No, I won't let you go higher!

There is a landmark granite railroad bridge circa 1830s in a rural community about an hour’s drive from my house. I took my Mavic Mini there today to get some photos because the fall foliage probably would be spectacular. And it was.
But I had trouble flying my drone. First, there was no GPS signal, and after I took off, I was limited to an altitude of 98 feet.

Here is a log of the messages I received while flying:

• Compass or GPS signal weak. Changed to Attitude mode.
• GPS signal weak. Switched to Attitude mode. Aircraft unable to hover. Fly with caution.
• Max altitude reached (Altitude limit: 98ft)
• GPS signal weak. Altitude limit set. Wait for GPS signal to return to normal and continue ascending. (I received this message every time I tried to climb past 98 feet.)

Note: As long as I stayed under 98 feet, I had full control of my drone and could get it to go in any direction. I checked my settings, and my maximum altitude was set at 398 feet.
Does anyone know why I was limited to 98 feet? When I owned a Spark, I had it up several hundred feet while in Attitude mode.

EyesWideShut said:

You are getting the "Payload" warning which is the one that is limiting you to 98 feet. You either have it turned on in the Fly App or have some additional weight on the mini like prop guards, legs extensions, lights etc. which the mini senses and automatically goes into Payload Mode.

Let us know when you get it figured out.

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The only accessories I have on my Mini are motor covers and a lightweight landing cradle. I have had them on for many flights and have flown at 400 feet high and never was restricted in any way. So I don't think that is the problem. But I will check that the next time I fly. Thanks!

EyesWideShut said:

Thanks @Meta4 for pointing out the 98ft altitude limit answer.
Question: I understand it going into ATTI Mode with weak GPS but wonder why the "Downward Vision System was inactivated"? I can see that if flying in low light but wasn't it daylight flying to shoot the fall colours?

Here's page 37 that Meta4 quoted. I highlighted the blinking status light colours.
View attachment 115434

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The light on my Mini was a solid Green (if I remember correctly), but changed to Red every time I tried to go higher than 98 feet.

Meanwhile, I flew yesterday with with the landing cradle attached, and had no problems going up several hundred feet. Although at one point, with about 25% of battery power left, and the drone out of view, I got a message on the screen that the Mini was going to land itself. What? I'm standing in a small clearing in a heavily-forested area, and I don't want it to hit some trees on the way down.

I looked on the map and it was over a wooded area and maybe 100 feet or more away from me. So I pushed the lever to make it climb, but for several minutes I still could not see where it was because of the trees surrounding me. But I could faintly hear it. Then, for some reason, I lost my connection with the drone.

Finally, I got a warning that the battery level was critically low, and that the Mini was returning to home. About 20 seconds later, I looked up and it was straight overhead. It landed at the Home point with no further issues. It scared me for a couple of minutes, however.

-- By the way, does anybody know how to change the Home point on the screen? I tried moving the dot with my finger, but it would not move. When I lost sight of my Mini, I was going to have it land in a nearby parking lot, but wasn't successful.