DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

What happened? This freaked me out...

evanston45

New Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2017
Messages
3
Reactions
0
Age
49
So I'm a total newbie who was blessed to get a Mavic Pro...first drone I've flied about 6 times so far. Today we went out and took it up, but when it got close to 400 feet, I freaked out knowing I shouldn't go above that and the winds were kinda high. Doing what most newbie's would do, I pressed RTH. But that made it go even higher. I turned it off and manually tried to bring it back home, but it was kinda windy and I saw it drifting, so I tried RTH again, but if went up another 100 feet. My RTH height is set to 50 feet. Here's a copy of the log (thanks to another post on showing me how to download it). Can anyone tell me what may have happened and why it shot up over 100 feet? Firmware etc is all up to date. Thanks in advance! Someday I hope to become a pro and return the favor to a future newbie!
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2017-04-04 at 7.26.26 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2017-04-04 at 7.26.26 PM.png
    599.7 KB · Views: 100
So I'm a total newbie who was blessed to get a Mavic Pro...first drone I've flied about 6 times so far. Today we went out and took it up, but when it got close to 400 feet, I freaked out knowing I shouldn't go above that and the winds were kinda high. Doing what most newbie's would do, I pressed RTH. But that made it go even higher. I turned it off and manually tried to bring it back home, but it was kinda windy and I saw it drifting, so I tried RTH again, but if went up another 100 feet. My RTH height is set to 50 feet. Here's a copy of the log (thanks to another post on showing me how to download it). Can anyone tell me what may have happened and why it shot up over 100 feet? Firmware etc is all up to date. Thanks in advance! Someday I hope to become a pro and return the favor to a future newbie!
I can see that your return to home is set for 120 feet (40 meters) I am not sure why it kept climbing. I am glad you kept your cool and kept flying, way to be bro.
Regards,
-d.
 
Someone more knowledgeable that I will be along shortly I am sure.
Regards,
-d.
 
Oh, and there is nothing wrong with hitting the RTH button, that is what it is there for (rc) and on the app.
Regards,
-d
 
Thanks. I'm scared to fly now...:(

Can you upload the logs?
If I am not around when you link them, either Cyberpower or msinger or one of the other guys can take a look. I have seen one or two cases of this reported before, so it may be problem with the Mavic or it could be some serious up-drafting wind.

Rob
 
Last edited:
Possibly optical avoidance causing the AC to climb because the sun was low in the Sky? There's a known problem where the sun will fool the optical sensors into thinking it's an obstacle, and it tries to climb over it. It can eventually reach the secondary flight altitude limit set by DJI. I believe this is about 1500 Feet. If this was the case, and you turned away from the sun, it would start coming down as it appeared to do. When it falsely senses an obstacle at a high altitude because of the sun, you will normally get a messsge and sound on the RC, but you may not have seen/heard it. You can either turn away from the sun, flip it into to sports mode (turns off OA), or manually turn off OA. This can be a very scary experience if not prepared.

For a full analysis, best to download the flight log file directly from the Mavic using dji assist. It will have a .dat file extension. Once downloaded, post to this thread using Dropbox or similar.

I see you are in Virginia. Close to my area. It was very windy around here today, so I'm sure that added to the excitement. Always be prepared to flip to sports mode to quickly turn off OA, and help fight the wind if the AC starts drifting downwind. Glad you stayed cool and made it home.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Robbyg
Thank you Rob.
I thought I uploaded the log...do you want the entire .txt file?

Yes that would be great. If we cannot find answers there then the DAT file as suggested by Mavicsailor would be needed.
 
Possibly optical avoidance causing the AC to climb because the sun was low in the Sky? There's a know problem where the sun will fool the optical sensors into thinking it's an obstacle, and it tries to climb over it. It can eventually reach the secondary flight altitude limit set by DJI. I believe this is about 1500 Feet. If this was the case, and you turned away from the sun, it would start coming down as it appeared to do. When it falsely senses an obstacle at a high altitude because of the sun, you will normally get a messsge and sound on the RC, but you may not have seen/heard it. You can either turn away from the sun, flip it into to sports mode (turns off OA), or manually turn off OA. This can be a very scarey experience if not prepared.

For a full analysis, best to download the flight log file directly from the Mavic using dji assist. It will have a .dat file extension. Once downloaded, post to this thread using Dropbox or similar.

I see you are in Virginia. Close to my area. It was very windy around here today, so I'm sure that added to the excitement. Always be prepared to flip to sports mode to quickly turn off OA, and help fight the wind if the AC starts drifting downwind. Glad you stayed cool and made it home.
I thought about this but would it not show up in the error log post above?
Regards,
-d.
 
I thought about this but would it not show up in the error log post above?
Regards,
-d.
I don't believe it would show up on this. I've flown toward objects to test the OA, and I don't recall seeing it on this log. Only warns you OA is being turned off when landing. The CSV file from BudWalkers program would show a number under "frontSensorDistance" if an obstacle was detected.
 
Last edited:
I don't believe it would show up on this. I've flown toward objects to test the OA, and I don't recall seeing it on this log. Only warns you it's being turned off when landing.
Ah, yes. The Mavic is a wiely enigma, wrapped in riddle and shrouded in cipher.
 
By the look of your map, Home Point was to the West of the Mavic when you initiated RTH. So If this flight occurred late afternoon it is a prime candidate for OA getting foiled by the Sun & thinking it was an obstacle to out climb.
 

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
134,597
Messages
1,596,641
Members
163,099
Latest member
tabarton94
Want to Remove this Ad? Simply login or create a free account