cannot connect RC to drone

Michael Ainsworth · Nov 3, 2021

Like the above suggestions say.
Do not fly indoors, go out into the field with no obstacles around. Start the drone and RC then wait for the nice lady to tell you that home point has been recorded.
Usually it’s not necessary to calibrate compass every time. The warning you got may have been due to you being inside near some magnetic interference, if on a table the metal screws underneath will mess with the compass. It doesn’t take much to calibrate any way as the app will show you the steps.

laurencewithau · Nov 3, 2021

PhiliusFoggg said:
It's not expertise, it's practical experience of having made many mistakes/ scares etc.
The M2P can be flown indoors but it needs a delicate touch and the upward looking sensor is a pain in the derrier with my ceiling heights.

I can well imagine that it would be a pain. I'll stick to the open fields for now.. Thanks again for all your help. I feel more confident now about flying the thing, which I expect to be able to do tomorrow, 4th Nov. Cheers, Laurence

laurencewithau · Nov 3, 2021

tlswift58 said:
As you have found - not all YouTube video's are created equal - esp when it come to flying way beyond Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) - an FAA and most other countries requirement. Expecting your drone to fly the distances DJI and a few others say is totally unrealistic when it comes to VLOS. Putting strobes or bright vinyl decals does help increase range to some degree; but when you see people stating they see their drone out 1 mile away - be wary. Of course everyone's eyesight and flying conditions are different. I'd safely say to expect between 100 feet to about 1/4 mile for normal VLOS. Adding strobes - very bright ones - may increase to 1/2 mile. But, it's up to the pilot to decide those factors and conditions.

Watch a few of the videos and take away the good points and discard what may seem as odd or just plain wrong.

The US pilots are required to take an FAA Test called TRUST. Very good basic info and some rules for drone flying. Think the UK / EU has some similar things going on, but the UK pilots can direct you appropriately to that. We in the US are required to carry that "certificate" with us every time we fly the drone; should some law enforcement / etc want to see it.

You'll also want an app like Aloft or B4UFLY (which has a web based version for us with bad eyesight and preplanning a flight) for telling you where restrictions are. There may be a more apropos app for the UK / EU that is more attuned to your countries / continents flying. I also like UAVForecast - simply as a weather app to help determine a "fly" or "no fly" weather day. Esp with winds, you have to keenly aware of wind speeds at altitude and which direction in comparison to being upwind or downwind from your homepoint. Many posts / comments on lost drones due to not paying attention to that one item and battery dying before it got back home.

Search function is great on this forum for all things drones, so use it to better your skills / knowledge.

Hi tlswift58. Thanks very much for all the info and advice. I've learnt more from this thread than from the manuals, mainly because I get answers to specific questions and with further useful info thrown in. Yes, there are restrictions on drones in the UK, including Wales, where I live. But for the moment I'll just fly the drone in the quiet open area I mentioned, and when I'm more used to it I'll apply for my pilot's and owner's licence. I've set the drone to beginner mode, which means it can't go out of range, not even with my poor eyesight. I'd like to get lighting for the drone to make it show up better. Or even a sound system so it can blast out its position if I press a button. Joke. Anyway, thanks again. I'll report back after my first flight. Cheers, Laurence

Deleted member 103366 · Nov 3, 2021

laurencewithau said:
and when I'm more used to it I'll apply for my pilot's and owner's licence

NO!

that is if you are talking about the CAA operator ID etc., you NEED THAT BEFORE YOU FLY

laurencewithau · Nov 3, 2021

Michael Ainsworth said:
Like the above suggestions say.
Do not fly indoors, go out into the field with no obstacles around. Start the drone and RC then wait for the nice lady to tell you that home point has been recorded.
Usually it’s not necessary to calibrate compass every time. The warning you got may have been due to you being inside near some magnetic interference, if on a table the metal screws underneath will mess with the compass. It doesn’t take much to calibrate any way as the app will show you the steps.

Hi . Thanks very much for your reply. Yes, I took the drone outside and calibrated the compass, which got rid of the problem. As you said, it was easy to do, and I shouldn't need to do it every time. Thanks again. Cheers, Laurence