Tried calling DJI at 818 number multiples times in the last month. Always the same recording of high call volume and hung up on. Before emailing, called dealer as instructed by DJI. Dealer states my issues needs to be taken up with DJI. So I e-mail DJI via their website and directly to [email protected]. I haven't even gotten an automate response and tomorrow will be 7 days.
My e-mail to them:
First off, I read the manual and quick start guide from front to back. Watched your youtube videos, all before even turning on the phantom.
Every time I flew the drone I would go through the startup procedures. Made sure the batteries, controller and wifi extender were fully charged. Turn on controller first, wifi extender, then drone. Toggle s1 to calibrate the compass. Toggle S2 to set the home position and zoom in on the map in the app to verify that it was indeed accurate. Made sure I had all green lights and at least 8 satellites.
I flew the drone around Tucson, AZ in a field and at parks for about a month to practice. Occasionally I would have issues calibrating the compass, but after a few tries I was able to get it to calibrate. Never lost connection, even flying up to 400 feet in altitude and easily 1/2 mile away. In total had over 10 flights days. Each day going through 4 batteries.
End of March I take the drone to Dubai(checked for firmware update before leaving US) and into the desert to record my desert safari. Did all the usual startup procedures and 3 flights that day without any issues.
Couple of days later, I chartered a private yacht and wanted to record the Dubai Marina and the buildings from a distance. Same startup procedures. The drone was flying fine for the first 6 minutes then all of a sudden I get a message in the app saying connection lost and the drone just hovered there no longer keep up with the yacht. I immediately had the captain turn around. When it lost connection the drone was no more than 100 feet in altitude and no more than 200 feet away. As we were getting closer and closer to the drone, the connection lost message disappeared for a couple of seconds but then came back on. I could not go forward or back, but was able to change altitude and turn it left and right. Luckily I still had the altitude function, since I was able to lower it enough and have the boat steer towards the drone and we were able to recover it.
I did not use the drone for the rest of the trip.
Beginning of May I tried using the drone again. This time in the California desert at a race track. Hoping the issues in Dubai was a fluke, I did my usual start up. Flew the drone that day and went through two batteries. Everything operated normally.
End of June I did a firmware update, and took the drone to Cancun Mexico. I did the usual startup, all green lights, compass calibrated, home position set, 9 satellites,etc. I walked away from all the beach chairs where I had all my equipment so that I didn't fly the drone near any people. I got to a section of beach where no one was at so that I could get shots of the hotels down the beach and the ocean. The drone flew fine for about 7 or so minutes because when I lost connection battery life showed 8 minutes of flight time left. I got the same message as I did in Dubai. The drone became no responsive, but was hovering. I tried exiting the app and reconnecting after turning off my wifi and back on to make sure it was connected back to the drone. My phone's wifi showed I was connected to the DJI, I open the app again, but I got a message saying it could not connect to the drone. While doing this procedure, the drone flew away about 200-250 feet to the left of me and about 50 feet behind me and crashed into the water near the beach. And washed up on the beach were a lifeguard recovered it for me before I got to it. Luckily there were no people around that area. A random witness that was watching me fly told me that while I was trying to connect back to the drone it hovered for a bit, but then took off and then crashed.
This is obviously an example of a fly away after a lost connection. I am 100% sure that my home position was set and I confirmed it with the map. Because I've read of many fly away horror stories online, I'm paranoid every time I fly it and triple check everything is functioning properly before sending the drone up.
Not only did I have connection issues but a fly away after connection was lost. If it at least came home the drone could have been saved. Section 3.15 of your manual states "If DJI Vision App is closed when aircraft is executing flight mission, aircraft continues with the remaining flight mission. If DJI Vision App is closed and failed to re-connect with aircraft within 1 minute, aircraft will return to home point automatically." This obviously did not happen. Even with what I've seen with a margin of about 10 feet from the home point in previous landings, 200+ feet away is not even close.
I've tried calling your LA number multiples times but only gotten the high call volume recording and then hung up on.
I've also read that the turn around time for inspection/repairs is horrible currently at your company, and that's after consumers had to pay to ship fault drones back to you. Many people have turned to the forums regarding this. I am hoping I will not have to do the same.
Sincerely,
Kai Yu
Model No. PV331
S/N: PH645494286 V3.0
My e-mail to them:
First off, I read the manual and quick start guide from front to back. Watched your youtube videos, all before even turning on the phantom.
Every time I flew the drone I would go through the startup procedures. Made sure the batteries, controller and wifi extender were fully charged. Turn on controller first, wifi extender, then drone. Toggle s1 to calibrate the compass. Toggle S2 to set the home position and zoom in on the map in the app to verify that it was indeed accurate. Made sure I had all green lights and at least 8 satellites.
I flew the drone around Tucson, AZ in a field and at parks for about a month to practice. Occasionally I would have issues calibrating the compass, but after a few tries I was able to get it to calibrate. Never lost connection, even flying up to 400 feet in altitude and easily 1/2 mile away. In total had over 10 flights days. Each day going through 4 batteries.
End of March I take the drone to Dubai(checked for firmware update before leaving US) and into the desert to record my desert safari. Did all the usual startup procedures and 3 flights that day without any issues.
Couple of days later, I chartered a private yacht and wanted to record the Dubai Marina and the buildings from a distance. Same startup procedures. The drone was flying fine for the first 6 minutes then all of a sudden I get a message in the app saying connection lost and the drone just hovered there no longer keep up with the yacht. I immediately had the captain turn around. When it lost connection the drone was no more than 100 feet in altitude and no more than 200 feet away. As we were getting closer and closer to the drone, the connection lost message disappeared for a couple of seconds but then came back on. I could not go forward or back, but was able to change altitude and turn it left and right. Luckily I still had the altitude function, since I was able to lower it enough and have the boat steer towards the drone and we were able to recover it.
I did not use the drone for the rest of the trip.
Beginning of May I tried using the drone again. This time in the California desert at a race track. Hoping the issues in Dubai was a fluke, I did my usual start up. Flew the drone that day and went through two batteries. Everything operated normally.
End of June I did a firmware update, and took the drone to Cancun Mexico. I did the usual startup, all green lights, compass calibrated, home position set, 9 satellites,etc. I walked away from all the beach chairs where I had all my equipment so that I didn't fly the drone near any people. I got to a section of beach where no one was at so that I could get shots of the hotels down the beach and the ocean. The drone flew fine for about 7 or so minutes because when I lost connection battery life showed 8 minutes of flight time left. I got the same message as I did in Dubai. The drone became no responsive, but was hovering. I tried exiting the app and reconnecting after turning off my wifi and back on to make sure it was connected back to the drone. My phone's wifi showed I was connected to the DJI, I open the app again, but I got a message saying it could not connect to the drone. While doing this procedure, the drone flew away about 200-250 feet to the left of me and about 50 feet behind me and crashed into the water near the beach. And washed up on the beach were a lifeguard recovered it for me before I got to it. Luckily there were no people around that area. A random witness that was watching me fly told me that while I was trying to connect back to the drone it hovered for a bit, but then took off and then crashed.
This is obviously an example of a fly away after a lost connection. I am 100% sure that my home position was set and I confirmed it with the map. Because I've read of many fly away horror stories online, I'm paranoid every time I fly it and triple check everything is functioning properly before sending the drone up.
Not only did I have connection issues but a fly away after connection was lost. If it at least came home the drone could have been saved. Section 3.15 of your manual states "If DJI Vision App is closed when aircraft is executing flight mission, aircraft continues with the remaining flight mission. If DJI Vision App is closed and failed to re-connect with aircraft within 1 minute, aircraft will return to home point automatically." This obviously did not happen. Even with what I've seen with a margin of about 10 feet from the home point in previous landings, 200+ feet away is not even close.
I've tried calling your LA number multiples times but only gotten the high call volume recording and then hung up on.
I've also read that the turn around time for inspection/repairs is horrible currently at your company, and that's after consumers had to pay to ship fault drones back to you. Many people have turned to the forums regarding this. I am hoping I will not have to do the same.
Sincerely,
Kai Yu
Model No. PV331
S/N: PH645494286 V3.0
