Maiden flight - wow - and questions

jarnie · Dec 7, 2020

Well after purchasing my MA2 longer ago than I want to divulge for many reasons such as too windy, too busy and nervous I did my maiden flight this morning in the middle of a large playing field nearby in the Blue Mountains. I checked the map in cache and verified that the 'home' location was where I was located and then flew for about 20 minutes.

I was gobbed smacked. Loved the way that the FLY app talked to me rather than having to peer at the display in bright sunlight.
Loved the way it beeped at me when it got close to me and I assume that may have been obstacle avoidance? Is that correct?

The only annoyances I had was using (auto) takeoff as I have watched many videos and read lots of things which simply stated 'tap the take off button and then tap and hold'. I cannot remember ever seeing that the tap and hold was in the middle of the screen and not the same icon which I initially tapped. As the screen was difficult to see in the bright sunlight it didn't 'stand out' and after tapping and holding the take off icon 2 or 3 times I looked closely at the screen and saw the somewhat large display in the middle where the tap and hold needs to be done. Please note that due to the bright sunshine I had to look at the display from very close to it. I am not young and have a cataract in one eye.

Also when I tested the return home it did come back to close to where it took off (I used a large round landing mat on the grassed surface) it landed about 500mm from the edge which could have resulted in the props touching the grass if it hadn't been recently cut. Did I do anything wrong or what is the correct procedure to lock in the start location or is this normal?

fullbore · Dec 7, 2020

jarnie said:
Well after purchasing my MA2 longer ago than I want to divulge for many reasons such as too windy, too busy and nervous I did my maiden flight this morning in the middle of a large playing field nearby in the Blue Mountains. I checked the map in cache and verified that the 'home' location was where I was located and then flew for about 20 minutes.

I was gobbed smacked. Loved the way that the FLY app talked to me rather than having to peer at the display in bright sunlight.
Loved the way it beeped at me when it got close to me and I assume that may have been obstacle avoidance? Is that correct?

The only annoyances I had was using (auto) takeoff as I have watched many videos and read lots of things which simply stated 'tap the take off button and then tap and hold'. I cannot remember ever seeing that the tap and hold was in the middle of the screen and not the same icon which I initially tapped. As the screen was difficult to see in the bright sunlight it didn't 'stand out' and after tapping and holding the take off icon 2 or 3 times I looked closely at the screen and saw the somewhat large display in the middle where the tap and hold needs to be done. Please note that due to the bright sunshine I had to look at the display from very close to it. I am not young and have a cataract in one eye.

Also when I tested the return home it did come back to close to where it took off (I used a large round landing mat on the grassed surface) it landed about 500mm from the edge which could have resulted in the props touching the grass if it hadn't been recently cut. Did I do anything wrong or what is the correct procedure to lock in the start location or is this normal?

Jamie, I just ordered MA2 this morning. So I’ll be following in your footsteps in the future,

May take a while to get here. I ordered from DJI, cuz local Best Buy stores don’t have it, and they wouldn’t get it to me til Dec 25.

(Ordered one with Fly More combo with smart controller. If I’m not impressed with SC, I might sell it and use std controller that came with mini 2, my first and only drone, with iPad mini, to fly MA2.)

Mini 2 is great, but often windy here. MA2 supposedly handles wind better...

boblui · Dec 7, 2020

jarnie said:
Also when I tested the return home it did come back to close to where it took off (I used a large round landing mat on the grassed surface) it landed about 500mm from the edge which could have resulted in the props touching the grass if it hadn't been recently cut. Did I do anything wrong or what is the correct procedure to lock in the start location or is this normal?

The Air 2 has precision landing feature so it should be able to do better than that. The error should be within 20 cm from the takeoff point. Make sure that you have sufficient satellite count ( > 12 ) when the home point is recorded and follow the instructions in the user manual when taking off :

Heindrich1988 · Dec 7, 2020

jarnie said:
Did I do anything wrong or what is the correct procedure to lock in the start location or is this normal?

boblui just answered most of what I was gonna say. But I want to add:

Whilst it's really cool when your drone automatically lands on the landing pad you took off from, I want to point out that RTH isn't primarily designed to be a convenience tool for automatic landing.

Its primary purpose is to get your drone back to the vicinity of home if you lose signal or get lost. Like a recent post where somebody's iPad died suddenly and seemingly shorted out his controller, so he could not control his drone. After a few minutes, even in the absence of any RC connection, RTH brought the drone home safely.

If landing accuracy matters at all, like for me when I fly off the roof of my high rise apartment (don't want to miss by a meter, clip the edge of the building and crash) you should be manually piloting for the final approach.

SkyeHigh · Dec 7, 2020

G’day from Sydney.

As long as you take-off and hover briefly at around 7 to 8-metres and there are sufficient GPS satellites in view, your home point should have been accurately recorded. I’m flying a Mavic 2 Pro and RTH lands in the middle of the landing pad every time.

The landing pad needs to have a good contrast to the ground it is on for the cameras to identify the position and match that with its GPS fix.

Tony McDrone · Dec 8, 2020

Congrats on your first flight, and many more to come.

The flights will get easier as your knowledge improves and your comfort level increases. Fly safe always.

vindibona1 · Dec 8, 2020

Hi Jarnie... Congratulations!

No you didn't do anything wrong. But there are a few tips that I think might help you on your next flight...

As far as take-off and landings, , I don't use the auto take-off on the screen, but prefer a manual launch. All you have to do is pull both sticks down and in to arm the drone, then use the left stick to get it off the ground. Just push it up and when the drone finally lifts off, just let it hover a few seconds to get its bearings and stabilize. As far as RTH and landing, I like that I can bring the drone back to me with the RTH button, but unless I'm testing it for accuracy, when it comes in and gets low enough I cancel the RTH and manually land it. GPS is great, but civilian GPS isn't nearly as accurate as military GPS so an automated landing can be off a few mm or a few meters. In fact, I did an RTH the other day, having taken off from a parking lot, between two cars spaced 20 feet apart. Had I let the drone land on it's own it would have landed on one of the cars. So, when close enough, just hit the RTH button again to cancel automated operation and do a manual precision landing.

As far as bright sunlight goes, cataracts or not, the screen can be difficult to see in bright sunlight. The answer to that could be one or more things. An anti-reflect screen for your phone can help. Secondly, a screen shade will definitely help. Many are commercially available. And if you want to get really creative, you can build yourself an extended screen shade, complete with built in magnifying glasses like the one I'll post below. I started with a standard $6 USD screen shade and built up around it using cardboard, black gaffers tape, a broken pair of reading glasses and a bit of velcro. I've dubbed it the "Vindibox". Not pretty, but quite effective- and cheap as dirt.

DanMan32 · Dec 8, 2020

PL: the only requirement is to ascend vertically 7m so the bottom cameras can get a fix on the ground. Theres no need to hover.

Without PL, it's normal for landing to be as much as 5ft (almost 2m) off.

There's no need to hover just after TO either, unless HP hadn't been recorded. But then if you couldn't get an HP by then, you also have weak GPS so wait until you get GPS. It's best not to take off in the first place until you have full GPS.

Read the full manual obtained from DJI's site. There's a lot to understand such as the details of how RTH works, how to start motors and take off, etc.

DanMan32 · Dec 8, 2020

Heindrich1988 said:
boblui just answered most of what I was gonna say. But I want to add:

Whilst it's really cool when your drone automatically lands on the landing pad you took off from, I want to point out that RTH isn't primarily designed to be a convenience tool for automatic landing.

Its primary purpose is to get your drone back to the vicinity of home if you lose signal or get lost. Like a recent post where somebody's iPad died suddenly and seemingly shorted out his controller, so he could not control his drone. After a few minutes, even in the absence of any RC connection, RTH brought the drone home safely.

If landing accuracy matters at all, like for me when I fly off the roof of my high rise apartment (don't want to miss by a meter, clip the edge of the building and crash) you should be manually piloting for the final approach.

Actually he had RC to AC link the entire time, just that the controls didn't work. It returned due to low battery. Many of us suspect the hung phone did something to the USB which in turn had the sticks not work. This is extremely rare.

Gagey52 · Dec 8, 2020

Good on ya Jarnie, I've also had trouble with RTH, and now will only do a manual landing, I'm now doing hand catch with my phantoms. it doesn't take long to learn, practice, practice. there a plenty of websites around on the correct sequence for manual landing.
Regards

jarnie · Dec 8, 2020

Hello everyone
Thanks for your replies, information and suggestions.
I guess I am on a learning curve and things will become clearer with more flights.

In answer to some if not all questions/suggestions made -

I have a proper landing mat, one of those 80CM spring loaded ones with the letter H on both sides and I used the blue side.

I will try out using RTH just to get the drone back to my location and then take over manually.

I will ensure I ascend to at least 7 metres before flying away from the take off position

I downloaded the manual even before I purchased it and read it through at least twice. Also watched many Youtube videos.

There were words 'spoken' from the Fly app and as I wasn't expecting them and/or didn't know when they would come with respect to powering up and takeoff I missed some of the words spoken but THOUGHT that when I powered up the drone the voice told me that the position was recorded (or similar) and I thought that happened once the drone had reached a certain altitude and after I select auto takeoff I then pushed the joystick forward to gain more altitude. Maybe I didn't. I will be more observant next time as it was all brand new to me this morning.

I had forgotten to take my hat with me which would have shaded my photo chromatic lenses to reduce them from darkening from the sunlight. I will place at least one cap into the bag I use to transport everything in.

I also forgot about my modified clip on sunglasses which I had cut away so that downward vision was not through the clip on sunglasses. I will ensure these are also in my 'carry bag'.

I could easily see the drone against the bright cloudless sky but now will consider STROBE LEDs maybe a green one at the rear and a red one at the front so that I can tell if the drone is pointed toward me or away from me so that I know which way the forward/reverse and sideways joysticks will control it. I wonder if the WHITE ones are brighter and show better than the colored ones?
Unless one of my learned readers tells me of a better method.

I also now consider that flying early morning or late afternoon is best unless I want to fly towards the sun. The monitor is too hard to see with the sun high in the sky even with a hood.

Gagey52 · Dec 8, 2020

Mate I went white as it is brighter than the red and greens, still have trouble with distance. I bought a crystal sky to get around the issue with brightness of the screen but have found it really restrictive with what I can do with it. Living in the territory i am constantly flying in 40+ heat the CS doesn't drop out like the phones and tablets.
Regards

jarnie · Dec 8, 2020

Gagey52 said:
white as it is brighter than the red and greens,

I would have guessed that but wasn't sure. There are lots of strobes for drones on Ebay but most do not state the brightness only what they believe is the effective range.
I found one which stated the brightness at 130 lm and only around $20 then there is LUME CUBE (mentioned elsewhere in this forum) the which is around $80 BUT the brightness is stated to be 500 lm and it comes with colored covers (red and green) if required. $80 is a lot but would sure be easier to see at a distance than the one at 130 lm.
I often notice the temperatures at Darwin and have experienced them 2 years ago. Don't they have a cool season only a wet and dry season?

Gagey52 · Dec 8, 2020

Mate I use the lume on top of the phantom, most of my work is around the 60 metre mark and works well. I live in the NT capital Katherine. We’ve had a good run of 40+ days this year. And yes only two seasons wet and dry.
Regards

A.O. · Dec 8, 2020

fullbore said:
Jamie, I just ordered MA2 this morning. So I’ll be following in your footsteps in the future,

May take a while to get here. I ordered from DJI, cuz local Best Buy stores don’t have it, and they wouldn’t get it to me til Dec 25.

(Ordered one with Fly More combo with smart controller. If I’m not impressed with SC, I might sell it and use std controller that came with mini 2, my first and only drone, with iPad mini, to fly MA2.)

Mini 2 is great, but often windy here. MA2 supposedly handles wind better...

If you decide to not use the smart controller and go standard, PM me, I've a standard that came with my new MA2 and maybe we can work something out.

Papabri · Dec 8, 2020

fullbore said:
Jamie, I just ordered MA2 this morning. So I’ll be following in your footsteps in the future,

May take a while to get here. I ordered from DJI, cuz local Best Buy stores don’t have it, and they wouldn’t get it to me til Dec 25.

(Ordered one with Fly More combo with smart controller. If I’m not impressed with SC, I might sell it and use std controller that came with mini 2, my first and only drone, with iPad mini, to fly MA2.)

Mini 2 is great, but often windy here. MA2 supposedly handles wind better...

Fullbore, that’s exactly what I ordered, direct from DJI, 8 days ago. Its a long story with customs delays in Memphis, but scheduled to arrive Dallas this Friday, a total of about 11 days if it stays on schedule. From what I’ve read, others have experienced the same frustrations I’ve had when trying to make sense of the FedEx tracking thing, but as of today, I‘m still on the expected date FedEx originally provided me. I think FedEx anticipates these types of things and builds that into their schedule estimates.

A.O. · Dec 8, 2020

Jarnie, welcome to your maiden voyage, I took mine about 2 weeks ago. Sounds like you did well out there and got lots of good advice, as a newby myself I cant add much other than to keep after it and make sure ALL your batteries are charged up before you start.

THE CYBORG · Dec 8, 2020

As vindibona1 says an anti reflective screen protector makes a big difference in the sun, I have tempered glass ones on all my devices.

unionglzr · Dec 8, 2020

Heindrich1988 said:
boblui just answered most of what I was gonna say. But I want to add:

Whilst it's really cool when your drone automatically lands on the landing pad you took off from, I want to point out that RTH isn't primarily designed to be a convenience tool for automatic landing.

Its primary purpose is to get your drone back to the vicinity of home if you lose signal or get lost. Like a recent post where somebody's iPad died suddenly and seemingly shorted out his controller, so he could not control his drone. After a few minutes, even in the absence of any RC connection, RTH brought the drone home safely.

If landing accuracy matters at all, like for me when I fly off the roof of my high rise apartment (don't want to miss by a meter, clip the edge of the building and crash) you should be manually piloting for the final approach.

I disagree RTH is yes for emergencies but also ease of use....IMO

OldGuy · Dec 8, 2020

jarnie said:
Well after purchasing my MA2 longer ago than I want to divulge for many reasons such as too windy, too busy and nervous I did my maiden flight this morning in the middle of a large playing field nearby in the Blue Mountains. I checked the map in cache and verified that the 'home' location was where I was located and then flew for about 20 minutes.

I was gobbed smacked. Loved the way that the FLY app talked to me rather than having to peer at the display in bright sunlight.
Loved the way it beeped at me when it got close to me and I assume that may have been obstacle avoidance? Is that correct?

The only annoyances I had was using (auto) takeoff as I have watched many videos and read lots of things which simply stated 'tap the take off button and then tap and hold'. I cannot remember ever seeing that the tap and hold was in the middle of the screen and not the same icon which I initially tapped. As the screen was difficult to see in the bright sunlight it didn't 'stand out' and after tapping and holding the take off icon 2 or 3 times I looked closely at the screen and saw the somewhat large display in the middle where the tap and hold needs to be done. Please note that due to the bright sunshine I had to look at the display from very close to it. I am not young and have a cataract in one eye.

Also when I tested the return home it did come back to close to where it took off (I used a large round landing mat on the grassed surface) it landed about 500mm from the edge which could have resulted in the props touching the grass if it hadn't been recently cut. Did I do anything wrong or what is the correct procedure to lock in the start location or is this normal?