bought a drone

[BrokenolMarine]

Thanks for the feedback. If I plunked down the cash for a drone, guess I'd cough up the cash for the tablet. LOL.

[Ernie]

My controller has its own screen which is very sharp and clear so I avoid the extra phone connection. Just ordered a SD card reader for the I phone or computer and I also had to purchase a 30 watt charger. I purchased service or replacement coverage through Best Buy where I purchased the drone. DJI care refresh charges $249 for replacement of my mini 4 pro. Still reading the 117 page manual and it's raining so I can't fly it anyway.

[Ernie]

I want one I can send to the store for a gallon of milk.

All mine could do is take a picture of some milk. You would want something a. little bigger.

[Ernie]

Took it up this afternoon for about 15 minutes up to 70 feet and cruised down the street and then over to the river. What a view. Thought I was getting video but once down I see I had shut it off. Will try tomorrow. It will take some getting used to being small it when I look at the screen on the controller then back to the sky I can't find the drone so I orient by the screen to return. Kind of spooky but I will get more comfortable with it with use. I need to figure out how to activate the GPS screen, back to the manual.

[Mags]

... I need to figure out how to activate the GPS screen, back to the manual.

Lower left corner, looks like to google map. Tap on that twice. The first tap enlarges the map. The second tap switches it to a radar like screen.
[Update: That brings up the compass and I thought I remembered seeing GPS coordinates there. Not so. "Find My Drone" shows GPS coordinates]

[Ernie]

Thanks Mags, I will try it tomorrow.

[daytime dave]

I'm glad you are enjoying the drone. I enjoy hearing about your learning process.

I attended a class to prep you for obtaining an FAA drone license a few years ago. I learned a lot about what was required then.
Do you even need a license now?

[Ernie]

As a recreational user with a drone over 250 grams I just need to register it with the FAA. Cost $5 for 3 years. Was also required to pass a certification test online that you can't fail. Shows a couple of paragraphs then 4-7 multiple choice questions then more information etc for a total of 27 questions. Instructions said if you get one wrong the relevant information will be shown highlighted and you answer the question again until you get it correct. It was very basic and I did not have to repeat any questions.

If you are using a drone for any commercial use then the process is different but I don't know any specifics.

Put SID card in controller then used WiFi to open a map and scrolled it to where I am flying. Turned off WiFi and shut down the controller. When I turn it back on and tapped on the map in the corner the map expanded and showed my drone at Home (takeoff area) and the direction it was pointing relative to North. When I took off the drones position on the map was an arrow icon pointed in the direction of travel and a line indicating where it had gone and another line between the drone and Home which would be how it would travel to automatically return if told to or if battery reached 3 minute remaining level. That map makes things much more comfortable for me
Thanks Mags!!

[Mags]

I had little mishap a couple of days ago. I just gotten the Samsung Tab A6 Lite and had USB cable connected it to the remote controller. When I bought up the Fly App, it wouldn't connect to the remote. It keep wanting to go into Quick Transfer mode (download pictures from the drone, bypassing the remote). I spent a good part of the evening going through tablet and Fly App setting to figure out why. I even disconnected and reconnected the USB cable from the tablet (at the tablet) a few times trying to trigger the tablet into recognizing the remote. No luck with that. I finally opened the User Manual and found out that Quick Transfer is the default mode in the Fly App when it can't connect to the remote. OK. So maybe I have a new but bad USB cable. I tried the shorter version of the USB cable I had and wha-la, the tablet and remote connected. I then retried the longer cable. It also now worked. SO what was the problem originally? The USB connector in the back of the remote is awkward to get to. I figure I had the USB cable plugged in askew not really connecting. It would have been nice if the Fly App had popped up a message saying "no remote found, check both ends of the USB connection" instead of just going into Quick Transfer mode.

[Mags]

As a recreational user with a drone over 250 grams I just need to register it with the FAA. ...

... That map makes things much more comfortable for me
Thanks Mags!!

You're welcome!

Not that it matter now, but there is a Mini-4 bundle with lighter batteries that weigh in with the drone at under 249 grams. My mini-3 weighed 247 grams with those batteries. I had enough head room on weight to add dust/moisture resistant hubs to the top of the motor stubs. With the hubs I'm right at 249 grams.