Since upgrading from a Mini 2 to an Air 2S it seems I have more worries than I did before

karlblessing · May 19, 2022

Had the Mini 2 for a couple of years (mini 1 briefly before that). And finally got up to the Air 2S a little over a week ago.

While I love the photo, video quality, stability, and what feels like a much more responsive drone there seemed to be quirks that that are popping up every soften that I can't help but wonder if it's the drone, or just DJI being DJI.

On a couple of occasion I had a backward sensor calibration error (180002) with auto calibration failing, and usually I'll land it, give a visual inspection and seems fine but might pop up again eventually had that happen in a couple different locations. Later that day I did an IMU and compass calibration. Haven't seen the sensor error show up yet since.

Once near the start of using it, and a couple times most recently today (not even 10mph gust today) over the exact same spot when trying to do a panoramic (and once when just flying over in normal mode), I had a gimbal overload warning that happened twice, landed, visually looked at the gimbal, didn't see an issue, while low to the ground I tried rotating the drone while moving the gimbal up and down just in case it was maybe a power issue, but no replication, as wall as strafing the drone side to side to make it stabilize the gimbal on the roll axis etc. Tried to get another pano, but got an error of being unable to perform pano. Turned off, changed battery, sent it back up, same gimbal going nuts and stuck again over the same spot. After each time I did a gimbal calibration without any error.

When I got back to the hotel room, pulled the battery and put those on charge, carefully tried the pitch, yaw, and roll axis by finger on the gimbal to see if there was any resistance anywhere (in case there was sand or other debris) didn't feel any resistance on any of them. Went ahead and removed the props, and went thru the gimbal housing with an air bulb as well as blew out the prop motors just in case there was any grit anywhere, didn't see anything noticeable come out.

Since I have my laptop with me tonight, went ahead and downloaded DJI Assistant 2, plugged up the Air 2s, downloaded logs, sync'd to AirData, etc. And went ahead just for the sake of completion, and did the visual sensor calibration (that process where you follow the dots on the screen for the front, back, bottom, and top avoidance). I might just do a complete reset of it just to be sure currently at the latest version of the DJI App and firmware as of this week.

Not going to be able to test it for a couple days since tonight and tomorrow is pretty heavy thunderstorms (and I don't have my PhantomRain wetsuit lol, just got delivered today, but I'm up north right now).

Just doesn't seem like something that should happen with a brand new drone, especially when I haven't put it thru anything close to the environment I've flown the mini 2 in.

YVRGUY · May 20, 2022

karlblessing said:
Had the Mini 2 for a couple of years (mini 1 briefly before that). And finally got up to the Air 2S a little over a week ago.

While I love the photo, video quality, stability, and what feels like a much more responsive drone there seemed to be quirks that that are popping up every soften that I can't help but wonder if it's the drone, or just DJI being DJI.

On a couple of occasion I had a backward sensor calibration error (180002) with auto calibration failing, and usually I'll land it, give a visual inspection and seems fine but might pop up again eventually had that happen in a couple different locations. Later that day I did an IMU and compass calibration. Haven't seen the sensor error show up yet since.

Once near the start of using it, and a couple times most recently today (not even 10mph gust today) over the exact same spot when trying to do a panoramic (and once when just flying over in normal mode), I had a gimbal overload warning that happened twice, landed, visually looked at the gimbal, didn't see an issue, while low to the ground I tried rotating the drone while moving the gimbal up and down just in case it was maybe a power issue, but no replication, as wall as strafing the drone side to side to make it stabilize the gimbal on the roll axis etc. Tried to get another pano, but got an error of being unable to perform pano. Turned off, changed battery, sent it back up, same gimbal going nuts and stuck again over the same spot. After each time I did a gimbal calibration without any error.

When I got back to the hotel room, pulled the battery and put those on charge, carefully tried the pitch, yaw, and roll axis by finger on the gimbal to see if there was any resistance anywhere (in case there was sand or other debris) didn't feel any resistance on any of them. Went ahead and removed the props, and went thru the gimbal housing with an air bulb as well as blew out the prop motors just in case there was any grit anywhere, didn't see anything noticeable come out.

Since I have my laptop with me tonight, went ahead and downloaded DJI Assistant 2, plugged up the Air 2s, downloaded logs, sync'd to AirData, etc. And went ahead just for the sake of completion, and did the visual sensor calibration (that process where you follow the dots on the screen for the front, back, bottom, and top avoidance). I might just do a complete reset of it just to be sure currently at the latest version of the DJI App and firmware as of this week.

Not going to be able to test it for a couple days since tonight and tomorrow is pretty heavy thunderstorms (and I don't have my PhantomRain wetsuit lol, just got delivered today, but I'm up north right now).

Just doesn't seem like something that should happen with a brand new drone, especially when I haven't put it thru anything close to the environment I've flown the mini 2 in.

Brand new? If you keep getting these varied messages and you’re pondering breaking out the dissecting kit I would simply return it for a new replacement.

Good luck

karlblessing · May 20, 2022

YVRGUY said:
Brand new? If you keep getting these varied messages and you’re pondering breaking out the dissecting kit I would simply return it for a new replacement.

Good luck

I'm not doing any dissecting, if I keep getting the same after I just did calibrations, updates, etc that may be what I'll have to do even though I activated, registered, and have DJI care purchased for it (before it was even opened).

But I'd of course like to verify I got it nipped in the bud before I start sticking that phantomrain wet suit adhesives on there.

Skyryder · May 20, 2022

Are you using ND filters? Some brands are too heavy and I have heard this causes a lot of errors messages on other drones.

I am also new to the Air 2S and have not had any of the problems you described. I tested out panos, seem to work fine including the 360 sphere which did what it was supposed to. No sensor problems.

I always use a landing pad becuase I dont want sand and dirt to get into the electornics or moters and not comfortable yet hand catching a bigger drone with hot batteries. I know it looks dorky but I feel better that way.

karlblessing · May 20, 2022

Skyryder said:
Are you using ND filters? Some brands are too heavy and I have heard this causes a lot of errors messages on other drones.

I am also new to the Air 2S and have not had any of the problems you described. I tested out panos, seem to work fine including the 360 sphere which did what it was supposed to. No sensor problems.

I always use a landing pad becuase I dont want sand and dirt to get into the electornics or moters and not comfortable yet hand catching a bigger drone with hot batteries. I know it looks dorky but I feel better that way.

Using the OEM ND filters that came with the Air 2S , not third party. Though if I run into the issue again, I'll test without them mounted. I usually have them on because I'll usually be capturing video primarily. But there shouldn't be an issue with the oem glass.

When I did panos last night, it was fine, but I was also not using the oem filters because it was near twilight and close to dark enough to keep a 180 degree shutter angle even if I had to bump to a 48fps mode. So maybe there's something to that. (though at that time I did get a second occurrence of the backward sensor calibration error).

Skyryder · May 20, 2022

Sounds like you have a faulty unit, no reason to have a back sensor going off especially since you recalibrated it and I am assuming you have not crashed it. You might look to see if the rear sensor is clean, they are a type of camera at the end of the day. If it was me, I would return it if it's acting that strange right out of the box or at least talk to DJI. Maybe you ended up with a refurbished one?

PAW · May 20, 2022

41 flights/5 hours air time on two different Air 2S' and never had those issues.

nick779 · May 20, 2022

I remember reading about vision sensor issues caused by the isolation O rings occasionally poking out, but if the gimbal is throwing errors I would replace it immediately.

marshvet · May 20, 2022

karlblessing said:
Had the Mini 2 for a couple of years (mini 1 briefly before that). And finally got up to the Air 2S a little over a week ago.

While I love the photo, video quality, stability, and what feels like a much more responsive drone there seemed to be quirks that that are popping up every soften that I can't help but wonder if it's the drone, or just DJI being DJI.

On a couple of occasion I had a backward sensor calibration error (180002) with auto calibration failing, and usually I'll land it, give a visual inspection and seems fine but might pop up again eventually had that happen in a couple different locations. Later that day I did an IMU and compass calibration. Haven't seen the sensor error show up yet since.

Once near the start of using it, and a couple times most recently today (not even 10mph gust today) over the exact same spot when trying to do a panoramic (and once when just flying over in normal mode), I had a gimbal overload warning that happened twice, landed, visually looked at the gimbal, didn't see an issue, while low to the ground I tried rotating the drone while moving the gimbal up and down just in case it was maybe a power issue, but no replication, as wall as strafing the drone side to side to make it stabilize the gimbal on the roll axis etc. Tried to get another pano, but got an error of being unable to perform pano. Turned off, changed battery, sent it back up, same gimbal going nuts and stuck again over the same spot. After each time I did a gimbal calibration without any error.

When I got back to the hotel room, pulled the battery and put those on charge, carefully tried the pitch, yaw, and roll axis by finger on the gimbal to see if there was any resistance anywhere (in case there was sand or other debris) didn't feel any resistance on any of them. Went ahead and removed the props, and went thru the gimbal housing with an air bulb as well as blew out the prop motors just in case there was any grit anywhere, didn't see anything noticeable come out.

Since I have my laptop with me tonight, went ahead and downloaded DJI Assistant 2, plugged up the Air 2s, downloaded logs, sync'd to AirData, etc. And went ahead just for the sake of completion, and did the visual sensor calibration (that process where you follow the dots on the screen for the front, back, bottom, and top avoidance). I might just do a complete reset of it just to be sure currently at the latest version of the DJI App and firmware as of this week.

Not going to be able to test it for a couple days since tonight and tomorrow is pretty heavy thunderstorms (and I don't have my PhantomRain wetsuit lol, just got delivered today, but I'm up north right now).

Just doesn't seem like something that should happen with a brand new drone, especially when I haven't put it thru anything close to the environment I've flown the mini 2 in.

When I go to open your flight records, I get the same gibberish I got from mine. Is it my computer? You were able to read it?

karlblessing · May 20, 2022

marshvet said:
When I go to open your flight records, I get the same gibberish I got from mine. Is it my computer? You were able to read it?

I usually read the data by uploading it to the air data website which gives me a incident view.

marshvet · May 20, 2022

karlblessing said:
I usually read the data by uploading it to the air data website which gives me a incident view.

Thanks. I was wondering about that. I have not used Airdata yet. Thanks.

karlblessing · May 20, 2022

marshvet said:
Thanks. I was wondering about that. I have not used Airdata yet. Thanks.

Some apps like Litchi will auto upload flight logs to AirData when you have a valid token entered.

Phantomrain.org · May 21, 2022

karlblessing said:
Some apps like Litchi will auto upload flight logs to AirData when you have a valid token entered.

The truth is , none of that should be happening, and this is why we always purchase 2 of every drone , because not ever drone is perfect out of the box but it should be or it goes back, No fiddling as to why its not working once updated.

Suggest you return it .

Keep in mind these are traveling a long way , an they get tossed around pretty good , This is why if the Horizon level is not perfect out of the box, the drone goes back instantly .

My Air 2S had been thru living Nightmares and is still flawless , something to consider.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 2S in the Rain.. Land on the Water.

karlblessing · May 21, 2022

Did another flight. Compared to the day before yesterday, back home today is a little cooler in temperature, overcast/cumulous cloudy (as opposed to mostly hazy), and the winds are a little stronger than last flight (8mph/20 gust vs around 4mph/10 gust).

Checked the props, gimbal, etc etc for free movement before flight.

Did similar manuvers, same height, distance, etc also with trying out some panoramic functions back to back as well as doing some spirals with the camera pointed 90 degrees down (where I noticed the overload twice before on the previous flight).

Other than there being a green bar on the right hand side of the phone screen during picture mode (since last DJI app update). I did not experience any issues or notice any instability.

So far in the 20 or so minute flight with various movements and camera angles in cine, normal, and sports mode I haven't yet been able to replicate the issues.

Also tested the obstacle avoidance detection in a clear area around a rather visible trash can. It does brake at the expected sides, but isn't showing the on screen indicator for forward sensor just upward and backward, but does brake/bypass as it should.

The device I been using as a controller if it matters is a Samsung S22 (8gb ram, 128gb storage), if that's in any way a known issue I do have other devices.

I want to do a couple more flights , then if all that seems fine I'll start putting the wet suit on that one (already got it on my Mini 2, just haven't tried to fly it outside yet).

I may be going to Massachusetts on Tues so do what to take one if my drones with me, would prefer the air 2s if no issues arises.

To recap, what I have done so far in between last flight and this one is blow out the motors and gimbal housing with an air bulb, rotated the props when putting them back on (ie front left to back right, etc), gently rotating the gimbal by all axis to feel for any debris or stuck points, reload firmware, IMU, compass calibration, and did a visual sensor calibration via DJI assistant 2 on the PC.

Edit : only thing I did different is I didn't bother with the oem nd filters.

karlblessing · May 23, 2022

Follow up #2, bit sunnier today, bit colder, bit windier (wind gusts forecasted up around 27mph though when I finally got there it was maybe a little lower gusts, but higher steady winds).

No issues to report, and also did one battery without the ND doing some panning, and some panoramic, while also doing another battery with an ND8 on for some video and also some panoramic. Thus far had not been able to replicate any of the issues I previously had.

Todays test was over by the dog park up in Rockford along the Rogue River.

Phantomrain.org · May 23, 2022

Try to post some higher rez pictures so we can check quality a little easier. But these look good from what i can tell.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

karlblessing · May 23, 2022

Phantomrain.org said:
Try to post some higher rez pictures so we can check quality a little easier. But these look good from what i can tell.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

Uploaded some straight off the card files to Imgur (should be able to right click one and open in new tab to see full size) :

The very last one is an edit from the 6 DNG files merged to HDR and tweaked in the camera raw settings before bringing it into photoshop.

Will get a video up, but in the mean time, this is a straight off the card video from when I was having the gimbal overload above the docks (which happens around 1:30)
And this is a quick straight off the card clip returning after panoramic sequences that were fine, going to grade some of the footage from today since they were shot in HLG, technically youtube knows how to show SDR/HDR depending on the client viewer if you upload it straight, but takes forever to process, this clip is still processing the HD/4K at the time of posting :

karlblessing · May 23, 2022

Two video clips from post-calibration testing.

From today, a little lower, a little less moving around, primarily did panoramic shots once I got into a spot I liked.

And from Saturday where I did a little more moving around while also moving the camera view including some spirals with the camera pointed straight down and then moving it up as I moved in a rotation. (This one is still processing the HD/4K at the time of this post)

Phantomrain.org · May 24, 2022

karlblessing said:
Two video clips from post-calibration testing.

Couple things to note :

On the one video it appears that your Gimbal got compromised and its normal for that behavior you saw once that happens. So it looks like a wind gust came from behind the camera and caused the glitch to take place.

In this video you can see how my Camera get compromised as well making the turn into the 25 mph headwinds.
Despite the fact the camera seems broken , it reset itself after the landing ,, notice the beast of the Phantom 4 does not struggle the same.

If you think you have an issue with you camera in the wind , just get a air blower and target the wind at the camera while its in different positions and you will find that the camera has some weak spots were it will be compromised but not broken.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water .

karlblessing · May 24, 2022

Phantomrain.org said:
Couple things to note :

On the one video it appears that your Gimbal got compromised and its normal for that behavior you saw once that happens. So it looks like a wind gust came from behind the camera and caused the glitch to take place.

In this video you can see how my Camera get compromised as well making the turn into the 25 mph headwinds.
Despite the fact the camera seems broken , it reset itself after the landing ,, notice the beast of the Phantom 4 does not struggle the same.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

If you think you have an issue with you camera in the wind , just get a air blower and target the wind at the camera while its in different positions and you will find that the camera has some weak spots were it will be compromised but not broken.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water .

On one hand it seemed odd because at the time the wind was actually quite low, lower than any of my post-calibration locations (both locations had stronger steady and gust winds). But on the other hand would explain why it did it twice in nearly the exact same spot and camera angle after changing battery and sending it back up.