Dji Spark

Aodo98

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows how the DJI Spark drone copes with wind in Ireland? Is the phantom 3 more suitable for Ireland? What entry level drone would you recommend?

Chavways

Aodo98 wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows how the DJI Spark drone copes with wind in Ireland? Is the phantom 3 more suitable for Ireland? What entry level drone would you recommend?

I can't speak for the Spark but I own a Phantom 3 advanced. It holds up very well in moderate windy conditions. I have an anemometer that I bring with me when I'm going to fly somewhere but have flown it for long durations in wind speeds of ~10m/s.

It holds up surprisingly well in wind and will do its best to counteract any wind. I'd imagine it would hold up a lot better than a Spark and video quality (for the advanced anyway) would be better than a Spark but I suppose it depends what your priorities are.

seems to be very decent in wind, much better than you would think for it's size.

in this video it had no problem handling 20 mile an hour + winds - was still producing good footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCnJCMMk54Q&t=248s

I'd say that it would handle most days in Ireland excepting 25 knots + days.

I've just picked one up but don't have the controller yet so will not go too adventurous on it until I get that.

the big advantage of the spark imo is that it doesn't attract much attention ("oh look a twat with a drone") compared to a bigger drone like a phantom or even a mavic yet is highly capable.

even over the mavic and phantom you can get a quick shot in a few seconds without a controller or phone at all with the gesture stuff.

here's a guy trying to disrupt it with a leaf blower

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VooA0i622JM

oleras

glasso wrote: »

seems to be very decent in wind, much better than you would think for it's size.

in this video it had no problem handling 20 mile an hour + winds - was still producing good footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCnJCMMk54Q&t=248s

I'd say that it would handle most days in Ireland excepting 25 knots + days.

I've just picked one up but don't have the controller yet so will not go too adventurous on it until I get that.

the big advantage of the spark imo is that it doesn't attract much attention ("oh look a twat with a drone") compared to a bigger drone like a phantom or even a mavic yet is highly capable.

even over the mavic and phantom you can get a quick shot in a few seconds without a controller or phone at all with the gesture stuff.

I got one today also, the fly more combo.

Took an age to set up, updates etc.

Kept it in beginners mode so was limited to 30m all directions, was surprised how loud it still was up that high !

Started to rain so only got a 6 min flight, well, more of a hover than anything else.

Looking forward to Saturday, next day off and hopefully will be dry.

Ryaner

I've had mine up a few times and it handles mostly ok. Gusts do tend to move it around a bit but it'll stay mostly steady if the wind is nearly constant. It actually tilted itself the other day to stay over the same place which looked cool.

To other spark owners, what kind of range are you getting? I've not managed anything beyond around 80M or 25M vertical before it losing signal. Talking to DJI and they advised to run a tool to refresh the firmware and then send it back it that doesn't help.

KellyXX

Ryaner wrote: »

I've had mine up a few times and it handles mostly ok. Gusts do tend to move it around a bit but it'll stay mostly steady if the wind is nearly constant. It actually tilted itself the other day to stay over the same place which looked cool.

To other spark owners, what kind of range are you getting? I've not managed anything beyond around 80M or 25M vertical before it losing signal. Talking to DJI and they advised to run a tool to refresh the firmware and then send it back it that doesn't help.

We just got rid of ours due to the range issue. It's cut down for Europe.

Same experience as you using the phone.
Even with the remote you will be very lucky even to get 350Meters before signal loss.

Even though it's mentioned in the specs it wasn't very clear. You can hack it if you are comfortable with that though.

The mavic air will be the same. Limited range in Europe compared to USA.

If you hack it to USA range then any updates or running tools that you do will put it back to European range.

Ryaner

I ended up returning mine too. If I'd been getting around 350m I'd likely have kept it, but it max'd out at 123m in a wide open park away from houses.

The Mavic Air does have a longer range in Europe, they are listing it as 2000m in CE mode, but after the experience with the Spark I don't trust them. Likely I'll end up with a Pro if I do get another.

KellyXX

Ryaner wrote: »

I ended up returning mine too. If I'd been getting around 350m I'd likely have kept it, but it max'd out at 123m in a wide open park away from houses.

The Mavic Air does have a longer range in Europe, they are listing it as 2000m in CE mode, but after the experience with the Spark I don't trust them. Likely I'll end up with a Pro if I do get another.

Yeah I don't trust them one bit. I'm suspicious as soon as I see a different ranges states for Europe and the USA. Not a good sign.

KellyXX

If anyone is interested in buying a new dji spark the Fly more combo Sparks new from Amazon now £460.
Glad I sold mine when I did. The price has dropped right down.
Use camelcamelcamel to track the prices on Amazon before you buy. It goes up for a few days, down for a few days. Just wait for the right price and buy.