Lost Mavic Help!! I am terrified!

[Robbyg]

Have you had a chance to look in any of the areas @Robbyg, @msinger, or myself suggested. We all came up with different locations to search that may help to reunite you with your Mavic. Have you had any luck?

Cypepower, I was thinking that FlynFrank was being hard on the guy, but this kind of response from bvogel just sucks the wind out of my sails. He comes in begging at 1:30 AM for help and people stay up until 2:30 am trying to figure out stuff for him. I sure as hell know that if someone gave me map coordinates at 2:30 in the morning that I would be out driving at 2:31 looking around the area hoping to get a signal lock and GPS coordinates before the battery died. He only had to go about 1/2 a mile from where he lives to confirm if the drone was in the area. I fully understand waiting until Dawn to retrieve it, but restablishing a signal and getting exact coordinates could have been done from his car.

Rob

 

[NDfan131]

Still thing ping will be better and smaller with longer battery life

I'm cautiously optimistic. Enough so that I placed a pre-order for one. Having invested in other Indiegogo and Kickstarter projects, I've seen some turn out great/as described and others completely implode. Hope Ping turns out as described or better.

 

[Rnl]

Let's hope have more than 1 use for it

 

[Cyberpower678]

Cypepower, I was thinking that FlynFrank was being hard on the guy, but this kind of response from bvogel just sucks the wind out of my sails. He comes in begging at 1:30 AM for help and people stay up until 2:30 am trying to figure out stuff for him. I sure as **** know that if someone gave me map coordinates at 2:30 in the morning that I would be out driving at 2:31 looking around the area hoping to get a signal lock and GPS coordinates before the battery died. He only had to go about 1/2 a mile from where he lives to confirm if the drone was in the area. I fully understand waiting until Dawn to retrieve it, but restablishing a signal and getting exact coordinates could have been done from his car.

Rob

Likewise. It does feel like wasted effort on my part. I stayed up later crunching numbers for this guy.

 

[Derodeo]

Yesterday I ordered the Trackimo believing the 2nd year of SIM would be $5.00. Not $5.00 / month. That starts to be ridiculous. I'm not sure if there are data plans here that are "pay as you go" - that could be useful - and that would work in the Trackimo.

So cancelled the Trackimo.

The MarPo is less attractive in one sense (does not report position but direction to the asset) so it's not going to be any fun to see what my cat is really up to on long summer nights ...

Another user points out the RX-D16 (whatever). User comments online are not especially warm towards it (setup issues, does not report when triggered until triggered 2 or more times) - and again I'd have to be sure to be able to get the right sort of data plan here. (Canadian cell co's are not nearly as competitive as in the US).

Anyway sitting this out until the drone MarPo is available easily in Canada (the pet version is - maybe I just need to re-package the asset transceiver).

As I understand it there isn't a separate "pet" version of the Marco Polo. There is, however, a new "advanced" version MARCOPOLO Advanced Pet Monitoring, Tracking and Locating System (For Dogs and Cats 5 lb and Larger): Amazon.ca: Pet Supplies . I'm not clear on what advantages it has over the old version but it's new enough that it doesn't appear to be available in Canada yet.

I intend to get a tracker for my Mavic Pro once I feel confident enough flying it to be adventuresome. Last thing I want is for a GPS based tracker to potentially interfere with the drone so I'm leaning towards the Marco Polo despite the high cost.

 

[HFMan]

One word, I use this on ALL my aircraft: TBeacon. I build them myself for less than $20, tested range so far in hilly urban environment of 9 miles.

Welcome | tBeacon

 

[Pedro]

Likewise. It does feel like wasted effort on my part. I stayed up later crunching numbers for this guy.

You need to get over yourself, jeez.. For all you know he could have been out there looking, you have no idea what his circumstances are. If you're on here only offering 'advice' on your terms expecting immediate gratification, don't bother..

 

[Cyberpower678]

You need to get over yourself, jeez.. For all you know he could have been out there looking, you have no idea what his circumstances are. If you're on here only offering 'advice' on your terms expecting immediate gratification, don't bother..

I'm not expecting immediate gratification. I offered advice after analyzing the data after a plea for help. If he's not going to use it, it does kind of feel like I wasted my time. Like you said, maybe he did search the areas I suggested, and didn't mention it. But I'm not going to comment on this further, as I fear I will look more like an ***, if I continue this. I will always offer advice to those that ask for it, without expecting gratitude.

 

[rbhamilton]

I was a lifeguard when I was a kid. I pulled more than 30 kids out of the pool before I stopped counting. One baby was swirling around the hot-tub while mommy had her back turned chatting with friends. I pulled the baby out of the water, drained him, walked around the pool and handed him back to mommy. She looked at the baby, turned back to where she had left baby, screamed at me then ran out of the building.

Never got a single thank-you. Not even once.

People in stressful situations are 100% self absorbed. What you did for them and how you feel would rank about minus 78 on a scale of 1 to 10 in importance.

That was an excellent early life lesson. Do things you like doing. Help people if it makes you feel good. Don't do anything with the expectation of praise or thanks. Generally not going to happen. On those rare occasions when it does, that's an added bonus.

 

[cobra46]

One word, I use this on ALL my aircraft: TBeacon. I build them myself for less than $20, tested range so far in hilly urban environment of 9 miles.

Welcome | tBeacon

On first glance, that looks amazing.

The Baofeng radio shown in the video is available online for about $23 from China. They are often sold for much more from companies like Rugged.

Here in the US a license is required to transmit using that radio. Many companies erroneously will tell you otherwise.

So $20 for the device and $23 for the radio. $46 for a drone locating solution that requires no recurring cost and only weighs a few grams sounds too good to be true but I will certainly check it out.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[WIMMPYIII]

One word, I use this on ALL my aircraft: TBeacon. I build them myself for less than $20, tested range so far in hilly urban environment of 9 miles.

Welcome | tBeacon

How do you power it on the mavic?

 

[integlikewhoa]

One word, I use this on ALL my aircraft: TBeacon. I build them myself for less than $20, tested range so far in hilly urban environment of 9 miles.

Welcome | tBeacon

Another thread started on this would be awesome. I have a lot of questions but don't want to get to far off topic in this thread.

 

[HFMan]

There are several models of the TBeacon. The Green and Amber model have a very small built in LiPo battery. I use the Blue model, and power it with a 140mah battery. You only need to power it from the craft if you want to charge it while flying... but no need to do this as it will last several days or even weeks.

 

[integlikewhoa]

There are several models of the TBeacon. The Green and Amber model have a very small built in LiPo battery. I use the Blue model, and power it with a 140mah battery. You only need to power it from the craft if you want to charge it while flying... but no need to do this as it will last several days or even weeks.

How are you getting gps signal from the mavic? or are you using external gps reciever?

 

[mlaczek]

Hey guys, spent all day looking for the Mavic, it was a frustrating unsuccessful day. I started by going back to the point where it had the last coordinates connected. Then I went to the area @msinger suggested covering the perimeter he drew. The trees and shrubs are very dense and make walking freely near impossible so there were certain parts I was not able to access. After that I went to the point where it could have landed assuming it went in the straight direction it was heading. I left my phone # to people living nearby asking them for help. Tomorrow I will go out there and look again, following the route assuming it tried to return home, although I find it unlikely. It is very unusual how this happened, tomorrow I plan to call DJI and see what input I can get from them. Going forward I plan on purchasing a GPS tracker, thanks for that tip! having this uncertainty sucks!

I want to thank this community for your quick responses & help, all the knowledge, experience and insights shared in such a short time perhaps might not have worked this time, but will serve to make me a more aware, experienced and resourceful pilot, as I do not plan to quit using drones any time soon. I will keep you guys posted if anything worth sharing comes up.

i wish you the best and good luck pal!!!

 

[mavic6611]

I'd also be careful showing flight log to dji as you was around 1000+ ft.
Hopefully you'll find your drone mate. It's terrible that has happened to you

 

[LawFlyer]

People in stressful situations are 100% self absorbed. What you did for them and how you feel would rank about minus 78 on a scale of 1 to 10 in importance.
...
That was an excellent early life lesson. Do things you like doing. Help people if it makes you feel good. Don't do anything with the expectation of praise or thanks.

WOW, I know this will sound sarcastic (it's absolutely not), but this is literally one of the most intelligent and accurate comments I have ever seen in any forum....EVER.

Here's why I know -- because I am a lawyer, and in the last 17+ years of practicing law, I have helped a lot of people during the most stressful times of their lives (you think losing a $1k drone is bad, how about losing custody of your kids, or losing your house cars, and everything else you own?)

Trust me -- I have seen lots and lots of people dealing with extremely stressful circumstances. And it's usually not pretty.

To be sure -- I am well-paid for my work, and I know being paid is a form of thanks. But then again, I have always been shocked by how little appreciation I receive from clients after their case is over, especially given that I charge way less than most lawyers, and I always go above and beyond, spending lots of time that the client isn't billed for.

In fact, in the last 17 years, I think the only meaningful "thank you" I ever received was from a client who happened to have the SMALLEST case I ever handled -- a simple dispute over a final paycheck in the amount of $600. I was given the case by a boss at a law firm where I worked and had only a few hours to prepare for the trial. In the end, we not only won the full $600, but the court also made the other side pay my client's attorney's fees. The client cried when I told her what happened.

A few days later, the client sent me an engraved clock (the sort of inexpensive thing you'd get at the mall from "Things Remembered"). She included a hand-written card with a very short expression of gratitude (the client barely spoke English).

It was one of the nicest things any client has ever done for me....and in 17 years, I have only received this sort of appreciation maybe TWICE.

 

[Robbyg]

You need to get over yourself, jeez.. For all you know he could have been out there looking, you have no idea what his circumstances are. If you're on here only offering 'advice' on your terms expecting immediate gratification, don't bother..

You need to understand something. This was not 6pm in the evening, this was 1am in the morning, so yes it is a big deal.

Just like Cyberpower I was getting ready to go to my bed when I saw his post pop up. I stayed up until 3:30am just to see if I could help this guy get back his drone. No one except the two of us was up busy looking at logs, punching numbers into calculators and viewing terrain in Google Earth.
You talk about "wanting Instant Gratification". It's been a week and the guy has come back once to say he searched a single location.

What this does is just make life harder for the next guy that comes along saying I have an emergency and need help right away.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Guys just to say, lots of us here appreciate your expertise even if we haven't needed it yet ourselves - I for one would be sure to do everything possible to use any help I was given if I got in this sort of situation with my mavic.

 

[mlaczek]

enybody know, bvogel found the drone, or not?