Newbie with easy questions

[Chaosrider]

Not for people with chubby klutzy fingers!

There's a reason why, when I bought my new Samsung S20 to run DJI Fly, I got the "Note" version"

But your right, I just checked, and I had forgotten how badly I hate not being able to hit an "X" to close an app.

I remember now, of course...

(sigh)

 

[danwnz]

Welcome to our forum all the way from Brisbane Australia

 

[LoudThunder]

Am new to my SE today,

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA. We have a Member's Map in the Upper Right of the Title Bar. Click on "Members" and then Click on "Member's Map…" Check it out and you might find some new flying friends.

Member Map

mavicpilots.com

As a New Drone Pilot, there are a couple of Legal Things you may need to do…

If you have not already done so, you will need to get your TRUST Certificate. You can get that at the Pilot Institute Web Site (FREE…) . If your Drone weighs less than 250-grams (0.55 pounds) and you are flying under The Exception for Recreational Flyers, you are not required to register your Drone.

I registered my Mini 2 because the TRUST Certificate and FAA Registration established me as a "certified" Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Flyer.

Link to the TRUST Certificate at the Pilot Institute Web Site (FREE…)

FAA TRUST Online Portal for Recreational Drone Operators - Pilot Institute

Get your FAA TRUST Certificate of Completion to legally fly drones for recreational reasons in the United States.

trust.pilotinstitute.com

Link to the FAADroneZone (Optional Registration for Drones under 250-Grams…)

FAADroneZone

faadronezone.faa.gov

If you are considering acquiring your Part 107 License, here is a link to get you going…

Online Ground School: Aviation Classes - Pilot Institute

Pilot Institute offers courses on drones and airplanes from world-class experts. Pass the Part 107 or Private Pilot exam and take to the skies.

pilotinstitute.com

Since you live in The United States of America, there are specific laws and rules for you to follow, please check the link below for all the Rules and Laws that are in effect in your neck of the woods and it also links you to some of the Best Places to Fly in your area… Also, if you travel on vacation, visit friends, and relatives in other parts of the country, check back here so you do not run afoul of the law.

Drone Laws and Best Places to Fly in Every US State - Pilot Institute

pilotinstitute.com

Even if you have flown Drones before, here is some Good Old Fashion Advice…

Do not let the excitement of the moment get the best of you. When you are going out to fly, do it slowly and deliberately. Get used to a set procedure and even practice it.

There are so many things I could write but these are the highlights that I feel need mentioning.

Plug in your phone/tablet into your controller; turn on the Controller and DJI Fly App (if it does not start on its own…). On the Drone, open the front legs, then open the back legs, then remove the Gimbal Cover.

The Gimbal is the most delicate item on the Drone and banging or bumping can damage it. I also fastened a short "Remove Before Flight" ribbon to the cover so it's more noticeable and I do not forget to remove it…

Turn on the drone and watch it come to "life." Watching the Gimbal go through its self-check is almost like watching a kitten or puppy opening its eyes for the first time…

Place the drone down (preferably on a Landing Pad) while it finishes its self-test (collecting satellites, etc…).

Check your battery status (Phone, Drone, and Controller), check the Signal Strength, by now the Controller should have reported it updated the Home Point.

Lift off, 4-5 feet (1-1/2 meters) or so, hover a bit, check the controls (move the drone a bit forward, back, left, right, yaw left and right). By now, your Controller will probably report again, Home point Updated.

If you go out in a rush and race thru your start up and take off before the drone has finished it prep, it may update its Home Point over that pond or that old tree you are flying over and in your excitement, you'll fly the drone long past it Low Battery point and when it engages Return to Home and lands in the pond or in a tree; it will be all on you…

Now go have fun, learn to fly the drone by sight before you try to fly it out a distance depending on the video feed, FPV.

I would also advise you to use YouTube and watch a lot of the Videos on flying and setting up the Drone. When it is too dark, too cold, or too wet, you can "fly it vicariously" through YouTube. Also watch some of the Blooper Drone Videos and learn how not to fly your "New Baby."

Below is the link to all of the downloads offered by DJI for the Mini SE, including the User Manual.

After you read the Manual, read it again, you will be surprised what you missed the first time and you will be better prepared for that first "scary moment…"

DJI Mini SE - Download Center - DJI

Learn and download DJI Mini SE related apps, software, and manuals at the DJI Download Center

www.dji.com

Happy Droning…

 

[Grandpa don]

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I have an Android (Samsung) phone. An A21 I think. For me closing the app is easy. I swipe up from the very bottom of the screen. (SEE MY CORRECTION BELOW) That will bring up 3 buttons. The one in the middle is a square. Click on it and the app will disappear. You will only have about 4 seconds to select the square, then you will have to swipe up again.

You can also Force Close the app by swiping down from the top of the screen twice. Then select the gear (setting). Scroll down to "Apps". Find the DJI app you are using. In my case it is DJI Fly. At the bottom of the screen is a "Force Stop" button. Click on that and the app will be gone. You can also open it again on that screen. You may get a message saying that you could create an error. That's because doing a Force Close may delete any thing you have created on this particular flight that you might want to save. For me that's no big deal. I rarely use the Force close feature, but it is another way to get out of the app.

EDITED CORRECTION: I made a slight mistake in my instructions. When my DJI Fly app is open, I have the phone laying horizontal and not vertical. Therefore, I meant to say that you swipe from right to left on the very right side of the phone.

 

[Grandpa don]

I made a slight misake in my instructions. When my DJI Fly app is open, I have the phone laying horizontal and not vertical. Therefore, I meant to say that you swipe from right to left on the very right side of the phone.

 

[Etbrown4]

Here's another easy one. I see in other forums dji owners talking about a pause or emergency stop button.

Does the mini se have that? My impression to pause or stop you just let go of both sticks.

 

[Meta4]

Here's another easy one. I see in other forums dji owners talking about a pause or emergency stop button.

Does the mini se have that?

Top left of the controller.
From p8/9 of the manual ...

Flight Pause and Return to Home (RTH) Button
Press once to make the aircraft brake.
If the aircraft is performing a QuickShot, Intelligent RTH, or auto landing, press once to make the aircraft exit the procedure and hover in place.
Press and hold the button to initiate RTH.
The aircraft returns to the last recorded Home Point.
Press again to cancel RTH

 

[LoudThunder]

Please re-read the inserted text. Does it anywhere say "emergence" in the text you inserted? No it does not, it says "pause."

That button will only terminate a sequence that you initialed, like a quick shot or a RTH (that you initiated. If the drone is performing a RTH because it lost connectivity or is about to drop dead because you ignored the low battery warning, then I suggest you do not mess with "pausing" that action or you may have a real emergency when you try to retrieve your drone from a lake, pond, tree, etc...

I personally would not pause a drone initiated RTH as at that point of time, it knows more than me...

If you believe that you have discovered an Emergency Stop Button, then you had better contact DJI, because they did not put it there...

 

[chipbl]

Et rown4, to turn off the RC or the aircraft, it’s a short press followed very quickly by a press and hold.

To quit the DJI Fly app, it will be like quitting any other app on your mobile phone or tablet, whether that would be an iOS device or Android. Some of us do turn off the cellular capability so a call doesn’t interrupt during a critical moment whilst flying.

I am part of a dozen or so drone pilots in our little town, and to a woman or a man, it has always been extremely polite and helpful when contacting DJI support through email.

Welcome to the forum!
Ernst

I'm not sure how easily I could actually take a call during flight, but the LAANC authorization does state this: "During UAS operations for on-site communication/recall, [PIC] shall be continuously available for direct contact at (phone #) by Air Traffic."

Probably overthinking this...

 

[LoudThunder]

Probably overthinking this...

It's your choice to use your phone as a flying device for the DJI Fly App. I use my tablet and my phone remains free. I've seen numerous YouTube Videos where the poster received a phone call on their phone while flying. They just let their drone hover while they answer the phone. They usually say that they should have put their phone into airplane mode. But that does not respond to your "LAANC stay tuned…" notice.

If you turn off your phone while flying, you still have complete control over your drone through the controller.

So, I suggest you experiment with flying your drone close enough to actually see and control it without using the phone. Have someone call you and see how it all works out. Remember, as long as the controller is active and you can see your bird to control it, the worse that can happen is you have to reboot the app… Just don't do it when the battery is exhausted…

 

[kodak_jack]

I too wondered how to get out of the app as it takes up the whole screen and doesn't leave anything obvious to close it down.
OBTW, even after watching many YouTube videos and taking notes, I had a very hard time installing the Fly app on my Android phone. It took well over an hour.

 

[kodak_jack]

It's your choice to use your phone as a flying device for the DJI Fly App. I use my tablet and my phone remains free. I've seen numerous YouTube Videos where the poster received a phone call on their phone while flying. They just let their drone hover while they answer the phone. They usually say that they should have put their phone into airplane mode. But that does not respond to your "LAANC stay tuned…" notice.

If you turn off your phone while flying, you still have complete control over your drone through the controller.

So, I suggest you experiment with flying your drone close enough to actually see and control it without using the phone. Have someone call you and see how it all works out. Remember, as long as the controller is active and you can see your bird to control it, the worse that can happen is you have to reboot the app… Just don't do it when the battery is exhausted…

You're an older guy, like me, and I haven't received my mini 2SE yet. Just downloading the app is giving me anxiety about being able to use the phone. There are a lot of tiny icons and the print all over the screen is small. Did I mention I have sausage fingers? What tablet do you use? I saw a video where a guy used an Amazon Fire 7 tablet and it looked very promising. Then, I read in the comments that DJI pushed through an update in October of 2024 and it took away the ability to use "other" brands of tablets besides the iPads.
Thanks.

 

[Meta4]

Then, I read in the comments that DJI pushed through an update in October of 2024 and it took away the ability to use "other" brands of tablets besides the iPads.

Whoever wrote that had no idea what he was talking about.
DJI's Go 4 and Fly apps work just as well on Android tablets as they do on iPads.

 

[kodak_jack]

Whoever wrote that had no idea what he was talking about.
DJI's Go 4 and Fly apps work just as well on Android tablets as they do on iPads.

I can only go by what I read in the comments. The poster made it sound as if the app would no longer work. For somebody who doesn’t want to spend more on the tablet than they paid for the drone, it seems like the cheap ones are good enough to mess around with. I have a regular iPad, but it seems too big and heavy.

 

[LoudThunder]

You're an older guy, like me, and I haven't received my mini 2SE yet. Just downloading the app is giving me anxiety about being able to use the phone. There are a lot of tiny icons and the print all over the screen is small. Did I mention I have sausage fingers? What tablet do you use? I saw a video where a guy used an Amazon Fire 7 tablet and it looked very promising. Then, I read in the comments that DJI pushed through an update in October of 2024 and it took away the ability to use "other" brands of tablets besides the iPads.
Thanks.

I use three different Android devices with the DJI Fly App Version 1.17.4 (the latest and Greatest…) on all three. I use a Motorola Moto G Power (the Play 2024 also works…) and I absolutely agree that it is a misery to use such a small screen. But I also use two different Galaxy Tablets. The A8 has a 10-inch screen but it is heavy, about 1-1/2 pounds. I also (and this is my Go To device) a S2 with an 8-inch screen and it only weights about 9-ounces… The S2 is a 2017 model and only available on line used…

Both work great, but they do have an issue with the Sun and I often fold a piece of cardboard over the top to shade the screen when I am out in the direct sunlight…

The issue of using these tablets is that you will need some way to mount them. I built my own bracket out of scrap Plexiglas.

The following posting addresses mounting a tablet to our controller. My version is near the end of the posting with full instructions… I have since replaced the 3' cable with a 6" cable…

Post in thread 'Fly no longer supported on any iPad Minis!'

Sep 2, 2022

I also have a Galaxy A8 (10" Screen, 4 BG Ram, 64 GB Storage, Android 11.0) and it works great, but and that's a BIG BUT, it's heavy, about a 1.3 pounds and although I like the larger image, I do not like the extra weight, since the tablet is mounted above the controller, it has a tendency to "roll over"… I've tried a neck strap but flying does not feel right… When I flew fixed wing RC aircraft, it was fine as I was always looking at the acft, and knew by feel where all the controls were, not so with the drone, camera settings, gimbal angles, etc…

Is this the tablet mount you are...

• cheddar-man

But as you mentioned, you have "Fat Fingers" so removing the battery out of your new mini will be problematic at best, and this is how I resolved that…

Post in thread 'BATTERY REMOVAL'

Nov 4, 2022

solution on easy removal from drone.

I too found it exceedingly difficult to remove the battery from the Mini 2 and I've had four Mini 2s and they were all the same…

Back story… The first one had camera issues and I returned it for a replacement, I then crashed the replacement and replaced it with care refresh, that replacement was also defective with GPS issues and I returned it under warranty, and then I received its replacement and I've been flying that one for almost a year…

OK, back on Point, How to Easily Remove the Battery without ripping a Finger Nail off…

I took a...

• LoudThunder

• 

Good Luck, I hope you have many hours of fun. Just start off slow and do not try it out in your house or an enclosed back yard… It seems a lot of newbies get confused with the controls, overreact and fly their new drone into the house, the garage, or a tree in the back yard…

One newbie flew it into his wife who swatted it away and broke one of its arms all in the first minute of flight…

 

[kodak_jack]

I’ll look into the Galaxy tablets. I don’t care if it’s used if I’m only going to use it as a glorified display. I saw a video where the guy gave a link to a 3-D printed battery tool. Everything that’s enjoyable comes with its challenges, doesn’t it?

 

[Meta4]

I can only go by what I read in the comments. The poster made it sound as if the app would no longer work.

He was completely wrong and spreading misinformation.

For somebody who doesn’t want to spend more on the tablet than they paid for the drone, it seems like the cheap ones are good enough to mess around with.

You need to have a tablet with a fast enough processor and 4GB of RAM.
An old clunker isn't going to be work well, whether it's an Android or Apple device.

I have a regular iPad, but it seems too big and heavy.

Eight inch tablets are just about right - not too small and not too big.

 

[AnzacJack]

I can only go by what I read in the comments. The poster made it sound as if the app would no longer work. For somebody who doesn’t want to spend more on the tablet than they paid for the drone, it seems like the cheap ones are good enough to mess around with. I have a regular iPad, but it seems too big and heavy.

and now you have read another comment, from an extremely experienced user. I know which comment i would disregard

 

[kodak_jack]

He was completely wrong and spreading misinformation.

You need to have a tablet with a fast enough processor and 4GB of RAM.
An old clunker isn't going to be work well, whether it's an Android or Apple device.

Eight inch tablets are just about right - not too small and not too big.

Thanks.

He was completely wrong and spreading misinformation.

You need to have a tablet with a fast enough processor and 4GB of RAM.
An old clunker isn't going to be work well, whether it's an Android or Apple device.

Eight inch tablets are just about right - not too small and not too big.

Thanks. I’ll have a look.