DJI Mavic Mini - New Drone

[capediver]

I'm really disappointed with this thread as it's threatening my end-of-year budgeting...

Ja, the Mini is turning out to be just that MINImal.......ignore the HYPE on the NET, most of those guys are influencers, find out from real people like Tankman that have no bias.....if you looking for a decent drone at a decent look for refurb specials of the original Mavic...

[Tankman]

A friendly guide to RTH....https://store.dji.com/guides/how-to-use-the-djis-return-to-home/

DO NOT ignore low battery alarm for too long unless you very close to home point!

 

The first time I lost signal, the drone went into RTH mode and shot straight up in the air and kept climbing.

I got a skrik and thought, that's it, bye-bye drone... then it hit me, it climbs higher to clear trees or whatever might be in the way since it does not have the fancy avoidance system like it's big brothers. 

[capediver]

The first time I lost signal, the drone went into RTH mode and shot straight up in the air and kept climbing.

I got a skrik and thought, that's it, bye-bye drone... then it hit me, it climbs higher to clear trees or whatever might be in the way since it does not have the fancy avoidance system like it's big brothers. 

  happened to me too! But it was under a tree at the time...no upwards obstacle avoidance.....drones CANNOT be used for tree trimming!!!!

[Tankman]

Ok, this is what I have learnt from the Fake GPS app so far.

 

I think someone with more hacking skills than me would need give it a go! 

 

I run the fake gps app, in an open field in Texas somewhere, (gps on my phone is off), the remote connects and on the map in the DJI app, I am in Texas.  So far so good.

 

But as soon as the Drone connects, it activates the gps system in the drone, the drone is located back in SA in the no fly zones plus I still have the feeling that this is a hardware limit... that this remote can only handle 2.4Ghz.

 

 

See, thats me in Texas and my drone in restricted airspace... come on man, I just want to play indoors!

 

 

[Tankman]

There is no option to change the frequency... 2.4Ghz remains even if you choose a manual channel  

 

[Help.Me.]

Just keep in mind if you fly and the wind starts picking up. It can drain the battery faster on your way back , because the Drone uses Line of Sight and does not take conditions in consideration. Nearly lost mine that way..........  

[Underachiever]

A few comments on the thread (I have the baby DJI/Ryze Tello drone)

 

- Tello can handle very little wind at 80g

- The phone connects to the drone via Wi-Fi and to the Controller via BT.  You're suppose to see a  live feed on your phone via the done camera - something seems off with the Mavic Mini app.

- I can fly the Tello up to about 100m, but then I start to loose visual contact, which scares the daylights out of me, by then the Wi-Fi signal is weak anyway. 

-Tello can go up to 30m max, but the again getting hampered by the signal strength

- 15% battery is a good alarm level.  With the Tello you have to fly back home manually.

- don't fly over water, downfacing sensors gets confused and then the drone just wants to land.

 

have fun!!

[Shebeen]

Ok, this is what I have learnt from the Fake GPS app so far.

 

I think someone with more hacking skills than me would need give it a go! 

 

I run the fake gps app, in an open field in Texas somewhere, (gps on my phone is off), the remote connects and on the map in the DJI app, I am in Texas.  So far so good.

 

But as soon as the Drone connects, it activates the gps system in the drone, the drone is located back in SA in the no fly zones plus I still have the feeling that this is a hardware limit... that this remote can only handle 2.4Ghz.

 

 

See, thats me in Texas and my drone in restricted airspace... come on man, I just want to play indoors!

 

 

capture4.jpg

no fly zones very easy to work out in basic maths, so i reckon the actual drone software has them loaded in.

 

you are not going to get access to the drone nav software easily

[Rocket-Boy]

For what I have planned, not too stressed about this, doesnt need to be miles away ... for now!

 

Out of interest, if your phone runs out of battery or the signal is lost, what happens?

Is the "return to home" automatically enabled?  (Should hope so!)

 

I have heard stories where the drones got confused during low power and tried landing on water... which did not work, obviously

The wifi in these new models is a lot better and early reports are saying the quoted range is most likely possible. You would have to maintain LOS though.

 

The remote itself has a GPS receiver so it is able to get the drone back to safe landing without needing the phone display.

 

Yeah look a lot of people have flown out over water without enough charge, if that happens and the battery gets too low it will land itself - regardless of where that might be. The other problem many have had is with either using sport mode(which turns off avoidance sensors) or the remote losing sync.

 

The best is still when people take off on a boat which later moves and then try and use the homing landing option... which goes to where the boat *was* and no longer is!

[Tankman]

no fly zones very easy to work out in basic maths, so i reckon the actual drone software has them loaded in.

 

you are not going to get access to the drone nav software easily

 

Yes the no fly zones are loaded in the app, cant get around those.

 

But not really trying to get around them, I would at least like to do some indoor flights in my own bloody home.  Or they could restrict the drone to max 10m height. 

 

I had a look on the DJI site where you can apply for zone unlocks, some are easy others you need authorization certificates and what not but the Mini is not even listed.  Once you have applied for the zone to be lifted it is only for 24 or 48 hrs and some of them still has height restrictions. But no Mini

[Tankman]

Oh and the reason why I would have liked to have done some indoor flights... to make sure everything is working.  Everything was not working once I got to the middle of nowhere and it could have saved a lot of time and frustration if I sorted all that out at home and was ready to jet once I got to the fly zone.

[Rocket-Boy]

Tank is it not a similar thing to when the spark came out in SA?

It had pathetic range and speeds out of the box, but you could use a VPN to the US and then do a firmware update which removed all of those restrictions.

Surely this is just something along those lines? I cant imagine they would maintain different hardware for different countries when software can handle all of that.

[Tankman]

Tank is it not a similar thing to when the spark came out in SA?

It had pathetic range and speeds out of the box, but you could use a VPN to the US and then do a firmware update which removed all of those restrictions.

Surely this is just something along those lines? I cant imagine they would maintain different hardware for different countries when software can handle all of that.

 

Yea I am sure what ever there restrictions might be currently... some hacker will sort us out in a week or two!  Anyway ... I got up to 350m today with out signal interference!  Which is pretty good and the thing is so tiny, I have difficulty keeping an eye on it! 

 

Look like the first software update I did through my phone and the remote, did not update on the drone after all.  When I connected the drone to the desktop app it said that there is an update available.  That seem to have sorted out a lot of issues... happiness. 

[Tankman]

I was going to write a report but I had so many cameras with me....

 

This is not a drone review and this is not about the footage, I flew in sports mode most of the time, why not, I was there to play with the drone, not to shoot video.  :D

 

All shot in 2.7k at 30fps, I would definitely use Cinema mode and maneuver a lot slower when shooting video footage. 

 

I had a couple of issues on the first day but it is all sorted now!  :D

(Tip: update the software to the drone through a desktop, the phone update was unstable)

 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Tankman

[capediver]

Ok, this is what I have learnt from the Fake GPS app so far.

 

I think someone with more hacking skills than me would need give it a go! 

 

I run the fake gps app, in an open field in Texas somewhere, (gps on my phone is off), the remote connects and on the map in the DJI app, I am in Texas.  So far so good.

 

But as soon as the Drone connects, it activates the gps system in the drone, the drone is located back in SA in the no fly zones plus I still have the feeling that this is a hardware limit... that this remote can only handle 2.4Ghz.

 

 

See, thats me in Texas and my drone in restricted airspace... come on man, I just want to play indoors!

 

 

capture4.jpg

What happens when you hit the RTH button...it does a transatlantic?

[capediver]

I was going to write a report but I had so many cameras with me....

 

This is not a drone review and this is not about the footage, I flew in sports mode most of the time, why not, I was there to play with the drone, not to shoot video.  :D

 

All shot in 2.7k at 30fps, I would definitely use Cinema mode and maneuver a lot slower when shooting video footage. 

 

I had a couple of issues on the first day but it is all sorted now!  :D

(Tip: update the software to the drone through a desktop, the phone update was unstable)

 

Great stuff, brave flying for first timer! I not sure if it can be done on the Mini but with the Mavic, you can make adjustments to slow its movements down, especially the yaw, this is where you will see a bit too much motion blur if you pan too fast across a scene, so check the settings ...with Mavic, it's in Drone settings/Advanced/EXP, slow Rudder settings right down, Mini may also have Tripod preset which has all controls slowed down for cinematic shooting