DJI I think you sold me a bad P4P2

[ProPhotogPaul]

I have a 4 day old P4P2. It's my 2nd one, so I have some experience with which to compare this one. From the git-go it has been erratic. On my first flight at 65' in the air and 600' from the controller it stopped responding to commands and began ascending and moving away. All indicators on the controller were normal. At about 200' I regained sporadic control and got it back home. I tried flying in a different location and again it did the same thing. On the ground, I found that it was reporting, "Radio Signal Quality = Poor." (I've since learned that that apparently only refers to the video transmission signal.) By manually setting the frequency to 2.4g I was able to get a good radio signal. So, I tried another flight and it had the same erratic behavior. I called DJI and their tech told me to use DJI Assistant 2 to re-calibrate everything. That had no effect and again the drone tried to fly away. On this flight I tried to set a waypoint and it said I had to be at least 31" high. The controller was reporting that I was at 50', which by visual observation seemed correct. Today, I will sync the drone to my other controller and try it. That should tell me whether the controller or the drone is bad. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[3rdof5]

I dont own a P4 but based on what I've read about simliar issues with the P4 it's often been attributed to the obstacle avoidance sensors misbehaving. Try turning them off and see if anything changes.

 

[Starz]

And where did the first P4P V2 end up? Similar issue?

 

[ProPhotogPaul]

I have a 4 day old P4P2. It's my 2nd one, so I have some experience with which to compare this one. From the git-go it has been erratic. On my first flight at 65' in the air and 600' from the controller it stopped responding to commands and began ascending and moving away. All indicators on the controller were normal. At about 200' I regained sporadic control and got it back home. I tried flying in a different location and again it did the same thing. On the ground, I found that it was reporting, "Radio Signal Quality = Poor." (I've since learned that that apparently only refers to the video transmission signal.) By manually setting the frequency to 2.4g I was able to get a good radio signal. So, I tried another flight and it had the same erratic behavior. I called DJI and their tech told me to use DJI Assistant 2 to re-calibrate everything. That had no effect and again the drone tried to fly away. On this flight I tried to set a waypoint and it said I had to be at least 31" high. The controller was reporting that I was at 50', which by visual observation seemed correct. Today, I will sync the drone to my other controller and try it. That should tell me whether the controller or the drone is bad. Anyone have any thoughts?

UPDATE: Test flight today using a known good controller. It seemed to be better for about 10 minutes of flight time, but then the same erratic behavior returned. Sending the drone back.

 

[Meta4]

I have a 4 day old P4P2. It's my 2nd one, so I have some experience with which to compare this one. From the git-go it has been erratic. On my first flight at 65' in the air and 600' from the controller it stopped responding to commands and began ascending and moving away. All indicators on the controller were normal. At about 200' I regained sporadic control and got it back home.

It might be the drone or the controller or possibly something else.
Whenever there are unexplained things going on with a flight, it's always best to have the flight data analysed to see what was really happening.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

 

[Blade4]

I have a 4 day old P4P2. It's my 2nd one, so I have some experience with which to compare this one. From the git-go it has been erratic. On my first flight at 65' in the air and 600' from the controller it stopped responding to commands and began ascending and moving away. All indicators on the controller were normal. At about 200' I regained sporadic control and got it back home. I tried flying in a different location and again it did the same thing. On the ground, I found that it was reporting, "Radio Signal Quality = Poor." (I've since learned that that apparently only refers to the video transmission signal.) By manually setting the frequency to 2.4g I was able to get a good radio signal. So, I tried another flight and it had the same erratic behavior. I called DJI and their tech told me to use DJI Assistant 2 to re-calibrate everything. That had no effect and again the drone tried to fly away. On this flight I tried to set a waypoint and it said I had to be at least 31" high. The controller was reporting that I was at 50', which by visual observation seemed correct. Today, I will sync the drone to my other controller and try it. That should tell me whether the controller or the drone is bad. have any thoughts?

Get an EVO II and dump DJI.

No joke.

I had similar problems and I got into the quad business to fly not to endlessly diagnose a poorly manufactured quad copter.

I have had five P4Ps. Not one of them flew in a straight line. I don't care how many IMU, Compass, calibrations, endless switching between 2.4/5.8 guessinat freqs. Camera odities and DJI blaming me in broken chinglish.

Had it. Done. Over.

I've had the EVO II a mere 4 days. Obviously the phantom four line is not even competition.

From what I understand the Mavic two pro, darling of DJI is no competition for this quad either.

How about right out-of-the-box a 2 mile range flight at 395 feet altitude not one flinch of radio trouble or video problems. It's so good they don't even need a 5.8.

She flies straight as an arrow and has built-in mapping capabilities that are outstanding. If that's what you're into.

8K footage on and on.

I had a list of 4 things I wanted it to have and the EVO II nailed all 4 of them. Not to mention, as I get further into all the features… Well… DJI is years behind.

Did I happen to mention no Geo fencing? Yeah that's right. They let the pilot be the pilot. Instead of trying to control every move you make.

Autel does NOT gather your data. Except if you need repairs. Then they flush it.

It is YOUR drone.

LOL. I hope that answers your repair

 

[ProPhotogPaul]

It might be the drone or the controller or possibly something else.
Whenever there are unexplained things going on with a flight, it's always best to have the flight data analysed to see what was really happening.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.

Thank you. I should have done that, but had already packed it up to return to Amazon. New one arrives tomorrow, but I am nervous because of all the posts complaining about problems after the latest update.

 

[ProPhotogPaul]

I dont own a P4 but based on what I've read about simliar issues with the P4 it's often been attributed to the obstacle avoidance sensors misbehaving. Try turning them off and see if anything changes.

If I must do that then I don't want this drone. It should work as described.

 

[ProPhotogPaul]

And where did the first P4P V2 end up? Similar issue?

The first one simply fell from the sky for no discernible reason based up analysis of the flight data. It flew wonderfully for about a year previous to the crash. The new drone was flown in several locations and the problems I described were always there. I have returned it to Amazon and am waiting for the replacement to arrive tomorrow. Crossing my fingers.

 

[ProPhotogPaul]

I am so happy to report that the replacement P4P2 that Amazon sent me functioned perfectly on its maiden flight. I was able to accomplish the first of 15 school construction shoots with excellent results. Thanks to all of you who offered suggestions, but it turns out that DJI did indeed send me a defective drone.

 

[Meta4]

it turns out that DJI did indeed send me a defective drone.

Maybe they did, but not having identified the actual cause of the issue, it's really not possible to say that.

 

[Capt KO]

Glad you're happy now. Logs would have been interesting. Problems, like yours, can be a good learning tool for the rest of us. Maybe (hope not) next time. ?
Stay safe