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Time for goodbye to DJI?

KS-6

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Well folks, while fun as a toy, I am finding the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Smart Controller for actual paid work in my business to be an epic fail, I am very very close to selling it all and cutting my losses.

Up until I ordered my DJI setup in early August, I had been sub contracting out drone pilots to provide that avenue of content creation on various commercial jobs. I had refrained from getting one my self because I did not feel the image quality and still camera ability was quite up to par in the price point I was looking to spend.
A big part of the reason for getting the M2P and associated accessories *and* my P107 cert was a fairly important job that has since passed as of yesterday. Basically it was to be a series of aerial images made for a world famous architect of a both a finished building and a proposed site, the former in a 50AGL NFZ and latter in a 0 AGL NFZ that I am able to easily get LAANC approval through Skyward.

Out of 18 planned flights over a two week period, I managed to fly three batteries on two days. The rest of the time DJI’s horrendous self unlock protocols via the smart controller simply locked us out, we missed SO MANY prime time slots for getting this content it was disgusting. The client while super frustrated like I was understood and has heard from several people this is becoming a bigger issue with the newer models of DJI drones. But even though this client understood, they are not paying for what they don’t have so I am out $15,000 because of this POS toy!

I invested my time into getting my P107, learning how to fly responsibly and to do everything right and this company has done nothing but let me down. NLD says they are working on a patch that could get the FW back down to the one where I can at least apply the NFZ patch but it is still an unknown at this time.

So in the meantime, I have completely wasted my time, effort and money on this toy. I’m beyond pissed and someone is probably going to get a great deal on a M2P, SC and a bunch of accessories.

What an absolute POS company and a joke of a product.
 
Last edited:
Well folks, while fun as a toy, I am finding the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Smart Controller for actual paid work in my business to be an epic fail, I am very very close to selling it all and cutting my losses.

Up until I ordered my DJI setup in early August, I had been sub contracting out drone pilots to provide that avenue of content creation on various commercial jobs. I had refrained from getting one my self because I did not feel the image quality and still camera ability was quite up to par in the price point I was looking to spend.
A big part of the reason for getting the M2P and associated accessories *and* my P107 cert was a fairly important job that has since passed as of yesterday. Basically it was to be a series of aerial images made for a world famous architect of a both a finished building and a proposed site, the former in a 50AGL NFZ and latter in a 0 AGL NFZ that I am able to easily get LAANC approval through Skyward.

Out of 18 planned flights over a two week period, I managed to fly three batteries on two days. The rest of the time DJI’s horrendous self unlock protocols via the smart controller simply locked us out, we missed SO MANY prime time slots for getting this content it was disgusting. The client while super frustrated like I was understood and has heard from several people this is becoming a bigger issue with the newer models of DJI drones. But even though this client understood, they are not paying for what they don’t have so I am out $15,000 because of this POS toy!

I invested my time into getting my P107, learning how to fly responsibly and to do everything right and this company has done nothing but let me down. NLD says they are working on a patch that could get the FW back down to the one where I can at least apply the NFZ patch but it is still an unknown at this time.

So in the meantime, I have completely wasted my time, effort and money on this toy. I’m beyond pissed and someone is probably going to get a great deal on a M2P, SC and a bunch of accessories.

What an absolute POS company and a joke of a product.
We all have our experiences and our opinions that are formed by them. I can see that you had some very frustrating and discouraging attempts at flying where you should have been allowed to fly (based on your LAANC authorization). However I am sure that looking at the big picture we can also see the other side of the story. We all want to keep the skies safe for everyone. We don't want everyone to be able to start up a drone and fly in controlled airspace, and certainly not in a zero foot grid.

So DJI imposes these limits which YES can be very frustrating and YES can sometimes prevent totally legal flights. I think what needs to happen to make this process cleaner and more foolproof is to have LAANC authorization built into GO 4. That way if you get LAANC authorization then it lets you fly. DJI is already an authorized LAANC provider so why they haven't already done this is beyond me, It just makes sense.

Until that happens, all I can say is that it just requires more planning. Instead of a self-unlock go with a custom unlock. That way you provide the documentation to DJI in advance and know for sure that your unlock is approved. Also am I reading this correctly that you performed the self-unlock procedure on-site each time? I would never depend on that. I would always do the unlock at home in advance and download the unlock file to the craft. I always try to be over-prepared. It takes a little more time and planning but I can say that I have never been locked out of a flight where I had been approved to fly.
 
We all have our experiences and our opinions that are formed by them. I can see that you had some very frustrating and discouraging attempts at flying where you should have been allowed to fly (based on your LAANC authorization). However I am sure that looking at the big picture we can also see the other side of the story. We all want to keep the skies safe for everyone. We don't want everyone to be able to start up a drone and fly in controlled airspace, and certainly not in a zero foot grid.

So DJI imposes these limits which YES can be very frustrating and YES can sometimes prevent totally legal flights. I think what needs to happen to make this process cleaner and more foolproof is to have LAANC authorization built into GO 4. That way if you get LAANC authorization then it lets you fly. DJI is already an authorized LAANC provider so why they haven't already done this is beyond me, It just makes sense.

Until that happens, all I can say is that it just requires more planning. Instead of a self-unlock go with a custom unlock. That way you provide the documentation to DJI in advance and know for sure that your unlock is approved. Also am I reading this correctly that you performed the self-unlock procedure on-site each time? I would never depend on that. I would always do the unlock at home in advance and download the unlock file to the craft. I always try to be over-prepared. It takes a little more time and planning but I can say that I have never been locked out of a flight where I had been approved to fly.

Thanks for the reply, it ought to help someone else who is in my boat considering I am moving on. In reference to the first area I highlighted, I would PAY an annual fee for that kind of integration, a pro level support for commercial pilots. Second item, no I did not do self unlock on site every time.

But the third one, is there a you tube video or some other way to see how when using the Smart Controller the unlock file is then transferred to the drone it self? All I have found applies to the use of the regular controller and the phone which almost always has signal and seems better integrated into the unlock process.

There really needs to be a much better white paper and or tutorial on using the Smart Controller in this capacity.
 
SC is essentially an RC controller and Android tablet in one. The Go app is pretty much the same on SC as what the rest of us use. Unlock function on SC should be the same as on any Android.
On SC or other Android, you can opt to have an internet connection or not. Exception would be that SC would be Wi-Fi only while a smartphone would have cell as well as Wi-Fi.
 
Glad to hear you have found a possible solution. I hope you are able to recover some of your costs.

One question though, had you attempted and been succesful at unlocking prior to your attempts at the client site?
 
DJI rather than not allowing flight, if they want to be a nanny so bad, should just restrict altitude. I'm 4.8 miles from a small airport, the guides show 200' altitude so why not unlock my expensive toy & limit to that? And planes still fly way above the 200' here.
We all have our experiences and our opinions that are formed by them. I can see that you had some very frustrating and discouraging attempts at flying where you should have been allowed to fly (based on your LAANC authorization). However I am sure that looking at the big picture we can also see the other side of the story. We all want to keep the skies safe for everyone. We don't want everyone to be able to start up a drone and fly in controlled airspace, and certainly not in a zero foot grid.

So DJI imposes these limits which YES can be very frustrating and YES can sometimes prevent totally legal flights. I think what needs to happen to make this process cleaner and more foolproof is to have LAANC authorization built into GO 4. That way if you get LAANC authorization then it lets you fly. DJI is already an authorized LAANC provider so why they haven't already done this is beyond me, It just makes sense.

Until that happens, all I can say is that it just requires more planning. Instead of a self-unlock go with a custom unlock. That way you provide the documentation to DJI in advance and know for sure that your unlock is approved. Also am I reading this correctly that you performed the self-unlock procedure on-site each time? I would never depend on that. I would always do the unlock at home in advance and download the unlock file to the craft. I always try to be over-prepared. It takes a little more time and planning but I can say that I have never been locked out of a flight where I had been approved to fly.
 
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On a large job like that I come with 3 machines, one that will give me the best result I can, one backup to that which may be the same or slightly inferior, and a third that I know will get me the job done anywhere anytime no matter what even if at a lower output quality. And I know the ins and outs of each of those on the tip of my tongue.

Also do the unlocks in advance if any. If possible go on location a day before the actual shoot to test everything, if not then same day a couple of hours before the client comes so I've got time to figure things out if something unexpected pops up.

You unfortunately came prepared like an amateur flying for the first time...
 
Completely agree with your original post. DJI should not be policing our drones especially for 107 pilots. Everything we have to do to get approval and then worry about the FAA come knocking even if we do everything right. If my governing authority for airspace in my country certifies and trusts me to fly I should not have to go through an unlock process from a foreign drone manufacturer.
 
Well folks, while fun as a toy, I am finding the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Smart Controller for actual paid work in my business to be an epic fail, I am very very close to selling it all and cutting my losses.

Up until I ordered my DJI setup in early August, I had been sub contracting out drone pilots to provide that avenue of content creation on various commercial jobs. I had refrained from getting one my self because I did not feel the image quality and still camera ability was quite up to par in the price point I was looking to spend.
A big part of the reason for getting the M2P and associated accessories *and* my P107 cert was a fairly important job that has since passed as of yesterday. Basically it was to be a series of aerial images made for a world famous architect of a both a finished building and a proposed site, the former in a 50AGL NFZ and latter in a 0 AGL NFZ that I am able to easily get LAANC approval through Skyward.

Out of 18 planned flights over a two week period, I managed to fly three batteries on two days. The rest of the time DJI’s horrendous self unlock protocols via the smart controller simply locked us out, we missed SO MANY prime time slots for getting this content it was disgusting. The client while super frustrated like I was understood and has heard from several people this is becoming a bigger issue with the newer models of DJI drones. But even though this client understood, they are not paying for what they don’t have so I am out $15,000 because of this POS toy!

I invested my time into getting my P107, learning how to fly responsibly and to do everything right and this company has done nothing but let me down. NLD says they are working on a patch that could get the FW back down to the one where I can at least apply the NFZ patch but it is still an unknown at this time.

So in the meantime, I have completely wasted my time, effort and money on this toy. I’m beyond pissed and someone is probably going to get a great deal on a M2P, SC and a bunch of accessories.

What an absolute POS company and a joke of a product.
I experienced this type of issue earlier this year in the spring with a client of mines, I was able to do a self unlock on site for each of the five days I was on site. It was kind of frustrating and time consuming but I was able to finish my missions.
 
On a large job like that I come with 3 machines, one that will give me the best result I can, one backup to that which may be the same or slightly inferior, and a third that I know will get me the job done anywhere anytime no matter what even if at a lower output quality. And I know the ins and outs of each of those on the tip of my tongue.

Also do the unlocks in advance if any. If possible go on location a day before the actual shoot to test everything, if not then same day a couple of hours before the client comes so I've got time to figure things out if something unexpected pops up.

You unfortunately came prepared like an amateur flying for the first time...

And having entered the wrong serial number, apparently.
 
Well folks, while fun as a toy, I am finding the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Smart Controller for actual paid work in my business to be an epic fail, I am very very close to selling it all and cutting my losses.

Up until I ordered my DJI setup in early August, I had been sub contracting out drone pilots to provide that avenue of content creation on various commercial jobs. I had refrained from getting one my self because I did not feel the image quality and still camera ability was quite up to par in the price point I was looking to spend.
A big part of the reason for getting the M2P and associated accessories *and* my P107 cert was a fairly important job that has since passed as of yesterday. Basically it was to be a series of aerial images made for a world famous architect of a both a finished building and a proposed site, the former in a 50AGL NFZ and latter in a 0 AGL NFZ that I am able to easily get LAANC approval through Skyward.

Out of 18 planned flights over a two week period, I managed to fly three batteries on two days. The rest of the time DJI’s horrendous self unlock protocols via the smart controller simply locked us out, we missed SO MANY prime time slots for getting this content it was disgusting. The client while super frustrated like I was understood and has heard from several people this is becoming a bigger issue with the newer models of DJI drones. But even though this client understood, they are not paying for what they don’t have so I am out $15,000 because of this POS toy!

I invested my time into getting my P107, learning how to fly responsibly and to do everything right and this company has done nothing but let me down. NLD says they are working on a patch that could get the FW back down to the one where I can at least apply the NFZ patch but it is still an unknown at this time.

So in the meantime, I have completely wasted my time, effort and money on this toy. I’m beyond pissed and someone is probably going to get a great deal on a M2P, SC and a bunch of accessories.

What an absolute POS company and a joke of a product.
I give you lots of credit. You had giving the Mavic 2 Pro a chance to join the work environment that you had planned use for. It seems to me that your using a regular tip screwdriver in a screw with a Phillips head...sure you may unscrew it with some difficulty but if the flathead screwdriver fits the Phillips slot some, you should get it unscrewed. But you know it's not the correct tool.... It would of been nice to hear the M2P fit into your business structure. Maybe it's time to analyze your strategies.
 
Rather than getting a DJI Unlock, or custom unlock for each mission or for 5 days as mentioned above, I created a custom unlock for the maximum radius allowable under the custom unlock section with DJI. I created one for every possible location in my part of the state and each for one full year. Then loaded them into my SC and transferred to the UV while at home. I now have zones around the state that I can turn on when in that area. If a Laanc approval is required, that is requested on site and the DJI unlock is already in place.

If you continue on your journey, you may look at doing this to eliminate the hassle with DJI's locked zones. Good luck with your project. The M2P does take good photographs when settings are correct and I am sure it will give your client the results he needs.
 
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