Strobon Crees on the Mavic Air

Just throwing this out there!.
If you were to mount the Strobon Cree units onto the fold down antennas, with the recommended 3m tape, would this have a detrimental effect on the range/handling/Wi-Fi signal of the Mavic Air, due to the circuitry being very close too the antenna panel?
Where have other people mounted them ?

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This was one suggestion I saw …

I got 1 Cree last week and have attached it to the battery so it can always be seen from underneath. I haven’t managed to get out with it yet to see how it looks. The only thing which may be a minor issue… it raises the back end up and it will actually land on the light itself. In theory I can’t see this being a problem as it doesn’t land too quickly… in practise I will have to wait and see

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Let us now how you get on @Paul_M

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I have put Strobon Cree navigation lights onto my leg extenders for the Mavic Air. They work well and since they are on the extenders there is no modification to the MA itself. Here is a short video clip of my MA looking all sinister and stealthy :joy::joy:

DCD655D7-8877-472E-875C-39962B019CDF.MOV (9.6 MB)

And here is a picture of the attached strobe

J

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uh - where’s my laptop gone? where’s my keyboard? :stuck_out_tongue:

//puts on :dark_sunglasses://

Looking good!!! :+1:

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Haha !!

@OzoneVibe … I know that feeling :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:. Need more coffee

Yeah the strobes are fun

J

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So I tested the Cree attached to the battery of the Mavic Air.

In flight it works great up to around 500 ft away, any further than that and it’s a struggle to see, this being in daylight and not bright sunshine. But in general it certainly helped keep an eye on it and I prefer it with than without.

Only one main issue… Having the Cree attached and turning on the drone gave a straight up compass error and interference warning and it would not re-calibrate with the Cree attached. Start up the drone and get connected to the controller and GPS first then attach the Cree and it worked without a problem. Having the Cree attached to the battery also raises the back end which meant it would actually be landing on the Cree, this caused no problem what so ever and to be honest I forgot all about it doing that.

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Hmmm…

I’d probably be a bit cautious there mate, if it freaked it out that much at start-up, could it freak it out mid-flight?

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I will be testing it further just to make sure but it seemed ok today

That’s strange you couldn’t calibrate with it in position.

With the MP I can add all my strobes and tracker and will get compass error then calibrate it no problem.

Maybe the Air works slightly different, a reduced error threshold or something.

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I took it out this morning, attached the light first, not strobing, then started the Air, got a compass error, took off the light, turned the Air off then on again, all good. Attached the light and turned it on, then went for a a fly around, 200ft above the river and I get a compass error in mid flight. Brought it back down took off the light and threw it in the river… I was tempted to anyway.

No more Cree lights attached to the Air for me.

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That’s what my MP does sometimes with tracker and strobes on and no calibration. It lets me take off and fly straight but as soon as I yaw I get a compass error.

The interference must be within tolerance but when you rotate, the mag heading disagrees with imu heading.

You really need to calibrate with it in position to avoid that but if that’s not possible that’s a bit of a pain.

I’m not that familiar with the Air, but can you not attach it somewhere else Paul?

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Not really. I don’t see the point of it being on top because it’s always going to be above me so that rules that out. The majority of the underside is taken up by the battery which is why I wanted to use it then swap it between batteries when changing. In front of the battery is the gimbal and behind the battery are the downward sensors. The rear legs are too narrow to put on the bottom of them and because of the folding I don’t want the velcro to interfere with that and you can’t fold with the light attached. The battery was the ideal placement.
The only other option may be to get leg extensions and attach to them which ‘might’ work. It’s no big deal to be honest, it would have been a ‘nice to have’ but not necessarily a ‘need to have’


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Having been out last night with the MA, I felt the need for strobes!

Chris, did you ever try the Cree options for extended legs or to the battery?

@jw33679 option seems best bet and thinking of trying that myself

@BrianB,
To be honest, I have yet to use my “Crees” on anything I have !, I have fitted one side of the “3M Dual Lock” to the Mavic Air on the front of the legs, facing forward, and one piece on the left hand back leg. And that’s as far as I have got !.
As yet to power the Air up and see what problems there are !..
I am already thinking of getting some form of mount that goes on the bottom under the battery, but, I want to be able to remove it in such a way that it does not interfere with, or mounts on the battery.
I do wonder if mounting them on the front legs is a good idea ,at all!.
I suspect the electronics may play up with the antenna, which would be right above it.
I still think the lightest type of mount (somewhere on the air) is by a couple of cable ties (got 1,000s of the things) then just cut them off after use !!.
As yet to get any form of extender legs for the Air.

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I know the Air isn’t the same animal - and this solution may not work for the Air.

But I attached the strobes to my MP as in the pics below.

The great thing is I don’t need to take them off at all. They stay there when it’s folded and in it’s case - and I can access the USB charge socket without any problems. There’s minimal air resistance, too, unlike some of the bulkier mounts.

They’ll be staying on there 24/7 through the winter.

Whilst flying above the fog the other morning, they remained visible to … errr … lots of feet! Amazing!

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Well, I have attached them to the Air at the positions in the photos, started the bird, fired up the app, turned on the Crees, and no warning signs on Go4 !.
Took the Air of in the garden and all seems well, in a hover.
I will take it to a distance, when the weather improves, and will keep you posted !.
I do wonder if the back white Cree, could throw the Air off balance a tad

That looks an excellent method, just what I was thinking Dave !

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