Hello fellow
Mavic 2 drone operators. Forgive me, but I just gotta rant. I am not asking for answers or help (just ranting)... and making one small suggestion to moderators.
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Rant: For me, I find it difficult explain in clear words how frustrated I am with the dysfunctional, buggy, irrational and illogical the DJI FlySafe system to be during my 1st 6 weeks of
M2P ownership. In the last year, prior to owning a DJI drone, I read numerous stories where folks refer to their grounded DJI drones as $2000 paperweights, etc. but I never really took their gripes seriously (I figured these people were probably just not that bright with respect to technology). Long story-short, I am now one of those people! :-( I have gotten this drone off the ground cleanly/uneventfully about 4 times without flysafe/geofencing/no-fly issues, out of about 8-12 attempts, in the last 6 weeks. There are multiple reasons ( again, I am not asking for answers) but the main reason is that the DJI flysafe system truly sucks! Other reasons are: I happen to live in an area with lots of illogical blue auth. zones (much of which is not FAA CONTROLLED airspace) between Salem OR and Portland OR. Also, another reason is perhaps because my app/display is a non-cellular-activated ipad
Mini 2 32gb, (which I teather via bluetooth, to my gorgeous but useless [smart-controller-draining] pixel XL phone) seems to be especially prone to Go4 app problems when onsite and teathered to phone and dealing with auth/unlocking issues. Meanwhile, to add to my frustration in my general area (Portland to Salem) there are numerous areas of
controlled, class d and even class c airspace that are only considered "enhanced warning zones" by the geniuses at DJI!! I have seen and witnessed clueless recreational DJI pilots flying their Mavic Pros and Phantom 3s, etc. in both class d and even class c controlled airspace, with no legal permission (other than fact that they are not in DJI's red restricted or dopey blue auth. zones when flying)! This is very frustrating to witness as they wrecklessly buzz over the local dog park each week in Salem, in class D airspace and even in class c airspace in a dog park in Southeast Portland with no FAA authorization whatsoever, other than dopey DJI Go4 app saying click here and "be careful" lol! And i can barely get my drone to fly in uncontrolled airspace! Yes, I am new to the DJI ecosystem (just bought
M2P 6 weeks ago), but this is my 4th drone...I am no longer a beginner. I am part 107 certified, have a registered business, insurance , I have flown professionally (side hustle only)...I have an engineering degree and a doctoral-level degree and I must say the last 6 weeks have been the most unenjoyable and frustrating aspect of my experience with drones. It really has soured me to DJI, which we all know unquestionably has the overall best prosumer drone technology in the world, if only you can get them to fly. For me, one day it might be fine and the next day/scenario you are locked down and full or bugs depending on various many factors. But the worst is the
unpredictability/unreliability of the system which creates un-necessary stress and emotional tension and really sours me to using this drone on professional shoots because i do NOT know what is going to happen. So, my drone is currently for sale (I bought it used from a good friend, and I will probably sell at a small loss due to recent black-friday-related drop in used
M2P prices in last month). That said, I will continue to try to forge onward/work out issues, but really the big issue I can't fix, because it is the DJI system itself that is main cause, IMHO. If I do get my price, this baby is gone, gone, gone! We only have so many hours/days/weeks in this brief life of ours and I would rather have a technically-lesser drone (my autel evo experience has been absolutely amazing and pure joy, for example) and the freedom to fly RESPONSIBLY and LAWFULLY (which I am committed to), than waste dozens of life's precious hours trying to find time-consuming/money-consuming workarounds to this irrational, buggy and unpredictable system. Again, my apologies but i just had to spew. Next time, I will tell you how I really feel, Lol.
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On a positive note, I have scoured quite a bit of good and helpful info. re. this topic here on these forums by using the search tool and reading through the various disparate threads (located all over the forums). Thank you again to all of you who selflessly offer your help/expertise here. I genuinely appreciate it!
Suggestion for moderator(s):
I will close by suggesting that the moderator(s) consider making a dedicated sub-forum somewhere for problems specific to DJI's FlySafe System as these problems seem to be a pretty common reason why folks either avoid and/or sell DJI drones.
Thank you.