New Mavic Air 2 Owner questions

[roboscan]

Hi,
I picked up a MA2 Fly-More Kit a few weeks ago and love it!

I'm coming from a Typhoon Q500 4K (got it back in '15 when it first came out) but hated the size and how imposing it looks (I rarely flew it because I thought people would be afraid of it, lol). I was always hesitant of DJI (not sure why - I guess the shop where I bought my first Quad (a Blade 350QX) swayed me a while back by telling me DJI was an unknown quantity and Yuneec / Blade had much more experience in the hobby industry - I just went with it) plus they both had fancy "hobby R/C level" remote controls with build-in screens requiring no mobile phone and such...

But I love this Mavic Air 2 - seriously! It handles so well. I'm not a pro-photographer / videographer but I love the images I'm getting from it. But mostly, it is just a joy to fly! Easy to take with me, easy to pre-flight, and handles so so well.


As I am new to the DJI product line, I did have some technical questions I wondered if anyone had the answers to:


1) Are the A.I. tracking features ("follow-mes" and such) handled inside the drone or is that actually being done inside the mobile device / remote control?

2) Anyone have experience with the low-batt auto-land? Yesterday I was landing (about 4ft off the ground, less than 10ft or so from where I took off) when the warning came on that it was going to Return To Home in 10-secs... I cancelled and landed just fine, but I was wondering if I hadn't cancelled, would the MA2 have lifted up to RTH height (set for 65') and come back down, or would it have just flown over to the landing spot and landed? (Manual says that if you are less than - I forget what distance - from the Take-Off spot, it should just fly over to it, but I got a bit panicky because I had taken off from my driveway where there are nearby trees and was afraid if auto-RTH had taken over that it could have lifted straight up into a tree or something. Can anyone confirm this works as expected? )

3) I know the MA2 had an ADS-B receiver in it and will warn when aircraft are in the area... does this just warn or will it force the MA2 to land as well? (I haven't gone higher than about 200ft or so yet and I haven't had any interaction with the AirSense yet)

4) I set it so images are sent to my phone when I take them as well as being stored on the SD card. Are these lower-quality preview images or are they the same size / quality that is stored on the SD?

5) When I first got it, I had an opportunity to fly it inside an empty Hockey Arena... It wouldn't lift more than 15ft or so off the ground due to no GPS lock and I assume the obstacle / safety sensors kicking-in. In that scenario, I had plenty of room to fly (100'+ ceiling... can the safety sensors be disabled to allow me to lift up over 15ft indoors, or is that simply not possible? (I tried to find an answer online at the time, but never did. I found one message board where someone suggested sensors could be covered, but that's not my cup of tea.

Thank you so much for any input!

J

 

[Howard70]

Hello Roboscan:

Welcome to the forum. Glad to hear you like your MA2.

Some thoughts on your questions:

1) I think those functions are handled by drone systems via the controller / mobile device combination. Others here on the forum will probably know for sure.

2) I can’t confirm aside from what the manual states. In the situation you describe I think it would not have ascended. Again, others may provide real world experience.

3) I’ve had the ADS-B warning several times - always just a warning (very helpful) but never a forced landing. I think the forced landings are only for extremely low batteries, certain no fly zones, and possibly lost controller signal combined with loss of GPS (I’m uncertain about the last of these).

4) Initially low quality compared to what you’ll get off the SD card, especially if you have Raw + jpeg selected.

5) What mode (Tripod, Normal, Sport) was your controller set at?

Howard

 

[Macinfo]

I probably don't have answers to all your questions, for #1, not sure what difference it makes how active track does what it does, but you need an active controller to set it up and the drone can lose the selection as it follows the active subject.

If you had not cancelled RTH as you were landing, it would more than likely ascended and returned.. If battery was critical, it may have just landed. Not 100% sure on that... someone else probably knows for sure, I never fly that way..

ADS-B is a warning, I have received those warnings, its up to you to insure that your AC is not in the path of the approaching AC. Though chances are, most commercial AC or other are far higher than the max 400' ceiling.

I've never sent images to my phone that way, You can view SD card images in the Fly App, and chose to transfer specific images or video to your phone or tablet. I am guessing its the SD image, but not sure.

There is a way in the app I believe to disable the sensors, Sport mode does it automatically, but you probably would not want to do that no matter how large the indoor space..

 

[z28lt1]

Welcome and enjoy the MA2!

Some answers:
1- Those are handled via drone's processors.

2- Low Battery RTH should follow the manual when RTH initially kicks in (since you were within 5M it should actually just land) 5-20 meters, it does RTH at altitude and beyond that it will rise to RTH Altitude. Note that once it detects critically low battery, it will try to land in place and will no longer attempt to RTH. You can somewhat prevent it from landing by holding up the elevator and try to steer it where you want it to go, but it will no longer ascend.

3- ADS-B is warning only. Up to pilot to take action

4 - IF you have "auto sync HD" photos set to on and are shooting a jpg format (not RAW only), you should be getting the higher quality photos. You can also download them from the drone to the phone as well.

5 - Yes, per manual if it has no GPS, but does have downward sensors, the height is limited to 16 feet. The other option in your case, instead of covering sensors is to power it on outside, get a GPS signal, and then walk it inside. It's supposed to not limit height if you had good GPS signal at one point. That should work, but I've never personally tried it.

 

[roboscan]

Hey all, thank you for your responses!

@Macinfo - I was merely curious about how the active track was handled - I just wondered if this was a "feature of the drone" or if it was a "feature of the DJI Software." My previous quads did not have these advanced features. (I tested the active track at a soccer stadium when I first got it while a friend ran around with a football - was really impressed how well it worked!

@z28lt1 - Thanks... I hadn't read anything about the ADS-B warning causing any action to be taken by the MA2, but wondered if I'd missed something or again, if people's experience was any different from what was stated.

The other day I changed the setting to auto sync HD just to try it and noticed the photos took a while to download (live view paused for a couple of secs.) and when I checked the file size for the photos (I was shooting 48mp) the downloaded files were, large (~19mb). A assumed they were full-size, but the videos I took during that same flight are on saved on my phone and state "Not Downloaded" at the top of the screen. I suppose the photos download full size but the phone just records the live preview locally in lower quality? (I guess the Auto-sync HD setting is JUST for photos and not video. (I haven't taken the SD card out of the drone yet to compare files.)

As for the indoor height issue... I was trying to fly in Normal mode, but did switch to tripod and sport in attempts to defeat the height limitation - none of them let me fly higher than the 16' limit. I didn't think about "tricking" it by going outside for GPS lock and then coming inside. This was the first or second day I had MA2 and had this opportunity to fly it inside the arena so I wanted to give it a shot.

I did talk to another photographer while I was there who told me that he had the same issue with his done (he didn't say what model, but it was a DJI). He couldn't go higher than 15ft off the ice surface - he told me that he attempted to take off from one of the balcony levels - and he did, but as soon as he flew below the level he took off from, he could not go back up to that elevation. He could only descend. He ultimately had to land on the ground and retrieve it from the floor.

Again, thank you all for your input!

J

 

[DanMan32]

I don't think powering on in GPS area and then moving indoors is a good idea. Compass errors have been known to result.

Note that without GPS, the only thing remaining to help with lateral stabilization is the VPS sensors (downward cameras). VPS is limited to about 15ft from ground, hence the limitation without GPS. Without GPS and VPS, you're effectively in ATTI, subject to drifts including wind. It's not too easy flying in ATTI.

Autonomous flights are handled by the AC itself once commanded by the app. Third party apps like Litchi are working on automated flight using "virtual stick" for those models that don't natively have that function. That's not to say that an autonomous function won't quit on loss of RC signal (fail safe would likely override), but it shouldn't if only the app quit.

 

[Tony McDrone]

If you are flying indoors, there is no wind to overcome, so Atti mode flying is easy. Flying indoors without gps is the same as flying outdoors with gps. It is quite stable. I fly out of my house everyday with propeller guards. It is actually more stable flying indoors than outdoors.

I have not had to overcome a 16 foot ceiling imposed by DJI, so I cant speak to that.

 

[roboscan]

Thanks again for the responses...

Even if I had thought of attempting to "trick" the GPS, I probably wouldn't have tried as I don't think it would work. After all, what's the difference between *never having* a GPS signal and *losing* a GPS signal? I will assume that indoor flying above ~15ft is just not possible with the MA2... It isn't very often I would need / want to do that anyway. (Several years ago, I was setting up a trade-show and flew my Q500 up and down the aisles at the convention center the night before the show opened for some aerial shots. I had no GPS but no trouble controlling the quad. I did have to fly in "sport" mode in order to fly without GPS, but that Q500 did not have any obstacle avoidance or other safety / stabilization features. It flew just fine in that environment.

DanMan, you mentioned the 3rd party apps controlling via "virtual-stick" - that is exactly what I was curious if the software was doing. Again, no real reason for my knowing I was just wondering. The Q500 did have "follow-me" and "spotlight me" modes (I forget what Yuneec called them) but they worked using the relative GPS positions of the controller and the quad- it was not optical. (I *think* DJI may already have been offering this, too, in the Phantom series at that time... I had hoped it was something that might come out in a firmware update, but never did... I believe the Q500 is going to be staying in the closet going forward )

J

 

[z28lt1]

Timing of the indoor discussion is ironic, as the notes on the new firmware for today say they've increased the no GPS height limit to 30 meters an enhanced the vision sensors, so this should all go away with the new firmware.

With that said, For many reasons, losing GPS is different than never having GPS, as it would be bad to add restrictions mid-flight as you might not be able to get it back home...

 

[DanMan32]

If you are flying indoors, there is no wind to overcome, so Atti mode flying is easy. Flying indoors without gps is the same as flying outdoors with gps. It is quite stable. I fly out of my house everyday with propeller guards. It is actually more stable flying indoors than outdoors.

I have not had to overcome a 16 foot ceiling imposed by DJI, so I cant speak to that.

No HVAC? No fans? Even slight air currents will create drift. You probably don't notice because VPS is stabilizing your flight. Try flying a Syma that has no GPS or VPS, or cover the VPS sensors on what you have. You'll get drift.

 

[DanMan32]

Indeed losing GPS when already out of range of VPS wouldn't cause it to descend. Instead it would go into ATTI. However I don't think there's a way in releasing altitude limit if GPS is lost while still in VPS range before TO or during flight. The response is probably similar to limits imposed when taking off without app connected versus app being lost during flight (app crash or USB disconnect) where limits are not suddenly imposed.

 

[Tony McDrone]

I fly in my house, almost daily, with my ceiling fan spinning at medium speed. No loss of position whatsoever. It’s likely because I am flying beneath the turbulence created by the fan. If you’re flying near a/c vents or the same level of the fans, of course you will need to compensate for the draft. That is no different than flying outside.

I live in a house that doesn’t have air conditioning. The average year round high of 77 degrees, we rarely need it. Sure would’ve been nice to have this year?

 

[MA2 317]

I fly in my house, almost daily, with my ceiling fan spinning at medium speed. No loss of position whatsoever. It’s likely because I am flying beneath the turbulence created by the fan. If you’re flying near a/c vents or the same level of the fans, of course you will need to compensate for the draft. That is no different than flying outside.

I live in a house that doesn’t have air conditioning. The average year round high of 77 degrees, we rarely need it. Sure would’ve been nice to have this year?

So the aircraft is your personal fan to hover above and keep you cool.

I've used my Spark when grilling outside on the deck during hot summer days. ?

 

[z28lt1]

Indeed losing GPS when already out of range of VPS wouldn't cause it to descend. Instead it would go into ATTI. However I don't think there's a way in releasing altitude limit if GPS is lost while still in VPS range before TO or during flight. The response is probably similar to limits imposed when taking off without app connected versus app being lost during flight (app crash or USB disconnect) where limits are not suddenly imposed.

Yes, the limit is not going to be imposed in the middle of the flight.

When I first posted the work around of starting with a strong GPS signal outdoors before moving indoors, I wasn't just guessing or making it up. The information is in the manual. If you start with a good GPS signal, there will be no limits, no matter what happens afterwards. Here's the manual wording:

 

[DanMan32]

I fly in my house, almost daily, with my ceiling fan spinning at medium speed. No loss of position whatsoever. It’s likely because I am flying beneath the turbulence created by the fan. If you’re flying near a/c vents or the same level of the fans, of course you will need to compensate for the draft. That is no different than flying outside.

I live in a house that doesn’t have air conditioning. The average year round high of 77 degrees, we rarely need it. Sure would’ve been nice to have this year[emoji3062]

Sound like you had VPS stabilization at the time.
We're your windows open to keep the house cool? If so, you'll get a breeze through the windows.

 

[Tony McDrone]

Sound like you had VPS stabilization at the time.
We're your windows open to keep the house cool? If so, you'll get a breeze through the windows.

I also make sure to have my home point is set be taking off.

The windows and screen doors are open throughout the year. The ceiling fans never get turned off.

 

[FireStorm-X]

Hi there
Since this seems to be the place to ask questions

I have 1 question at the moment, Set my new Air 2 up yesterday, after finishing updates and such it said ready to fly, but did not ask me to calibrate Compass ? when I checked the compass in settings it States Normal, dose this meain it is ok to fly or should I make it recalibrate compass before first flight ?

 

[dawgpilot]

Hi there
Since this seems to be the place to ask questions

I have 1 question at the moment, Set my new Air 2 up yesterday, after finishing updates and such it said ready to fly, but did not ask me to calibrate Compass ? when I checked the compass in settings it States Normal, dose this meain it is ok to fly or should I make it recalibrate compass before first flight ?

Its fine. They come calibrated from the factory and unless the drone asks you to recalibrate its not really needed.

 

[FireStorm-X]

Its fine. They come calibrated from the factory and unless the drone asks you to recalibrate its not really needed.

Thanks for quick reply, with all the comments about update issues, was not sure if this was a problem or not

 

[roboscan]

Yes, the limit is not going to be imposed in the middle of the flight.

When I first posted the work around of starting with a strong GPS signal outdoors before moving indoors, I wasn't just guessing or making it up. The information is in the manual. If you start with a good GPS signal, there will be no limits, no matter what happens afterwards. Here's the manual wording:

View attachment 117008

Regarding my thinking what's the different between no / lost GPS... I didn't think the Mavic would descend or change course if GPS was lost mid-flight. I was just thinking if I took it outside, locked GPS and then carried it inside and tried to take off that it likely wouldn't work just the same. (As I would not have a GPS lock at the time I took off.)

I suppose if I took off outside and flew through the doors I might have been able to achieve higher altitude once inside, but again, this wasn't even something that crossed my mind at the time.
J