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Ok I might be a bit crazy...

KevTN

Well-Known Member
Join
Apr 15, 2018
Messages
80
Age
59
Loc
Chattanooga, TN
While it is raining outside I thought I would do as much as I can as far as getting the spark setup. The only thing left is calibration of the compass. While sitting on my table it is in atti mode. Is this normal or how do I switch it to GPS mode. I have look on YouTube and ither areas...

Yes the ultimate newb question .lol

Thank you
 
While it is raining outside I thought I would do as much as I can as far as getting the spark setup. The only thing left is calibration of the compass. While sitting on my table it is in atti mode. Is this normal or how do I switch it to GPS mode. I have look on YouTube and ither areas...

Yes the ultimate newb question .lol

Thank you
Calm down. You're anxious. But don't blame you. New Spark and, darn, raining outside!!! You aren't getting GPS, thus you are in atti mode. GPS has no reach inside a building. You have to be in open air, outside, to get GPS signals from those umpteen satellites. Careful inside. You could easily break props hitting something.
 
While it is raining outside I thought I would do as much as I can as far as getting the spark setup. The only thing left is calibration of the compass. While sitting on my table it is in atti mode. Is this normal or how do I switch it to GPS mode. I have look on YouTube and ither areas...

Yes the ultimate newb question .lol

Thank you
The rain and bad weather in general is there for a reason when you first buy a drone. It is to give you plenty of time to read the manual before you fly the AC.
 
It was 12F and snowing when I got my Spark, so used the time to practice flying inside. Of course very limited. I had prop guards on and the obstacle avoidance kicked in when I got to close to a wall. Yep, read the manual and also watched youtube videos.

The one thing I practiced inside was landings so I could land the Spark exactly where I wanted it. I also setup a short course... 4 books on floor to form a square and would take off, fly to a corner, land and move to next book. Forwards, backwards and sideways to get used to the controls. Luckily, I had a fairly large room to do this in!
 
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It was 12F and snowing when I got my Spark, so used the time to practice flying inside. Of course very limited. I had prop guards on and the obstacle avoidance kicked in when I got to close to a wall. Yep, read the manual and also watched youtube videos.

The one thing I practiced inside was landings so I could land the Spark exactly where I wanted it. I also setup a short course... 4 books on floor to form a square and would take off, fly to a corner, land and move to next book. Forwards, backwards and sideways to get used to the controls. Luckily, I had a fairly large room to do this in!
Looks like you are being methodic, logical and cautious in your new endeavor. Great. You'll be a good pilot. I have a Mavic and a Tello, both ends of a spectrum, but the Spark is right there in them middle with unique abilities and very versatile, a fun, responsive, capable drone. I hope you enjoy it a lot like I do mine.
 
It was 12F and snowing when I got my Spark, so used the time to practice flying inside. Of course very limited. I had prop guards on and the obstacle avoidance kicked in when I got to close to a wall. Yep, read the manual and also watched youtube videos.

The one thing I practiced inside was landings so I could land the Spark exactly where I wanted it. I also setup a short course... 4 books on floor to form a square and would take off, fly to a corner, land and move to next book. Forwards, backwards and sideways to get used to the controls. Luckily, I had a fairly large room to do this in!


That's a good idea. After it stops raining for the first flight I want to take to local football field to get a good feel of things. I am NOT ready for indoor (yet) lol.

With my other drone even when I was inside I could get 10-12 satellites.

I did get a break long enough to calibrate the compass. So I am 97% sure I am ready when weather is. I did see in one of the menus to 'unlock' ??? Is that software even though I went through the registration??
 
Calm down. You're anxious. But don't blame you. New Spark and, darn, raining outside!!! You aren't getting GPS, thus you are in atti mode. GPS has no reach inside a building. You have to be in open air, outside, to get GPS signals from those umpteen satellites. Careful inside. You could easily break props hitting something.
Lol is there a toggle for GPS and atti?
 
That's a good idea. After it stops raining for the first flight I want to take to local football field to get a good feel of things. I am NOT ready for indoor (yet) lol.

With my other drone even when I was inside I could get 10-12 satellites.

I did get a break long enough to calibrate the compass. So I am 97% sure I am ready when weather is. I did see in one of the menus to 'unlock' ??? Is that software even though I went through the registration??

Compass and GPS are two different and separate things. Make sure that you are not confusing the two.

Why did you calibrate the compass? Did you get a prompt to so so?
 
"Looks like you are being methodic, logical and cautious in your new endeavor."

Heck, I'm so impatient... when I get a new toy, I want to play with it right now and do everything!

But.... Lessons learned hard... I have a Phantom1 (that is going to Craig's list as I don't fly it much anymore) that I bought in late 2014. I learned to fly on it and realized then I really had to spend time practicing on that bugger. Getting used to the controls and learning the differences is a must.

Spark is super easy to fly compared to the P1. I also don't have to rely on just powering up my GoPro for vids and pix and hoping I have it set up correctly because of no video monitor with the P1.

Anyone want to buy a DJI Phantom1? :)
 
Compass and GPS are two different and separate things. Make sure that you are not confusing the two.

Why did you calibrate the compass? Did you get a prompt to so so?

Yes I know they are two different things. I bought spark last night and it has been raining ever since. The calibration was for the initial setup. With my last drone I learned to never leave the ground before proper calibration...lol
 
Ok took to football field. Really disappointed...I know it maybe so.ething simple but got an error saying unable to communicate with GPS reset spark. So now digging through thing what to do. Argh lol
 
Yes I know they are two different things. I bought spark last night and it has been raining ever since. The calibration was for the initial setup. With my last drone I learned to never leave the ground before proper calibration...lol
You only need to calibrate the compass when when prompted to do so.
 
While it is raining outside I thought I would do as much as I can as far as getting the spark setup. The only thing left is calibration of the compass. While sitting on my table it is in atti mode. Is this normal or how do I switch it to GPS mode. I have look on YouTube and ither areas...

Yes the ultimate newb question .lol

Thank you
I agree with the person that posted that gps does not each indoors and I would like to add that it would be better to setup where you are going to fly to get true readings set up your compass were there is not metal object to throw it off . over the ground that you will be flying over. Metal in a building or in a side walk could effect your compass.
 
I'm up in Nashville and this weekend's weather was terrible to fly. But hopefully your weather down there will be better like tomorrow looks like up here. If you're being methodical make sure you download UAV Forecast to check conditions for flying and AirMap to make sure your in a good area to fly without having to notify any airports etc. Happy flying!
 
Hey EyedocRobot...weekdays are tough to fly due to work. I will look for those apps. Thanks. There is a pvt airport a cpl of miles from me but the owners are in dispute with each other and what was once a busy teaching airport is all but shutdown.

I will going to Nashville more starting next year as my daughter will be playing softball for Lipscomb University.

Thanks
 

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