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What am I doing wrong?

Roger S

Well-Known Member
Join
Apr 6, 2018
Messages
145
Age
40
I lost my 3rd Spark to fly away today. However unlike the 1st 2, I found this one.
I'll take credit for the 1st loss, as I was flying in an area with weak GPS.

My 2nd Spark took off on it's own while flying a Litchi mission I'd flown numerous times before. Litchi support concluded "GPS interferance". dji wouldn't look at the issue as I was using 3rd party software.

The following is my experience with a 3rd (refurbished) spark I purchased in April:

Spark would not connect at 2.4 GHZ in Auto channel select -> lost connection ~300-500 ft. Sent back to dji where main board was replaced.

Had trouble connecting on 1st flight attempt. DJI support assisted getting connected. On take off instead of ascending Spark flew horizontally into a fence. DJI had me recalibrate controller, which then wouldn’t connect.

I changed controllers and was able to take off normally. However still no auto connect at 2.4 GHz.

Spark now loses connection within a few feet.

6/23/18 “compass error” when trying to take off (no magnetic material nearby). Recalibrated compass. Compass error messages persist. Also loss of gps in open area, clear sky.

While ascending after take off altitude seems to display correctly till AC reaches 20-25 ft then indicates loss of altitude, though AC is still ascending resulting in a crash landing from ~20ft altitude.

6/25/19 Spark “returned to home” several blocks away.
 
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I'd send that one back for another one.

I've read of a member here that had to send his back 2 or 3 times before it was right.

And I think these were replacements and not repairs.
 
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My recommendation would be to use DJI Go4 software until you can sort things out. The inability to connect on 2.4 GHz is a major Red Flag that there is something not functioning and I would request that DJI make certain that it works as part of the repair. However, before going back to DJI I would try to eliminate any nearby WiFi interference from houses and cell phones in the area. Unfortunately 2.4 GHz is very popular and 2.4 GHz signal from multiple sources is a big problem. The WiFi connection between the RC and the Drone is critical, has to be stable (the indicator on the RC should go from red to green). Next step, make sure your cell phone is connected by WiFi to the RC and not the drone. The Wifi connection on your cell phone should contain "RC" and "Spark" and a few others numbers, if you are using the RC for flight control. (When you are using your cellphone as the controller you will be connected directly to the Spark and the WiFi address will contain Spark and your bar code number BUT NOT "RC".) If all this is good, I would power up the Drone, power up the RC and get the green light indicating Drone-RC connection, and then I would see how far you can walk away from the drone while it is still on the ground maintaining a line of sight. If you can only get 25 feet away before you lose signal, there is a critical problem that must be address by DJI and you will have learned this without a flyaway. See how far you can walk away from the Drone without loss of signal and then see if you can sustain the signal for 15 minutes. If it passes these ground tests, you can then try a flight. My first flight would be to hover 10 feet off the ground and I would slowly walk away from the Drone. Make sure that your RTH is setting and that you have defined on the RC how high you want the Spark to go before heading to the RTH location. Gradually fly higher and further until you see the connection weaken on the monitor.
 
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What are you using for a phone? Phoebe was acting wacky, loosing connection, refusing to connect and so on until I replaced my 4-year-old Droid "Turbo" with a new Galaxy S10+. The old droid flew Sylvester last year.

I figured I was going to have to replace the phone as the usb socket no longer held the cable, but not on THAT paycheck, maybe the next one.

My symptom was: She would not connect to the remote if the phone was within 5 meters. Discovered this when I walked away in frustration and she connected. Walked back, she disconnected. Left the phone over there, and the remote could work the drone.

Of course, NOW I read of people having all sorts of trouble with the S10+.
 
Thank you Rick W and Tentoes. I'm using a Samsung S8 connected to controller by WiFi, so doubt that's an issue. I'm sending the Spark back again. I thought a refurb might be better than new as it's been through QA twice. But I guess a lemon will always be a lemon. Apparently dji didn't bother to test after replacing main board. I'm losing confidence in Sparks. This getting to be an expensive hobby. I'd like to upgrade to a Mavic, but a flyaway would be more than I can I can stomach.
 
Last edited:
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I'd send that one back for another one.

I've read of a member here that had to send his back 2 or 3 times before it was right.

And I think these were replacements and not repairs.
I've had it over a month so dji won't replace
I'd send that one back for another one.

I've read of a member here that had to send his back 2 or 3 times before it was right.

And I think these were replacements and not repairs.
P
dji wont replace because ive had ot over a month, and they dont seem very sympathetic to my problems over the last 2 years and 3 Sparks.
 
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Reactions: Spark 317
This is just my two cents worth but I have never experienced a fly away but I am very diligent and recalibrate the IMU and Gyro almost every flight. I also don’t take off my until it has GPS lock. I am very carefull to monitor GPS and signal strength. At the first sign of an issue I bring it home manually. RTH only works if it had GPS. Now I spend hours learning to fly in Atti mode in my basement so I could fly without GPS. Now as far as your controller losing signal I have to agree that most likely you have interference from another phone, smart watch or any device. I use a OTG cable to prevent this from the phone to the controller however not much can be done for the drone and the controller but to move away from the interference you should be able to she what channels you are trying to use in the able under settings
 

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