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Flew up to 350 ft and Spark took off. Lost forever. DJI's respnse:

Now that I have been forced to upgrade my spark to 1.0.600, it seems like the general consensus is this issue has been resolved. I suspect that is a bold statement, but I am still curious if folks experiencing this were still at 1.0.300 ?
 
Thank you for describing what was supposed to happen but didn't. Seems to me that it didn't function as it is supposed to.

BTW, moments after it disappeared behind a tall tree I stopped hearing the motor noise and then heard the crash into the brush/trees/forest. It wasn't just taken by the wind. It was swift (as in sport mode fast), sped off for a few seconds, and powered off and crashed back to the ground. I could hear it all happen. The powering off. The crash. I wish to hell it had gone in any other direction. I probably would have found it.
How did it disappear after going behind a tree at 350'?
 
Well, since I wouldn't fly any of my drones straight up above me to 350 feet, and at full throttle no less, I'll likely not have that issue. Thanks, tho.
Apologetic posts like this and like the Editor does (DOES NOT HELP) This seriously makes me mad, the drones are made to fly does NOT matter if straight up or not. Stop making excuses for a rich corporation that doesn't care about its customers and do not stand behind their product 100%.

This should be coverted completely by the warranty, any flyways should be covered as the drone is supposed to come back to home point and failure in that function the liability and burden is on the makers of the system.
 
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any flyways should be covered as the drone is supposed to come back to home point and failure in that function the liability and burden is on the makers of the system.
I have seen many cases where DJI replaced a drone for free when flight data was available to show the drone malfunctioned. In the OP's case, there is no such data. For all DJI knows (and I'm not assuming this happened), the OP could have powered down his tablet, landed his Spark, and filed a false missing Spark claim.
 
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I have seen many cases where DJI replaced a drone for free when flight data was available to show the drone malfunctioned. In the OP's case, there is no such data. For all DJI knows (and I'm not assuming this happened), the OP could have powered down his tablet, landed his Spark, and filed a false missing Spark claim.
Well this makes sense, but I think that another solution will need to be implemented to solve this conundrum, maybe the drones need to be cloud enabled and talk straight to the DJI servers via LTE or something like.
 
maybe the drones need to be cloud enabled and talk straight to the DJI servers via LTE or something like
I like that idea. I'm sure we'll get there someday.
 
It's simply a comment from someone who understands from experience that 350 feet straight up is not the best situation for a good signal.
That being the case why does dji give a top altitude of 400 ft max? Or will it actually go higher and I'm thinking of the top 400 ft max that the FAA has approved?
 
I don't see what s wrong with flying a drone straight up to 350' at full throttle...

As much as I didn't like DJI saying that since my log stopped abruptly mid flight with no error there would not be any warranty, I can also see how there could be warranty abuses... I guess this is why they need the drone back so they can see the internal logs.

What I find hard to accept is how there have rushed a product out, and new firmware as well, while there are obviously issues

Instead of adding new features which can only increase the risk of new bugs I wish they just fixed the existing firmware Reliability should be the priority not some new cool but rarely used features
 
This story smells funny.
Flying straight up does not give the best angle for the connection. When did the straight up flight stop and and the Spark went behind the trees?
The vast majority of "fly aways" are user error. This one almost certainly is if it even happened.
If you do something stupid with your drone you may lose it and DJI or any other mfg shouldn't replace it unconditionally without some review. They offered 30%. He should take it or go buy another more compelling drone.
I'll continue to fly mine unconcerned on the basis of some sketchy stories.
 
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Wireless is never 100%! To many other RF's out there that could interrupt a wireless signal. Life is chancy!
 
Being a hamradio operator for over 35 years i will never under estimate radio interference. Spark is dependent on two radio connections 1- the RC 2- gps. If there is a strong interference to block both RC and gps receivers spark can end up In trouble. My 2 cents.
 
It's simply a comment from someone who understands from experience that 350 feet straight up is not the best situation for a good signal.
I am a new pilot, Spark is my first drone, have very little experience in flying. Yesterday I took some nice areal photos over my neighborhood, took the Spark straight up to 100 meters (330 feet) and had some very nice pics. No problems, felt very safe.

Was that wrong? Did I take a big risk? Can you with your experience explain to me with my very limited experience why there is a problem to take the Spark straight up to 350 feet?
 
Can you with your experience explain to me with my very limited experience why there is a problem to take the Spark straight up to 350 feet?
Check out this video for an explanation of how the remote controller antennas should be positioned and what happens to the signal when flying directly overhead.
 
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Check out this video for an explanation of how the remote controller antennas should be positioned and what happens to the signal when flying directly overhead.
Thank you for good info! I knew about the importance of the direction of the remote controller antennas, I did NOT know about the limitations from the Spark antennas. It makes sense that you should not stand right underneath the Spark.

Thank you for good support.
 
30% off take it, I got zero. Maps didn't work so only the lost model finder would show where the thing put itself.
Then I get the answer from DJI, it didn't malfunction,NO but the bloody App did. :(
 
30% off take it, I got zero. Maps didn't work so only the lost model finder would show where the thing put itself.
Then I get the answer from DJI, it didn't malfunction,NO but the bloody App did. :(
What is the lost model finder?
 
Being a hamradio operator for over 35 years i will never under estimate radio interference. Spark is dependent on two radio connections 1- the RC 2- gps. If there is a strong interference to block both RC and gps receivers spark can end up In trouble. My 2 cents.

I found this a bit odd while I was researching the Spark before buying.
Why double the chances of something going wrong with 2 radio signals ??
So are we saying here then that an OTG cable is the way to go for safer and more reliable flights ?
 

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