I am a novice UAV pilot. Two years ago, I purchased a DJI Mavic Mini UAV to inspect parts of the roof, chimney and gutters of our house that aren't visible from the ground. This was particularly important because squirrels had built nests inside the wood chimney... which was a major fire hazard. After closing off the holes to the chimney and creating alternative food and shelter options for the squirrels, I try to periodically fly around the chimney and gutters to ensure that my little friends haven't chewed through the wood to get back in.
Truthfully, I was looking for a pretty inexpensive UAV because I wouldn't be flying it much. The Mavic Mini aircraft is a pretty typical quadcopter. My Mavic Mini controller consists of an attachment to my Samsung Note9 mobile telephone. The mobile telephone has an Android 10 operating system. There is poor cell tower reception where I am, so we have a mesh network WiFi system in the house.
Starting right from the beginnig with the first Mavic Mini, I had problems pairing the aircraft to the controller. I would charge the three batteries fully (aircraft, controller, mobile telephone). The DJI Fly software would load fine on my mobile phone, I would follow the instructions to prepare the aircraft and controller. The Fly screen would update as I completed each step. Then I got to the "Connect Aircraft" screen. Initially the aircraft would pair to the controller about one out of three times. I have always needed to pair the aircraft for each subsequent flight. After two weeks, the problem continued so I returned the aircraft and controller. The replacement system didn't work any better, and a DJI service rep guessed that sensors in the aircraft were probably defective. So I returned the second system and got my money back. Because the Mavic Mini worked so well when I WAS able to pair the aircraft to the controller, a few months later I purchased a new Mavic Mini, hoping that I had just received a bad model at the time the first ones were manufactured. This time I signed up for the one year DJI Care Refresh program, which replaces defective components during the first year. That non-renewable program expired two months ago and guess what? I can't pair the aircraft to the controller at all. No flying, period.
My question for the group is whether this does sound like a defective aircraft and I simply need to get DJI to fix it, or whether there is some other systemic problem that will never be fixed... like incompatibility with the Samsung phone or the version of the Android operating system I'm running.
I welcome all thoughts. Thanks a lot!
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