Yesterday, I almost lost my Spark

[Miquel]

Hi,

I'm sharing my yesterday's experience with my Spark because I think that it can be useful for another users.

Yesterday I went to the mountain and I wanted to take some pictures of a little church called "Ermita de Sant Joan".

After that, I went about 330 m to the East / North-Easth to take a far image of the Montserrat Monastery, then I started to receive messages about compass error... I tried to keep calm but I thought that my Spark would be added to the Flyaway Sparks list.

A few seconds later, the Spark entered in an automathic "Return to Home" mode. I tried to deactivate it (because I thought that If there was a compass error maybe the Spark wasn't able to return to home correctly, but, in my very nervous state I was clicking "cancel" when the app was asking me if I want to cancel the RTH). However, RTH worked ok and the noise of the Spark was increasing. Finally, I took manual control of it above my head and I landed it in a secure way.

I upload the log of this flight here:

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

What do you think about this issue? If I made a Calibrating Compass before the flight do you think that I would avoided the error?

I own my Spark for one year, approximately, but I don't have much time, so I have about 47 flights and about 6 hours of flight time but I made some home quadcopters before (DJI Naza, Gaui 330S...).

I don't understand a compass error in flight in a natural area without power lines or buildings or metallic objects near....

Any comment would be appreciate to avoid this issue in future flights...

Thank you in advance!!

Miquel

P.D.: Sorry for my bad English, it's not my own language...

 

[monty.roman]

I've experienced the compass error mid-air twice during my 170 flights and it's truly very unpleasant experience. It could be caused by many reasons like a big amount of iron in surrounding rocks or solar eruptions (high Kp index) or the Spark might have been stored in some spot where the magnetic radiation is high but I don't believe it was just because of you haven't calibrated before flight. Personally I calibrate only when some error pops out or when I notice unwanted yaw without any stick input. Anyway you should do it now just to be sure but do it in some open area with literally nothing around (including some keys or other metallic stuff in your pocket or controller in your hand). Also you can check the current level of compass interference even mid-air in the Go4 app itself in Sensors state under Aircraft configuration. If it jumps above 110, I would be careful (been flying near TV transmission tower last weekend and watched the interference all the way up).

 

[Rick W]

As I read your story, two possible ideas crossed my mind. I personally favor the second explanation although both may have contributed: 1.)How far away were you from the last location where you calibrated the compass on your Spark? If it was far, calibration at the new location might have helped. If the difference between true North and compass North is significant, the spark's compass location can go into conflict with the GPS or IMU location. 2). The compass errors can also occur due to metal in the ground. The compass helped determined your RTH location before takeoff. As you climbed to an altitude of 394 feet, the affect of the ground metal on the compass declined and again, the GPS, IMU and compass locations became different and an error was reported. I favor the second because I think you would have had a compass error at takeoff with the first. The Yaw error occurs often with compass errors and seem to be linked. Because you had 17 satellites for the GPS, your spark was still able to find its way home even without an accurate compass location. A great lesson for all of us to remember is how valuable that 17 GPS was.

BTW You English is great!!

 

[pmshop]

I hate to say...none of the explanations above.
While you saw compass error on your controller, your log file shows that and YAW error, speed error, IMU heading error, weak GPS signal (eve though you had 17 sat lock) and so on.

This is a typical user experience with models that came out around the summer & fall of 2018.
Do a search for "YAW Error" and you will see.
The only solution is service.
Open a service request, attach your log and anything else they request.
This should count as a warranty repair and not a DJI Care Refresh exchange.

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

I hate to say...none of the explanations above.
While you saw compass error on your controller, your log file shows that and YAW error, speed error, IMU heading error, weak GPS signal (eve though you had 17 sat lock) and so on.

This is a typical user experience with models that came out around the summer & fall of 2018.
Do a search for "YAW Error" and you will see.
The only solution is service.
Open a service request, attach your log and anything else they request.
This should count as a warranty repair and not a DJI Care Refresh exchange.

And if you'd like to know when your DJI product was manufactured, you can use the serial number decoder linked here.

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

And if you'd like to know when your DJI product was manufactured, you can use the serial number decoder linked here.

Thanks for that, mine was built October 13, 2017, so thats a relief.

 

[nyjumpee]

Thanks for that, mine was built October 13, 2017, so thats a relief.

Hey Northwood. . .just curious. . when and where did you buy your Spark? I just got mine from Best Buy in December 2018. . .looked up my manufacture date: Model: Spark, build on: 15. July 2017. Should I be at all concerned that my Spark is already 1 1/2 years old on the day I bought it? Thanks

 

[pmshop]

Now the thing is, what is the build dates of all of those faulty units.
Oct 2017 might have hit the sales floor in spring 2018????

 

[Dodge DeBoulet]

I don't think you can draw any conclusions regarding the age of Best Buy/Walmart/Costco/etc. retail inventory from this, but my Spark was shipped from DJI in Austell, GA on December 26 2018 and has a manufacture date of November 22nd, 2018.

 

[nyjumpee]

I don't think you can draw any conclusions regarding the age of Best Buy/Walmart/Costco/etc. retail inventory from this, but my Spark was shipped from DJI in Austell, GA on December 26 2018 and has a manufacture date of November 22nd, 2018.

Wow. . that's good. . .guess ordering directly from DJI you get the latest and greatest. . .wonder if anyone out there knows if there's any real difference between my July 2017 spark and a more recent build date?

 

[pmshop]

Looking at the forum threads here and DJI...yes.
Not as much YAW error issue as was before.

 

[Miquel]

Thank you for all your responses!

Monty.roman, thanks to share your experience with the Spark. 170 is an important amount of flights. I will calibrate my Spark in the manner you have wrote. I hope that my Spark will be still a reliable platform. I don't want to fly scared for the possibility of a compass error...

Rick, thank you for your reply. As you told in your post, the distance from the location of my previous flight can't be the reason of my Spark malfunction. Following an straight line is only about 18 kms, so, I think that the change about the reference to the magnetic north can't be significative.

Pmshop, thank you for your answer too... Following the link shared by Dodge DeBoulet (thanks, it's very interesting!) my Spark was built 7 September 2017... It's significatively early than "around the summer & fall of 2018" but, maybe, it's affected too with this issue... I will folllow your advice and I'll try to open a Service Request to DJI.

Reading the other posts maybe the issue is present in all the Sparks but they can fail or not, depending on our luck?

I love my Spark but I'm worried about their reliability...

 

[pmshop]

Thank you for all your responses!

Monty.roman, thanks to share your experience with the Spark. 170 is an important amount of flights. I will calibrate my Spark in the manner you have wrote. I hope that my Spark will be still a reliable platform. I don't want to fly scared for the possibility of a compass error...

Rick, thank you for your reply. As you told in your post, the distance from the location of my previous flight can't be the reason of my Spark malfunction. Following an straight line is only about 18 kms, so, I think that the change about the reference to the magnetic north can't be significative.

Pmshop, thank you for your answer too... Following the link shared by Dodge DeBoulet (thanks, it's very interesting!) my Spark was built 7 September 2017... It's significatively early than "around the summer & fall of 2018" but, maybe, it's affected too with this issue... I will folllow your advice and I'll try to open a Service Request to DJI.

Reading the other posts maybe the issue is present in all the Sparks but they can fail or not, depending on our luck?

I love my Spark but I'm worried about their reliability...

When you get the right one, they are reliable:

 

[nilanjan118]

When you get the right one, they are reliable:

You almost had me there. I was wondering how on earth you were getting such smooth yaw movements in Sports mode.
Then I saw the cars at the end of the video.

 

[nilanjan118]

And if you'd like to know when your DJI product was manufactured, you can use the serial number decoder linked here.

Thank you for sharing this link.
Is there a way to also find out whether the replacement unit given on using DJI Care Refresh is brand new or refurbished?
I searched the serial number in this link. It shows Model: Spark, build on: 20. October 2018.
I had received this replacement unit on 31 January 2019.

 

[pmshop]

Thank you for sharing this link.
Is there a way to also find out whether the replacement unit given on using DJI Care Refresh is brand new or refurbished?
I searched the serial number in this link. It shows Model: Spark, build on: 20. October 2018.
I had received this replacement unit on 31 January 2019.

Yes.
Refurbished will have an "R" in the serial number.

 

[nilanjan118]

Yes.
Refurbished will have an "R" in the serial number.

Mine is 0AS2FAL0010106. Does it mean I got lucky to get a brand new one?

 

[pmshop]

Mine is 0AS2FAL0010106. Does it mean I got lucky to get a brand new one?

It happens
I got one that was undeniably a new one.
DJI Care Refresh + sent me a Spark in a sealed retail box.

 

[monty.roman]

You almost had me there. I was wondering how on earth you were getting such smooth yaw movements in Sports mode.
Then I saw the cars at the end of the video.

2x speed and rendered in 1080p@60. I'm also doing it occasionally, looks pretty smooth.

 

[Ghost5849]

Yes.
Refurbished will have an "R" in the serial number.

Where in the SN will the "R" be? I got mine from Best Buy that past Christmas. It says it was built in Sept of 2017? Are there any issues I need to know? 0ASDE9R0XXXXXXX