Help reading flight data log

GWTX · Jun 3, 2018

I retrieved my .dat files, pasted my latest flight file in my PC, downloaded a csv viewer from DatCon site, but all I can get is a trace of the flight and a graph below it. How do I get the complete data? I have read through numerous posts for a couple hours, and still haven't figured it out. Any help appreciated. Gary

Meta4 · Jun 3, 2018

GWTX said:
I retrieved my .dat files, pasted my latest flight file in my PC, downloaded a csv viewer from DatCon site, but all I can get is a trace of the flight and a graph below it. How do I get the complete data? I have read through numerous posts for a couple hours, and still haven't figured it out. Any help appreciated. Gary

The simplest way is to go to DJI Flight Log Viewer
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
If you need help interpreting it, come back and post a link to the report it shows you.

GWTX · Jun 4, 2018

Meta4 said:
The simplest way is to go to DJI Flight Log Viewer
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
If you need help interpreting it, come back and post a link to the report it shows you.

Probably didn't make myself clear,,,as usual. As far as I knew the ".DAT" files weren't on the mobile device.
I uploaded a "Fly***.dat" file from the drone to my pc. I want to view that file. I have csv viewer on my pc, but when I open the file, there is a trace of the flight, and a graph.
I'm on unfamiliar ground here, I don't know to explain it any better. Thanks for trying to help.

sar104 · Jun 4, 2018

GWTX said:
Probably didn't make myself clear,,,as usual. As far as I knew the ".DAT" files weren't on the mobile device.
I uploaded a "Fly***.dat" file from the drone to my pc. I want to view that file. I have csv viewer on my pc, but when I open the file, there is a trace of the flight, and a graph.
I'm on unfamiliar ground here, I don't know to explain it any better. Thanks for trying to help.

You can use CsvView or DatCon to export the DAT file to a CSV file that contains all the data, plus a free-standing KML file of the flight profile.

Meta4 · Jun 4, 2018

GWTX said:
Probably didn't make myself clear,,,as usual. As far as I knew the ".DAT" files weren't on the mobile device.
I uploaded a "Fly***.dat" file from the drone to my pc. I want to view that file. I have csv viewer on my pc, but when I open the file, there is a trace of the flight, and a graph.
I'm on unfamiliar ground here, I don't know to explain it any better. Thanks for trying to help.

Since you're dealing with unfamiliar concepts, I thought you might appreciate a simpler method to see your flight data in an easy to understand form.
Is there any particular reason you want to investigate the .dat file rather than what's in the .txt file?

quaddamage · Jun 4, 2018

GWTX said:
when I open the file, there is a trace of the flight, and a graph.
I'm on unfamiliar ground here

Are you looking for a specific thing?

If you want to investigate the DAT file in a most raw way, try Wireshark dissectors. They show the data in each packet directly. Though I wouldn't recommend that for most users, this is a way for people who know internals of the drone.

If you want the data sampled at specific intervals to analyse a whole flight, DatCon allows you to export such CSV - all the fields sampled at specific intervals, easy to filter in spread sheet or put on a graph.

Fly Dawg · Jun 4, 2018

GWTX said:
How do I get the complete data?

Once you utilize Datcon to convert the file, you can import the extruded .csv file in Excel for the full data set, if all you want to see is the raw data numbers. You can graph these in Csv View, Excel or other charting software by importing the .csv file.

GWTX · Jun 4, 2018

Meta4 said:
Since you're dealing with unfamiliar concepts, I thought you might appreciate a simpler method to see your flight data in an easy to understand form.

Thank you, I appreciate "simplicity". I wanted to learn how to retrieve, analyze, and upload all available info to the website for help , just in case I have a problem in the future. The .txt logs have more info than I need, I was just curious as to what the .dat files were supposed to look like. I keep reading about the more knowledgeable folks ananlyzing both the .txt and .dat files when someone has had a problem.
I tried the link you sent before, and what I saw didn't look like I thought it should look. I probably didn't do it right, but as far as I could tell, it was only for .txt logs?
Thanks for your help, and patience. Gary

GWTX · Jun 4, 2018

quaddamage said:
Are you looking for a specific thing?

.

Mostly just curious.The .txt has more info than I currently need

Thanks, Gary

GWTX · Jun 4, 2018

Fly Dawg said:
Once you utilize Datcon to convert the file, you can import the extruded .csv file in Excel for the full data set, if all you want to see is the raw data numbers. You can graph these in Csv View, Excel or other charting software by importing the .csv file.

Thanks for the reply, Gary

BudWalker · Jun 4, 2018

GWTX said:
I retrieved my .dat files, pasted my latest flight file in my PC, downloaded a csv viewer from DatCon site, but all I can get is a trace of the flight and a graph below it. How do I get the complete data? I have read through numerous posts for a couple hours, and still haven't figured it out. Any help appreciated. Gary

Don't quite understand what you're saying here. Yoo're talking about CsvView? There is a user's manual, albeit cursory. It's here.

Meta4 · Jun 4, 2018

GWTX said:
Mostly just curious.The .txt has more info than I currently need

If the .txt file has more info than you want, I'm not sure what you'll make of the others.

GWTX · Jun 4, 2018

Meta4 said:
If the .txt file has more info than you want, I'm not sure what you'll make of the others.

Mostly just curious.The .txt has more info than I currently need. I just wanted to see what was in the .dat file.
I just flew for about 15 minutes, and I still have the "no signal" problem I thought I had fixed. I guess I'll just live with what I've got. I have little time to play, maybe I'll get back to it later on. Thanks for the help, much appreciated. Gary

Fly Dawg · Jun 4, 2018

GWTX said:
I just flew for about 15 minutes, and I still have the "np signal" problem I thought I had fixed.

You didn't mention the "no signal" problem previously, is this the issue you are having? You should be able to see that in converted .txt logs that you uploaded. If you need someone to look, post a link to your uploaded file here and someone can show you where you can see that information, this is depending on if it is only loss of video and telemetry feed. You will see a "gap" in the flight time due to no transmission from the aircraft. And a "restore" point, if that occurred.

GWTX · Jun 4, 2018

Thanks Fly D. I didn't mention it because I thought I had fixed it recently. I have had the no signal problem for a long time. About the time they messed with the google maps. Then I accidentally let my tablet get updated. Then the "forced update" hassle. I looked at my .txt from the flight today and the only msg relative to no signal was "Downlink Restored after 1m.2s" which occurred several times,,maybe 6 or 8 in the first leg of the flight which was only 5 minutes or so. I let it do the RTH, and cancelled when the bird got overhead and flew back out again. I was only 1800 feet out and at 160 feet alt when the msg's started. First came the "Image Transmission" msg, then the "no signal", followed by the RTH cancel or accept msg. Sometime back I flew with my wife's Galaxy note 10, and had no msgs. But I have also flown with my Tab A- 8" and not had the msg's. ????
Sorry to get longwinded, but you asked("is this the issue you are having?"). This is the issue that got me started looking at the logs, and since the .txt didn't show anything out of order, I started trying to look at the .dat logs. I don't have a lot of time to research and "fiddle" with this thing. I enjoy flying, not spending time on the computer trying to learn things I probably won't remember more than 20 minutes

Thanks for your help, Gary

GWTX · Jun 7, 2018

I think I finally got things working. Flew a few times with no problems. I've got out to a bit over 3000ft with a lot of big trees in the area. I don't really need to go much further, but would a ITELITE setup help penetrate some of the foliage? Not looking for great distance, maybe 5k, but reliability is also important. Thanks for the help guys. I'm glad you folks have more patience than I have

GWTX · Jun 17, 2018

GWTX said:
I think I finally got things working. Flew a few times with no problems. I've got out to a bit over 3000ft with a lot of big trees in the area. I don't really need to go much further, but would a ITELITE setup help penetrate some of the foliage? Not looking for great distance, maybe 5k, but reliability is also important. Thanks for the help guys. I'm glad you folks have more patience than I have

Spoke toooo soon. After several trouble free flights, the "no signal" alert started returning. Several times in a relatively short flight. NO message on the .txt file,,,unless I allow the RTH to engage. Then the "go home" messages start coming.
There's no "Image Transmission" msg, or any other prior to the "No Signal" and the "Go Home" drop box. I normally cancel that and continue back to home point manually.
Everything works, I can fly back on the course track, just the image on my tablet goes gray,,,until I restart "Go". Then I can continue,,,for a little while.
I've set up in my room, and I even get the no signal in there now. That's never happened before, so It seems the problem/cause is getting worse? I really think the problem is in my tablet, I did fly with my wife's tablet a while back, and all was well. But then I fiddled with my tab, and replaced the USB cable, and thought the problem was fixed,,,but ?

Fly Dawg · Jun 17, 2018

GWTX said:
I've set up in my room, and I even get the no signal in there now. That's never happened before, so It seems the problem/cause is getting worse? I really think the problem is in my tablet

Unfortunately this sounds like a transmitter issue to me. If your signal losses are increasing and the distance decreases each time, then that would lead me to believe that you have an RC transmitter going south. If we could see the aircraft .dat files we might could tell you yes or no. I do not think this is an app or other issue, at this point with only verbage to go by.

GWTX · Jun 17, 2018

Fly Dawg said:
Unfortunately this sounds like a transmitter issue to me. If your signal losses are increasing and the distance decreases each time, then that would lead me to believe that you have an RC transmitter going south. If we could see the aircraft .dat files we might could tell you yes or no. I do not think this is an app or other issue, at this point with only verbage to go by.

The losses are very random. Sometimes I can get out 2k(ft.) without a loss, or Image Transmission weak alert. Other times just a few seconds into a flight. When it started working right the other day, I flew out 4K and back, changed batteries and flew some more with no losses. I flew out to about 3k and got a Image Transmission alert. I was only about 150 ft altitude, so I climbed to 250 and it cleared as soon as I climbed. I would think that when I get the "No Signal" alert followed by the box to cancel or allow RTH, there should be a message.There's not IF I cancel the option for RTH.
I'll have to do some more research to figure out how to get the .dat logs uploaded to the web page. Thanks for the reply, nice to know there are folks to discuss these things with.
Is there a sticky for uploading logs? I haven't seen one yet.

Happy Fathers Day,,,,if applicable

Gary