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Mavic refuses to rise from base of waterfall

John Gowland

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Mavic refuses to rise from base of waterfall.
Why?

Spent money on a driver and a guide and trekked through thick, humid jungle to get to a waterfall and the Mavic refused to rise. It did this at three separate waterfalls, so it was not just one spot. I moved it many times, back, forwards, to the sides but it was only a small area I had to work with. It was continually bouncing between 0 and a few satellite connections. Above the canopy it had no problems and took it quite high after it cleared the canopy.


After many, many repeated attempts, it did rise and I recorded its decent to give an indication as to how high and how small the gap in the canopy was.


Why did it not just chose any mode it could and just rise till it could communicate with multiple satellites?

There must be something I could have done. Any ideas please? Imagine spending a whole day and expense and your Mavic just refuses to rise!

I am an old bugger and expect it of myself but this Mavic is new.

Not that I think it would have made much difference but I did reboot everything and tried both the DJI app and Litchi. I don’t want this to me or other folk again.
Can someone tell me why and how to avoid it in the future? Very frustrating for people new to flying.
John
 
But geigy says unless you get a good GPS signal on take off you should not fly.
So the solution is to take a bit of a risk on not fly at all.
I don't like that solution.
I want to take off from anywhere without a risk.
Decisions decisions.
 
I want to take off from anywhere without a risk.
You should change hobby then, or at least change machine becasue this one won't allow it.

The Mavic's max height is limited if you took off without first getting GPS signal.
 
Thats a little harsh Kilrah. In most cases there is usually a safe and practical work around. It is way beyond me what that work around would be but I would be very surprised if there was not one.
I would never suggest you change your hobby. You have every right to do as you wish as long as you do no harm to others.
 
Thing is you sound like a kid saying "I don't care about how it is, I want it to do [thing]!"

It won't do [thing] because it's designed not to, that's documented in the manual, and you've got no choice but to accept it.
If you want [thing], research things properly and choose a machine that allows it. This one always requires proper GPS coverage for safe operation.


lim.jpg
 
Thank you for your help Kilrah, you have helped me understand the issue and find solutions.
On reflection a better question I should have asked is how to connect with sats faster and more efficiently.
I am certain in the near future technology will be developed that solves the issue in the most difficult situations for example where there is no hole in a canopy or other small area. Perhaps a different dedicated form of signal that connects a drone/machine with a sat until the machine connects itself.

At all three waterfalls I did eventually get the Mavic to rise. The particular one in the video must have taken me 15 or 20 minutes. Perhaps there was some atmospheric or positional change that enabled the Mavic to connect to one sat and then as it rose it was able to connect to more.
So the immediate solution is to be prepared to be patient and keep trying different positions. Rebooting every thing and starting again.
Another solution would be to take off at a nearby place and descend to the more difficult position. This would be more risky but you could minimise the risk by increasing the height of the RTH from 30 meters to whatever is needed.
There is always a solution.
 
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On reflection a better question I should have asked is how to connect with sats faster and more efficiently.
Ensure as clear as possible view to sky and minimize interference from other RF devices - not much more.

I am certain in the near future technology will be developed that solves the issue in the most difficult situations for example where there is no hole in a canopy or other small area.
As said other machines like Phantoms have a switch that allows manually selecting ATTI mode and can operate fine without GPS. DJI just chose not to offer that possibility on the Mavic for some reason.
It is also why operating with spotty GPS signal like in your situation is not recommended with the Mavic since the behavior as signal comes and goes can be erratic and lead to situations where the machine is uncontrollable.
 
Note in the screen grab it says height will be 98 feet if downward sensors are turned off. If you feel like you can fly without the downward positioning system you could go that route. Then the higher the Mavic ascends the more likely it is to start connecting to enough satellites to enter P-GPS mode.
 
...The Mavic's max height is limited if you took off without first getting GPS signal.

I always wait for gps and confirm home point. However, I still get that height and distance limited warning. But they don't actually limit the flight in any way. Should I just keep ignoring them?
 
That's becasue you're likely using unmatched GO4 and firmware versions, and yes if it doesn't limit you you can ignore it.

It's not the same limit as this thread is about though.
 
This would be more risky but you could minimise the risk by increasing the height of the RTH from 30 meters to whatever is needed.
There is always a solution.
In that kind of situation, it will be safer to set RTH to hover instead of return to home point.

Btw, are you still in Bali? The mountain is (hopefully) not going to erupt, is it?
 
Yes Porto still in Bali but going home tomorrow. Just as well it's raining today and probable tomorrow.
I am still waiting for the mountain to blow. The ash will ground all flights and my insurance company will pay for my extended stay. I would hate to phone my boss and tell him I can't start work on Tuesday or for the foreseeable future. The locals want it to go off also to get it over with.
Then I can go back to that tricky waterfall and try some suggestions.
 
Later when you are already back home and have some free time, look for Digdat0's Youtube videos. I can't suggest anything for you here as I'll be slapped by Dirkclod or other mods :)

If flying drones is your hobby and not just something you thought you can use for the Mt. Agung coverage, you can look around the net for more information. Then you'll wished you've known all of that before you went to Bali :)
 
Yes Porto still in Bali but going home tomorrow. Just as well it's raining today and probable tomorrow.
I am still waiting for the mountain to blow. The ash will ground all flights and my insurance company will pay for my extended stay. I would hate to phone my boss and tell him I can't start work on Tuesday or for the foreseeable future. The locals want it to go off also to get it over with.
Then I can go back to that tricky waterfall and try some suggestions.
FWIW, I'm in Thailand, and it has rained 7 out of the last 8 days. I wish there was a volcano with the potential to blow around here.
 
Where in Thailand pixl? I love Phuket and plan to go during the Christmas break. Been many times but only once with a MP. Still lots of places there I want to video.
Sounds like I was lucky not to go there this time.
Bali is a great place to do videography, some stunning places and ideal for the MP. You have to do a bit of leg work, get a good driver, and plan for the long traffic delays. I found taking my laptop was a great solution then I could delete the most of the stuff and start editing the few that were left.
Took off from huge cliffs, walked down deep valleys, did waterfalls, lakes, mountains, paddy fields and more.
Many of these places could only be done with a MP, hides away in small bag, light to travel with, stop and you can be flying in a minute.
 
Later when you are already back home and have some free time, look for Digdat0's Youtube videos. I can't suggest anything for you here as I'll be slapped by Dirkclod or other mods :)

If flying drones is your hobby and not just something you thought you can use for the Mt. Agung coverage, you can look around the net for more information. Then you'll wished you've known all of that before you went to Bali :)
In one of his videos he talks about 3 groups,
1. 100% law abiding,
2. Crazy people who do very dangerous and silly things.
3. Those who get so frustrated with restrictions they adapt things while being responsible and safe.
I will never be 2, I have been 1 up until now but I am getting very frustrated.
 
Where in Thailand pixl? I love Phuket and plan to go during the Christmas break. Been many times but only once with a MP. Still lots of places there I want to video.
Sounds like I was lucky not to go there this time.
Bali is a great place to do videography, some stunning places and ideal for the MP. You have to do a bit of leg work, get a good driver, and plan for the long traffic delays. I found taking my laptop was a great solution then I could delete the most of the stuff and start editing the few that were left.
Took off from huge cliffs, walked down deep valleys, did waterfalls, lakes, mountains, paddy fields and more.
Many of these places could only be done with a MP, hides away in small bag, light to travel with, stop and you can be flying in a minute.
I'm up in Chiang Mai. Pretty area, but with all the rain quite frustrating -- I've been out on the motorcycle 4 solid days when I thought I'd catch a break, and got rained out all but 1.

I'm quite comfortable doing SE Asia on motorcycle, on both sides of the road....or in the case of Vietnam, all sides of the road. But this trip, the conditions have conspired against me. I'll be headed home soon to lick my wounds and try another day.
 
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