DJI Q&A with Simon Newton

[jarrah31]

Hi All,

I can't find any other mention of this on the forums yet, so just wanted to give a heads up that Simon Newton (Phantompilots.com user Pull_Up) has managed to secure a DJI Q&A session!

As quoted by Simon: "A DJI representative will be joining me on the kitchen table soon to answer your questions on any topic!"

See his video for more details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJm2DV7CauE

Sounds like it could become a regular slot if there's lots of interest!

 

[Cocoa Beach Kiter]

Sounds great. Unfortunately he may be overwhelmed with the number of questions.

 

[jarrah31]

In some ways I hope so as that means he can ask DJI to return for another session.

 

[Pull_Up]

Hello, 80 questions and counting with 5 more days to go until I close the survey... There are a fair few questions that are similar in nature, so I can group them into one. Other people are asking questions that are really just from not reading the manual, and I'll maybe wrap all those into another video I'll do myself. But there are some "juicy" questions coming in that I'm looking forward to getting the company view on. At the moment there are no questions submitted on Lightbridge, the Flamewheels or Spreading Wings range. I'd like to ask questions on as wide a range of subjects as possible in the time we have, so if anyone has something they want to ask DJI about direct regarding those three areas then your question is a shoo-in for being asked at the moment...

If the viewing figures are strong and the questions keep coming in at the volumes I've been experiencing then there's a chance of turning this into a regular slot - frequency of it depending on how much interaction there is. No promises from DJI but hints. So there you go!

 

[Pull_Up]

Oh and if people could submit their questions on the link in the video description and not via PM here it would be great - I can't possibly keep track of everything across several platforms otherwise.

Cheers!

 

[Pull_Up]

It happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDIkXewkIwE

Sorry for the odd audio glitch on my side - my coal-fired laptop nearly expired from the effort of combining 2 720p feeds and sending them to YouTube. DJI's was perfect though.

 

[Mori55]

You didn't ask about channel 7 ??

 

[DBeard]

Any chance at a transcript? Can't YouTube at the moment.

 

[Pull_Up]

It's 50 minutes long - I won't be doing a transcript, sorry! I am going to try and find the time to list out all the questions asked and the video timestamp to the answer. I'll post that here as well as on the video description when it's done.

Re: 7th channel. DJI told me it's coming in the next firmware update, I didn't get any questions from my viewers and subscribers on it (which is where the questions came from). Although of interest to those eagerly awaiting future updates, did you might have noticed a hint that someone in that call was perhaps using a Vision App that the rest of us aren't yet...

 

[Mori55]

I kinda of thought channel 7 would of been a big question considering your the one who said it was coming. Fpvflyer stopped working on it when he heard you mention it. He was basically are only hope besides Dronexpert.

 

[Pull_Up]

It happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDIkXewkIwE

Sorry for the odd audio glitch on my side - my coal-fired laptop nearly expired from the effort of combining 2 720p feeds and sending them to YouTube. DJI's was perfect though.

Thanks for sharing the video with us, Simon. I know you did put a lot of work and time in this project and this for the benefit for all of us.
Very much appreciated.

Geert./.

Thanks Geert - the shout-out has to go to the channel subscribers, patrons, donors and viewers... it's their support that's helping get some attention in places I thought were out of reach! Hopefully if the viewing figures for this Q&A are good and the questions keep rolling in I can persuade DJI to let us have a couple more Q&A sessions - or perhaps even a regular slot? As one of my commenters said "I've now got more questions that came to mind after listening to the answers to the other questions"!

(And I've managed to sort out my hardware issues, so going forward I won't sound like a drowning dalek when the processor gives up the ghost...)

 

[rbhamilton]

Thanks very much for doing the interview and posting it.

He says the gimbal is not user serviceable. Later in the interview when asked about people changing out the ribbon (outside warranty) he says "well it's your choice".

It's not our choice at all because DJI won't sell the ribbon - not to us and not to dealers. Even the repair center in LA doesn't have them (or refuses to repair vs replace a damaged cable which amounts to the same thing). It's just unconscionable on DJI's part to sell such a flimsy item and refuse to provide replacement parts for repair. I think you let this guy off a bit lightly on that topic.

Otherwise great work on the interview and thanks so much for doing this.

 

[Farside]

Sorry for the odd audio glitch on my side - my coal-fired laptop nearly expired from the effort of combining 2 720p feeds and sending them to YouTube. DJI's was perfect though.

Yeah you could use some subtitles :shock:
Great interview though, Simon

 

[Cocoa Beach Kiter]

It's 50 minutes long - I won't be doing a transcript, sorry! I am going to try and find the time to list out all the questions asked and the video timestamp to the answer. I'll post that here as well as on the video description when it's done.

Re: 7th channel. DJI told me it's coming in the next firmware update, I didn't get any questions from my viewers and subscribers on it (which is where the questions came from). Although of interest to those eagerly awaiting future updates, did you might have noticed a hint that someone in that call was perhaps using a Vision App that the rest of us aren't yet...

That's funny you mention that...! Just after he said that about the "pages icon" I went to my app to see if I had missed it .. Lol. Thought I was loosing my mind!

I too wish there was a clarification as to when the next firmware is expected and what's included. Maybe you could ask it as a follow up question and share with us

 

[DKDarkness]

Did I hear DJI say that the limitations on way points etc. were due to hardware restrictions, and more functionality required much more expensive solutions? Totally disregarding what has been published in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=25244&start=130

 

[skyhighdiver]

Simon Newton

+yarik83 Not quite - DJI is guaranteeing the batteries for 6 months, not expecting them to last 6 months. They quote an expected useful life of 300 discharge cycles

The issue now where people have a bad cell is that the aircraft initiates autoland earlier than expect, rather than dropping to the ground. I still see relatively few of these incidents reported. A bit like Phantom 1 flyaways... the internet tends to magnify the vocal minority and mask the majority who don't have any issues.

Paul P

+Simon Newton sorry but your video chat partner Ed has hung you out to dry.
he stated DJI would guarantee batteries for 6 months yet after contacting them LA office 9/16/14 3:15 pm. with one battery that has 38 flights 4 months old and is puffy in the case. I was told they only guarantee batteries for 3 months> :twisted:
so now I have to believe the place that is taking them back not a forum rep right?




Reply

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[RedBaron]

Here are the warranty times from DJI Website.

 

[gunslinger]

You know what? For whatever Googlecentric reason, I couldn't reply to your youtube session. I'm absolutely not a fan of Google or its proprietary methods... That being said...

My problem with DJIs response to the "smart battery problem" is this...:

I have a battery that is approximately ten months old. EVERY readout in the Phantom assistant looks brilliant and shiny. When I get to approximately 47% battery life, the bird attempts to auto-land regardless of its current position.

DJI tells me that they won't do a thing for me considering the age of the battery. This is very similar to Ford Motor Company telling me that because my 1972 Ford Pinto was struck from the rear, exploded and killed my entire family... It was out of warranty and I have no recourse.

Again... I don't know why I can't reply directly to your YouTube vid.. though tomorrow I'll expend a great deal of energy towards discovering that issue... I take great exception to DJIs stance regarding their "smart" battery.

You also need to factor in the design change of both the battery and the contact pins on the Phantom itself. They OBVIOUSLY made these changes in response to battery communication issues...

If DJI thinks I'll simply "go away" regarding this issue... they obviously don't know me nearly as well as do you..

Not going to happen. I can easily afford the replacement of the battery. I can not possibly afford the response from DJI regarding this issue....

-slinger

 

[HunterSK]

Hi Simon,

Great job, I enjoyed the interview.

Thanks for including my question about what DJI does with the Vision app user log in information. The reason why I asked that is because I'm puzzled why DJI would require us to log into their app when they don't offer any cloud-type services (currently anyway). The answer was not very exact and was guesswork coming from a forum support staff, but that is OK.

 

[tpallred]

Thanks very much for doing the interview and posting it.

He says the gimbal is not user serviceable. Later in the interview when asked about people changing out the ribbon (outside warranty) he says "well it's your choice".

It's not our choice at all because DJI won't sell the ribbon - not to us and not to dealers. Even the repair center in LA doesn't have them (or refuses to repair vs replace a damaged cable which amounts to the same thing). It's just unconscionable on DJI's part to sell such a flimsy item and refuse to provide replacement parts for repair. I think you let this guy off a bit lightly on that topic.

Otherwise great work on the interview and thanks so much for doing this.

Cudos on the interview and your channel to share it. I also thought the answer about "not user serviceable" was unsatisfactory. If someone's phantom is out of warranty (or even in warranty if the owner doesn't care) why try to push everyone to send it in for possibly unneeded $700 repair rather than make the parts available for the owner to make their own repair quicker for much less cost? Someone might answer, "to make more money", but they're already making money hand over fist in sales. How much is enough? Doesn't keeping customers happy fit somewhere in the equation?