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Spark problem with first Litchi takeoff

Raoul

Active Member
Join
May 16, 2019
Messages
31
Age
37
Loc
Italy
Hi all,
today for the first time I tried to use Litchi instead of DJI Go 4, but I immediately had a problem. As soon as I took the first take-off and the Spark came off the ground, the bird began to move horizontally without an apparent reason, as if the GPS did not control the trim. Fortunately, I managed to get the drone to land immediately before it crashed into a wall, but I couldn't understand why it behaved like that.


The switch mode was at FPV, the aircraft status was at GPS, Satellite count was at 10 and all signals was full.
Soon after I tried with DJI Go 4 and after takeoff the Spark didn't move from its position.
Where did I go wrong?
Thanks in advance.
 
are you using purchased version of Litchi or you've found it somewhere on the internet? From what I heard, the unofficially shared versions mostly have some glitches in them (not sure if accidenpretty often including Compass issues (which is what probably happened to you). BTW ten satellites is pretty on edge between GPS and ATTI mode. It's good to have like 13-14 at minimum for stable flight.
 
are you using purchased version of Litchi or you've found it somewhere on the internet? From what I heard, the unofficially shared versions mostly have some glitches in them (not sure if accidenpretty often including Compass issues (which is what probably happened to you). BTW ten satellites is pretty on edge between GPS and ATTI mode. It's good to have like 13-14 at minimum for stable flight.
I found my Litchi apk from the internet as I wanted to try before I buy. Still have yet to try it out but good to know!
 
Hi all,
today for the first time I tried to use Litchi instead of DJI Go 4, but I immediately had a problem. As soon as I took the first take-off and the Spark came off the ground, the bird began to move horizontally without an apparent reason, as if the GPS did not control the trim. Fortunately, I managed to get the drone to land immediately before it crashed into a wall, but I couldn't understand why it behaved like that.


The switch mode was at FPV, the aircraft status was at GPS, Satellite count was at 10 and all signals was full.
Soon after I tried with DJI Go 4 and after takeoff the Spark didn't move from its position.
Where did I go wrong?
Thanks in advance.

Please answer post #2 when you can

You will need more than 10 to take off properly.
Chances are you took off with only 5 GPS and 5 GLONASS sats or some weird combination.

That would be my guess.
Give it some time to lock in.
 
What surface were you taking off from? Looks like a rooftop, lots of metal underneath. Litchi does not have a facility for checking sensor state. I have taken to checking with Go4 first, then ending that app and launching Litchi.

It actually does tell you if the compass is wonky or the IMU.
All built off of the same SDK
I saw a compass calibration message in Litchi a few times.
Like with GO4 though, I will fly a Spark with that message and hover for a few then execute the mission.
PS - Not the case that happened at Frenchman's Mountain :D
 
It actually does tell you if the compass is wonky or the IMU.
All built off of the same SDK
I saw a compass calibration message in Litchi a few times.
Like with GO4 though, I will fly a Spark with that message and hover for a few then execute the mission.
PS - Not the case that happened at Frenchman's Mountain :D
Ya, you have corrected me on this before, its just they dont give you a nice visual display like Go4... its been part of my pre-flight for a long time, so hard to not see it.
 
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I just did other tests and this time everything worked well. I don't understand, however, why yesterday there was that problem, as if the GPS had not worked. I have been using this starting site for over a year and have never had any problems with the Go 4. Today, if it stops raining, I will do some other tests with the Litchi functions, after which I will try to do a small mission with the waypoint function. I hope there are no further problems.
Thanks all for assistance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pmshop
I just did other tests and this time everything worked well. I don't understand, however, why yesterday there was that problem, as if the GPS had not worked. I have been using this starting site for over a year and have never had any problems with the Go 4. Today, if it stops raining, I will do some other tests with the Litchi functions, after which I will try to do a small mission with the waypoint function. I hope there are no further problems.
Thanks all for assistance.

As others have pointed out 10 satellites is the bare minimum to avoid loss of GPS mode and switch at ATTI. The number of satellites will usually increase as you elevate away from ground clutter but that is not always the case.

Here is a random UAV screen shot I took right now at my home:
9986

You can see that a set location will have great variation throughout the day with anywhere from 10-17 satellites visible. Even when there are enough satellites the KP index can cause interference. On top of that there are random fluctuations in the ionosphere that wreak havock with weaker GPS antennas like the Spark's.

I get the audible alert "GPS ok to fly" at 10-11 GPS but wait until 13-14 present. At altitude I'll see 17+. Maybe I'm just lucky where I live but using UAV Forecast and waiting for 13+ GPS has kept ATTI mode at bay.
 

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