Crap

[Northwood Mediaworks]

No doubt that it is an organism of sorts, one must learn to adapt to the foibles of the Spark. That said, consider the level of technology within this tiny little device and its price point... and what it is actually capable of! But no science is perfect however. Same can be said of humans I figure... so the OP can be forgiven I'm sure we'd mostly agree.

 

[Rob Hutchings]

No doubt that it is an organism of sorts, one must learn to adapt to the foibles of the Spark. That said, consider the level of technology within this tiny little device and its price point... and what it is actually capable of! But no science is perfect however. Same can be said of humans I figure... so the OP can be forgiven I'm sure we'd mostly agree.

Agreed!

 

[hiflyer]

Ah yes...I love my Spark. Such a well mannered little fellow. I actually took that “crap”personally....I’m hoping that all is well by now.

 

[Rwarrior]

I'm continually heartened and gratified at the amount of goodwill and unselfish genuine support the folks on this forum provide to any one who asks for it or who presents a problem they're having. Yes, the Spark can be frustrating at times, and can totally misbehave (I know cos I've had one flyaway), but when it's on song, which for me is about 95% of the time, it's a sheer joy to fly. What I'm trying to say is, yes, we can rant sometimes, but the overwhelming attitude of most everyone here is, let's solve your and our specific problem together, and so let's be constructive in how we frame our issue (or frustration).
Cheers all, and safe flying [emoji4][emoji106]

 

[ArmyofMike]

Make sure you turn Airplane mode on on your phone. Wait a second, then click only the WiFi on button. Then power on the drone/controller, open the app and it works nearly 100% of the time...

 

[Davezilla]

Just get Litchi. Problems will be resolved and you'll have new tricks!

Go4 sucks eggs.

 

[irvine]

This Spark is such a piece of crap! Went out this AM to fly and would'nt connect to camera. Tried with a wire and wi fi nothing! Now its asking me to register again or connect with a phone or controller scan QR code AGAIN and still nothing ! What a piece of garbage! Had a feeling it was going to loose GPS today and fly away ... Guess its better off that it didn't connect. Now I can put it on EBAY today... Bye Bye SPARK CRAP! Good Riddens!

You are one out of millions to think the spark is crap I've had mine for about a year best thing since sliced bread.

Go and buy a toy one gearbest has them for about £20 mind you I have a £1200 mavic platinum as well suppose you think that's crap as well. Suggest you leave Spark Forum and join a kiddies club.

Have a lovely day

 

[shuggins]

Despite the last reply, all the others in this thread are why I came back after leaving this forum for 6 months. I thought the grass was greener, bought a Mavic Air, and joined mavicpilots.com. I’m back here and just love it here. Great people! Very non-arrogant here. It kinda goes along with how the little Spark is.... a reliable, capable little guy. I’m glad I’m flying it again....but mostly, I’m glad I’m back here.

 

[ajkm]

until it looses its GPS signal and goes into ATTI mode and flies away!

Sorry, but the drone doesn’t fly away in ATTI mode - it is still perfectly controllable from the RC using the telemetry your device will provide. The only difference with ATTI mode is that you, as pilot, have to compensate for the wind. If you have programmed RTH on loss of control link, it will return if you have no RC functionality. Very few drones just “fly away” on their own.

 

[Locutus40]

finally someone that says like me the spark is crap... and it is i think people get batches of diffrent levels of crap mine has connection issues gets out 100 meters i get poor video reception but everything else is fine... other than that mine flies fine.. but you cant fly it far without the video.. spark needed freq hopping like fss and spektrum etc... the 5.8 needed that as well.. we needed connections like in the ham bands they make aftermarket attachments that go 20 miles i mean operate in the 400 mhz range and you can put them on any aircraft why couldn't they do that with the spark ill tell you they dont care bout us.... thats why the spark gets hot and transmitter gets hot they compensate for their lack of caring with a 1 watt transmitter on both craft and transmitter.. so that it punches though but just barely see the chinese make crappy stuff.. you never ever hear of this stuff with people that make personal fpv drones or parot wing flyer **** that thing can fly for 200 miles with a cellular upgrade and 5 hours with a 10,000 mah pack holly **** and still beam over the 2g network live video so wtffffffffff dji..... you seem to be handing us the low end of the stick wrapped in fancy looking packaging like apple does... now i went and bought a used thinking i could fix it phantom 3 pro.. sure i got the batteries and craft but had to dump almost 500 bucks into the pile of crap to get it to fly new main board cuz dji loveessss compbining things and then charging alot for the part... new gps module and compass cuz they know it will be destroyed when it rips off the legs.. i go to fly the thing and it flies good but noticed cracks in the brand new frame i bought thanks dji for designing cheap plastic... i mean i used epoxy that should hold but come the hell on.. this is what dji is offering us garrrrrrbage....... and we keep buying thinking its going to be better and fun...

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

Well, as always, buyer beware, and the varying posts in this topic will in my estimation prepare the next buyer to consider carefully... that's what is great about forums. Seems like everyone's mileage varies, and everyone's tolerance for that also. After a year with the Spark, I am finding its limits becoming a deal breaker and I want MORE! However, I feel indebted to it for teaching me the basics. (and my toy drone before it too) Perhaps we should all look beyond DJI now and then, as Locutus40 implies. RC is a vastly varied hobby/pastime, you dont have to buy RTF (ready to fly) stuff.... challenge yourself with BNF or kit stuff. You'd die of old age before you could read everything and watch all the videos on this stuff... its way cool whats out there.

So for me, the Spark is not crap, but I've outgrown its limits. I am not sure yet if I will keep it when i move on, hope to, but finances may dictate otherwise (and the wife possibly too).

As always, watch where you step, there is all kinds of crap in this world!

 

[harleymhs]

With the 10,000+ Sparks in use around the world the total number of "crap" Sparks is really small.

ask them how many fly aways they all have! from loosing GPS hahahahahah

 

[harleymhs]

Quite a rant for a grown adult. Thought I was reading something from a younger person, like teenager age. Glad you did get it figured out. Had issues with my first Spark, DJI replaced it and many many perfect flights since

Im 11 years OLD !

 

[ajkm]

ask them how many fly aways they all have! from loosing GPS hahahahahah

Although if you still have the wifi connection with the RC, losing GPS doesn't mean the aircraft is uncontrollable - though you have to be competent at flying in ATTI mode.

 

[McCloudSpark]

ask them how many fly aways they all have! from loosing GPS hahahahahah

Loosing GPS is just part of the drone hobby. Learning how to fly without GPS is what makes a good drone pilot

 

[ajkm]

Loosing GPS is just part of the drone hobby. Learning how to fly without GPS is what makes a good drone pilot

I'd actually say that flying without GPS is what differentiates a professional from an amateur...

 

[ajkm]

Im 11 years OLD !

Sure sounded like it...

 

[nilanjan118]

I'd actually say that flying without GPS is what differentiates a professional from an amateur...

I'd actually say that flying without GPS is what differentiates a professional from an amateur...

But having said that, the Spark's connection with the RC is the weakest link. Most user complains are about erratic connection, signal loss, choppy live feed. This is something not even a super pilot can live with.

 

[Spark 317]

I'd actually say that flying without GPS is what differentiates a professional from an amateur...

I'm a professional amateur. ?

 

[skyfly]

Sorry, but the drone doesn’t fly away in ATTI mode - it is still perfectly controllable from the RC using the telemetry your device will provide. The only difference with ATTI mode is that you, as pilot, have to compensate for the wind. If you have programmed RTH on loss of control link, it will return if you have no RC functionality. Very few drones just “fly away” on their own.

Its that simple too