DJI Forum filled with horror stories

aviscomi · Jun 22, 2017

I know that a lot of us here read other forums, but some of the posts over on the DJI Spark forum are heart wrenching. People saving up to buy the Spark and unable to fly it on a consistent basis due to the ******** WIFI connection(s). Or even worse, so of them come crashing to the ground. The only bright spot is that they don't stay in the air long enough, thus there hasn't been any report "fly aways".

Zezrum · Jun 22, 2017

Sometimes internet forums have a lot in common with day-time television. I'll admit some are sad stories, but many are also... well... drama of people not taking time to think through their situation, train themselves properly, etc. My Spark isn't perfect, and I've only had it a few days but I do have 1:54 filing time on it already and I'm having a great time. I did have a loss of connection once, but I didn't panic and was able to cancel the current action, reestablish connectivity, and kept it in flight just fine. I think a lot of the problems I see people have is that they panic when it doesn't work the way they expected, and they end up with bad results.

I know some people like to point out that the Spark is a "consumer toy", but in reality it's a $500 flying camera and takes personal training to use successfully. On the other hand, I did tonight watch my 12 year old daughter launch, control, selfie, and hand catch the Spark with little more training than me talking her through the process.

Yeah there are glitches with this new tech, and some people are bound to have bad experiences with it. But there are also popping up many very impressive videos and photos taken with the Spark successfully (my favorite one so far is linked below, I am not the creator, just happened to see it on YT today and was impressed) which tell me that in the right hands it can be a pretty powerful tool.

aviscomi · Jun 23, 2017

@Zezrum I agree with your "the Spark is a "consumer toy", but in reality it's a $500 flying camera and takes personal training to use successfully. " statement and being owner various other DJI platforms I understand that there is more involved than just "powering up". With that said, DJI has marketed the Spark as a "story telling" device, which in code means "entry level". IMO the 1st time flyer (purchaser) should at least being to get the thing in the air w/o connection issues and and take a picture as it was advertised to do. This whole process of constantly connecting to WIFI, 3 button resets, etc. has nothing to do with the operation of the device as a pilot.

WPS · Jun 23, 2017

Well, as a first time flyer, I was able to get it in the air, take pictures and video without any connection issues. I've been flying for 4 days now (in between rain storms) and haven't had any connection problems. Was in beginner mode for first couple of flights but have gone past that now. The only 'bug' I've experience is the dronie mode which doesn't gain much altitude and I haven't tried helix mode due to reported problems. I've had it in sport mode for several flights today and it was a blast. All in all, I'm very satisfied with the Spark. Works pretty much as advertised.

aviscomi · Jun 23, 2017

WPS said:
Well, as a first time flyer, I was able to get it in the air, take pictures and video without any connection issues. I've been flying for 4 days now (in between rain storms) and haven't had any connection problems. Was in beginner mode for first couple of flights but have gone past that now. The only 'bug' I've experience is the dronie mode which doesn't gain much altitude and I haven't tried helix mode due to reported problems. I've had it in sport mode for several flights today and it was a blast. All in all, I'm very satisfied with the Spark. Works pretty much as advertised.

Finally, someone from the target market group that was able to go from box to sky without any major issues. You're in good shape now, enjoy!

WPS · Jun 23, 2017

aviscomi said:
Finally, someone from the target market group that was able to go from box to sky without any major issues. You're in good shape now, enjoy!

I would be willing to bet most are not having significant problems. The forums are the first place people go when they do have issues so you get a kind of biased view. When deciding on either a Mavic or the Spark, I read a lot of early Mavic forum posts and they initially had the same kind of thing going on. I'm having a blast (knock on wood) with the Spark. Hope I haven't jinxed myself.

Peter · Jun 24, 2017

WPS said:
I would be willing to bet most are not having significant problems. The forums are the first place people go when they do have issues so you get a kind of biased view. When deciding on either a Mavic or the Spark, I read a lot of early Mavic forum posts and they initially had the same kind of thing going on. I'm having a blast (knock on wood) with the Spark. Hope I haven't jinxed myself.

Can I ask how far out you are flying your Spark to? My Spark is has no connection issues if I don't fly it more than 100m.

aviscomi · Jun 24, 2017

Peter said:
Can I ask how far out you are flying your Spark to? My Spark is has no connection issues if I don't fly it more than 100m.

@Peter are you flying with a RC?

Peter · Jun 24, 2017

@aviscomi I am, yes.

I'm hoping this is a temporary fix pending a f/w update: Manually select frequency band with RC

aviscomi · Jun 24, 2017

Peter said:
@aviscomi I am, yes.

I'm hoping this is a temporary fix pending a f/w update: Manually select frequency band with RC

I've read that there will be a FW update to address this issue

Peter · Jun 24, 2017

aviscomi said:
I've read that there will be a FW update to address this issue

We can but hope..

I'm surprised that there hasn't been at least one this week, I'm sure one will be along soon though.

aviscomi · Jun 24, 2017

Peter said:
We can but hope..

I'm surprised that there hasn't been at least one this week, I'm sure one will be along soon though.

They're (DJI) probably packaging multiple fixes in 1 update. Not a good practice to deploy an update per issue unless it's critical.

WPS · Jun 24, 2017

Peter said:
Can I ask how far out you are flying your Spark to? My Spark is has no connection issues if I don't fly it more than 100m.

Being a newbie I haven't tried any distance records. The farthest I have recorded is 490 ft. about 150 meters. I am using the RC. The connection was stable throughout the flight. Haven't tried it with just the phone.

Peter · Jun 24, 2017

WPS said:
Being a newbie I haven't tried any distance records. The farthest I have recorded is 490 ft. about 150 meters. I am using the RC. The connection was stable throughout the flight. Haven't tried it with just the phone.

Thanks, it sounds like yours is fine..