ANAFI 1.7.3, ANAFI THERMAL 1.7.3, ANAFI USA 1.7.4, FREEFLIGHT 6.7.0 (IOS & ANDROID), SKYCONTROLLER3 1.7.0

[Deleted member 3201]

Guys (and Girls),

I mentioned last week that I had sent a very lengthy email to Chris Roberts who is the vice president of Parrot. I assumed my email would have been binned, but no he has been communicating with me and has taken the time to respond to every question and statement I made.

So first of all, he has said that 1.6.8 which they just released as we know, goes a long way to putting the Anafi back to what it was in 1.6.3 but with some new features.

He accepts there was issues with the battery, where the Anafi landed/dropped with still significant power left, and that has been addressed in 1.6.8 as part of the evolution of the Anafi (His words).

I challenged him at one point on the lockout of CE/FCC issue many of us suffered. His response was that at no time was it Parrot's intention to try and lock-down the Anafi, this was an issue relating to the "Countrycode" bug, which we are aware of, and that 1.6.8 has now rectified this. And I guess thats why we are seeing some of the guys getting FCC mode again.

I know Chris could just take the Company line and tell me anything I wanted to hear, just to make the "little man" go away. But having communicated with him through various emails, I did get the sense that he is a genuine guy who seemed genuinely concerned about the points I raised, these point all being part of the experiences we have all suffered with the last 2 firmware releases.

I mentioned to him how frustrated we are trying to work with Parrot support, asking so many questions, we answer, and then they start all over again. The fact that it takes weeks to deal with them as they take so long to respond.

Chris's response: "We have recently made a comprehensive review of our support and service levels and as a result of this review defined and step by step started to implement a rigorous process improvement plan, this will be phased in over the next months and covers many elements of the support process. "

So lets hope first of all that 1.6.8 makes a major difference to flying the Anafi, and give us back what we had previously, which was a pleasure to fly the Anafi. And that should any issues arise, that the support line will deal with them better than they previously had.

He asked that I communicate with him regularly to try and work out any issues that we might come across. Again, I say, the guy sounds really genuine and interested in what the users say, it was perfectly clear he was very unhappy to hear of the experiences we have had of late.

So fingers crossed for 1.6.8

You are doing gods work.

I still hope the support will have jobs still, Eleanor, Alex and some other person have been very kind and understanding and helped my requests very well. But like other people here described sometimes the support sometimes is not very good. So I hope they can re-train the people

 

[Ana789]

With this latest update?

Nope, with the "last good" fw
But I would try the mod apk with the updated bird fw

 

[d95gas]

@Gipsz Jakab Re your question about "other functions", unfortunately he didn't go into detail, I assume he was referencing the release notes for the firmware:

• Battery update now available again.
• Enhanced compatibility with Drone Logbook.
• Improvements of Wi-Fi country code.
• Improvements of FlightPlan and RTH behaviors.

 

[Ana789]

So what would you sugest me, stay like this or use fake gps and try higher channels or maybe modded app?

Get this one

Freeflight 6 mod app

@ds2atc When you have the time, would you be able to oblige us with a modified version of the latest release 6.6.6.9 please ?

parrotpilots.com

FF6_6.6.6.9.201_FCC.apk

drive.google.com

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

@Gipsz Jakab Re your question about "other functions", unfortunately he didn't go into detail, I assume he was referencing the release notes for the firmware:

• Battery update now available again.
• Enhanced compatibility with Drone Logbook.
• Improvements of Wi-Fi country code.
• Improvements of FlightPlan and RTH behaviors.

Yet this is the point for me and those who are still using the good old 1.6.3 firmware.
If you just grabbed 1.6.3 and released it as 1.6.8, it’s not worth upgrading. It would be good to find out in detail what the changes are compared to 1.6.3 (I think we can even forget about 1.6.4 and 1.6.5 and 1.6.7 ...)

 

[Chasbro]

I upgraded to 1.6.8 and immediately sent it on the same rigorous flight plan I always do and it performed with flying colors. Most notable was the battery percentage. All I have left is one very high mileage battery and it showed 100% for the first 30 seconds and finished the 12 minute flight with 50% left. I was on the fence but now I'll go ahead and order another battery.

 

[d95gas]

This is all sounding very very positive. @Gipsz Jakab I will go back to Chris and ask if he would mind giving some more in-depth detail on how 1.6.8 differs from 1.6.3, as you say, forget anything that came between the 2.

Its not going to make any difference to us, but it might just give a little extra assurance.

 

[Frontier]

Updated to 1.6.8 yesterday (did not promt me to perform a battery upgrade as I did that on 1.6.5) and flown two batteries doing long (over 20 minute) flights.
No issues at all and - due to the current COVID-19 lockdown in Greece - I've flown from my terrace on a highly condensed WifI area; on CE mode I've managed to go over 500m in distance (had more signal strength but that's the maximum distance you are allowed to fly and this by providing a flight plan to the authorities) and 90m height, without any signs of signal weakness.
My Anafi is the extended version - bought in October 2018 - over 200 flights so far, still going strong.

 

[Gipsz Jakab]

This is all sounding very very positive. @Gipsz Jakab I will go back to Chris and ask if he would mind giving some more in-depth detail on how 1.6.8 differs from 1.6.3, as you say, forget anything that came between the 2.

Its not going to make any difference to us, but it might just give a little extra assurance.

Thanks for asking us. If you are already talking to Parrot, please let them know exactly what has been improved or changed in the release note. Anafi is used not only by lay people, but by most people who are knowledgeable, technical, and understanding. It is a great help to them if they know what has changed, what needs to be monitored and why there has been a change in the drone’s behavior.
Eg: the battery firmware has been updated, but why? what does the battery do differently? If we knew that. then we would also understand that the lurking drones fell due to a failure in energy management.
We are not curious about trade or industry secrets, but what it means, specifically, to improve waypoints. Have stallions been reduced? Or has speed control been improved? or has camera target tracking improved?
At night, what does it mean to improve RTH behavior?
Why is Parrot so tight-lipped? We are adults, talk to us as we should to adults.
Thank you in advance !

 

[ioannis78]

Good Evening! I upgraded ff to 6.6.9 then the drone and then i flew it in my yard at a fixed point at a height of 1.5 m using all batteries up to 30%. (i always test the function of the drone after updates)I had no surprises.i don't now if i will have surprises on a normal flight ?

 

[LivinLarge]

Updated app, firmware and 3 batteries. Did one quick flight. All seems to work well.

 

[Waldo Pepper]

I’m not seeing the new update, clicked on both controller and quad with app connected to Anafi. No sign of update?

Paul

 

[Ana789]

Internet connected?

 

[Ana789]

This is all sounding very very positive. @Gipsz Jakab I will go back to Chris and ask if he would mind giving some more in-depth detail on how 1.6.8 differs from 1.6.3, as you say, forget anything that came between the 2.

Its not going to make any difference to us, but it might just give a little extra assurance.

Could you ask why the Anafi is still "stop and go flying" on flight plans?
Even with this activated:

And point out, that it is reported, that the bebop is be able to "progressivly" fly flight plans?

 

[Fab77400]

I’m not seeing the new update, clicked on both controller and quad with app connected to Anafi. No sign of update?

Paul

Because you certainly have a too old FF6 version, you must upgrade to last one.

 

[MustangPhil]

You should delete FF6 from your phone, re-install it, connect the SkyController first, update the SkyController, the switch on the Anafi, update the Anafi, then the batteries.
That’s what I would try to do...

 

[Ana789]

Have you had GPS on device and Anafi?

 

[d95gas]

Could you ask why the Anafi is still "stop and go flying" on flight plans?
Even with this activated:
View attachment 4031
And point out, that it is reported, that the bebop is be able to "progressivly" fly flight plans?

I have asked the question you posed above, pointed out re BeBop progressive flying, so lets hope we get a positive response.

 

[d95gas]

Thanks for asking us. If you are already talking to Parrot, please let them know exactly what has been improved or changed in the release note. Anafi is used not only by lay people, but by most people who are knowledgeable, technical, and understanding. It is a great help to them if they know what has changed, what needs to be monitored and why there has been a change in the drone’s behavior.
Eg: the battery firmware has been updated, but why? what does the battery do differently? If we knew that. then we would also understand that the lurking drones fell due to a failure in energy management.
We are not curious about trade or industry secrets, but what it means, specifically, to improve waypoints. Have stallions been reduced? Or has speed control been improved? or has camera target tracking improved?
At night, what does it mean to improve RTH behavior?
Why is Parrot so tight-lipped? We are adults, talk to us as we should to adults.
Thank you in advance !

Have put your questions to Chris, we lets see what he comes back with.

 

[Waldo Pepper]

Internet conneced?

Yes, internet connected. Still not seeing an update?

I’m out west California, maybe location?

Paul