WKM / Ground Station Poll

[hover.ch]

After using DJI's WKM system and Ground Station-based waypoint flying, I have mixed feelings. There are outstanding things like WKM's stabilization capabilities and much more, but there are also issues here and there.


If I'm going to confront DJI with my personal "feelings" they probably won't care at all. That's the reason for making this poll, to get a more objective impression of the good points and the downsides of DJI's multicopter products.


The results of this poll will be published on multirotorforums, and, if there are enough participants, I will create a consolidated view addressing DJI sales and support.


Thanks for participating:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qDxb8z9dfgI8sZ9QD5l2FuYXnwfSQYLqJPebJLAWXmA/viewform

 

[heli001]

Hover,

You might want to include whether it was purchased through a dealer or direct from DJI. In your case, which was it? In my experiences with them, they have been very helpful and we were able to work through any issues. What part of the World are you in and if you bought through a Dealer/Reseller, what has your experience been with them...?

I certainly doubt that "Confronting" them, will have any impact at all, as this may be part of your issues.....

 

[hover.ch]

Hover,
You might want to include whether it was purchased through a dealer or direct from DJI. In your case, which was it? In my experiences with them, they have been very helpful and we were able to work through any issues. What part of the World are you in and if you bought through a Dealer/Reseller, what has your experience been with them...?

I bought my WKM / Multi-WP at my local hobby store which, itself, bought it from an official European DJI dealer. The dealer only wants to answer my questions for money ("training lessons"), DJI support is very helpful sometimes, but pretty often I don't get any response at all. So what shall I do?

I certainly doubt that "Confronting" them, will have any impact at all, as this may be part of your issues.....

Maybe not a very appropriate wording, I appologize. I definitively don't want to flame DJI - I just want to put my own experience into the right context. I'm pretty happy with WKM, especially with it's excellent "position-hold" capabilities, but rather disappointed with GS and it's manual. If I find out that I'm the only one, it's probably my fault. If many users have the same impression, it might be interesting to tell DJI.

That's the overall idea, not more.

 

[heli001]

It is truly a shame that you bought it from a Dealer and he will not Support you, in getting it to Work. That's a pretty expensive add on, that is collecting dust, at present. I do all of my dealings with DJI here in the States, through the Austin, TX Office and they have been VERY responsive. If you have seen any od the Instructional Videos, Colin Guinn is the CEO there, has been great. I have NO answers for you and your relationship with your Dealer, as some seem to be a bit greedy, like you say. I thought the whole idea of the DJI products was a type of DIY project with their equipment, you should not have to buy training as it should be explained very clearly in the Manuals available online and if something isn't working, the least you should expect is some help from the person that you bought it from. maybe they are too busy to bother....THAT is sad....!

 

[hover.ch]

I agree. The official DJI dealer did help out a couple of times, but now that I've started to use GS, new questions popup. And, as mentioned, DJI tech support is very helpful sometimes (e.g. they remotely installed a new version of GS 4.0.7 on my netbook), but many times I don't get any response whatsoever.

And the English of the GS manual is just pretty bad.
Example: chapter 2, first sentence:
"Joystick/Keyboard is the 2nd permission for users , and Fly Simulation, One Key Takeoff and Joystick/Keyboard functions can be operated."

What do they try to tell me?

 

[PeterLester]

Great idea to poll users of GCS. Experienced users will probably find it does the job and they are ok with it. New users will be struggling and fighting with it for many hours w/o strong dealer support.
I foresee tremendous risk in flying with GCS without a thorough and complete understanding of the software.

 

[PeterLester]

And the English of the GS manual is just pretty bad.
Example: chapter 2, first sentence:
"Joystick/Keyboard is the 2nd permission for users , and Fly Simulation, One Key Takeoff and Joystick/Keyboard functions can be operated."

What do they try to tell me?

Primary control is to select a waypoint to go to by means of the keyboard and graphics. When you are satisfied with the go to point, you can upload the instructions to the MR and it will fly in automatic mode and/or you can tell it to go home and it will do all that and safely land in automatic mode.
Secondary control is 2nd permission which we might call "Manual mode". In this mode you can stop the MR in midflight and take over control of it by means of the joystick or the keyboard controls, i.e., "W,A,S,D" and "the four direction keys"..... but that is kind of a primitive control method compared to a joystick.

 

[PeterLester]

Both the DJI products and the German Mikrokopter products have very significant communication challenges. MikroKopter relies on 3rd parties to attempt to translate to English for them and it remains a struggle. The Chinese DJI people make an effort to speak and write in English but we see there are significant issues both in hte documentation as well as the software English statements.

IMHO: Truth is, both the Germans and the Chinese have taken a strong lead in computers, telecommunicationm, robotics and Multirotors this past 10 years......leaving us far behind.

 

[hover.ch]

If you look at DJI's product specifications on their website, their English looks pretty fine, at least for me (German mother tongue). But for the more technical manuals they leave translations up to the engineers/programmers. However, I'm sure there are quite some engineers at DJI who are able to write better English than the stuff we often see. An area with a good ROI, because tech support would have less to do.

 

[hover.ch]

Don't forget to participate, almost 10 votes so far. Results will be posted soon.

 

[PeterLester]

Good polling questions but I almost missed the link the first time before your reminder posting. In the automation and industrial world software developers hire a technical writer to communicate what the programmer and software intended to the layperson. In this case a good translater could pre-empt the technical writing. In this case, one does not need to be a member of MENSA to understand the GCS manual but it would sure help a lot......

Bottom line is that the WKM controller and the GCS software work which is fundementally important and impressive for the price. Hoping to do a single waypoint mission soon.

 

[hover.ch]

I completely agree. WKM is working pretty well and GS is usable. However, speaking for GS the price tag is really high. DJI could invest $1000 (or donate a GS), they would esily find an English speaking MR pilot who would be able to enhance the readability of their manual/Wiki tremendously. They have official dealers all around the world, why not asking them.

But like sombody else mentioned, it's most probably a cultural issue, DJI does not like the idea of relying on anybody else except their own employees. I begin to doubt that this will ever change.