Wind - be careful

[NJRUFan]

WindGuru is also an excellent free information web site on local weather. - wind, rain and temp.

I second WindGuru. I've been using it for a couple of years now. Any time we are taking boat trip I will check it prior to leaving the dock. It's definitely geared more towards the boating community (I think all of the locations are on the water), wave height and direction, swell period, etc. But if you live near the water it has some pretty good weather and wind information. It's always appeared to be pretty accurate to me.

 

[th_mav]

No. It doesn't. It definitely doesn't display the wind speed anywhere, it probably doesn't measure it either, possibly calculating it's approximation judging by how hard it had to fight it or something. The last part is just a speculation, though.

I thought I saw the windspeed telemetry data being displayed in that healthydrones app/website.
After uploading flight data after a flight but not real time.

Could be wrong but it seemed to show alt/windspeed numbers .

I'll try posting in Dji company forum to see if anyone knows for sure.

Seems like a vital piece of data.
The current warning is a static pop up but having real time wind data would be super useful.

 

[Kestrel]

I use an Anemometer to measure wind speed, a lot of times weather.com will be off on the locations I fly at so I use one of those, pretty handy.
Amazon.com : Anemometer, RISEPRO® Digital Mini LCD Wind Speed Gauge Air Flow Speed Meter & Temperature Thermometer HT-81 : Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[borislip]

I use an Anemometer to measure wind speed, a lot of times weather.com will be off on the locations I fly at so I use one of those, pretty handy.
Amazon.com : Anemometer, RISEPRO[emoji768] Digital Mini LCD Wind Speed Gauge Air Flow Speed Meter & Temperature Thermometer HT-81 : Patio, Lawn & Garden

How does it help with the wind 100' AGL sometimes (but not always) being way more powerful than on the surface?

 

[Kestrel]

How does it help with the wind 100' AGL sometimes (but not always) being way more powerful than on the surface?

it doesn't but if you know your ground speed then you know its going to be more 100 feet up. if its 18mph down below common sense says don't go to high. It's just a helpful tool to get an idea. A lot of times i'll look at the weather channel's website and it they'll say the wind speed is X amount but when I go out to my location it seems to be a tad bit higher, so I use that to get more of an accurate reading then I make my judgement call as to how high I should fly.

The more tools in your arsenal to help you, the better in my opinion.

 

[niclariv]

I wish the app gave more indication than the regular high wind warning. I've gotten that on a lot of flights where the Mavic didn't seem affected by the wind at all. I've seen that warning so much with no related problem flying that I've started ignoring it. When it's windy enough that it's actually a problem I'm worried that I won't know

 

[Red_Raven]

No. It doesn't. It definitely doesn't display the wind speed anywhere, it probably doesn't measure it either, possibly calculating it's approximation judging by how hard it had to fight it or something. The last part is just a speculation, though.

If you export data too healthydrones you'll get the wind speed measurements. So the bird defenently does make that measurements.

 

[SRJ_Mavic_PRO]

Or the inside of a funnel cone.... hell you might even see Toto wiz by...

 

[borislip]

If you export data too healthydrones you'll get the wind speed measurements. So the bird defenently does make that measurements.

Don't be so sure, it may estimate it by analyzing how hard the motors had to work, or even by the battery use rate vs the aircraft speed related to ground, or something like that. I really doubt there is a actually a wind speed sensor inside.

 

[Red_Raven]

Don't be so sure, it may estimate it by analyzing how hard the motors had to work, or even by the battery use rate vs the aircraft speed related to ground, or something like that. I really doubt there is a actually a wind speed sensor inside.

I know there is not a proper weather station on board. [emoji23]
But, healthydrones have some algorithm to calculate this quite accurately. I compared that data to actual weather data in my location, it wasn't perfect, but close enough to tell me approximately how much wins was up there....

 

[niclariv]

They should update the app so it tells you what the wind speed is, even if it's not 100% accurate. Better than frequent warnings about high wind when it's not windy enough to be a problem.

 

[rydfree]

They should update the app so it tells you what the wind speed is, even if it's not 100% accurate. Better than frequent warnings about high wind when it's not windy enough to be a problem.

What speed does the Mavic fly in the mode you are in when there is no wind ? What speed is it traveling during a headwind ? The difference is usually the wind speed . They could just estimate it that way , I do .

 

[flyNfrank]

Lesson learned today - the winds at higher altitude are much stronger than at the surface level, while the wind at high altitude, above a river, away from trees and cliffs, is the worst!

Bad enough to cause a nasty, fast drift. Note that RTH is utterly useless in this case, it isn't smart enough to go down and use the cliff as cover, it just fights the wind, wasting precious battery juice!

I'm late at responding to your 1st post, but I just wanted to say that you got some valuable experience in dealing with the wind you mentioned.

A few things to point out about strong winds are, decreasing Altitude and using Sport Mode are the two tips that just might save you from either a crash or losing the aircraft altogether. The other important part to know about is, dji has programmed the Mavic Pro to not like being held at full throttle for extended periods. Due to how they have the smart battery setup, there is a major voltage draw on the battery when flying full throttle either into strong wind, or when full throttle in cold weather. The amount of needed volts drops fast and if it goes past the safe limit the battery is set to shut off. No power means it then drops out of the air. You can watch the voltage readout by selecting an option in app menu settings. At that point reduce throttle input and the volts will recover. This can be a stressful task if doing this while also fighting a strong headwind. You may need to play it safe and land rather than risk crashing.

 

[borislip]

Of course the battery voltage is going to drop while you are running full throttle. Batteries aren't ideal, they have internal resistance. The more current you draw from a battery, the more voltage drop you get on this internal resistance. Cold increases the battery internal resistance, further increasing the voltage drop. Its not some kind of smart battery setup. Its physics. It will happen on any battery.

What i DON'T expect a smart battery to do is cut off due to this voltage drop. I do expect it to cut off in case of short circuit, or long enough over-current, but definitely NOT because of a voltage drop caused by a high load. If that happens i would actually fully expect a warranty replacement!!!

 

[borislip]

What speed does the Mavic fly in the mode you are in when there is no wind ? What speed is it traveling during a headwind ? The difference is usually the wind speed . They could just estimate it that way , I do .

True. If you know the exact wind direction. Or don't mind wasting time testing the wind direction by flying in different directions, measuring speed

 

[Oingo Boingo]

How does it help with the wind 100' AGL sometimes (but not always) being way more powerful than on the surface?

Because if the Anemeter tells u the wind is gusting at 25 knots on the ground.... Logic will indicate . DONT FLY

 

[Oingo Boingo]

Of course the battery voltage is going to drop while you are running full throttle. Batteries aren't ideal, they have internal resistance. The more current you draw from a battery, the more voltage drop you get on this internal resistance. Cold increases the battery internal resistance, further increasing the voltage drop. Its not some kind of smart battery setup. Its physics. It will happen on any battery.

What i DON'T expect a smart battery to do is cut off due to this voltage drop. I do expect it to cut off in case of short circuit, or long enough over-current, but definitely NOT because of a voltage drop caused by a high load. If that happens i would actually fully expect a warranty replacement!!!

Just a quick one.... Have u ever dropped ur battery discharge voltage on any of ur batteries below 15%

 

[borislip]

Just a quick one.... Have u ever dropped ur battery discharge voltage on any of ur batteries below 15%

No. Did you? I'd expect Mavic to either limit the current consumption (by forcing you to ease-off the throttle) seeing the voltage drops dangerously low, but i DO NOT expect the battery to cut off, switching Mavic into brick mode.

 

[flyNfrank]

No. Did you? I'd expect Mavic to either limit the current consumption (by forcing you to ease-off the throttle) seeing the voltage drops dangerously low, but i DO NOT expect the battery to cut off, switching Mavic into brick mode.

So in other words you wouldn't have a problem running your battery to that point. Btw, batteries supply electrical amounts of power. Not sure why you think they are a type of object that is used to cut something off.

 

[Oingo Boingo]

No. Did you? I'd expect Mavic to either limit the current consumption (by forcing you to ease-off the throttle) seeing the voltage drops dangerously low, but i DO NOT expect the battery to cut off, switching Mavic into brick mode.

When I first started playin with lipos, I had a few batteries that I pushed below 10% capacity and those were the puppies that gave me trouble. But then again this was almost 9 years ago. I know tech has changed, but I have seen voltage dropoffs - usually on batteries that have had been pulled a bit to low. I try and stick to the land at 40 - 30 % rule