in for landing (if not doing auto landing).

People always ask me why I fly so much at night. My answer is that is when I am usually home and the wife is asleep

ohh yes I know what ya mean there about the wife!!!! lol lol I may have to try that too!!! I wont need the goggles for that! lol lol

 

[droneuser]

from what I can tell in the pictures are you using ipad?? if so I know ipad don't have hdmi out so how are you getting the image to your tv screen? dongle?

 

[beanbubba]

from what I can tell in the pictures are you using ipad?? if so I know ipad don't have hdmi out so how are you getting the image to your tv screen? dongle?

AppleTV screen share over Wi-Fi.

 

[droneuser]

AppleTV screen share over Wi-Fi.

ahh ok I use a dongle about the same thing

 

[Rnl]

Winds are calmer at night too. I like flying at night, I too use maps works great.

 

[tuffypad]

@bean Have you considered doing any imaging mods to get night vision on your bird?

 

[beanbubba]

@bean Have you considered doing any imaging mods to get night vision on your bird?

Absolutely!!

But I personally haven't seen anything worth pursuing on the mavic. The FLIR system that already ships with the bigger birds is pretty awesome, but if someone finds an elegant solution for the mavic, I would love to try it.