RTH minimum altitude

[Pinksster]

I plan to do my first few flights in my yard. Lots of trees overhead with very few holes so I intend to stay very low.
- Do I really need to get 10m up for Home to be characterized by the Mavic?
- What's the minimum RTH altitude I can set?

 

[msinger]

Do I really need to get 10m up for Home to be characterized by the Mavic?

If you're referring to marking the home point, that occurs when the motors start.

What's the minimum RTH altitude I can set?

20m. The default setting is 30m if you don't set it.

 

[Logger]

I plan to do my first few flights in my yard. Lots of trees overhead with very few holes so I intend to stay very low.
- Do I really need to get 10m up for Home to be characterized by the Mavic?

No the 10m requirement is simply for it to be able to record a precision autloand point where it lands within in a few inches. If you don't do the initial 10m vertical climb (without lateral movement btw) it will still RTH fine, but will only land within a a few feet of take off point.

- What's the minimum RTH altitude I can set?

20m actually.

 

[Bobaloo]

You can't have it show it to you in feet?

 

[msinger]

No. It's always set in meters.

 

[Pinksster]

RTH can be disabled, correct?

 

[msinger]

RTH can be disabled, correct?

Disabled in what way?

 

[WhoDat]

The RTH feature sure has saved my butt a couple times, with my P3S. It's really easy to cancel the RTH action, but I'd personally feel very uncomfortable flying without it.

I don't believe you need to worry about the characterization of home, as that gets tagged on takeoff. But as for your issue of there being few vertical holes in the tree cover, you may want to find one and use it as home.

But again, you'll be notified prior to RTH taking over, and you'll get the chance to cancel it at any time. Last week I inexplicably lost all common with my P3S... no video, controls, nada. And this wasn't too far off, only ~1,200ft away. It was sooo comforting to hear those props flying overhead, after a minute or two of suspense. RTH, don't leave "Home" without it.

RTH can be disabled, correct?

 

[Pinksster]

Thanks WhoDat.
Being totally new to this gig and not yet having one; I have visions of my accidently hitting RTH or it automatically kicking in and off my new baby goes zooming up into the tree tops. And heaven forbid, get tangled up and not fall back to earth.

 

[WhoDat]

I'm currently flying the Phantom Pro Standard, which doesn't have collision avoidance, like the magic. So, I'm sure the Mavic would be a lot better at avoiding trees at low altitude.

Still, I plan on continuing to take off in spots with vertical clearance. I've had RTH get me out of jams a couple times, and it works great. I set my height to 30m, which is well above all our trees. It just climbs above them and shoots back down to within a couple feet of where it took off.

And you have plenty of chances to cancel RTH. It warns you about 20 seconds before implementing, and you can cancel it at any time. Try it out a time or two, when you first get your Mavic, to familiarize yourself with it.

Thanks WhoDat.
Being totally new to this gig and not yet having one; I have visions of my accidently hitting RTH or it automatically kicking in and off my new baby goes zooming up into the tree tops. And heaven forbid, get tangled up and not fall back to earth.

 

[4wd]

It sounds like an entirely unsuitable place for first flight in any case.
As soon as you start turning - and left is right and right is left - it can be all too easy to bump something when you don't have loads of space

 

[Pinksster]

U may be right on that, but so convenient. Very big yard but obstacles galore above about 10 ft. Easy to go vertical on takeoff but RTH away from Home at low alt would most certainly get ugly.


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[Pinksster]

Hoped to start off in Tripod mode but RTH still bad n can't use Course Lock to help w L/R b R/L confusion. Appreciate the thoughts!


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[Daniel Yee]

I set my RTH to max altitude (500m?). This is to ensure I clear most of the obstacles when my drone is forced to fly home. However I don't find myself using RTH often... when all is good I will maneuver my drone back to me with reference to the mini map

 

[Logger]

I set my RTH to max altitude (500m?).

Very bad idea unless you are located in the middle of nowhere with no air traffic.

120m/400' would be a maximum RTH to keep your Mavic away from air traffic that is not on an approach path.

Would seem you are only considering obstacle clearance and your investment and have not considered safety here. Is there really any terrain or obstacles 500m higher than you, within 3 miles of where you fly? Because effectively that is all the Mavics out and back range is most of the time. Please think carefully about setting RTH above 120m.

 

[4wd]

500m is a very long way to climb and descend, usually 100m is more than generous.
The default 20m is a bit low, I'm surprised they don't make it 50m
It is one feature everyone should check - and note it often gets reset to default by firmware updates.

 

[Kilrah]

I set my RTH to max altitude (500m?). This is to ensure I clear most of the obstacles when my drone is forced to fly home.

500m RTH will ensure your bird doesn't bet back to you if you have an undesired RTH with your battery a little low.

It's a LONG time to go up and especially descend again. You should adjust it to the situation, there is no "always good" value.

 

[Logger]

By saying the battery might not be good for an RTH to 500m, or it will take an unnecessarily long time to climb up and descend shows you are missing the point. Just think about it for minute and consider who else might be using the airspace up to 1,500 feet above wherever you fly your drone. Ask yourself the question, Can I legally and safely fly my drone there? If you can tick these boxes then fine, I will take the following back:

Everyone's circumstances will be different, so there are occasions, when RTH higher than 120m can make sense & I understand this. But for the vast majority of us, the primary consideration for establishing an RTH should be Safety. Step one should be: How high can I safely and legally fly the aircraft in this airspace? If you do not know the answer to this, well you should perhaps give it some consideration, instead of worrying about battery life. 120m will usually be close to the answer in most Jurisdictions. Once this is established, any RTH at or below this height that avoids obstacles will prevent a collision, allow your drone to get home while keeping you SAFE from causing an accident and legal to boot . It is actually a pretty simple process to use the Mavic to do a survey and establish the height of obstacles in the area in which you fly too.
Setting RTH 500m is a fairly good indication that you have NFI what you are doing..

 

[leesmavic]

Why not set it to hover instead of rth in case of trouble when you are flying in your yard. I'd call the whole yard a home in this case - you can walk up to your drone there if something goes wrong.

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[Pinksster]

Hover instead of rth. Does that mean hit Flight Pause when rth warning displays?