DJI A2 Failure Videos
- Thread starter fdproductions
- Start date
econfly
Member
Probably the best thing to do for most is to avoid anything that hasn't been tested by real users over a reasonable period of time. I don't think this is just a DJI issue. Can anyone name a flight controller that hasn't had development issues at one time or another? If there were a clear winner out there -- a rock solid flight controller with no issues, implementation challenges, or faults -- we would all be using it and there wouldn't be so much complaining about DJI. People buy DJI products, obviously, because they see the value for the money as the best option out there (i.e., the same reason that anyone buys anything). Personally, I've decided to stick with DJI's WooKong with firmware version 5.16. It just works.
Old Man
Active Member
I'd like to respond to that from several perspectives.
First, you are absolutely correct regarding the WooKong and the 5.16 software. It works, it has worked, and those that have had problems after that release did so simply because they upgraded without first reading the software notes before uploading later releases. Don't upgrade your software unless the release notes tell you there's something in the upgrade that will actually benefit you. Those flying pro rigs DO NOT upgrade as soon as a new software release comes out. They wait for all of the beta testers (ya know the suckers that leap before they look) to report back on successes or failures.
People buy DJI for mainly a couple of reasons.
1) They advertise lavishly because they can afford to. They are subsidized by the Chinese government, and the Chinese government technically owns EVERY business in China. They want overwhelming market share, and they will spend as much of our money as necessary to obtain it.
2) They pump out new products in You Tube videos at a prodigious rate, intended to further excite the market because those new products are alleged to interface seamlessly with pre-existing DJI products. Never mind those newly advertised products haven't been released to the vendors yet. That's not important. Never mind they don't tell you their gimbals are camera specific and if you have one gimbal but want to fly a different camera you'll have to buy another gimbal, IF they make one for that camera. They got people like you and me thinking about them and how we might incorporate them into what we already have. Sort of like name recognition. The more you hear or see it the better you remember it, and if it was associated with something you would like to have it sticks even better.
3) They release products that are clearly labeled as "beta" and people buy them with the impression they have been extensively field tested. Not so. The fact it was called a beta release means YOU are the guinea pig if you buy it. Unless you're really, really good at this stuff, and unraveling complicated and locked software code to make things work, wait until the stuff has been on the vendor shelves for 6 months or more before buying. Let someone else be the guinea pig. Better yet, let the manufacturer risk their equipment and money checking the stuff out.
Multirotors are actually a very, very small segment of the hobby industry. A lot of media noise but actually very little going on to show for all the noise. The largest part of the multirotor market is the $9.99, fly it in your living room with a key chain camera version. Those of us flying the big stuff are an extremely specialized portion of the market. Those flying stuff like the Phantom and similar hold the middle position, and keeping it alive by purchasing LOTS of replacement parts. I think there;s enough videos out there to show how reliable those things are.
So what we have are a lot of You Tube videos showing the good and the bad. There's some pretty good "how to" stuff in there to halp us out but we have to excercise some care in what we watch and use as gospel. A lot of those videos are done by vendors, and never forget they have a dog in the hunt. Those videos are there to prompt you to buy something from them. better to learn from those that are using these aircraft to make a living, or working the cutting edge of the technology and admitting they have some room to grow.
Currently, the best flight controller software out there is the open source stuff but you have to be educated enough to use it. That's the hard part, learning the craft and how to make effective use of the tools available. beware anyone that pumps out constant software releases. This last from DJI with two releases over three days was indicative of someone that didn't know what they were doing or hadn't bothered to check what they were sending out before loosing it on the public.
The multi rotor market has a lot of room to grow, and now is the time to be paying attention to those manufacturers that demonstrate they care about the customer base. Note I didn't say care about developing customers because anyone can do that. It's those that provide after sales support for their customers that will be the ones you want to give your loyalty to. In return they'll give you theirs by being there to take your calls and answer your e-mails.
I'll name three of those here and now; Addictive RC. The man (John) has been there for every one of my calls and returned every message and e-mail. He's even been on top of text messages. He's provided advice that has saved me thousands of $$. Another is X-Aircraft. Being offered my money back up front if the product did not work as needed for my purposes is a pretty strong buy incentive. One more is Vulcan. It took less that 2 weeks to produce a completely custom folding frame and get it to me, from England no less, once the dimensions were worked out, and the hardware kit was complete. Those people EARNED my loyalty.
First, you are absolutely correct regarding the WooKong and the 5.16 software. It works, it has worked, and those that have had problems after that release did so simply because they upgraded without first reading the software notes before uploading later releases. Don't upgrade your software unless the release notes tell you there's something in the upgrade that will actually benefit you. Those flying pro rigs DO NOT upgrade as soon as a new software release comes out. They wait for all of the beta testers (ya know the suckers that leap before they look) to report back on successes or failures.
People buy DJI for mainly a couple of reasons.
1) They advertise lavishly because they can afford to. They are subsidized by the Chinese government, and the Chinese government technically owns EVERY business in China. They want overwhelming market share, and they will spend as much of our money as necessary to obtain it.
2) They pump out new products in You Tube videos at a prodigious rate, intended to further excite the market because those new products are alleged to interface seamlessly with pre-existing DJI products. Never mind those newly advertised products haven't been released to the vendors yet. That's not important. Never mind they don't tell you their gimbals are camera specific and if you have one gimbal but want to fly a different camera you'll have to buy another gimbal, IF they make one for that camera. They got people like you and me thinking about them and how we might incorporate them into what we already have. Sort of like name recognition. The more you hear or see it the better you remember it, and if it was associated with something you would like to have it sticks even better.
3) They release products that are clearly labeled as "beta" and people buy them with the impression they have been extensively field tested. Not so. The fact it was called a beta release means YOU are the guinea pig if you buy it. Unless you're really, really good at this stuff, and unraveling complicated and locked software code to make things work, wait until the stuff has been on the vendor shelves for 6 months or more before buying. Let someone else be the guinea pig. Better yet, let the manufacturer risk their equipment and money checking the stuff out.
Multirotors are actually a very, very small segment of the hobby industry. A lot of media noise but actually very little going on to show for all the noise. The largest part of the multirotor market is the $9.99, fly it in your living room with a key chain camera version. Those of us flying the big stuff are an extremely specialized portion of the market. Those flying stuff like the Phantom and similar hold the middle position, and keeping it alive by purchasing LOTS of replacement parts. I think there;s enough videos out there to show how reliable those things are.
So what we have are a lot of You Tube videos showing the good and the bad. There's some pretty good "how to" stuff in there to halp us out but we have to excercise some care in what we watch and use as gospel. A lot of those videos are done by vendors, and never forget they have a dog in the hunt. Those videos are there to prompt you to buy something from them. better to learn from those that are using these aircraft to make a living, or working the cutting edge of the technology and admitting they have some room to grow.
Currently, the best flight controller software out there is the open source stuff but you have to be educated enough to use it. That's the hard part, learning the craft and how to make effective use of the tools available. beware anyone that pumps out constant software releases. This last from DJI with two releases over three days was indicative of someone that didn't know what they were doing or hadn't bothered to check what they were sending out before loosing it on the public.
The multi rotor market has a lot of room to grow, and now is the time to be paying attention to those manufacturers that demonstrate they care about the customer base. Note I didn't say care about developing customers because anyone can do that. It's those that provide after sales support for their customers that will be the ones you want to give your loyalty to. In return they'll give you theirs by being there to take your calls and answer your e-mails.
I'll name three of those here and now; Addictive RC. The man (John) has been there for every one of my calls and returned every message and e-mail. He's even been on top of text messages. He's provided advice that has saved me thousands of $$. Another is X-Aircraft. Being offered my money back up front if the product did not work as needed for my purposes is a pretty strong buy incentive. One more is Vulcan. It took less that 2 weeks to produce a completely custom folding frame and get it to me, from England no less, once the dimensions were worked out, and the hardware kit was complete. Those people EARNED my loyalty.
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fltundra
Member
I have been very happy with my SuperX FC. No fly a ways,flips,toilet bowl syndrome, has rock solid gps lock, excellent manual control, fairly easy to tune and, will fly your bird 99% of the time with the default settings out of the box, if you have all else right.
+1 for Addictive RC
Last edited by a moderator:
fltundra
Member
Forgot blackbox data! Makes tuning a breeze.
http://www.xaircraft.cn/blackbox/report.htm#2014_06_02_075350.417_262.1.02.12
http://www.xaircraft.cn/blackbox/report.htm#2014_06_02_075350.417_262.1.02.12
just did a few test flights on 2.3, about 20mins worth and all I can say is everything is perfect once again, no yaw drifts, no odd flashing lights, stick inputs responding as normal. gps hold good. I just hope that it stays this way!
so I have regained a little bit of confidence but only time will tell. il be doing as many test flights as I can over the next few weeks before ill be ready to put a camera back on it
so I have regained a little bit of confidence but only time will tell. il be doing as many test flights as I can over the next few weeks before ill be ready to put a camera back on it
Old Man
Active Member
Congratulations!!
After someone else took a look at mine tonight the decision was made to abandon it for a Wookong. I guess there were 3 sitting in a shop in Portland they were having trouble selling. That will get this ship up in the air while I start on another project with a Super-X. Ultimately we'll likely be going with iterations of Pixhawk for some of the follow on units since one of my partners truly understands Arduino.
After someone else took a look at mine tonight the decision was made to abandon it for a Wookong. I guess there were 3 sitting in a shop in Portland they were having trouble selling. That will get this ship up in the air while I start on another project with a Super-X. Ultimately we'll likely be going with iterations of Pixhawk for some of the follow on units since one of my partners truly understands Arduino.
fdproductions
FD Productions
well had some (3-4) flights of perfect flight on 2.3 and now im getting interference my copter wants to jump right or left suddenly so somehow instead of my yaw going crazy now my aileron stick input it jumping around, im starting to really think the us has started to create some sort of hack on the 2.4ghz radio frequency or my futaba 14sg has literally seen its last pass. my wookong 5.26 is quite scary to try and feels archaic after flying A2. back to square one i guess just crossing my fingers.
jfro
Aerial Fun
Kloner, having followed many of your posts, I'm curious as to your current usage of flight controllers, both personally and in business flying the Epics.
I think you fly Naza's on your Discoveries, had HFP, but then went to ???, then tried SuperX on your Hex, that I think fell to earth near San Diego harbor. Haven't heard your latest on that, but do think I remember your mentioning it didn't fly on 5 motors like your thought it would.
I think I read about losing another MR or Two, but have no idea what reasons or flight controllers. I also think I've seen mention of some Pixhawk testing.
Since your here taking part on the A2 discussion, I'm assuming your may be flying or testing an A2 or maybe an older Wookong.
I'm learning, but so far, my HFP is on the shelf. Pixhawk is being tested on a 550 quad with 900kv motors. Still learning that. A 650 quad carrying gh4, gh3, and gh2, now has my SuperX on it and I do not believe it flies or I haven't it dialed in as nicely as I did the same MR with a Naza V2. Naza V2 has just been put on 18lb x8 and while onlly a few flights in , I'm happy with it and happy with the video I'm getting on GH3 and GH4.
Anyway, long way to ask the question, what are you flying these days for FC's and if you'd be so kind to impart with some wisdom as to why based on your experiences.
I think you fly Naza's on your Discoveries, had HFP, but then went to ???, then tried SuperX on your Hex, that I think fell to earth near San Diego harbor. Haven't heard your latest on that, but do think I remember your mentioning it didn't fly on 5 motors like your thought it would.
I think I read about losing another MR or Two, but have no idea what reasons or flight controllers. I also think I've seen mention of some Pixhawk testing.
Since your here taking part on the A2 discussion, I'm assuming your may be flying or testing an A2 or maybe an older Wookong.
I'm learning, but so far, my HFP is on the shelf. Pixhawk is being tested on a 550 quad with 900kv motors. Still learning that. A 650 quad carrying gh4, gh3, and gh2, now has my SuperX on it and I do not believe it flies or I haven't it dialed in as nicely as I did the same MR with a Naza V2. Naza V2 has just been put on 18lb x8 and while onlly a few flights in , I'm happy with it and happy with the video I'm getting on GH3 and GH4.
Anyway, long way to ask the question, what are you flying these days for FC's and if you'd be so kind to impart with some wisdom as to why based on your experiences.
kloner
Aerial DP
For work i use skyjib on a2 2.1 firmware on 8fg and internal receiver. epics all day long, no problems. 3520's, 6s 20,000 mah, animal. i was forced into this from killing a wk that flipped over from a bank of motors failing. This is my favorite controller right now, super dependable, acts the same way every boot, is up to 200 flights now,,, all heavy lifting, in the same period i've blown through 7 motors.
my backup rig is a hex that's my own, it's superX. aparently superX doesn't have a mode to deal with a motor failing in hex mode cause mine pitch over 90 degrees and came on down
for fun my discos all run naza
got 2 hfp's in the drawer, not flying them anymore.
i personaly wouldn't try a big mirrorless like gh anything with less than 800mm..... 15" prop
my backup rig is a hex that's my own, it's superX. aparently superX doesn't have a mode to deal with a motor failing in hex mode cause mine pitch over 90 degrees and came on down
for fun my discos all run naza
got 2 hfp's in the drawer, not flying them anymore.
i personaly wouldn't try a big mirrorless like gh anything with less than 800mm..... 15" prop
kloner
Aerial DP
fdproductions
FD Productions
oldman,
i was in the heart of studio city in a rural area off a cliff in a beautiful home, heres the instagram video for it lol its the final shot, no not close to an airport.
http://instagram.com/p/pSoIdWFNVq/
very unusual as I flew through a church and had no issues but I can't fly in an area where there is absolutely nothing and not get interference.
i was in the heart of studio city in a rural area off a cliff in a beautiful home, heres the instagram video for it lol its the final shot, no not close to an airport.
http://instagram.com/p/pSoIdWFNVq/
very unusual as I flew through a church and had no issues but I can't fly in an area where there is absolutely nothing and not get interference.
fdproductions
FD Productions
kloner,
im running 2.3 off a mac, don't recall seeing a disabling option is that option only available for the PC version? I was about 9 miles from the airport though and i guess 7 miles from another.
im running 2.3 off a mac, don't recall seeing a disabling option is that option only available for the PC version? I was about 9 miles from the airport though and i guess 7 miles from another.