Merry Christmas from the UK

[ASD]

Hi there,

Merry Christmas

I'm pretty well a drone newbie, DJI Spark (Fly more) is my 'ride' as of a few days ago

Lots to learn, hence why I'm here

Cheers

ASD

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the SparkPilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange
of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in DJI Spark quadcopters.
Enjoy!
*DJI Spark Manual: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Spark/20171031/Spark User Manual V1.6.pdf
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

 

[msinger]

Welcome to Spark Pilots!

 

[TruckerJoe]

Welcome fellow UK flyer

 

[bath1968]

Yes welcome from another UK flyer [emoji3][emoji106]

 

[rottie]

hi

 

[Ophidia Snaketongue]

Nice to see another newbie Brit...now you just have to find somewhere you can legally fly the thing!

 

[ASD]

I've had more than a few problems but I can return the Spark, so what's the uk status on where and how far you can fly?

I am a little worried by the recent OTG block from DJI but I will spend the next few days seeing how my iPhone performs without it and decide...

What's the consensus? How far should I be able to get before I get video and connection drop outs using WiFi with an iPhone 6

Cheers

ASD

 

[Ophidia Snaketongue]

Where: you cannot fly within 50m of another person, vehicle or building without authorisation. How: You must be able to see the Spark at all times.

Also, no fun is allowed in the UK, so drones are banned from many parks, even when they're empty. I guess the grass gets offended? The best place to look for nice places to fly drones is the government site on open access land. Basically, just be a polite and safe drone pilot, and you'll be fine.

I use OTG on android, and I just use the 4.1.15 version of the app. It works very nicely and feels more stable than 4.1.18. The farthest distance I've gone is 600m...which I feel is more than adequate for such a tiny drone. That was without fiddling with the wifi settings, either.

 

[ASD]

600m with OTG?

How far with just WiFi?

DJI claims are obviously without OTG as they don't support OTG?

 

[Ophidia Snaketongue]

Truth is, I've not tried with just wifi. I found the video feed to be too laggy to be useful without OTG, and I didn't realise when I started using it that it wasn't fully supported. Now I'm hooked and sticking with it ;D.

 

[ASD]

Having just got the Spark and realising that I am already at a firmware level that I need to undo just to use OTG worries me, I've read too many posts about just using WiFi giving a flaky connection but I thought OTG fixed this so I went ahead

 

[Ophidia Snaketongue]

Nah, you don't need to undo the firmware. I fly my Hoverbee (my nieces named it) with .900 firmware and 4.1.15. It's been fine so far.

 

[ASD]

Sorry..

Yes I am at .900 FW

But 4.1.18

I assume that will disable some functionality when I fly properly tomorrow for the first time?

 

[Ophidia Snaketongue]

On an iPhone, I'm not sure, honestly...it does on the Android. For your first flight, I'd stick to wifi, and try out OTG when you're a bit more confident.

 

[ASD]

Will do, I will fly just WiFi tomorrow and see how I get on before I decide

 

[Ophidia Snaketongue]

I would recommend you don't try pushing the limits of range at first. The spark may seem foolproof, but there is a lot of complex tech in that tiny body, and it's best to get a feel for the controls, especially the OhCrap button (otherwise known as the pause).

I speak from experience...one of my first flights of Hoverbee out in the wilds involved taking it off over some fields. It was quite low on battery, but it had plenty. Except, I flew it out to maximum range, and then it lost signal, did an RTH, but hit a headwind. It couldn't get back before it hit 10% battery, so it landed in a random farmer's field in the middle of a marsh covered with three foot rushes! I found it eventually (flight records and a tablet's GPS really helped), but I did lose a shoe in the process :/.

The whole thing was typical pilot's error and entirely my fault, I don't deny it. Live and learn!

 

[Lastrexking]

Welcome to the forum! I’m in Yorkshire, so nice to see another Brit here.

Regarding otg - if you’re on iOS, it has no benefit at all. It’s only really useful for Android users.

Also, otg on any platform doesn’t extend flight distance. It merely offers a wired connection to the rc rather than wireless. The signal and strength will always be determined by the RC.

As for where and how far you can fly. The CAA guide can be found here - Drone code | Dronesafe

Enjoy your Spark!

 

[ASD]

So I did my first couple of test flights today, I had a minor deviation which was an enforced IMU calibration which wasn't helped by the poor GO 4 app instructions but after that I flew the Spark for the first time, venturing in to sport mode for a few minutes on the second battery flight.

I have to say that the Spark flew further than my bottle allowed me, so no WiFi limitations experienced during this first exposure to the Spark. Overall very happy, I don't know if as my confidence builds the CE transmitter will be a problem but not for now as it takes a leap of faith to try and fly once the Spark becomes little more than a dot in the sky, but all done over open fields.

Cheers

ASD

 

[ASD]

So I am 1 week in to Spark ownership, I've flown 6 times in total, I have 2 batteries so tend to fly 1 battery at low level, say 2 metres from the ground and try to fly point to point, I live near some football (Soccer for the US members!) pitches in a sports field so I just fly to and from different sets of goal posts flying inside with me trying to get used to flying from both the iPhone screen view and LOS.

The other battery I tend fly between H:80 and H:120 metres again using the iPhone screen to get used to flying sort of FPV mode as far away as I dare or until I get weak signal alerts. Just trying to learn how to fly bit by bit.

Just for interest I got H:84 metres and D:525 metres before I had my second signal loss and decided not to push my luck and let it RTH part of the way before I took control back.

My setup is:

iPhone 6
UK - CE mode
.900 firmware
DJI GO 4 Version 4.1.20
5.8G default setting
WiFi not OTG for phone to RC

I wear a lightweight waterproof jacket and find it so convenient that I can put the Spark in one pocket, the RC and iPhone in the other and the spare battery in my trouser pocket and just go out for a walk to a local spot, the props are a little vulnerable like this but I accept that for the convenience it gives me.

On a previous flight I kept getting dropouts at H:50, D:250 metres but this latest flight, I flew higher (H:85m) and made sure I was clear of trees, also I paid attention to the antennae being long side pointing to the drone position in the air as previously I may have been nearer to having the point of the antennae toward the drone.

I still want to do the FCC hack as much for peace of mind over these sort of distances to improve reliability and not to start setting any distance records.

Cheers

ASD