Mini 3 lost connection at height of 120m and didn't reconnect

[smstamir]

Hi,
I've just got my mini 3, and did a flight above my hotel.
At 120 m I got a warning of might violating rules, so I lowered to 115 m, tried to take some 48 mp photos, and at the last photo the photo went grayscale and connection between the RC N1 to the drone was lost (the drone was above me).
After 12 second it RTH, and stayed at 1.5 meter and didn't land. The RC N1 couldn't reconnect even after restarting the RC and phone multiple times.
We waited 17 minutes until it landed with 0 battery.
What happened?
It is a brand new device with updated firmware.

 

[smstamir]

From flight log

 

[smstamir]

Flight log

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

 

[Lazerbrains]

I think you should contact DJI - this is not normal and something is wrong with either the drone or the controller.

 

[timinator]

It probably stayed at 1.5m because the vision positioning system didn't have sufficient light to determine whether the landing area was suitable.

I had a similar incident with a now returned Mini3pro on it's second flight which occurred at night. I was only able to regain control of it by cycling power to the controller and it reconnected.

I've gone through two Mini3pro aircraft so far in a month and I think I will just stick to my mini2 for now. There seems to be some serious quality control problems the product. I'm sure it will eventually get sorted out but I am not the one to do it.

Maybe 2023 production will be better or perhaps I'll have better luck then.

 

[Dronecation]

Hi,
I've just got my mini 3, and did a flight above my hotel.
At 120 m I got a warning of might violating rules, so I lowered to 115 m, tried to take some 48 mp photos, and at the last photo the photo went grayscale and connection between the RC N1 to the drone was lost (the drone was above me).
After 12 second it RTH, and stayed at 1.5 meter and didn't land. The RC N1 couldn't reconnect even after restarting the RC and phone multiple times.
We waited 17 minutes until it landed with 0 battery.
What happened?
It is a brand new device with updated firmware.

What were the lighting conditions like when landing? I bring a torch to light up my landing spot at night.
Was there anything at the hotel that could have interfered with the signal?

 

[ordi]

Today it happened to me. The same scenario, I was taking h.res. pictures and drone disconnected. Could not reconnect
Any update on this?

 

[Yaros]

Today it happened to me. The same scenario, I was taking h.res. pictures and drone disconnected. Could not reconnect
Any update on this?

Please post logs.

 

[SpinItUp]

So you were in a highly congested communication area (WiFi signals)...interference would be very high and the error was probably briefly shown but due to the amount of info being relayed in that spot, you missed it or again congested the screen to be of use.
.Moving away from interference! (the Hotel) would've cured the problem immediately

 

[Meta4]

Today it happened to me. The same scenario, I was taking h.res. pictures and drone disconnected. Could not reconnect
Any update on this?

There are a couple of possibilities, but the flight data is necessary to tell what actually happened.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file here.

 

[SpinItUp]

I guess the pilot has checked out of the hotel by now

 

[ordi]

There are a couple of possibilities, but the flight data is necessary to tell what actually happened.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file here.

Thanks for the link!
That is what I've got: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

After 3 minutes of flight, it lost the GPS

2m 29.3s

P-GPS

31satellites

20.0ft

23.3ft

0mph

46.0ft

71%

7.68V

3.84V

3.84V

0.008V

2m 29.9s

ATTI

31satellites

20.0ft

23.3ft

0mph

46.1ft

71%

7.68V

3.84V

3.84V

0.008V

GPS signal weak. Switched to Attitude mode. Aircraft unable to hover. Fly with caution.; IAircraft in Attitude mode. Unable to hover. Fly with caution (Code: 30004).; Attitude mode. Fly with caution.

2m 30.1s

P-GPS

31satellites

20.0ft

23.3ft

0.2mph

46.2ft

71%

7.68V

3.84V

3.84V

0.008V

Compass or GPS signal weak. Changed to Attitude mode.; IAircraft in Attitude mode. Unable to hover. Fly with caution (Code: 30004).

2m 35.3s

P-GPS

31satellites

17.7ft

N/A

0mph

48.4ft

71%

7.713V

3.86V

3.85V

0.005V

I was flying over a roof made of metal tiles - I guess that could be the cause of the GPS signal loss, but it does not explain why I got disconnected and why I could not reconnect after I lost the signal - I was 4 meters from a drone. There were no obstacles in a straight line between my controller and the drone. The drone hovered over the roof; it did not return to the exact location of the landing spot - it was 6 meters away from it.

 

[Meta4]

Thanks for the link!
That is what I've got: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

After 3 minutes of flight, it lost the GPS

I was flying over a roof made of metal tiles - I guess that could be the cause of the GPS signal loss,

Flying over metal tiles has zero effect on your GPS.
You would have to fly under the metal roof for it to have any effect.

but it does not explain why I got disconnected and why I could not reconnect after I lost the signal - I was 4 meters from a drone. There were no obstacles in a straight line between my controller and the drone. The drone hovered over the roof; it did not return to the exact location of the landing spot - it was 6 meters away from it.

If you could post a link to the Phantomhelp summary, the full data might help understand what happened.

 

[lolospam]

I had almost exactly the same thing happen to me with the Mini 3 Pro. I took a 48mp image, screen went greyscale, returned to home (and almost flew into a tree), couldn't be conneted and had to wait until the battery ran out.

While the screen was greyscale it still showed me the RC connection status with signal improving once the drone got closer.

It was at night but I tried to light up the area or pushing the drone down a bit but it didn't land.
Is this a general issue or something specific to my drone?

 

[cmarines]

Hi,
I've just got my mini 3, and did a flight above my hotel.
At 120 m I got a warning of might violating rules, so I lowered to 115 m, tried to take some 48 mp photos, and at the last photo the photo went grayscale and connection between the RC N1 to the drone was lost (the drone was above me).
After 12 second it RTH, and stayed at 1.5 meter and didn't land. The RC N1 couldn't reconnect even after restarting the RC and phone multiple times.
We waited 17 minutes until it landed with 0 battery.
What happened?
It is a brand new device with updated firmware.

RTH do not mean land. Did you try to press Land icon or lower the left joystick until hear the command saying "Landing"? The bottom sensors can also prevent landing.