DJI Inspire 1, What's the Verdict?

[econfly]

I'm avoiding firmware updates until the early guys work out the bugs.

One thing that would make this easier would be a single smart update process. One way to get at it would be to have the radio connected to the Inspire via USB with firmware on the tablet (downloaded automatically). The firmware update is then applied to all hardware at once (and refuses to update anything unless the radio is connected via USB). That would avoid some of this half-applied firmware problem and would save the trouble of loading firmware onto the SD card.

 

[jfro]

Replacement remote updated as it should. Linked as it should. Looks all good.

Tech support in LA. 4 calls, 3 took 40 minute wait, the one call at 2 minutes after they open was about 25 minutes. Basic help, but couldn't dig down past the basics. Last call got cut off so didn't finish. They didn't call back but sent an email to get back if need help. Wasn't up to 40 minute wait. Other calls, didn't appear any way to escalate. Send it in, get email says case closed, get email asking me to rate em. Not terrible, but not impressed.

 

[Bluerex]

The hint I picked up from another thread was to use the 24hr chat rather than try phone call. I'm in Australia so Beijing time is only 3 hrs behind me - that made life easier when I started to e-mail.

jfro - Glad to hear that your replacement RC is working

C

 

[jfro]

The hint I picked up from another thread was to use the 24hr chat rather than try phone call. I'm in Australia so Beijing time is only 3 hrs behind me - that made life easier when I started to e-mail.

jfro - Glad to hear that your replacement RC is working

C

I did try the chat at one point. I got an auto reply giving me the hours and phone # for La Service.

 

[Bluerex]

Yeah I saw that too... I ignored it and typed "Hi" - got an answer in a couple of minutes

 

[FerdinandK]

edit, sorry missed some posts, so mine was outdated

 

[Bartman]

Ferdinand, your email inbox has been kicking back emails, seems it's full

 

[FerdinandK]

Thanks Bart, did resolve this.

A lot of wind over here 30km/h average, gusts up to 50km/h, really fun to fly the Inspire in these conditions (and still getting a nice video). Was able to reach 29,8m/s in GPS-mode (wind supported) hope to be able to redo this and capture the tablet-view with the data.

best regards
Ferdinand

 

[jfro]

Camera replaced. Working great and video is as expected.
Bricked remote, replaced and updated to current firmware.

Flew a handful of test flights in snow and then the following day a couple more testing it out. All is good. While the video is not good as my Gh3 or Gh4, or other cameras, it's decent enough. Video is stable and horizon stays level most of the time and comes back pretty quickly.

I've only flown in snow and cold weather with short flights so far. However, first impression is positive, but a bit nervous about a repeat of issues from updates etc... Also, if something goes wrong, the quad has to be sent to the west coast and shipping charges are expensive.

The good is that it's very easy to get it on the ground and ready to fly. It's easy to carry around. No more cable plugging / un-plugging at beginning and ending of flight. One power button for camera and quad is nice. Control over many camera functions while seeing the settings while flying is great. Some nice new features. Simplicity of the flying experience is pretty hard to beat. Down side is cost of batteries, slow charging, and having to send it back it something goes wrong. Hi Tech, semi complicated system, few extra parts to have problems with. Let's hope it's durable and reliable.

Special Thanks to my dealer on this, GotHeliRC.com, for helping me through my teething problems during the first few days. He stands above many by answering his phone or email in a prompt manner, standing behind his product, and being knowledgeable about this industry. Level headed, knowledgeable, and prompt service in my dealings over the last 2 years. Good dealer in any business, but Exceptional for this industry.

 

[jfro]

Update. DISAPPOINTED AND OUT LOTS OF TIME AND MONEY.

Unit 1, camera failure and then bricked radio on firmware update. Got replacement which I test flew about 6-8 times in cold weather than off to Kauai Hi for my 2 week vacation.

About 8 successful flights on 2nd unit in Kauai. Then, same camera failure. Was up in air hovering for about 1 minute testing the wind, went to tilt camera down and start flying, lost connection with camera. Came down, never worked again. No crashes, hard landings, etc or any other abnormal issues. Just quit. On radio, under firmware, it said current, but radio battery failure. Contact service for repair. Mounted/ remounted camera multiple times, changed Inspire batteries to no avail. Flew home with dead Inspire for 15 hours, tried it here, same issue.

So, two units, 2 failures with camera (plus the one bricked radio on firmware upgrade). Not a good start. Now, 5-6 weeks quoted return time (plus I assume shipping time). Long waits on customer service line (20-40 minute wait on all but 1 of my 5-6 calls). Expensive freight costs to ship full unit back. Yesterday, service man said he'd send me a shipping label withing an hour, but haven't received it yet. Just got a PDF form to fill out.

Inspire is fun to fly and is easy to transport, setup, and get in the air. But, there may be too many integrated points of failure of which their answer is "send it in for repair" and that will be 5-6 weeks (plus I assume shipping time). I'm 0 for 2, so you can guess what I think of it not to mention the time / money spent to take it on vacation and then have it fail when I have 3 other unites which have flown many hours without these types of frustrations. I've had failures before, but the cost and time to fix are much less when you build your own.

Won't "drone" on with my problems, but thought I'd update my experience with my DJI Inspire.

 

[Bartman]

thanks for the update @jfro

sorry to hear you had problems after traveling with it

 

[econfly]

2:18 -- New firmware was released today. I am updating now. It would be nice if the firmware update instructions provided some insight into what the LED is telling us. Right now I'm updating the aircraft. The process is simple -- load the firmware file onto the camera's micro-SD card then power up. The update starts automatically if the firmware on the card is new. During the process you hear a constant series of four short pulse noises (DJI calls this "D-D-D-D"). The LED is changing colors / flashes during the process. No idea what that means.

2:33 -- Done updating the craft ("D---D-D" sound). LED is solid red. Off to update the radio...

 

[econfly]

2:35 -- Started radio update. Damn this incessant "D-D-D-D" beep is annoying.

Be sure to follow the firmware update instructions carefully. This is simple enough.

2:36 -- That was fast. Radio is showing update complete.

 

[econfly]

This update also updated all of my batteries as well. You just power up with the firmware update file loaded and the craft will update the battery if necessary.

 

[econfly]

Just snuck out of the office (home office, that is) to try the new firmware. HUGE improvement. GPS in a wooded area was rock solid. This may make me a believer in GPS mode. Previously I had done most of my Inspire flying in ATTI just because the GPS lock was so unreliable. Based on this single flight things have changed much for the better. No GPS drop outs, and in gusty light wind (my weather station is showing gusts up to about 10mph) the Inspire really held position tightly.

The negative is the Android app on the Invidia Shield crashed repeatedly, and that never happened on the prior firmware. I gave up and went back to the iPad Air2 with no issues. I think the iPad is better anyway, and will stick with it going forward. No idea why the Android app was crashing, and I likely won't bother trying to figure it out given how well the latest iPad app is working.

The Inspire is a very nice and compact system, and the new firmware seems to be a very big improvement.

 

[econfly]

One thing I miss on the Inspire is home lock IOC flight mode. I really like that on the Wookong controller. In this mode forward is always away from the home point, back is always toward it, and left/right are counter-clockwise and clockwise flight on a circle where the home point is in the center. Very handy, especially when you lose line of sight and want to bring the craft toward you.