DJI Drone Warrantee Repair a Disappointing situation

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Los Angeles, CA--I had my somewhat pricy DJI Inspire 1 camera drone for five months.  

I love the product and it never gave a bad moment.  Well not quite.  

DJI has an update policy from Hell.  They suddenly announce a firmware update.  You can't fly until you get to good internet service with a computer, download and install the update.  

That is a disaster when you drive to a location for a shoot and everything stops.  

Okay that sucks but while attempting my last update for the cold weather battery fix things went to Hell.

The camera stopped retaining the little SD memory card spitting it out! 

There suddenly was a second problem with the coupling of the camera and gimbal to the drone.  Contact was somehow lost.  

Technical support was sympathetic and told me to take it to Fedex and provided several explicate pages of instructions on shipping it back.

The repair facility is in nearby Carson but they demand it be shipped by Fedex even if you are located across the street!  Same with the return!  Two full days are added to the repair time and DJI eats the unnecessary cost! 

They fiddled with my drone and returned in in just over two weeks.  I put in the memory card without a hitch. However when I fired up the drone to move the landing gear for camera attachment it failed.

The ink was not dry yet on the FedEx receipt and I had a new problem!  After a 45 minute wait for technical support another sympathetic support agent quickly advised me it had to go back once again.  

Thankfully I had another copy of my original sales receipt to put in the shipment or I be paying for the repairs!

Just to make thing interesting they give you a 25 digit number to write in several places that begins with RMA.  I'm sure only God can help you if you screw that up!  

I know that everyone that crashes their DJI products blame the products for their own failures.  DJI must have a repair staff of people dealing with customers from Hell.  

Both legitimate and bogus claims must be difficult to deal with.

My repair return is complicated further by travel issues. I must now have it shipped to an address somewhere else!

Yep, I got the DJI double repair whammy.  What's going to be my next DJI misadventure? 

When it works I love it! When I'm in warranty jail I hate it.   

There's got to be a better way! 

Update:

I shipped the drone to DJI after the tech support guy said it needed to go back when the landing gear was apparently stuck in shipping position. 

They returned the drone to me in Las Vegas and upon upon trying once again the landing gear wouldn't budge. I called tech support and was told to send it back again. 

Suddenly it struck me that perhaps my radio controller was no longer coupled with the drone.  The lights went on in the tech support Guy's mind and he talked me through re-coupling and that was the issue. Now I can fly once more! 

The tech support guy was not as sharp as he should have been.  

  

Your “Toy” Camera Drone Can Save Lives, Really!

Los Angeles, CA—The word of the day is FLIR!  I knew this was in development but now it’s actually here!  FLIR became a major public safety and search & rescue tool more than two decades ago.  Now even civilian camera drones are in the FLIR mix! 

Flir has primarily been delegated to expensive cameras carried on board conventional aircraft for military, police, fire and every public safety application.

Recently the popular drone maker DJI and Flir teamed up to offer these now affordable lifesaving cameras.  They can now operate from the popular DJI Inspire1 and Matrice 100 drone platforms.  That means anyone with these drones can save or at least protect lives. 

Flir is simply an optical device that captures imagery of heat signatures or thermal patterns.  At 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit our bodies are normally warmer than the ambient air temperature.  At night the outside air is almost always colder than the bodies of humans or warm-blooded animals.

A human walking in total darkness in a desert or wooded are stands out as a bright shadow and easily spotted from either the ground or air.  In many ways the FLIR is superior to conventional night vision devices and is essential when looking for lost people, trespassing criminals, lost pets and other such suspects.

You can also spot recently parked motor vehicles by their heat signatures too.

For firefighting efforts hotspots can easily be pinpointed directing the efforts to extinguish fires faster and more safely.  More importantly firemen can know in advance if and when they need to evacuate rooftops avoiding potential agonizing deaths or injuries.

This is truly a game and public perception changer on the value of the popular camera drones.   At a minimum people will be locating lost pets, children or wild animals roaming in their surroundings.  Until now you’d have to wait for first responders to evaluate the need, and then for them to travel to the search areas.

In our world we have earthquakes, floods, tornados and wildfires. Drones can operate safely in tighter areas where helicopters cannot enter.  Civilian FLIR equipped drones particularly in remote areas can be worth more than gold.

At the 2015 International Drone Expo I interviewed FLIR VUE specialist David Lee about the new camera. 

The First L.A. Drone Expo, a Review

Los Angeles, CA—I really looked forward to the first ever L.A. Drone Expo.  It happened today at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. 

The exhibitors came with products and displays.  Hundreds of drone enthusiasts stormed the venue and there was real excitement.

It was terrific to talk with many of the engineers and inventors that have made contributions to this specialized technology. 

Products were for sale everywhere and for the attendees it seemed like their first trip to Disneyland. 

Additionally there were speakers on all of the creative and regulatory issues. 

Speaking of regulatory issues there are those that want cumbersome regulations and those like me that don’t.  It’s seems so un-American to use regulation as a way to reduce competition by making things difficult for the unwashed newbies.

This country was number one in technology, design and innovation.  Somehow we made a Left turn and fell behind.   FAA regulation has already sent to much off our technology and revenue off shore. We may never succeed in catching up.

This technology is moving fast and furiously with new advances every day! 

Now for the ugly:

Perhaps that’s unfair to criticize here because this was the first such an event.   The show management should have put some rules in place for exhibitors. 

I came to cover the event as a journalist and get some important video interviews that were suitable for broadcast.  That proved absolutely impossible. 

One of the larger exhibitors hired a D.J. who flooded the exhibit hall with incredibly loud music.  I like most music but this garbage sucked in a huge way.

I was also very difficult for the attendees to communicate because everyone was shouting at each other to be heard over the DJ’s blaring speakers. 

This drawback is a serious one since no TV news organization would be able to gather broadcast quality interview audio depriving exhibitors needed publicity. 

The music disturbance did not prevent me from meeting terrific people with similar interests and enjoying the event. 

I learned, more information that I really about mapping and the affordability of using FLIR cameras. 

I fully expect that next years Drone Expo will be a lot bigger and a much larger venue will be needed.  I also think the exhibitors learned they need more booth space and workers to deal with the surprising number of attendees.  

I could not resist flying my drone over the venue and sharing the video with you!

Breaking News! A Horrible FAA Civilian Drone Regulation Appeal Ruling!

Los Angeles, CA –Today the NTSB ruled that the FAA may continue to ban any commercial use model aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles or drones.

We are anxiously awaiting the FAA’s long overdue and final regulations on the drones that have become so popular primarily to photographers.

The ruling leaves in tact the incredibly vague, subjective and overly broad language in it’s provision, “No person may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner as to endanger the life or property or another.”  This language could allow for some judge to find that the mere flight of a device to be unlawful. 

This is amazing since despite that there’s never been a single death or serious reported injury involving a multi-rotor camera drones. 

If the unreasonably intrusive requirements recently imposed on filmmakers granted drone operation FAA permits are a sign of things to come this industry is doomed at least in the USA.

For now the use of drones by hobbyists is still legal.  However should payment for images be involved the FAA may bring the full force of government on those who dare.

We will have to see just what damage the FAA will do to the burgeoning civilian camera drone industry.   I’m not confidant that they will be measured or reasonable to filmmakers, the news media or photographers.  Now there are more reasons to avoid producing television programming or motion pictures anywhere but inside the United States. 

Should police or the FAA ever attempt to question you about your drone activities or financial arrangements, never lie to them.  Instead tell them you want a lawyer present before you answer any questions.  Frankly without your admissions, lies or other information their investigations will be severely crippled.

Here is today’s ruling:

  style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;">     on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/247020214/Comercial-Drone-Appeal-Ruling"  style="text-decoration: underline;" >Comercial Drone Appeal Ruling