DJI Spark - deals etc

[Murph7355]

Have been toying with the idea of getting a drone for a while, and another thread prompted me to look at the DJI Spark. It looks pretty much perfect for what I'd want.

Does anyone have one? Experiences?

And are there any specific deals to be had? Ideally I'm looking for somewhere that John Lewis will price match against as I happen to have a bunch of vouchers to use (and contributing to a drone is more worthwhile than a rug ).

[Murph7355]

alex.tvr said:

I have a Spark, pretty happy with it - I purchased the Fly more package and an extra battery. Only downside is the way it communicates, wifi instead of ocusync. I’ll probably end up trading it for a Mavic Pro, but as an intro to drones it does the job well.

HTH

Thanks Alex.

I believe you can connect the remote to your phone with a cable rather than WiFi.

Did you just buy online? Prices are £150 less than the likes of JL, so negate my vouchers to an extent.

[Murph7355]

Waitrose? I may live south now but I'm a northerner. I don't have the money to shop at Waitrose!!

[Murph7355]

Durzel said:

You do, you have your vouchers!

Wasting them on grocery shopping isn't what I was expecting though.

Will ask the other half if she'll buy them at 80 in the pound

[Murph7355]

Thanks.

I suspect for what I'll use it for anything over 100m or so will be a bonus/unused...

[Murph7355]

Thanks

[Murph7355]

Luke. said:

After one of these at the mo. Anyone picked one up in the Black Friday deals?

I have now!

I've spent all day bemoaning "Black Friday" and how nothing's ever cheaper. Looked at JL and they've got much closer to online prices... So just used my vouchers.

Thanks for the nudge

[Murph7355]

JL only do white. Which will look just as good stuck up a tree as any other colour

Have been toying with getting a drone for a little while. Phantom's too big really for what I want (at least for now). Bebop was an option but last year it looked compromised... but hadn't really looked at the v2...

[Murph7355]

Quick update...arrived yesterday (impressed with the free delivery timeframes!).

Limited time to play, but it's had its first flight.

Ball ache to set up. Partly because I'm a typical bloke who hates reading manuals . Partly because the software's not as polished as the rest of it, and partly because the instructions when I finally did read them are not quite as clear as they might be.

Anyway...after much faffing, firmware updates of both the aircraft (their term) and the remote controller saw it no longer giving the "aircraft locked" message and ready to roll.

It's quite noisy, but very easy to fly. First flight was in an 8ft sq room so both taxing and not (and the noise may ease in a less confined space), but easy nonetheless.

No images to speak of yet but what I've seen look good.

The hardware feels beautifully designed and sturdy. Hopefully the software will feel better now I'm on the latest versions.

Probably won't get chance to play properly until the weekend. But first impressions are that this is a worthy gadget

[Murph7355]

Luke. said:

Thanks for the update. Why was it such a ball ache?

Batteries come in "hibernation" mode so must be fully charged before use (which is easy enough of course ).

Out of the box you're then meant to be able to use QR codes to kick off the set up process. That didn't work. Apparently this is common.

Had I read the manual I'd possibly have known the controller's wifi is what you connect your phone to, not the aircraft. That might have saved me 20mins of Googling

So connected my phone to the remote controller. Tick.

Controller to the aircraft. Tick.

Aircraft wouldn't fly. Noted it was "locked".

Bit of Googling and I start to wonder if the warning zones I'm in might be precluding flight. So get onto support (very good btw).

They think not.

So I install DJI Assistant 2. But the Spark will only connect to it intermittently, and the firmware update it needs failed three or four times.

I then stumbled across a more reliable way of getting it to connect to Assistant 2 - connect phone to controller to Spark, then plug in the USB cable. Apparently this should not be necessary but it seems to work every time for me. So hey ho.

This then left me with an up to date Spark.

Then to update the remote controller. That has to be done via the phone so you have to switch in and out of WiFi connectivity with the internet or the controller. This took two goes, but was a little more straightforward.

Once all that was done, it worked nicely.

Not all DJI's issue. And tbh I can easily forgive it when you think what this little thing does and how beautifully it runs once set up (I could watch the camera move all day ). Just took a bit of faff. I do also wonder if this one had been sat on the shelves for some time at JL - fw was a couple of versions out at least.

I haven't used a bebop...but I can't see anyone who has an inkling for one of these being disappointed . (Until I crash it into a tree or something!).

[Murph7355]

Luke. said:

Getting mine tomorrow, but that all sounds like a massive pain in the arse. But I guess once it's done, it's done.

You might not get this at all...I guess it depends what fw versions you have and how keen you are to get started

And if you do have the same issues, just check out the above.

When it first flies you'll forgive any hassles setting it up.

[Murph7355]

Have had a few flights with mine, indoor and out thus far..thought I'd take it out in the snow today and take my first footage with it.

Seriously impressed (as is the OH, which is a surprising bonus).

The camera's rock steady, even in wind and snow. My flying and camera control leaves much to be desired, but the drone's brilliant.

I think the snow confused the object avoidance a few times, but really keen to learn how to fly it smoothly now and learn some decent techniques on getting good footage.

Only slight surprise is just how noisy it is...not what you'd call subtle. But a great piece of kit.

[Murph7355]

If you bought the Fly More combo the remote should connect to the drone automatically.

You then connect phone to remote...

[Murph7355]

Bungleaio said:

Anywhere out there with good deals on these at the moment or is it worth holding out for boxing day sales?

5-600 seems to be the mark now.

Am not entirely convinced there'll be deals outside of this range. At least not until the next version is out or they release specials.

[Murph7355]

HotJambalaya said:

thats a good price, I got mine in the states at that price.

Pay attention to upthread, the remote is already connected.

Spent an arse load of time figuring that out, and downloading stuff again and again and again, but finally I have flight!

I haven't quite figured out how to record video direct to my phone without the memory card, but I am assured its possible!

If your phone is connected to the remote's WiFi and you're getting an image on the phone's screen, just press record and it will record on the phone (assuming it has space left etc).

If a memory card is inserted you get it on both, though the memory card footage doesn't freeze etc if WiFi connectivity is lost

[Murph7355]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

You're failing on all man gadget fronts here

[Murph7355]

You'll find a way for that other stuff. Everyone needs a drone

tbf I didn't tell my OH I'd bought it (it kind of got forgotten in amongst other stuff). However, the farmer's wife next door told her to be vigilant as her husband had seen a drone buzzing round and he thought it might be casing the houses I came clean eventually...and both my OH and the farmer's were amazed at the quality of the footage.

There's talk of him borrowing it as they think it may be useful on the farm