My first experience with Parrot Anafi - a complete disaster!

[Eric Elmer]

So I bought Anafi. Compact, light, nice looking, has the featuers I need.

1st problem - after charging my remote it died Just like that. I started googling - you should not charge it through usb 3.0 thats what I found on this forum (thats what I did at first). Guys, if you should not do it - there should a BIG RED STICKER on it saying exactly that. So I did manage to salvage my remote after putting it into standart 5v smratphone charger. It started working.

Ok I installed the app, it asked me if I want to update my drone firmware - ofc I want. Trying to do it - and it hangs. Restaring it and wow it works on a second try. Ok I update it and the remote to a last firmware.

Trying to connect to a drone - noup, doesnt work. Instruction says it should, but it doesnt. Ok, I google again, I try to do hard reset - it works again. For couple of seconds. Than it dies. Drone doesnt have a fcuking connection! Just doesnt! I even launched it briefly and it died - in 2 sec. I had to catch it and to turn upside down, nothing did respond.

So what is my first experience with Parrot drone? Its utterly terrible. Still dont know what to do. How do I fly that thing if it drops connection all the time?

 

[Eric Elmer]

A little update - Wifi connection from drone exist only about 10 seconds after hard reset. Than it dies.

 

[Reconnaissance Squadron]

Try flying it with your phone's WiFi (the range will be short but it should work). I have two Anafis and I NEVER do this, there's no point, but at least you can tell whether the fault is in the drone or the controller.

 

[pmh1nic]

So I bought Anafi. Compact, light, nice looking, has the featuers I need.

1st problem - after charging my remote it died Just like that. I started googling - you should not charge it through usb 3.0 thats what I found on this forum (thats what I did at first). Guys, if you should not do it - there should a BIG RED STICKER on it saying exactly that. So I did manage to salvage my remote after putting it into standart 5v smratphone charger. It started working.

Ok I installed the app, it asked me if I want to update my drone firmware - ofc I want. Trying to do it - and it hangs. Restaring it and wow it works on a second try. Ok I update it and the remote to a last firmware.

Trying to connect to a drone - noup, doesnt work. Instruction says it should, but it doesnt. Ok, I google again, I try to do hard reset - it works again. For couple of seconds. Than it dies. Drone doesnt have a fcuking connection! Just doesnt! I even launched it briefly and it died - in 2 sec. I had to catch it and to turn upside down, nothing did respond.

So what is my first experience with Parrot drone? Its utterly terrible. Still dont know what to do. How do I fly that thing if it drops connection all the time?

Yes, if you can't charge the controller through a computer USB port there should be a huge warning in the user guide and a sticker on the controller regarding this warning. I have conflicting information since the two controllers I had in the beginning went belly up and I was told it was due to a batch of controllers with bad batteries. The third controller I got, which I charged through iPhone charger plugged into a wall outlet, has run flawlessly.

It also took me two tries to update the original firmware but after booting up FF6 and connecting to the Anafi I have flown with no problems.

I connect the phone to the controller using the iPhone charging cable, start the FF6 app, then start the Anafi then wait for the Anafi to boot. I then hit the how to connect text on the FF6 screen, it takes you to the how to connect screen (drawing of connection methods, I go back to the prior screen (do nothing but go back) and in a second or two I get the light showing the drone is connected.

Unfortunately I have no idea why the drone would launch, flying for a couple of seconds and then drop but I'm sure someone will be able to chime in with some advice.

 

[Reconnaissance Squadron]

The big USB socket on the controller is for data to come out of the controller and feed into your phone (or tablet). I don't think it should come to any harm connecting it to a computer, it just won't do what you want it to do. The charging socket is the small USB C socket. There is a tiny LED next to it which is red when charging, green when charged, off when nothing is inserted. The supplied USB A to USB C cable should plug into any USB socket to give power to the controller. You can also use USB C to USB C leads to take power from a higher power charger. If your phone uses USB C you can also use it to connect the phone to the controller. If the phone uses a different socket use the lead that comes with the phone to plug into the big USB socket on the controller. The phone may receive a slow charge from the controller, but you can't put power into the controller through the big USB socket. You can use a power bank to charge either the controller or an Anafi battery in the field, to do this plug the big end of the supplied lead into the power bank and the USB C end into the controller or battery. Once you know it's all second nature: little socket for charging power in, big socket for control data out.

Taking a second attempt to do an update, especially the first one, is fairly normal. If that was the only issue you would have not given it another thought, a mild curse and try again.

 

[Waldo Pepper]

Hello Eric,

Try rebooting your phone, once in a while this happens to my phone. Auctually, just today app wouldn’t connect to drone. After a phone reboot, app quickly connects to drone.

Keep us posted,
Paul

 

[Eric Elmer]

he big USB socket on the controller is for data to come out of the controller and feed into your phone (or tablet). I don't think it should come to any harm connecting it to a computer, it just won't do what you want it to do. The charging socket is the small USB C socket.

Oh I did use the correct one for charging.

Well, after doing a shamanic dance around the drone for a whole yesterday I finally managed to launch the drone! After doing some tests I figured out that WIFI dies only after I connect to Anafi through my phone. So I did couple of uninstalls and phone resets... and IT WORKED. I only did connection and fly tests in my room but so far it was stable. Will go in the field soon for some real tests. I am relieved anyway that my drone is working. Thanks everyone!

 

[Eric Elmer]

One question - does the drone automaticly starts RTH if the connection is lost?

 

[wrsni]

Hi Eric.

Your drone is not just a toy, it is a remarkably sophisticated little bundle of technology and well capable of doing things which people of my age (58) grew up thinking would never be possible.

With respect, it appears that either you have not read the manual at all, or not in enough detail to be prepared for flying, as you are asking things which are pretty basic pieces of information in the said manual. Therefore, in my opinion, you are flirting with disaster every step of the way.

I've read the entire manual about five times, and I still find myself referring back to specific parts of it in detail after every flight such is the scope of what this little marvel of technology is capable of. I find this forum to be valuable also as it can add in 'real world' experience which a manual never can, but I consider the forum as a supplement to the manual, NOT a replacement for it.

Best regards and happy flying.

 

[MrDosa]

I can confirm, my first flight was a underwhelming experience too. First didn't want to connect, then hang on the first update, lost connection a couple of times even when indoors right next to the drone with the controller. However, everything is working fine since then, and i'm over 50+ flights.
Since I know about the modded FF6 application, I'm using that, it gives you more range for longer flights.
I bought a charger from Amazon, this to be exact from Kismaple. It can charge 3 batteries a controller and your phone at the same time, and it comes with a 12V socket adapter for the car, although it charges a bit slower in car than plugged onto the mains supply. I had a bad experience with the first one I bought. A capacitor blew, made some smoke when I was charging the battery, however the battery did not have any damage on it, I replaced it with the same model, and it's working wonderfully. It takes around an hour, maybe a bit longer to charge the batteries up from 10-15% to 100%.

To answer your question about the RTH: if the drone loses connection to the controller, it'll hover for a couple seconds, then if the connection is sill lost, starts to return home. First it goes up to the set minimum altitude for returning to home then heads back to the home point. If you're higher then the minimum, the drone will not descend, but it will keep it's altitude until it reaches the home point.
The only exception from this is when you're doing a Flightplan. I've tested it couple of times. Even when the drone loses connection, it'll execute and finish the plan. If the end of a Flightplan is outside of the controllers range and a connection is still lost, then it'll return home. If the drone has a low battery while the plan is still being executed, the drone will cancel the flight plan, then heads to home.

 

[Reconnaissance Squadron]

I confirm all that MrDosa says, except my 3 battery charger hasn't blown up. It is the best accessory for the Anafi, after lots of batteries.


My car has a "mains socket" in it so I can use the charger with the mains adapter to feed the battery charger at its preferred 15 volt DC input. It can also be fed at 12 volts DC from a cigar lighter socket.

If the signal is lost the drone first waits a few seconds to see if it can re-establish a connection. Then if it can't it starts RTH, which means rising up to the minimum height (if it isn't already that high or higher) and heading directly towards the home position.

Sometimes while it is returning home and the signal is clearly getting through (you can see the distance to the drone falling) it won't reestablish a video feed. It is possible in these circumstances to reboot your phone and even your controller if you are feeling brave. The drone is coming home and should soon be hovering about chest height within a metre or two of where you took off. So you should be able to grab it out of the air even if you can't reestablish a connection. You might want to file this information along with advice on what to do if you come across a bear or how to perform an emergency tracheotomy if the Heimlich manoeuvre fails.

 

[Eric Elmer]

Well the problem is back! Just the same dull sh_it. Bot now nothing helps to resolve it. I did exactly the same procedure - cleaned all app settings, deleted it, restarted the da_mn phone, reinstalled, reseted drone, connected.. and now I am back where I was - the drone loses connection after 5-10 sec and I need to repeat the reset procedure to get it back just to loose it again in 10 sec. That makes me mad actually. What should I do now? Wrote to parrot support in despair.

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

Well the problem is back! Just the same dull sh_it. Bot now nothing helps to resolve it. I did exactly the same procedure - cleaned all app settings, deleted it, restarted the da_mn phone, reinstalled, reseted drone, connected.. and now I am back where I was - the drone loses connection after 5-10 sec and I need to repeat the reset procedure to get it back just to loose it again in 10 sec. That makes me mad actually. What should I do now? Wrote to parrot support in despair.

If you are sure to be in Airplane Mode of your smartphone and therefore NOT to be connected to your drone over your smartphone's Wifi, then you should return your whole package to your dealer.

But if your drone is connected to your smartphone over Wifi (I don't know why.you should do that ..), then check first, whether your smartphone switches back to another known Wifi access point (usually with internet access) after a few seconds and then looses connection to your drone.

 

[Eric Elmer]

phone is in airplane mode I am sure

 

[Reconnaissance Squadron]

phone is in airplane mode I am sure

I solved a problem I was having in my sleep. When I woke I knew the problem was the Bluetooth on my phone. When I turned off Bluetooth the poor control range problem vanished. I used to have Bluetooth off by default, that changed when I set up a Bluetooth connection for my car so it looked like my drone had developed a fault because it complained about a poor signal even when it was right next to me. I suspected I had dislodged an antenna in the drone, but sometime between going to bed and waking up the next morning I worked out the true problem.

Have you got any devices near your controller which are transmitting microwave energy? WiFi and Bluetooth will run the risk of swamping out your receivers if they are very close, and a Bluetooth module in your phone or watch or any other device inches from your controller could be the culprit. Merely switching off WiFi isn't the same as putting the phone in airplane mode, which also switches off Bluetooth.

 

[pmh1nic]

I also remembering reading somewhere that on certain phones turning on airplane mode does not turn off all wifi or bt operation. I have an iPhone, turn off wifi/bt and switch on airplane mode.

 

[StIwY]

I also remembering reading somewhere that on certain phones turning on airplane mode does not turn off all wifi or bt operation. I have an iPhone, turn off wifi/bt and switch on airplane mode.

Yes i confirm, at least with my smartphone. Latest Android 9.0 could search for bluetooth and wifi decived in background, even if they are turned off. You must enter to Google options into your deviced and find the checkbox to turn off this automatic feature.