Welcome DJI Spark Pilot!
Jump in and join our free Spark community today!
Sign up

Lost spark

I have been reading so much on what should and shouldn’t be done
Great plan. The problem is many people don't start doing this until they run into trouble like this :(
 
I get what you are saying and tbh I tried everything I could but nothing responded and it just displayed that it was disconnected, even the rudder response time is extremely poor on the UAV log so perhaps that could be something to do with the fact nothing was happening, but when I have no sight of the drone after it increased in height so much after RTH I couldn’t see what was happening, the camera wasnt showing anything and nothing was responding and when I tried cancelling the RTH which I’m sure I did on a few occasions it showed error command timed out, it’s frustrating and I apologise now if I sound out of tone with my replies I’m just gutted that it’s gone , I even bought a smaller drone before I bought the spark to practice without the GPS so I had a good understanding on what to expect while flying a drone

I loved the spark for the two days I had it for! And I am keen to get back out as over the week I have been reading so much on what should and shouldn’t be done, I hope DJI can help in the situation to get to the bottom of what actually happened that day

So sorry to hear this, sometimes things just go wrong and we panic which can often cause all sorts of extra hassle! Do you have DJI care Refresh?
 
FYI, DJI Care Refresh can only be used if you're able to find the drone.
 
The downward sensors were detecting something at altitudes as low as 108 feet.

Here's a shot from 91 feet:

View attachment 8130
Looking at this picture makes me even more positive that the spark was that high up it had gone above the clouds and got stuck up there thinking the clouds was an obstacle,
At 15% battery and still at 1200 feet it would of dropped like a stone the search area could be alot bigger depending on what the wind was up there.
I'm quite surprised he didn't hear it slamming into the ground so that makes me think it's hit grass or smashed into a tree, it was right above him .
 
If you use Google maps and put them last know gps and zoom out to a hight, that little spark could be anywhere in a massive radius especially if it was windy.
I would start walking like in a circle and gradually make the area bigger. I bet it's in that big field.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ryan161286
Looking at this picture makes me even more positive that the spark was that high up it had gone above the clouds and got stuck up there thinking the clouds was an obstacle,
At 15% battery and still at 1200 feet it would of dropped like a stone the search area could be alot bigger depending on what the wind was up there.
I'm quite surprised he didn't hear it slamming into the ground so that makes me think it's hit grass or smashed into a tree, it was right above him .
that picture was before i had gone up in altitude, there is nothing around that part that could or should have sensed anything on the downwards sensors, it steers me more to believe there were sensor issues with the drone? I think you are right about it landing much further than the takeoff zone, I have searched further afield from the supposed landing site which was given from the gps, the battery still had 31% at 1312ft so even then had time to come back to land
 
Maybe some dirt got on the sensor and that made it keep rising, its entirely possible.
I'm thinking not since the downward sensors were working per the usual when the Spark was closer to the ground.
 
If you use Google maps and put them last know gps and zoom out to a hight, that little spark could be anywhere in a massive radius especially if it was windy.
I would start walking like in a circle and gradually make the area bigger. I bet it's in that big field.
I have searched that big field , and the area around the gps coordinates but still with no luck
 
that picture was before i had gone up in altitude, there is nothing around that part that could or should have sensed anything on the downwards sensors, it steers me more to believe there were sensor issues with the drone? I think you are right about it landing much further than the takeoff zone, I have searched further afield from the supposed landing site which was given from the gps, the battery still had 31% at 1312ft so even then had time to come back to land
Yeah looks like them clouds wouldn't let your spark land. That's always bug'd me that DJI never gave us a way to turn them downwards sensors off like you can on the mavics.
 
Yeah looks like them clouds wouldn't let your spark land. That's always bug'd me that DJI never gave us a way to turn them downwards sensors off like you can on the mavics.
Worse part is tho is that it wasn’t in the cloud at 600ft , well not in the thick of it which I would assume would be the case at 1300ft anyway, so if the drone RTH as initiated then it should have been fine, but it increased altitude and the signal instantly after starting RTH dropped from 83% to 21% even before it increased altitude, I guess I may never know
 
Worse part is tho is that it wasn’t in the cloud at 600ft , well not in the thick of it which I would assume would be the case at 1300ft anyway, so if the drone RTH as initiated then it should have been fine, but it increased altitude and the signal instantly after starting RTH dropped from 83% to 21% even before it increased altitude, I guess I may never know
You will be surprised how low clouds are even at 600 feet your spark could of been in them. But to me it seems unlikely it was clouds at that hight to me it sounds like the sensor thought there was something underneath it then kept rising until it was in the clouds at 1200 feet.
 
Worse part is tho is that it wasn’t in the cloud at 600ft , well not in the thick of it which I would assume would be the case at 1300ft anyway, so if the drone RTH as initiated then it should have been fine, but it increased altitude and the signal instantly after starting RTH dropped from 83% to 21% even before it increased altitude, I guess I may never know
I'm going to take my Mavic out tomorrow and test and see at 400 feet see how small it looks at that hight get a feel how low the clouds look. I'll message my results tomorrow.
 
You will be surprised how low clouds are even at 600 feet your spark could of been in them. But to me it seems unlikely it was clouds at that hight to me it sounds like the sensor thought there was something underneath it then kept rising until it was in the clouds at 1200 feet.
I'm going to take my Mavic out tomorrow and test and see at 400 feet see how small it looks at that hight get a feel how low the clouds look. I'll message my results tomorrow.
Ok, Keep me posted!
 
Wishing you luck finding your bird.

Reading this has me feeling grateful. Months ago, I woke up early, had my morning coffee on the deck. It was a pea soup foggy morning. I had the idea to fly Sparky and see how high up I would need to fly to clear the fog. After clearing the fog and poking above capturing great pics of the sunrise over the fog cloud, I safely descended back home. At the time, I never even gave it a thought that clouds / fog could register as a obstacle.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
14,593
Messages
118,799
Members
17,988
Latest member
KguaooNex