Signal loss & aircraft disconnection issues after faultless use for over 18 months

[Southwest-flyer]

I’ve owned & flown a Mavic Air since Nov 2018. It’s been faultless for over 18 months, I’ve had no issues with it at all. I’ve updated the firmware when prompted to do so by the DJI Go app and recalibrated the IMU a couple of times. I had my first ‘signal lost, aircraft disconnected’ the other day which spooked me - it was terrifying, but the RTH kicked in and it did land itself. I researched the topic online and immediately tried another cable in the main USB socket at the bottom of the RC instead of the rather flimsy DJI cable supplied. On a test flight last night it flew normally for the duration of the first battery, then I got ‘signal lost’ half way through the second batt. Anyone know what’s the next step to remedy this? I can’t help but ponder (and it is a theory of mine) that in these days of built in obsolescence that DJI may have incorporated some sort of bug/glitch in firmware updates to cause these ‘signal loses’ just to force you into getting a newer model. Coincidentally the new Mavic Air 2 has been recently released, funny timing after such reliable service? It does make one wonder, however ‘out there’ my theory may be.

 

[slup]

I’ve owned & flown a Mavic Air since Nov 2018. It’s been faultless for over 18 months, I’ve had no issues with it at all. I’ve updated the firmware when prompted to do so by the DJI Go app and recalibrated the IMU a couple of times. I had my first ‘signal lost, aircraft disconnected’ the other day which spooked me - it was terrifying, but the RTH kicked in and it did land itself. I researched the topic online and immediately tried another cable in the main USB socket at the bottom of the RC instead of the rather flimsy DJI cable supplied. On a test flight last night it flew normally for the duration of the first battery, then I got ‘signal lost’ half way through the second batt. Anyone know what’s the next step to remedy this? I can’t help but ponder (and it is a theory of mine) that in these days of built in obsolescence that DJI may have incorporated some sort of bug/glitch in firmware updates to cause these ‘signal loses’ just to force you into getting a newer model. Coincidentally the new Mavic Air 2 has been recently released, funny timing after such reliable service? It does make one wonder, however ‘out there’ my theory may be.

So you have flown for 18 month without testing out the failsafe functionality ... always good to give yourself a opportunity to get used & gain trust in a function like that under organized conditions ... in that way you don't panic and you know what to expect. Fly out more than 20m from the HP in a soccer field free of obstacles & people ... turn off your RC with button 11 below. Then see how the AC ascends up to RTH height, turn & come home & land. Nerve wrecking the first time ... yes but then you learn to trust the functionality & you can always start up the RC again as usual & the connection comes back in around 10sec.

A RC to AC disconnect have nothing to do with the USB cable ... that just flush live view info to your screen & screen initiated commands back to the RC & then over to the AC.

You can see on the RC if it's still connected to the AC on the LED below ... if red you've lost connection to the AC, if green you still have connection even though the app have crashed or if the USB have come lose ... you can fly the AC with only the RC, no screen is needed.



An RC-AC disconnect can happen due to several reasons ...

1.Flying with obstacles in between RC & AC, having trees in between during winter without foliage can work but then during summer the foliage becomes a "wall" through the signal can't pass, then buildings or hills etc.

2. You are to far out & the signal strength becomes so weak that it no longer can sustain the connection

3. The area from where you pilot the AC have severe WiFi disturbance

4. The area your AC flies out to have WiFi disturbance

5. You don't point the antennas in the AC direction

6. You don't have the antennas positioned in the correct way

7. You have the AC right above you which is the worst position signal reception & receiving wise ... even though you have the antennas in the correct position

All above can lead to that you lose connection RC-AC ... which normally greys out & freezes the live feed in the app & initiate your chosen failsafe RTH action.

 

[Southwest-flyer]

Thanks for all that info, much appreciated. I didn't say that I had never tried out the RTH failsafe... I have, but I've never had to use it before (until now that is) The red LED did come on so there was a disconnection issue with the RC and the AC for sure. It was a wide open space where I was flying, completely tree and obstacle free. It's where I normally fly recreationally. I just find it really odd that it should start happening now when I've never had issues with connectivity before - it's been solid. There's
always a first time I guess. It's good to know that the RTH will kick in and that the aircraft will return home & land itself, just really annoying that it seems to be occurring moreso now. A few YouTube posts do swear by discarding the
DJI supplied flimsy connector cable and using a good quality cable via the USB A socket at the bottom of the controller. I'll take it all onboard and try to figure it out by myself.

 

[Starz]

This may well be another example of why some avoid(yes,me)updates. I do updates on occasion, but only after hours of research.
My first though would be to downgrade back to the previous version to see if that makes a difference.
Hope you get it resolved!

 

[slup]

Thanks for all that info, much appreciated. I didn't say that I had never tried out the RTH failsafe... I have, but I've never had to use it before (until now that is) The red LED did come on so there was a disconnection issue with the RC and the AC for sure. It was a wide open space where I was flying, completely tree and obstacle free. It's where I normally fly recreationally. I just find it really odd that it should start happening now when I've never had issues with connectivity before - it's been solid. There's
always a first time I guess. It's good to know that the RTH will kick in and that the aircraft will return home & land itself, just really annoying that it seems to be occurring moreso now. A few YouTube posts do swear by discarding the
DJI supplied flimsy connector cable and using a good quality cable via the USB A socket at the bottom of the controller. I'll take it all onboard and try to figure it out by myself.

Yeah ... always good for a more reliable live feed to go for another USB cable & use the bottom connection. But a disconnect there will not make you lose RC-AC connection. Try to fly in another location or direction to see if the problem repeats. If the problem is consistent in a special direction, area or height then you probably have interference there.

This may well be another example of why some avoid(yes,me)updates. I do updates on occasion, but only after hours of research.
My first though would be to downgrade back to the previous version to see if that makes a difference.
Hope you get it resolved!

The newest firmware for MA1 is a year old by now, have also a MA1 with all the latest incl. GO4 & have zero problems. But yeah ... going back to test doesn't hurt, or actually reflash the newest one more time. @Southwest-flyer ... did you also update the RC firmware to the latest?

 

[Deleted member 94047]

did you also update the RC firmware to the latest?

Apologies for the interruption @slup, a while back I wanted to do this and couldn't find a way. The RC never shows up in Assistant 2. Do you know a way to do this? Thanks!

 

[Southwest-flyer]

Yeah ... always good for a more reliable live feed to go for another USB cable & use the bottom connection. But a disconnect there will not make you lose RC-AC connection. Try to fly in another location or direction to see if the problem repeats. If the problem is consistent in a special direction, area or height then you probably have interference there.


The newest firmware for MA1 is a year old by now, have also a MA1 with all the latest incl. GO4 & have zero problems. But yeah ... going back to test doesn't hurt, or actually reflash the newest one more time. @Southwest-flyer ... did you also update the RC firmware to the latest?

Yes, I always do the updates for the AC and the RC at the same time via the DJI Assistant on my desktop mac, but the suggestion of flying in a different location I'll try, thanks.

 

[slup]

Apologies for the interruption @slup, a while back I wanted to do this and couldn't find a way. The RC never shows up in Assistant 2. Do you know a way to do this? Thanks!

Sorry ... but no secrets there, I just open DJI Assistance 2, plug the RC in to my win10 computer & power on the RC, then it shows up & I can update.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Yeah, that doesn't seem to be working for me for some reason. Will try a fresh install of Assistant 2. Thanks for taking the time, much appreciated!

 

[Southwest-flyer]

Yeah ... always good for a more reliable live feed to go for another USB cable & use the bottom connection. But a disconnect there will not make you lose RC-AC connection. Try to fly in another location or direction to see if the problem repeats. If the problem is consistent in a special direction, area or height then you probably have interference there.


The newest firmware for MA1 is a year old by now, have also a MA1 with all the latest incl. GO4 & have zero problems. But yeah ... going back to test doesn't hurt, or actually reflash the newest one more time. @Southwest-flyer ... did you also update the RC firmware to the latest?

This may well be another example of why some avoid(yes,me)updates. I do updates on occasion, but only after hours of research.
My first though would be to downgrade back to the previous version to see if that makes a difference.
Hope you get it resolved!

Me too, I'm always really wary of blindly updating firmware & software just because it's the latest version. Things can work really smoothly for ages then an update can completely upset the apple cart.