Shiny new Air 3 arrived this morning. Batteries on charge as this may be the only opportunity I get to fly it this week before the weather closes in and I’m away all next week.
Fly More Combo comes with a controller, which I already have for my M4Pro and I was just wondering what other people with a similar ‘fleet’ have done. Have you bound both drones to one controller on the basis that you can only use one at a time - or do you use a ‘dedicated’ controller for each one, so you know it’s with the drone and set up the way you like…?
With my Air2 and Mini2 I use dedicated controllers, as they can only bind to one drone at a time. Not sure if later ones allow multiple drones to be bound
Pretty sure mine is currently bound to two M4Pros because I haven’t removed the one I crashed yet, but I could be wrong.
I’m inclined to keep the separate, but I can see some benefits of always being sure I have the right one with me! I guess if I don’t, I can bind the other drone to it pretty quickly.
DJI either don’t understand the concept of one controller for multiple drones, or just like being bloody awkward. I very recently purchased an Avata with the silly joystick thing, and I also have a Mini4Pro. I also have a spare FPV2 controller that’s been gathering dust for the last year or so. I can bind the FPV2 to both my FPV drone and the Avata. I can also bind my Goggles2 and Goggles V2 to the Avata and FPV Drone, both directly and in Broadcast mode.
I can also bind the Goggles2 and silly joystick to my Mini4Pro but I can’t bind my RC2 or FPV2 to the Goggles2 when using the Mini4pro.
Binding multiple models to one controller has been a thing for many years in the RC community. More recently we can now bind multiple radio protocols to one controller. One would think that DJI may have cottoned on to the fact with their extensive product catalogue they would by now have a controller that supports all of their current products.
I think binding the controller to new M4P will have effectively un-bound it from the crashed drone.
DJI’s logic hasn’t changed since my original MP, and the spare MP + controller that I bought last year, and changing which MP one of the controllers is bound to means it’s bound only to that one, and would need to be re-bound to other one to use it.
To me, it doesn’t seem beyond the wit of man to design a controller rhat says “I know about two drones. I can only detecct one of them, so I’ll assume I’m working with that one - but maybe I’ll check, just in case” or “I know about two drones. I’ve detected both of them, so I’ll check which one I’m supposed to be controlling and then ignore the other one until I’m told differently”
The Goggles 2 can do this. I bound them to my Mini4Pro for a giggles, then when I wanted to use them with my Avata again I just selected the “Switch” option in the goggle menu and voila, instantly connected to the Avata without having to go through the bind process.
Mavic2Pro can be operated by 2 controllers - primary and secondary - because the software is GO4 not FLY. I use this setup when live streaming to large screens. A smart controller with HDMI out sits plugged into the production desk and I use a second controller to control the drone. Would love to be able to do this with the MINIs but FLY doesn’t allow a second controller and the lag live streaming via mobile connections is too great for live events.
Since I got the 2nd controller for mine, I’ve never thought about this with one of my MPs … but I’m sure I recall it being possible.
Added to the list of things to do.
I still consider my fleet of Phantom 1’s to be still relevant. And I express umbridge when someone considers my MultiWii based quadcopter as “Vintage”, mainly by those snotty KK2 owners.
The best way I have found to do this this is to use a Microsoft 4k Wireless Display Adapter. This has an HDMI output so it’s very versatile. In my case I use it with an old 7in Flysight monitor The adapter has a USB plug for 5v power in so I take a 12v supply from the monitor to a 12-5v unit. Then on whatever you are using to fly the drone you connect to the MS adapter through its WiFi and it mirrors whatever is on your screen. In my case with an Android phone I hit Smart View and it picks up the MS signal straight away.
Big advantage is that there is no discernible lag so I can give the monitor to a client if required and they can see in real time what is happening and there is no interconnecting wiring to the controller.
The disadvantage is that it won’t work with the with RC1 and RC 2 as I can’t find a way to share or cast from them so you have to fly with the standard controller and a phone or tablet.
It is not about the Smart Controller it’s about which version of Occusync being used buy your Drone Model.
The DJI Smart Controller is quite an old model now, but it was considered very advanced back in 2019. In the early days and up to the DJi Air2S and Mini 3 Pro the Original Mk 1 Smart Controller could be bound to 8 Drones in Total.
You just scrolled along the screen selected your Drone and it worked seamlessly. You could bind the smart controller to Multiple Drones. It would automatically boot up to the last drone model you had used. It also supported 3rd Party Apps such as Litchi for Waypoint Flight Planning. So at the time I just carried the 1 Smart Controller for 3 drones. With a fully charged RC N 1 as backup.
See List Below:
The DJI RC smart controller is compatible with:
DJI Mini 3 Pro
DJI Mini 3
DJI Mavic 3 Pro
DJI Mavic 3 Pro Cine
DJI Mavic 3
DJI Mavic 3 Classic
DJI Mavic 3 Cine
DJI Air 2S
The DJI RC controller was launched with the DJI Mini 3 Pro in May 2022 and is compatible with:
Mini 3 Pro
Mini 3
Mini 3 SE
Mavic Air 2
Air 2S
Mavic 3
Mavic 3 Classic
Mavic 3 Cine
Mavic 3 Pro
All Occusync 3 or 3+
The DJI RC 2, as the name implies, is the follow-up to the original DJI RC. It was released along with the DJI Air 3, making it one of the more recent remote controllers launched by DJI.
Compatible with: Air 3, Mini 4 Pro +
Both Occusync 4
Finally the Dji RC Pro
Compatible with:
Mini 3 Pro
Air 2S
Mavic 3 Classic
Mavic 3 Cine
Mavic 3 Pro Cine
All Occusync 3 or 3+
Hope that helps as a number of the comments suggest that DJi deliberately don’t allow multiple Drones to be used with 1 Smart Controller. The evidence I have shared is not the case. It’s all about the video transmission or in DJi speak. The Occusync Version.
Regards
Nigel G
