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New Mavic Pro 2 Owner Here. Any User Advice?

Conservative Nihilist

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Greetings and hallucinations fellow Mavic Pro 2 aficionados. I am delighted to announce before the assembled world press paparazzi that I have now been officially inducted into the hallowed ranks of the Mavic 2 Pro Brethren, with all rights and privileges implied. On eBay, I today scored a used Mavic 2 Pro with three batteries, a multiple-output battery charger, extra props, and a few lens filters thrown in, all for a comparatively affordable price that I was able to cover without having to auction off my mother-in-law for scientific research. I expect to take delivery of this new-to-me drone by early next week, barring my abduction by aliens aboard tic-tac UFOs or any similar incident such as a major asteroid impact on my house.

My drone hangar at the moment includes a Phantom 3 Standard, a Phantom 3 Pro, a Mavic Pro 1, a Mavic Pro Platinum 1, a Mavic Air 1, and a 2020 Fimi X8. My primary use of all these drones, excluding the Fimi X8, is flying fully autonomous Litchi waypoint missions that range well beyond the signal connectivity between the RC controller and the drone. The maximum distance I've been able to achieve during those Litchi flights was 6.1 miles round trip covered over about 22 minutes of flight time. during which 4GB of video footage is typically recorded to the SD card. This drone addiction will be my downfall yet. I can see myself destitute living on Skid Row with a suitcase full of drones for company.

This Mavic Pro 2 purchase will definitely be the last purchase for me looking into the foreseeable future, primarily because newer generation DJI drones cost a small fortune, but also because all newer generation DJI drones are sold with the DJI Fly operating system, as opposed to the DJI Go and DJI Go4 platforms that came with the older DJI drones. DJI Fly and its "virtual sticks" protocol, will not allow Litchi missions to continue beyond RC signal range, which is an absolute deal breaker for me. I must be able to send my drone over the horizon because it is perfectly legal to do so in my remote Third World backwater, and because I love the idea of a fully autonomous drone finding its way back home at the precise moment I expect to see it return for landing.

With that brief introduction, I will stop this compulsive typing and refrain from expounding on my theories about the social impact of drones on modern civilization, until such time as I have a real Mavic Pro 2 anomaly to report. Over and out for now, and may the farce be with you at all times.
 
Greetings and hallucinations fellow Mavic Pro 2 aficionados. I am delighted to announce before the assembled world press paparazzi that I have now been officially inducted into the hallowed ranks of the Mavic 2 Pro Brethren, with all rights and privileges implied. On eBay, I today scored a used Mavic 2 Pro with three batteries, a multiple-output battery charger, extra props, and a few lens filters thrown in, all for a comparatively affordable price that I was able to cover without having to auction off my mother-in-law for scientific research. I expect to take delivery of this new-to-me drone by early next week, barring my abduction by aliens aboard tic-tac UFOs or any similar incident such as a major asteroid impact on my house.

My drone hangar at the moment includes a Phantom 3 Standard, a Phantom 3 Pro, a Mavic Pro 1, a Mavic Pro Platinum 1, a Mavic Air 1, and a 2020 Fimi X8. My primary use of all these drones, excluding the Fimi X8, is flying fully autonomous Litchi waypoint missions that range well beyond the signal connectivity between the RC controller and the drone. The maximum distance I've been able to achieve during those Litchi flights was 6.1 miles round trip covered over about 22 minutes of flight time. during which 4GB of video footage is typically recorded to the SD card. This drone addiction will be my downfall yet. I can see myself destitute living on Skid Row with a suitcase full of drones for company.

This Mavic Pro 2 purchase will definitely be the last purchase for me looking into the foreseeable future, primarily because newer generation DJI drones cost a small fortune, but also because all newer generation DJI drones are sold with the DJI Fly operating system, as opposed to the DJI Go and DJI Go4 platforms that came with the older DJI drones. DJI Fly and its "virtual sticks" protocol, will not allow Litchi missions to continue beyond RC signal range, which is an absolute deal breaker for me. I must be able to send my drone over the horizon because it is perfectly legal to do so in my remote Third World backwater, and because I love the idea of a fully autonomous drone finding its way back home at the precise moment I expect to see it return for landing.

With that brief introduction, I will stop this compulsive typing and refrain from expounding on my theories about the social impact of drones on modern civilization, until such time as I have a real Mavic Pro 2 anomaly to report. Over and out for now, and may the farce be with you at all times.
Well it looks like you have a substantial DJI lineup, that's for sure. But I have to pick on you just a little due to your use of the term Mavic Pro 2. There was a Mavic Pro & later a Mavic 2, which came in both Pro & Zoom versions. There was no Mavic Pro 1 (although I know what you mean), and no Mavic Pro 2. I understand it's easy to confuse all of these, but I had to whine about something. Now I'll just go somewhere else and whine about politics. 🙄
 
I did not know about that limitation between DJI Fly and Litchi.

One of biggest advantages of Litchi is it's ability to keep flying the mission after signal is lost, which in some cases can happen well before the aircraft flies over the horizon.

I stopped following the Mavic 3 forums once I decided that I would not upgrade to it, but last I heard, DJI had not released an SDK for that (so that Litchi could add that model to it's support list). But even if they had released it by now, that model uses DJI Fly.

So it sounds like DJI is really working against autonomous flight missions. I wonder if this is true for higher-level DJ products, because automation is pretty big in professional video production now.

Chris
 
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A most entertaining post, Sir! I, too, am a big fan of the M2P and autonomous missions. From what I have gleaned elsewhere, and this is distilled opinion, DJI is reserving autonomy for their professional lines as one of the major benefits of going big.

I do miss the days of long-range FPV, very much so. For me, it was the apex of RC flight. The fact that it is now illegal blows my mind. And I fly in some of the most remote locations in the Northeast where the airspace below 35,000' ASL belongs to merlins, red tails, and snow buntings.

I still fly my M2P as my workhorse, for instance recently completing (November) a long and complex shoreline survey for a non-profit lake association. She performed flawlessly in continuous winds including some from a 3-mile fetch along the wind axis. Got many high-wind warnings but the output was just as I wanted it. I just love this rig and what she has onboard (and what she does not have onboard, as well). My M2P has also spent a lot of airtime working sub-montane forests in the High Peaks region of NW Maine, in the NE Kingdom of VT and across the CT River into the Northern Whites. It is a reliable performer and has never let me down. That said, I am a careful op and always use checklists, always calibrate, triple-check route programming, and run 222MHz ham-band beacons and VIFLY beacons. I have other DJI machines but the M2P is my sweetheart. I have lost many aircraft over the years but I absolutely don't want to lose her.

Thanks again for the post.
 
Congratulations, you should be happy with your M2P purchase. Having flown mine for a number of years I can offer some advice. First, don’t implicitly trust the obstacle avoidance sensors. They can be fooled by small branches, wires, etc. Second, remember to take off the camera protection piece before flight, although it isn’t a serious problem if you do. I have done it a few times without any long term consequences. And lastly, have fun!
 
Funny you should mention obstacle avoidance issues with the MP2 because a while back I had my Mavic Pro 1 hit the brakes and stop randomly and repeatedly during a couple of autonomous Litchi flights. I was offered advice in the MP1 forum that recommended disabling obstacle avoidance for the MP1 when the sun is low on the horizon because apparently the sun itself had been known to falsely trigger obstacle avoidance in the MP1 and cause the drone to stop unexpectedly. Initially not knowing the reason for those abrupt waypoint mission stops was unnerving at the time for sure.

Hopefully, the anomaly of false triggering being caused by the sun is not a concern with the Mavic 2 Pro. I sure look forward to the delivery of this new toy, and I will do a complete calibration of the IMU, GPS, camera, and obstacle sensors before launching my first flight. I appreciate the reminder to remove the camera gimbal protector before each flight. I tend to be absent-minded and have come very close to making that mistake more than once,
 
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The M2P will also get false warnings when the sun is low, or when the AC is flying into a very bright area. It doesn't happen often though.

Another obstacle avoidance tip: the side sensors are the least sensitive, so trust them the least. If you need to fly sideways while filming, then look to the side first (turn the AC that direction and look at your screen), then re-orient and do the shot. Also, when flying sideways, watch the bird, NOT the screen (you can play it back after the shot), unless you have a spotter watching for you.

Chris
 
I ran into the EXACT same issue with the M2P a few years ago. I was flying around noon on the winter solstice (I think we were like 15 min. off of the exact moment of the solstice) and when the autonomous flight turned S into the sun to get back home, she stopped and went into a hover. After a couple minutes of WTF panic, I cancelled the mission and just happened to turn her away from the sun and issue resolved. Any time I fly around that time of the year, I am careful to avoid direct flight into the sun. Well, not into the sun but you get what I mean :cool: . I have not had the same problem flying at/around sunrise or sunset into the sun many dozens of times, even in winter.

Chris, that's great advice. I had no idea of that.
 
Halifax yours is the first mention I've spotted thus far about the MP2 collision avoidance sensors getting confused by the sun in the same way as occurs with the MP1. With virtually all my drone flights cruising along well clear of all obstacles at 150 feet of altitude, I am beginning to feel that maybe a complete disabling of all obstacle avoidance sensors would be the way to go during the Litchi waypoint flights I typically fly.

The caution from Chris about MP2 side sensors being the least reliable gives me further incentive to play it safe by ensuring all collision avoidance is temporarily disabled during Litchi waypoint missions. With my MP1 drone, I found that I needed to re-activate the downward-looking landing protection sensors before descending to land, otherwise, the drone can become unstable on the final landing approach, and oscillate wildly like a yo-yo in response to the smallest throttle adjustments as I lower the drone to land.

On reading through the MP2 manual, the sheer multiplicity of collision avoidance sensors is an impressive technological advance over the MP1, while the camera of the MP2 is a quantum leap ahead of the camera on the MP1. The MP2 will certainly become my favorite drone, even as I cling to my archaic Phantom 3 Standard relics that still take to the skies very often out here in the sticks.
 
The eagle has landed and my new-to-me Mavic 2 Pro is sitting on my table ready for calibration of all aspects from the compass, to the IMU, GPS, ant-collision sensors, and camera gimbal. When I took delivery of my older Mavic 1 Pro drone a couple of years ago, I didn't bother with any calibration until the drone started acting up and stopping uncommanded during Litchi waypoint missions. I will not be so lazy as to skip the calibration process with this pricier Mavic 2 Pro, and so I've studied enough youtube videos on the subject to now declare myself an authority figure and consultant on all things drone calibration. Details at ten.
 
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The eagle has landed and my new-to-me Mavic 2 Pro is sitting on my table ready for calibration of all aspects from the compass, to the IMU, GPS, ant-collision sensors, and camera gimbal. When I took delivery of my older Mavic 1 Pro drone a couple of years ago, I didn't bother with any calibration until the drone started acting up and stopping uncommanded during Litchi waypoint missions. I will not be so lazy as to skip the calibration process with this pricier Mavic 2 Pro, and so I've studied enough youtube videos on the subject to now declare myself an authority figure and consultant on all things drone calibration. Details at ten.
Pretty well doing the same with mine. I did a maiden flight of a short waypoint mission but it was asking me to calibrate the compass every time I started it so I demagnetized the compass and I want to fly it a few times before I take it on a waypoint mission I have planned over the river here.
Hope it all goes well for you. I sure like how solid the bird is compared to the other two i've owned.
 
I did not know about that limitation between DJI Fly and Litchi.

One of biggest advantages of Litchi is it's ability to keep flying the mission after signal is lost, which in some cases can happen well before the aircraft flies over the horizon.

I stopped following the Mavic 3 forums once I decided that I would not upgrade to it, but last I heard, DJI had not released an SDK for that (so that Litchi could add that model to it's support list). But even if they had released it by now, that model uses DJI Fly.

So it sounds like DJI is really working against autonomous flight missions. I wonder if this is true for higher-level DJ products, because automation is pretty big in professional video production now.

Chris
well done, I just use Litchi and fly VR with Samsung Oculus goggles I adapted, very good optics and use a Samsung S10 plus which gives out 550 dots per inch, I can't understand why so many fork out 700 euros here for Goggles 2 when its almost free to fly VR with litchi plus the battery lasts for many flights in the phone. Ive travelled extensively with this and a air 2S.
Enjoy
 
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