We are limited by our controller!!!

Valkman1291 · Jan 11, 2017

I've yet to purchase the drone, but I noticed on the video above the user was using an iPad mini. I was surprised that this could be done. Is there a special way that the iPad mini connects? Thanks. And I'm sure this is discussed elsewhere, but I saw it here.

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Heavysledz · Jan 11, 2017

hmmm.....I will need to pay closer attention to mine as I swear after 2 batteries I am around 65%. That is in 20'F temps and 20-25 minute flight times. Lots of slow flying and hovering. I am using a Samsung Tab A tablet and I get the battery with the line thru it when it is connected so it isn't being charged by the RC....

jerryflah · Jan 11, 2017

asuwrestler said:
So what i have concluded is that you are limited to flying by your controller battery....here is why, your iPhone can have a charging case on it that will make it last for hours, such as a Mophie, you can have as many batteries as you want so you are not limited there, but where your problem is, that once your controller battery runs out, flying is done, at least for a couple hours because you cant charge your controller at the same time as you fly, does this sound right?

Also and correct me if i am wrong, your controller will last about 3 fully charged Mavic batteries....

Rechargeable battery packs are a "dime a dozen" as are solar chargers for the more moneyed among us. The first are pocket sized and connect USB to micro. Each can recharge while using the controller so falling asleep at the switch is still possible.

Kilrah · Jan 11, 2017

Heavysledz said:
hmmm.....I will need to pay closer attention to mine as I swear after 2 batteries I am around 65%. That is in 20'F temps and 20-25 minute flight times. Lots of slow flying and hovering. I am using a Samsung Tab A tablet and I get the battery with the line thru it when it is connected so it isn't being charged by the RC....

That is correct for an android device. Even if it says "not charging" it still feeds itself off the controller.

Heavysledz · Jan 11, 2017

so that would explain why my RC battery life is shorter than some reported on here....I wish someone made a USB cable that did not have the power wires in it and only allowed the transfer of data to take place. My tablet will run for days and doesn't need to be charged when flying.

Bursky · Jan 13, 2017

An update to compare with. I went flying today, used all 4 batteries back to back. taking the batteries down to 30% i got 20min flight time out of each battery. At the end of the 4th battery the RC battery was at 63% and my iPhone 6sPlus was at 50%. I did have a sticky hand warmer on the back of my phone as it was -9C out so i can imagine if i wouldn't have had that, my iPhone would have been toast long before that.

Heavysledz · Jan 13, 2017

thanks for the info....

Robbyg · Jan 13, 2017

Valkman1291 said:
I've yet to purchase the drone, but I noticed on the video above the user was using an iPad mini. I was surprised that this could be done. Is there a special way that the iPad mini connects? Thanks. And I'm sure this is discussed elsewhere, but I saw it here.

Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

Yes watch the whole of this video for ipad mini info

Rob

Nathan Hoover · Jan 14, 2017

Interesting. If I fly all 3 batteries down to 20-30% my controller is down to 45% or so - using Nexus 5x or Nexus 9 - doesn't make a difference. I wish they would fix this and make Android work like iOS, but I can live with it. It's not painful enough to buy an overpriced ipad.

Macropoxy · Jan 14, 2017

I have a note 7 (yeah, yeah, I know) and the battery life (yeah, yeah, I know) is much longer than the controller. So, instead of the controller charging the Note 7, with USB type C on the Note 7, I can charge the controller from my phone and I've never had any issues. Controller at 100% and phone at like 75% after 3 flights. I could always reverse or turn off the flow of power as needed.

Let's not get the troll police on this, until Samsung offers me a fair deal, I'm keeping my Note 7.

Kawboy12R · Jan 14, 2017

Interesting about Androids draining the RC battery. I'm an Android guy with a Mavic on order. I wonder if there is such a thing as a data-only cable? I've seen things like older Magellan car gps headunits that disliked being charged with data-capable cables so that means their factory charger was charge-only. Unfortunately the cable wasn't USB type A on the other end, just cig lighter. Now that I think of it a bit more, IIRC I've had a USB A to double-headed Y micro and mini charge-only cord. Charge-only existence implies data-only possibility, but I think the USB spec requires passing .5a power? Or is that merely supplying for ports? More reading required I guess...

Macropoxy · Jan 14, 2017

Kawboy12R said:
Interesting about Androids draining the RC battery. I'm an Android guy with a Mavic on order. I wonder if there is such a thing as a data-only cable? I've seen things like older Magellan car gps headunits that disliked being charged with data-capable cables so that means their factory charger was charge-only. Unfortunately the cable wasn't USB type A on the other end, just cig lighter. Now that I think of it a bit more, IIRC I've had a USB A to double-headed Y micro and mini charge-only cord. Charge-only existence implies data-only possibility, but I think the USB spec requires passing .5a power? Or is that merely supplying for ports? More reading required I guess...

I'm not sure if this is all Android phones or not, but in all I've had, you can turn the USB charging off in your phone settings when connected to devices like the controller.

Motley · Jan 14, 2017

Macropoxy said:
Let's not get the troll police on this, until Samsung offers me a fair deal, I'm keeping my Note 7.

What do you mean offer a fair deal, didn't they recall them meaning you should get a full refund? Surely a full refund is better than dealing with the phones issues like not being able to take it on airplanes and worrying about starting fires.

I am not a troll, just trying to understand why you would not be getting a fair deal like others I have talked to.

Toto · Jan 14, 2017

asuwrestler said:
thats what i was asking, has anybody tried this out?

Yes I have, and it works. You need to start the controller charging after the controller is on and the GO 4 app is running. I have an external battery pack charging the controller while the controller is charging an Invidia Shield Tablet. The controller battery stays 100% charged. However, the charger can not completely prevent the Shield from slowly discharging its battery. But, it significantly slows it. The Shield discharges about just less than 10% for 45 mins of use.

GlorytoGodJesusChrist · Jan 14, 2017

The contoller charges from quick charge and other Android car chargers.

F6Rider · Jan 14, 2017

asuwrestler said:
thats what i was asking, has anybody tried this out?

I have a 10000Mah batterybank that fits in my pocket. I flew an entire 4 battery day with it plugged into the side usb port with my iPad in the bottom one, when my flying was done the controller was still at 100%. I did this only as a test and my controller seems just fine. Yes, DJI does not 'recommend' doing this, but they don't state why. My battery bank has both 1A & 2A USB ports and I was using the 1A one as the USB ports on the Mavic power supply are both 1A.

Heavysledz · Jan 14, 2017

Macropoxy said:
I'm not sure if this is all Android phones or not, but in all I've had, you can turn the USB charging off in your phone settings when connected to devices like the controller.

can you elaborate on this one? I am using a Samsung Tab A7 so it may not be exactly the same but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Leurch · Jan 14, 2017

The Note 7 was a great device. So to have it taken away the way it was means that Samsung owes us a compatible device. The S7 is not going to do it.

Bact to his original post, how did you get the phone to charge the controller?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using MavicPilots mobile app

RallySoob · Jan 14, 2017

Bursky said:
An update to compare with. I went flying today, used all 4 batteries back to back. taking the batteries down to 30% i got 20min flight time out of each battery. At the end of the 4th battery the RC battery was at 63% and my iPhone 6sPlus was at 50%. I did have a sticky hand warmer on the back of my phone as it was -9C out so i can imagine if i wouldn't have had that, my iPhone would have been toast long before that.

Did u put a hand warmer on ur phone to prevent interuptions?

Because my iphone 6s plus is freaking out in cold weather. It will have plenty of battery life then all of the sudden go down to 1% battery life and die. I restart it and the process repeats itself randomly/sparaticaly ... if i use hand warmer taped to phone this will stop right

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RallySoob · Jan 14, 2017

Also, can the mavic controller be taken apart to replace the battery versus having buy a new one? What about swapping out the battery for a bigger one?

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