Near flyaway

[ol' Sparky]

Was out flying yesterday. Have been having issues with ATTI MODE warnngs, but by the time I look down, the screen says GPS again. Usually when it's about 300-500 feet away. Had a range extender on the antenna, 12-15 satellites, VLOS at all times, compass and IMU show normal, home point set and took off with a full charge. Flew up over 100 feet and about 250 to 300 feet out. Hit the RTH button and it went into ATTI mode, but didn't go back to GPS mode immediately like before, and started to take off. Thanx to all the posts in this forum on what to do when that happens, I was able to control it with the RC, figure out the heading (map box went black) and got it to head back home. Regained GPS after a bit so I tried RTH again and it came home and did a precision landing. Brought it home, did a little research here and checked the manufacture date (jul 2017), checked the flight record, It showed several YAW errors so I did a map update and compass calibration. Have not been able to fly it since (weather), but did contact DJI support and uploaded logs for them to examine. Will get back to me in a few days. Opinions? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[nilanjan118]

Typical Spark. Yaw Error followed by Atti mode. Good that you had VLOS and could control it manually. Some of the users have reported that Yaw error happens when there is aggressive flying in Sport mode but that was not the case with you. Was there any excessive yaw input from you? May be if you could share the flightlog link from Airdata, one of the experts here could take a look and give more insight.

 

[ol' Sparky]

Yeah...was hovering when I hit RTH and it went off on me. When it went to ATTI it jumped around like crazy.

 

[wilsonthedog]

Typical Spark. Yaw Error followed by Atti mode. Good that you had VLOS and could control it manually. Some of the users have reported that Yaw error happens when there is aggressive flying in Sport mode but that was not the case with you. Was there any excessive yaw input from you? May be if you could share the flightlog link from Airdata, one of the experts here could take a look and give more insight.

Yes. I don't fly sport mode with my Spark anymore due to this fear. No problems otherwise. DJI replaced my first spark, for two flyaways that I was able to recover, while it was in sport mode. After receiving replacement I flew sport mode once and lost normal control and never tried again. Though this comment is a bit of a highjack from the OP, I feel it's important to share this unfortunate spark truth.

 

[Simk1n]

I almost always use my Spark in Sport mode, but if i fly away where it begins to be difficult to spot it (i have the white one, and its not easy too see the small Spark "out there") i try to be gentle with the stick movements.

The Spark seems much more prone to loosing connection with RC and Atti mode then the more expensive drones. The video feed on my Mavic Air is miles and miles better than the laggy Spark feed. I have also experienced loosing connection with my Spark beeing only a few meters away for many seconds and it started to fly upwards by itself, but slowly.

However, my Spark has been fairly stable connection wise, with only some brief grey screen a couple of times. For me the Spark is a photo/selfie drone, and not something i would use for video or longer distances, for this i have Air and Mavic 2 Zoom, but for fun, i like the Spark best, it is really fun to fly!

 

[ol' Sparky]

I almost always use my Spark in Sport mode, but if i fly away where it begins to be difficult to spot it (i have the white one, and its not easy too see the small Spark "out there") i try to be gentle with the stick movements.

The Spark seems much more prone to loosing connection with RC and Atti mode then the more expensive drones. The video feed on my Mavic Air is miles and miles better than the laggy Spark feed. I have also experienced loosing connection with my Spark beeing only a few meters away for many seconds and it started to fly upwards by itself, but slowly.

However, my Spark has been fairly stable connection wise, with only some brief grey screen a couple of times. For me the Spark is a photo/selfie drone, and not something i would use for video or longer distances, for this i have Air and Mavic 2 Zoom, but for fun, i like the Spark best, it is really fun to fly!

Kind of chose the Spark as my entry level drone expressly for the fact that it has a decent range compared to the competition. Never expected to get 2K out of it, and don't think I would need to go out that far, but wasn't expecting issues at less than 500 feet out. Clearly should have ponied up for a Mavic.

 

[Simk1n]

Kind of chose the Spark as my entry level drone expressly for the fact that it has a decent range compared to the competition. Never expected to get 2K out of it, and don't think I would need to go out that far, but wasn't expecting issues at less than 500 feet out. Clearly should have ponied up for a Mavic.

For me the one thing i really dont like with the Spark is the laggy video feed. I also did not expect good video quality (its decent enough, but waay to small FOV). Picture quality is very good though, and on pair with the Mavic's, atleast my Air.