Picked up an MPP today.

[CaptainRisky]

Hi all,

Just scored a new never used MPP with 4 batteries (fly more kit and 1 extra) from a bike shop owner who had a dabble in stocking them.

It's definitely new as the app said so and offered me to register warranty and get a DJI care plan or something... Would they still warrant it, and is the plan worth it?

Here's what I got for 800AUD:





I'm totally new to the DJI system, so I've just gone with a hover test so far. I like to run new batteries down to 30% gently and charge them a few times for better life, as well as run a couple of heat cycles through the motors/bearings.

Quite an amazing machine! I'm really impressed with how it holds position. I guess that's no big deal for most on here, but to see it doing it for the first time was satisfying.



The app works fine with my 8" Lenovo Android tablet, which I was happy about. One little drama was that the tablet charges itself from the controller and drains it quickly. Would that be as simple as finding a non charging/data only cable? Do they even make them?



I've built a couple of drones in the past and done a bit of fixed wing. I was thinking of getting a cheap Phantom 3 advanced, but this is a special bit of kit and much more transportable.

I did my study and wanted a Platinum, but was going to settle for a standard and change the props. Really happy this one came along at the last minute.

 

[old man mavic]

@CaptainRisky ,you have got in my opinion, one of the best drones from the DJI stable,
mine is almost 4 years old now and still flies perfectly ,it is very well made and the improvements,over the original Mavic 1 are really good ,the GO4 app is a pleasure to use ,and it allows you to set the drone up to suit your flying style ,it has IMU and Compass redundancy ,for added reliability ,and none of the battery swelling issues ,that have plagued the Mavic Pro 2

 

[Zonian]

Nice find! MP/MPP are great quads IMO.

 

[howardK]

Hi all,

Just scored a new never used MPP with 4 batteries (fly more kit and 1 extra) from a bike shop owner who had a dabble in stocking them.

It's definitely new as the app said so and offered me to register warranty and get a DJI care plan or something... Would they still warrant it, and is the plan worth it?

Here's what I got for 800AUD:

View attachment 153236

View attachment 153237

I'm totally new to the DJI system, so I've just gone with a hover test so far. I like to run new batteries down to 30% gently and charge them a few times for better life, as well as run a couple of heat cycles through the motors/bearings.

Quite an amazing machine! I'm really impressed with how it holds position. I guess that's no big deal for most on here, but to see it doing it for the first time was satisfying.

View attachment 153238

The app works fine with my 8" Lenovo Android tablet, which I was happy about. One little drama was that the tablet charges itself from the controller and drains it quickly. Would that be as simple as finding a non charging/data only cable? Do they even make them?

View attachment 153240

I've built a couple of drones in the past and done a bit of fixed wing. I was thinking of getting a cheap Phantom 3 advanced, but this is a special bit of kit and much more transportable.

I did my study and wanted a Platinum, but was going to settle for a standard and change the props. Really happy this one came along at the last minute.

I have two of the M1P's and 5 batteries for each (for flying and a few more that i can use for desk work). If go to No Limit Drones there is software that is easily loaded onto the drone. You can customize max altitude, no fly zones, ascent and descent rates etc.

 

[Dbez1]

Congratulations on your find.

 

[CaptainRisky]

@CaptainRisky ,you have got in my opinion, one of the best drones from the DJI stable,
mine is almost 4 years old now and still flies perfectly ,it is very well made and the improvements,over the original Mavic 1 are really good ,the GO4 app is a pleasure to use ,and it allows you to set the drone up to suit your flying style ,it has IMU and Compass redundancy ,for added reliability ,and none of the battery swelling issues ,that have plagued the Mavic Pro 2

Yes, that's what I thought when I looked into it.

I'm interested now in getting a pair of DJI Goggles, possibly the black racing edition ones for their faster processing speed or something like that. I don't think the tablet will suit my use over the long term given the bright sun, and for my drone fishing plans the head tracking should be perfect.

Running in batteries makes a big difference IMHO. I just wish this charger had a balance storage feature so I could look after the batteries better. I'm wondering if there isn't a way to use my LIPO charger with these.

GO4 is offering me a firmware update which I've declined so far. Should I let it update?

 

[old man mavic]

@CaptainRisky ,there was a GO4 update back a short while ago, i am on IOS and the new Version is 4.3.50,i think it was around the beginning of July 2022 when it was released ,

 

[CaptainRisky]

Thanks guys, very happy with my choice so far.

So today I ran all 4 batteries down to 30% by hovering for a second time, but this time I timed it with a stopwatch from auto liftoff to low battery warning.

Batt 1. 19.20
Batt 2. 19.11
Batt 3. 19.14
Batt 4. 18.52

In fairness to Batt 4 it was getting so windy it probably wasn't a good idea to be flying, and you could hear the thing working and correcting. I understand that it uses less battery when actually flying, so I guess I can hope for 20 minute flights which will be fine for me I think.

After that I update the firmware via the GO 4 app. I tried with Assistant 2 but it wouldn't do it. The app was warning me that it needed a firmware update, to I did it just to stop the messages to be honest. It all went through fine, took a while. I don't think I'll need any custom firmware or anything like that for my needs. Not yet anyway.

I then went through all the calibrations like controller sticks, compass and IMU. Some of those were a bit out and now they're all in the green and look the same, so I'm sure it was a good thing. Do I do the compass every time I got to a new location? I don't want it to fly off on me lol.

I swear it's a bit quieter since if that's possible (the wind had dropped though). Very smooth and quiet now compared to other drones I've flown. Very mellow sound.

Tomorrow I'll head out the farm and try a real flight over open country, now that I'm satisfied it's all working and set up.

I'm hooked now and am already looking for a set of DJI goggles to go with it. Any advice there? Should I hold out for the black racing edition ones, or will the standard white ones do?

Cheers all for the advice and kind words.

 

[old man mavic]

@CaptainRisky ,you only need to do a compass calibration if asked ,and sometimes just moving away a few feet from what was causing the message ,such as rebar or some other buried ferrous metal ,and even being to close to a metal object ,such as a vehicle ,it will disappear if you move
i think in my 4 years of flying my MPP i have probably only calibrated the compass no more than 5 times ,and the IMU only the one time ,when i first set the drone up

 

[CaptainRisky]

@CaptainRisky ,you only need to do a compass calibration if asked ,and sometimes just moving away a few feet from what was causing the message ,such as rebar or some other buried ferrous metal ,and even being to close to a metal object ,such as a vehicle ,it will disappear if you move
i think in my 4 years of flying my MPP i have probably only calibrated the compass no more than 5 times ,and the IMU only the one time ,when i first set the drone up

Thank you,

So all I have to do is set up and wait for the GPS to lock and set the home position?

I'm off to a different location 70kms away tomorrow and want to try using the RTH and waypoint functions. I'd hate for it to try to head back to my house...

It was metal that upset it at my place today. Just sitting on the timber deck with nails in it was enough for it to ask to be moved.

I'll just keep an eye on the sensor health bars or whatever it was in the advanced menu. They looked a lot better after I did it all today. One was yellow and they were all different lengths. Now they're all green and exactly the same length.

 

[RoarRoar]

I have a fleet of drones and this one is still one I grab often even though I have newer ones with longer range and better cameras.

Its reliable, solid, and have never really had any issues with it.

 

[CaptainRisky]

First big fly today out on the farm, ran 4 pack through her and loved it! No buyers remorse. At first it was pretty unnerving, but as I got used to looking at the tablet I felt better.

All I did today was smart takeoffs, fly out and RTH. 2 of the smart landings actually landed hands free, but it was blowing pretty hard and the other times it hovered just above the pad and I landed it. I shouldn't have been flying in such wind, but I've always been a bugger for that. It handled it well enough but did flash some warnings.

I was amazed at the battery life and camera view. I took it out to 2kms on one flight (over private land) and not so much as a flicker on the screen. It was good to hit the RTH button and watch it just stop, turn and head home on the screen. Never doubted it.

Next flight I may mess with waypoints, or I might just practice flying my fence lines more. I'm certainly not ready to take it fishing.

I made some changes to my settings. I changed the battery discharge tome to 3 days, C1 to flash up all the battery info and C2 to turn the front LED's off and on for my drop release mechanism. Other than that it all suits me fine.

Things I wasn't as keen on...

The handbag that comes with it. I've got 4 batteries and as well as that I didn't like forcing the drone into that bag. I got this case, but Amazon had listed one with damaged packaging (last one) from the Aus warehouse for 130AUD. Holds 4 batteries plus the one in the drone. All the others seemed to only hold 2 extra batteries. Should be good.

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B01MYV61I4/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That mongrel little locking clip on the camera. I've got it down now, but it's fiddly. All that looks pretty delicate, and I can see how people have to change ribbon cables. Nothing I can do about that.

The charger. Seriously, with such a high end drone you'd think they'd do something a little better. I totally understand it's a closed product and they don't want you making up your own charge settings, but a balanced storage charge button would've been so much better than just running it down to an approximate level.

I think the last thing I'll get is a basic set of filters. To be honest I'm not big on photography, but I'll want some sort of polarized lens to spot fish when I'm over the surf. I'm thinking about these:

PolarPro Filters for DJI Mavic Pro Drone | Cinema Series | Vivid Collection | HERO GEAR

Shop NOW at HERO GEAR for PolarPro Filters for DJI Mavic Pro Drone | Cinema Series | Vivid Collection | FREE Shipping Australia Wide

www.herogear.com.au

That should get me through the basics. TBH I don't like to think of that camera just being open to the elements. Unless anyone suggests something else?

Probably more exciting for me than experienced pilots, but it was a good day.

EDIT:

I ended up ordering these, as apparently PL can be difficult to set and I wanted a 32 in there as well. Hopefully these will be the right ones for me:

PolarPro Filters for DJI Mavic Pro/Platinum Drone | Cinema Series | Shutter Coll 817465020289 | eBay

The shutter collection for the Mavic contains ND8, ND16, and ND32 filters, for reducing shutter speed. Note: Mavic Pro drones are shown for demonstration purposes ONLY and are NOT included. Cinema Series multi-coated glass for pristine Optics.

www.ebay.com.au

 

[CaptainRisky]

Another bargain score today. I'm keen to enter this hobby on a budget, so I've been shopping carefully.

I got this for 130AUD on Amazon, apparently discounted due to damaged packaging. It's an awesome case, made in Canada and 30 bucks cheaper than a Chinese ebay case. Holds 4 batteries too.

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B01MYV61I4?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image

Only downside is that it's really heavy.







I've got an apparently hardly used set of black DJI racing edition goggles coming as well that I picked up for 300AUD, and at that point I think it's all good.

I took some awesome video yesterday over miles of wetlands. Even on the default settings it looked brilliant, so I can't wait to see how I go with some filters and settings. Loving it all so far.