Mini 3, little help?

[Captain Stavros]

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone else has been having these issues, if so, have you solved them? Any advice would be appreciated.

I could, and cannot, pair my DJI RC-N1 with the Mini 3. I have no issues connecting the new DJI RC however. I've tried both DJI RC-N1 controllers I currently own but to no avail, stuck on flashing yellow lights. EDIT After multiple un-install and re-installs of the DJI-Fly App the Mini 3 and the RC-N1 remote have paired. You can only pair 2 drones at a time to any one remote I've learned, if you want to add a new drone you have to un-bind one. Testing the RC-N1 the range is *almost* triple to the DJI RC.

I palm launch/land my Mini 1/2 to minimise debris getting into the motors, I've never had any issues with this technique. When I attempted to palm launch my Mini 3 it fell out of the sky with a sickening crunch. Fortunately just a few cosmetic scratches, diagnostics run and everything appears okay. Has anyone else had this issue? I'd recommend attempting over soft ground rather than concrete when launching. Is the Mini 3 capable of palm launch? I've caught 1 video showing it but after several attempts the bird will not leave my hand (increasing upwards arm thrust, imagine dribbling a basketball upside, only leaves my palm by a couple of cm landing softly on it again). EDIT Without risking the drone I've taken to palm lunching but only using the stick to take off from my hand. A bit inconvenient but better than the drone just falling out of the sky.

Many people have complained about range tests, the best I can achieve is about 1100m with the DJI RC, unobstructed, rural area with VLOS. I remember similar issues with the Mini 2 until a firmware update resolved this. Bonus though, you can mute all sounds on the DJI RC including RTH and Low Battery. I can also confirm the SD card slot is a bit of a pain. Card slots in upside down, fyi, compared to the Mini 2. I find using a sim removing tool to push in and remove does the trick for those who have mentioned difficulty inserting/removing.

 

[Suren]

Are you going into the Fly app-menu-Control-Connect to Aircraft - RC Starts beeping, press and hold battery button on AC for 5 seconds to pair to RC-N1?

 

[globetrotterdrone]

I've been airlifting and hand catching my M2P since day 2 and never had the issue that it will plummet to the ground. Sometimes it will drop (~ 20 cm) a bit until the sensors are activated but only a few times.

I don't know about the controls in DJI Fly yet (Mini 3 Pro still waiting to be shipped), but in DJI Go, you need to slide to take off ... maybe you did not fully slide to the top? My fingers are usually dry so I struggle with touch displays from time to time so I always make sure, the propellers start to spin before I release.

 

[Captain Stavros]

Are you going into the Fly app-menu-Control-Connect to Aircraft - RC Starts beeping, press and hold battery button on AC for 5 seconds to pair to RC-N1?

Hi Suren, thanks for getting back to me, here's my process. I turn on on the RC N1, when I'm prompted to open the DJI Fly app or Lichi I choose the fly App and choose it to be opened by the RC N1. I then turn on the Mini 3, hold down the power button till it blinks. When I'm asked to choose the drone I'd like to pair I choose the mini 3, it askes me to unfold the legs and make sure it's in pairing mode. When the first attempt fails I choose the 1 minute option for pairing and that runs the minute and times out. The lights below the arms rapidly blink yellow and fail to connect. No such issue connecting the Mini 3 to the new DJI RC, easy fast connection, no issues with the Mini 2 either. Thanks for your reply!

 

[Captain Stavros]

I've been airlifting and hand catching my M2P since day 2 and never had the issue that it will plummet to the ground. Sometimes it will drop (~ 20 cm) a bit until the sensors are activated but only a few times.

I don't know about the controls in DJI Fly yet (Mini 3 Pro still waiting to be shipped), but in DJI Go, you need to slide to take off ... maybe you did not fully slide to the top? My fingers are usually dry so I struggle with touch displays from time to time so I always make sure, the propellers start to spin before I release.

Hi Globe Trotter Drone, thanks for your reply. I've never had issues palm launching any of my drones, Mini 1/2 are effortless. Lightly push up and the drone fires up, it does the small dip as you've mentioned from time to time too. I'm not sure what you mean by 'sliding to the top'? I've always just lifted firmly 90 degrees. With the Mini 3 not only did it not take off and just crash onto the concrete I've tried several times after that to palm launch on softer ground but it will not leave my hand, I'll try to get a video of this because it just looks ridiculous. I'm actually too worried to throw it up into the air after the sickening sight of watching it hit the ground previously, that and worrying about the props coming down on me and cutting into my hand. On a sidenote DC Rain Maker (Youtube/Social Media blogger) said he had the same issue. He said he really had to thrust it up into the air to make it take off, I'm not courageous enough to take that risk.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

@Captain Stavros
Oh dear, ok, so I really see no mistake by you.
It's hard to say without having the drone, if it's due to the changed design or a problem with yours only.

My friend just called in and said, he will get his tomorrow, so maybe I team up with him on Saturday to try this out.
I would also avoid to throw it in the air. Hand launching has been working, as you and I experienced, without a hitch with previous models. Better wait for more evidences of others.

 

[Captain Stavros]

@Captain Stavros
Oh dear, ok, so I really see no mistake by you.
It's hard to say without having the drone, if it's due to the changed design or a problem with yours only.

My friend just called in and said, he will get his tomorrow, so maybe I team up with him on Saturday to try this out.
I would also avoid to throw it in the air. Hand launching has been working, as you and I experienced, without a hitch with previous models. Better wait for more evidences of others.

Thanks so much for your help and advice, I really appreciate you going the extra mile.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

You're welcome.
Let's see, how this works out. I certainly will report back.

BTW, did you check the many, many video reviews yet if there is some hand launching? I could be mistaken, but I remember one at least (cannot find it though so fast).

PS: Delivery changed to Saturday for my friend, so another day longer.

 

[Captain Stavros]

Hi, yes I did. There's video evidence on one, 'DJI Mini 3: 51 things you should know before buying' by 51 Drones. Also as mentioned DC Rain Maker's correspondence between him and myself.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Regarding hand launching, are you saying that if you move your hand, in a way that would cause the Mavic Mini and or the Mini 2 to rev up their motors to flight speed, the Mini 3 does not respond? I.e. it is perhaps less sensitive to the hand movement?
I hand launch both my Minis and my M2P/Z and the M2P/Z requires a bigger or perhaps more vigorous hand movement before it responds.
The Minis are very sensitive in fact I quite often launch the Minis by moving my hand enough to get them to rev their motors and, if that feels correct, lower my hand a let the drone 'hover off' my hand with out giving it throttle. I am wary of doing this with the M2P/Z and tend to give it throttle.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Hi, yes I did. There's video evidence on one, 'DJI Mini 3: 51 things you should know before buying' by 51 Drones. Also as mentioned DC Rain Maker's correspondence between him and myself.

Yes, that was the video ...

 

[globetrotterdrone]

The Minis are very sensitive in fact I quite often launch the Minis by moving my hand enough to get them to rev their motors and, if that feels correct, lower my hand a let the drone 'hover off' my hand with out giving it throttle. I am wary of doing this with the M2P/Z and tend to give it throttle.

That's exactly how I always do it with my M2P, just slowly slip my hand away and the drone hovers or only dips a bit down. Never gave additional throttle.

Always had a good feeling of the reliability, in generell with this drone.

 

[Captain Stavros]

Regarding hand launching, are you saying that if you move your hand, in a way that would cause the Mavic Mini and or the Mini 2 to rev up their motors to flight speed, the Mini 3 does not respond? I.e. it is perhaps less sensitive to the hand movement?
I hand launch both my Minis and my M2P/Z and the M2P/Z requires a bigger or perhaps more vigorous hand movement before it responds.
The Minis are very sensitive in fact I quite often launch the Minis by moving my hand enough to get them to rev their motors and, if that feels correct, lower my hand a let the drone 'hover off' my hand with out giving it throttle. I am wary of doing this with the M2P/Z and tend to give it throttle.

Hi Yorkshire, thanks for your reply. As mentioned I've never really had any issues hand launching, just a light upward motion and the props fire up and it's hovering in place. I did the same with the Mini 3 and it just dropped out of the sky and landed with a thud on the concrete. This is a huge concern as the new gimbal protrudes and just generally because I'm not of fan of bouncing drones off the ground like a basketball. I've flown the Mini's for years now, thankfully no crashes, this was the first time a standard take-off went wrong. I'm not going to be taking the risk anymore as I tried to hand launch again, as mentioned, making increasingly stronger up-thrusts while the props were spinning but it would not launch. To be clear you could hear the prop's revs marginally increasing only momentarily, just not enough. Not worth the risk, in my opinion, I'm not going to whip this thing into the air in order to get it up, we shouldn't have to. That and the fear of continued failure/crashes or it coming back down and striking me.

 

[Captain Stavros]

Yes, that was the video ...

That's the one, yes.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Hi Yorkshire, thanks for your reply. As mentioned I've never really had any issues hand launching, just a light upward motion and the props fire up and it's hovering in place. I did the same with the Mini 3 and it just dropped out of the sky and landed with a thud on the concrete. This is a huge concern as the new gimbal protrudes and just generally because I'm not of fan of bouncing drones off the ground like a basketball. I've flown the Mini's for years now, thankfully no crashes, this was the first time a standard take-off went wrong. I'm not going to be taking the risk anymore as I tried to hand launch again, as mentioned, making increasingly stronger up-thrusts while the pros were spinning but it would not launch. To be clear you could hear the prop's revs marginally increasing only momentarily, just not enough. Not worth the risk, in my opinion, I'm not going to whip this thing into the air in order to get it up, we shouldn't have to. That and the fear of continued failure/crashes or it coming back down and striking me.

Fair enough.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

@Captain Stavros
Bit late but as promised, had my first couple of flights and beside my excitement of how good and silent this little bird performs, I had no issues with hand launching.

It even felt softer due to way less mass and needwd uplift compared to my M2P.

Will definitely report, if something changes.
Happy flying!

 

[Captain Stavros]

Hey thanks for getting back to me! I'm happy to hear you didn't suffer the fate of my maiden voyage. I really like how quiet it is too, at night it's especially stealthy, my neighbour called it a ninja drone.

Can I ask did you throttle up using a joystick out of your hand or toss the drone into the air for the successful launch?

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Hey thanks for getting back to me! I'm happy to hear you didn't suffer the fate of my maiden voyage. I really like how quiet it is too, at night it's especially stealthy, my neighbour called it a ninja drone.

Can I ask did you throttle up using a joystick out of your hand or toss the drone into the air for the successful launch?

Yeah, it really is a stealthy ninja drone.
I only held the lift off button on screen and it did so about 50 cm over my hand automatically. No additional throttle necessary.

 

[Scoobychief]

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone else has been having these issues, if so, have you solved them? Any advice would be appreciated.

I could, and cannot, pair my DJI RC-N1 with the Mini 3. I have no issues connecting the new DJI RC however. I've tried both DJI RC-N1 controllers I currently own but to no avail, stuck on flashing yellow lights. EDIT After multiple un-install and re-installs of the DJI-Fly App the Mini 3 and the RC-N1 remote have paired. You can only pair 2 drones at a time to any one remote I've learned, if you want to add a new drone you have to un-bind one. Testing the RC-N1 the range is *almost* triple to the DJI RC.

I palm launch/land my Mini 1/2 to minimise debris getting into the motors, I've never had any issues with this technique. When I attempted to palm launch my Mini 3 it fell out of the sky with a sickening crunch. Fortunately just a few cosmetic scratches, diagnostics run and everything appears okay. Has anyone else had this issue? I'd recommend attempting over soft ground rather than concrete when launching. Is the Mini 3 capable of palm launch? I've caught 1 video showing it but after several attempts the bird will not leave my hand (increasing upwards arm thrust, imagine dribbling a basketball upside, only leaves my palm by a couple of cm landing softly on it again). EDIT Without risking the drone I've taken to palm lunching but only using the stick to take off from my hand. A bit inconvenient but better than the drone just falling out of the sky.

Many people have complained about range tests, the best I can achieve is about 1100m with the DJI RC, unobstructed, rural area with VLOS. I remember similar issues with the Mini 2 until a firmware update resolved this. Bonus though, you can mute all sounds on the DJI RC including RTH and Low Battery. I can also confirm the SD card slot is a bit of a pain. Card slots in upside down, fyi, compared to the Mini 2. I find using a sim removing tool to push in and remove does the trick for those who have mentioned difficulty inserting/removing.

Hi there i have a question for you please.. i also have the mini 3 with rc screen , and purchased a new rc-n1 so at first attempt it didnt find the drone it had to install the latest firmware to the rc-n1 and drone and now using thr rc-n1 and fly app 1.6.1 and samsung s21 it find the mini 3 no probelm,,, but the issue i have is that once connected i get a message pop up saying that i can only use the drone up to 5 times with the rc-n1 ???? have had this problem ???? and if you have what does it mean???

 

[MaximusCZ]

Can I ask did you throttle up using a joystick out of your hand or toss the drone into the air for the successful launch?

I dont think you should ever toss it. Just let it sit on your hand and joystick up