Spark just got delivered!

rexilla · Jun 10, 2017

My Spark was just delivered, here's my quick unboxing video!

Will post my impressions by the end of the weekend.

esquire · Jun 10, 2017

rexilla said:
My Spark was just delivered, here's my quick unboxing video!

Will post my impressions by the end of the weekend.

Too cool!

Former Member · Jun 10, 2017

Congrats! Can you share your order date and who you bought it from?

Former Member · Jun 10, 2017

@rexilla must be out flying his Spark.

Robbyg · Jun 11, 2017

Congrats on getting your Spark.
I cannot wait for the side by side 1080 recording tests.

Rob

Merlin23 · Jun 11, 2017

I wonder if they sent orders out first that were just the Spark...and not The "Fly More" package?

Merlin23 · Jun 11, 2017

rexilla said:
My Spark was just delivered, here's my quick unboxing video!

Will post my impressions by the end of the weekend.

Can you let us know where the package was shipped from?

Skyler King III · Jun 13, 2017

rexilla said:
My Spark was just delivered, here's my quick unboxing video!

Will post my impressions by the end of the weekend.

We don't need to see you remove the wrapping and open the box....

Pablo · Jun 14, 2017

Skyler King III said:
We don't need to see you remove the wrapping and open the box....

Erm it's an "unboxing", what were you expecting?

MavicPilot · Jun 14, 2017

I was curious if you tried flying it indoors?

Glen e · Jun 14, 2017

My spark only order - not the fly more kit - shipped today -will arr Friday....ordered 5/24 from DJI Site

newnan3 · Jun 14, 2017

I guess the controller is available now?

stratos · Jun 15, 2017

rexilla said:
My Spark was just delivered, here's my quick unboxing video!

Will post my impressions by the end of the weekend.

Why the arms dont fold !! why why why !!!
It should have been perfect if you could fold the arms!!

Mako79 · Jun 15, 2017

Just picked up the flyless.. charging it as we speak..

MavicPilot · Jun 15, 2017

Mako79 said:
Just picked up the flyless.. charging it as we speak..

Did you go for your first flight? How did you like it?

My initial thoughts... without RTFM and coming from a P1 (~4 years ago) -> P3A -> MP -> Spark

I used the same Android device to connect to my MP earlier in the day then moved onto the spark...

1. The controller and FPV sync are very laggy. The speed is SLOW so it's not a huge issue I guess. The controller does seem to respond to commands on point, so I need to test more.
2. The Wifi required (according to the first couple of pages of the manual (so I did somewhat RTFM) to use a smartphone to see FPV is a mess. Why can I not use my Phone? Other than the fact that it only has MicroUSB port on the controller...
3. Open I open the GO 4 app I need to swap to the controller Wifi SID. Crazy.
4. The aircraft shows up for a split second (FPV) and then either goes disconnected (from GPS ready to go..) and signal either gets lost or you can just continue.
4a. If you continue the video feed still seems to work over 5.8 Ghz. frequency. Maybe this is expected, but coming from the P3A and MP it seems like a huge step backward.
5. I could only travel between 750-900 feet before the feed was lost. I think this may have only be the FPV feed, but I was not taking any chances on the first battery.
6. Sport speed was between 30-35 mph, regular was between 3-4 mph.
6a. I did not play with any of the settings, so removing avoidance would have (hopefully) increased the speed.
7. Spark looks like a nice toy for a kid or an area that someone could get hurt. I really don't think it would hurt anyone... unless it hit their eye I guess..
8. Battery/device both got pretty darn hot as soon as it powered up. About as hot as my MP batteries have ever been after flying in a 90+ degree day (136 degrees according to airdata). It is about 60 degrees F today.
9. Flying in sport mode is like flying a Sherman tank vs a sports car. It rocks, distorts the feed, and just feels horrible unless going forward. My MP has never been in sport mode after almost 6 hours and 22 miles flown, so it may act the same way. 20 mph is fine for me.
10. Takes offs and hand landings were both flawless. I have always hand caught all of my quads, so the MP may be okay doing the same. It was pretty cool launching it from my hand though.
11. The battery life is eh. About 10% a minute was seeing: according to airdata.com reports that I have looked at - for my device on the first battery.

According to airdata.com:
C 05m 47s 124.0 ft 764 ft Data Loss Downlink data connection lost for 1.9 seconds
D 05m 59s 124.3 ft 903 ft Data Loss Downlink data connection lost for 2.8 seconds
E 06m 02s 125.0 ft 949 ft Data Loss Downlink data connection lost for 3.3 seconds
F 06m 03s 124.7 ft 949 ft Data Loss Downlink data connection lost for 1 seconds

It did ask me if I wanted to RTM, but I rejected it.

No1much · Jun 15, 2017

I'll report that a Mavic in Sport mode is pretty darn smooth-looking thanks to the gimbal.Very little movement noticeable when braking or accelerating. Turns seem really fast, but Sport is just a 33% faster version of regular no-OA flight with sharper acceleration and louder motor spin.

Mako79 · Jun 15, 2017

MavicPilot said:
Did you go for your first flight? How did you like it?

My initial thoughts... without RTFM and coming from a P1 (~4 years ago) -> P3A -> MP -> Spark

I used the same Android device to connect to my MP earlier in the day then moved onto the spark...

1. The controller and FPV sync are very laggy. The speed is SLOW so it's not a huge issue I guess. The controller does seem to respond to commands on point, so I need to test more.
2. The Wifi required (according to the first couple of pages of the manual (so I did somewhat RTFM) to use a smartphone to see FPV is a mess. Why can I not use my Phone? Other than the fact that it only has MicroUSB port on the controller...
3. Open I open the GO 4 app I need to swap to the controller Wifi SID. Crazy.
4. The aircraft shows up for a split second (FPV) and then either goes disconnected (from GPS ready to go..) and signal either gets lost or you can just continue.
4a. If you continue the video feed still seems to work over 5.8 Ghz. frequency. Maybe this is expected, but coming from the P3A and MP it seems like a huge step backward.
5. I could only travel between 750-900 feet before the feed was lost. I think this may have only be the FPV feed, but I was not taking any chances on the first battery.
6. Sport speed was between 30-35 mph, regular was between 3-4 mph.
6a. I did not play with any of the settings, so removing avoidance would have (hopefully) increased the speed.
7. Spark looks like a nice toy for a kid or an area that someone could get hurt. I really don't think it would hurt anyone... unless it hit their eye I guess..
8. Battery/device both got pretty darn hot as soon as it powered up. About as hot as my MP batteries have ever been after flying in a 90+ degree day (136 degrees according to airdata). It is about 60 degrees F today.
9. Flying in sport mode is like flying a Sherman tank vs a sports car. It rocks, distorts the feed, and just feels horrible unless going forward. My MP has never been in sport mode after almost 6 hours and 22 miles flown, so it may act the same way. 20 mph is fine for me.
10. Takes offs and hand landings were both flawless. I have always hand caught all of my quads, so the MP may be okay doing the same. It was pretty cool launching it from my hand though.
11. The battery life is eh. About 10% a minute was seeing: according to airdata.com reports that I have looked at - for my device on the first battery.

According to airdata.com:
C 05m 47s 124.0 ft 764 ft Data Loss Downlink data connection lost for 1.9 seconds
D 05m 59s 124.3 ft 903 ft Data Loss Downlink data connection lost for 2.8 seconds
E 06m 02s 125.0 ft 949 ft Data Loss Downlink data connection lost for 3.3 seconds
F 06m 03s 124.7 ft 949 ft Data Loss Downlink data connection lost for 1 seconds

It did ask me if I wanted to RTM, but I rejected it.

I didnt read manual either.
Didnt fly as it was pitch black.
Had some niggles charging up the spark with an iphone 10w charger. It kept stopping at 75percent. Switched to the one supplied and that completed the job.

I do think they should have supplied prop guards in all packages since they were promoting the palm launch in every video. The props would have been cheap to make and would prevent a media frenzy if a kid lost an eye.

They should have supplied a camera dome like thr mavic just to cover the camera and gimbal for pocketing. Someone should design one that slips over the obstacle sensors and protects the camera. I dont think it needs a gimbal lock though.

I will get a flight out this morning.

MavicPilot · Jun 15, 2017

Mako79 said:
I didnt read manual either.
Didnt fly as it was pitch black.
Had some niggles charging up the spark with an iphone 10w charger. It kept stopping at 75percent. Switched to the one supplied and that completed the job.

I do think they should have supplied prop guards in all packages since they were promoting the palm launch in every video. The props would have been cheap to make and would prevent a media frenzy if a kid lost an eye.

They should have supplied a camera dome like thr mavic just to cover the camera and gimbal for pocketing. Someone should design one that slips over the obstacle sensors and protects the camera. I dont think it needs a gimbal lock though.

I will get a flight out this morning.

Have fun! By the way, I really do not see prop guards as a need for all, but I did notice these only came with the full package. I had them on my original Phantom and I really did not find them really useful. Actually, it made flying harder. I figured given it's size they were provided for indoor flying as to not wreak the blades and walls (as much).

This SPARK flies so darn slow that it would be pretty hard to hit something with OA on - assuming you have some experience with DJI's products.

There is no need for the prop guards for palm launching or landing. Again, I only have limited experience at this point, but when landing (5x to play around) on my hand it required that my hand was pretty still and then I needed to hold down the down stick. It initiated a landing sequence and landed. I could move my hand after that was initiated, but if I pushed my hand up the Spark compensated and raised up a couple of inches.

I need to see if we can bypass this control wifi issue or I will have to seriously consider offloading it on ebay/craiglists/here. $758 is crazy for what it does - IMHO. Also, the additional $150 (?) for the RC that is almost completely nerfed is also insane. Okay, it can control the gimbal, and some of the other features, and surely the control over the phone is without discussion... but the MP remote/RC should be useable or at least allow the phone to plug in without WiFI to the RC. My device does not have cellular data, so I needed to go into airplane mode to fly my MP outside of the house wifi. Now, with this Spark, it seems challenging to accomplish this without a cellular device, but that may be resolved in time...