Lost Drone Recovery & Precautions

DroneForceOne · Apr 17, 2017

Hi everyone,

Just received my MP today. Didn't flew it yet, but smth came to my mind: Do you guys place any tag, with name, phone, e-mail, or do anything that may help finding a lost drone?

Just guessing if it is stupid to put my name and phone on it...

or maybe if there is any way to help finding in case of a flyaway

Flawless · Apr 17, 2017

You should definitely include some method of contacting you, preferably inside the battery compartment on a sticker.

Kilrah · Apr 17, 2017

Some people mount GPS trackers.

Phone / contact details... some countries legally require it, and I'd think in some others you certainly wouldn't want that on there depending on where it ends up for your own safety. IMO some places in Brazil would be an example of the latter, but no idea about your location...

DroneForceOne · Apr 17, 2017

Kilrah said:
Some people mount GPS trackers.

Phone / contact details... some countries legally require it, and I'd think in some others you certainly wouldn't want that on there depending on where it ends up for your own safety. IMO some places in Brazil would be an example of the latter, but no idea about your location...

Thinking about in sticking my name and phone only, noth more. No big issue here. Worst scenario some1 would blackmail you to have it back, but thats a risk. I will be always expectating people like the Mavic Mountain heroes.

Robbyg · Apr 17, 2017

DroneForceOne said:
Thinking about in sticking my name and phone only, noth more. No big issue here. Worst scenario some1 would blackmail you to have it back, but thats a risk. I will be always expectating people like the Mavic Mountain heroes.

No I think what Kilrah was saying is that in some countries the worst case scenario is that they come to your house to end you.

Rob

DroneForceOne · Apr 17, 2017

Robbyg said:
No I think what Kilrah was saying is that in some countries the worst case scenario is that they come to your house to end you.

Rob

Ouch, thats true. I dont plan to fly in such place... Safe nbhood here

Lapeer20m · Apr 17, 2017

i added some vinyl letters that are nearly the same color as the mavic, but quite obvious to anyone inspecting the crashed drone.

MavicMagic · Apr 17, 2017

Lapeer20m said:
i added some vinyl letters that are nearly the same color as the mavic, but quite obvious to anyone inspecting the crashed drone.

View attachment 10935 View attachment 10936

I like it! Looks good!

DroneForceOne · Apr 18, 2017

Lapeer20m said:
i added some vinyl letters that are nearly the same color as the mavic, but quite obvious to anyone inspecting the crashed drone.

View attachment 10935 View attachment 10936

Dude, this was awesome. Ill look for smth like this here. I just used a domestic tag printer, lets say that its not that beauty.

ryo · Apr 18, 2017

Well, in any case you have the position where the quad landed/crashed, and for this reason i think there is no need of phone number:
- if the person that find the quad is honest, would wait owner to appear to recover it
- if the person that find the quad is NOT honest, you can stick all the data you want but he will keep the quad and disappear.

Khophace · Apr 18, 2017

ryo said:
Well, in any case you have the position where the quad landed/crashed, and for this reason i think there is no need of phone number:
- if the person that find the quad is honest, would wait owner to appear to recover it
- if the person that find the quad is NOT honest, you can stick all the data you want but he will keep the quad and disappear.

If you were to lose it and not be able to find it, someone else could possibly stumble upon it and give you a call days/weeks later. Definitely worth putting your number on it somewhere IMO. If it goes down with no contact info, then you're 100% on your own at that point. Some info at least gives you some glimmer of hope. More good people out there than bad, I'll take my chances.

ryo · Apr 18, 2017

Khophace said:
If you were to lose it and not be able to find it, someone else could possibly stumble upon it and give you a call days/weeks later. Definitely worth putting your number on it somewhere IMO. If it goes down with no contact info, then you're 100% on your own at that point. Some info at least gives you some glimmer of hope. More good people out there than bad, I'll take my chances.

No harm putting a phone number on it, but still think that the onboard gps is a quite reliable way to spot it.

JLane · Apr 18, 2017

I printed a lable with findmydrone.info on it. I think this (or any similar service) is a pretty good compromise. I also don't like the idea of putting my phone number directly on the Mavic, but a website like that should provide a conduit for putting owners and finders in touch.

I also have a Trackimo mounted, which I bought a couple months after I stuck the label on.

DroneForceOne · Apr 18, 2017

JLane said:
I printed a lable with findmydrone.info on it. I think this (or any similar service) is a pretty good compromise. I also don't like the idea of putting my phone number directly on the Mavic, but a website like that should provide a conduit for putting owners and finders in touch.

I also have a Trackimo mounted, which I bought a couple months after I stuck the label on.

How does the Trackimo works? Its a regular GPS Tracker?

JLane · Apr 18, 2017

DroneForceOne said:
How does the Trackimo works? Its a regular GPS Tracker?

GPS tracker with a SIM card so it can send data via 3G. Only useful if you're flying in areas with decent cell coverage.

_milo_ · Apr 18, 2017

+1 I don't know, I'd rather not have a phone # on it as well.

onelobos · Dec 27, 2017

My phone died due to cold, the app shut down, and the drone just took off on it's own. Isnt' it supposed to immediately fly home when there is a problem? We set the gps. It's also 28 degrees outside, so I'm sure the battery in the drone died to. Tried using the find my drone function in the app, and it doesn't show the red arrow indicating the drone, only me at home with the app.

Youser · Dec 27, 2017

onelobos said:
My phone died due to cold, the app shut down, and the drone just took off on it's own. Isnt' it supposed to immediately fly home when there is a problem? We set the gps. It's also 28 degrees outside, so I'm sure the battery in the drone died to. Tried using the find my drone function in the app, and it doesn't show the red arrow indicating the drone, only me at home with the app.

Was the home point set properly?