Do you just wait for Home Point to register?

[Buel]

Hi all.

I took off and flew today and after about 15-20 seconds, it told me that the home point had been updated and when I tested this with RTH, it flew back to where the drone was at that point I mentioned (above a lake!!). Does the home point just register at a certain point, ie - should I just hover where I took off until it classes that as the home point?

 

[slup]

The HP will be recorded when the navhealth goes to 4 of 5 (usually happens when 8-10 satellite are locked), if you take off before this happens the HP will be recorded in some unknown location along the flight path as soon as the navhealth reaches 4 & not in the location from where it took off... this can later turn out to be disastrous if you lose the connection & the failsafe RTH is triggered.

Preferably you wait for the lady voice to announce that the HP has been recorded, then you check on the map that it's in the correct spot ... only then you get airborne. A second acceptable (but not preferred...) way is to rise straight up if the take off spot is shielded from the sky, this to make it easier to acquire satellite lock & then wait for the HP to be recorded.

 

[A.O.]

Yep, I always take off about 20 feet high and hover till I get the home point announcement, then off I go

 

[Kilrah]

should I just hover where I took off until it classes that as the home point?

That's just wasting battery that you can avoid by waiting for the home point to be recorded before taking off.

 

[Sully53]

Alway wait!

 

[tlswift58]

Hi all.

I took off and flew today and after about 15-20 seconds, it told me that the home point had been updated and when I tested this with RTH, it flew back to where the drone was at that point I mentioned (above a lake!!). Does the home point just register at a certain point, ie - should I just hover where I took off until it classes that as the home point?

Scenarios on "homepoint" vary as much as where you fly. Wide open space should give a homepoint pretty quickly. Not so great and covered location may require going straight up to 98 ft max and hoping for a homepoint. Others still "require" you to fly out and up to find enough GPS to lock in a homepoint. One of the reasons where I fly - I do not depend on RTH at all. Now it does help in retrieving the drone back to a known location if you were paying enough attention ni case it got out of VLOS and you needed to find it quickly due to low battery / etc. The map in the lower left corner (compass for some) also does same thing and I use that most of the time to get it back close enough to spot should I lose sight due to multitasking and foliage I probably am flying around.

In my backyard, I get homepoint typically before taking off. As it's the first minute or so of paring the drone and RC it finds the GPS signal. Does not happen all the time, yet I can take off - straight up and within 20-30 ft max it'll set homepoint. And I'm in the mountains surrounded by trees and power lines close by.

 

[Jack C]

I just let the drone hover at the auto takeoff level and wait for the voice to tell me HP as been updated.

 

[slup]

I just let the drone hover at the auto takeoff level and wait for the voice to tell me HP as been updated.

I'm just curious why you do it like this ... of course it can be the only way to get satellites if the take-off location is severely shielded from the sky, but if the reason isn't that then you unnecessarily create at least one disadvantage & one increased risk of crashing.

The risk;
As you launch without a sufficient GPS assistance the horizontal hold is only done by the downward sensors ... you're in OPTI mode. That's fine if you not ascend to high where the sensors can't reach the ground anymore, do it over a surface that let the sensors lock on properly & it's enough light. But let's say you do it like this purely out of habit ... & it happens to be too dark, then you take off in ATTI mode which don't assist with a horizontal hold & you're taken by surprise when the AC starts to drift in the wind.

The disadvantage:
You will burn down your battery for no use just staying there hovering ... an AC only powered on, waiting for satellites & a recorded HP on ground will consume far less of your battery.

 

[A.O.]

The getting up and hovering at take off helps with the precision landing... lets the drone know what the home point "looks like". Which allows for a much more precise landing. And not much battery is "burned" in the couple seconds it takes to do this.

 

[slup]

The getting up and hovering at take off helps with the precision landing...

That's a very different reason than hurry to get airborne & then wait for a HP to be recorded.

But honestly even that purpose you mention seems to be wasting the battery for no obvious reason, I mean it would be valid if you regularly hit the RTH button with the AC far out & then just walk in for a coffee & start doing other thing's totally relying on that the AC can be picked up on the landing pad at a later occasion. Precision landing is no more than a fancy function fun to use for showing off ... nothing you should need to use every time you fly, normally you should pilot or monitor your craft the whole flight & guide it down manually.

 

[tlswift58]

That's a very different reason than hurry to get airborne & then wait for a HP to be recorded.

But honestly even that purpose you mention seems to be wasting the battery for no obvious reason, I mean it would be valid if you regularly hit the RTH button with the AC far out & then just walk in for a coffee & start doing other thing's totally relying on that the AC can be picked up on the landing pad at a later occasion. Precision landing is no more than a fancy function fun to use for showing off ... nothing you should need to use every time you fly, normally you should pilot or monitor your craft the whole flight & guide it down manually.

@slup - some of your comments are correct and others - well not so much.

Every takeoff location is very different. You stated it's not preferable to takeoff and go straight up to acquire GPS. That is the only way to acquire GPS in many locations - esp very wooded or low areas with no reception. I have to go to the 98 ft level many times to get GPS and NOT FLY in ATTI mode for very long.

Not all of us have the luxury of wide open spaces with 13-14 sats floating above. Certain locations I do fly I can typically get RTH / homepoint set before I take off, so no wasted battery at all - props are not moving using battery power. Yet, that happens like 1 in ever 10 flights I make.

Every drone pilot "needs" to learn to fly in ATTI and be very aware of what the drone can / will do without stabilization of GPS - as they may fly in future spots where GPS is not going to happen unless they are flying at 300-400 ft AGL. Then, when ATTI does happen - they are not surprised when the drone acts on it's own and moves around due to wind / etc and probably not paying enough attention. That is a recipe for disaster.

Each pilot has to learn what it takes to get homepoint, esp if they depend on RTH to save them. Now, that is another recipe for disaster IMHO. Situational awareness and VLOS are important, yet we all know seeing a tiny drone up 100 ft and down 500 ft is very hard while also watching for obstructions and your screen for video / pics. Initiating RTH in several environments will most likely create a crash - like under tree cover.

 

[A.O.]

That's a very different reason than hurry to get airborne & then wait for a HP to be recorded.

But honestly even that purpose you mention seems to be wasting the battery for no obvious reason, I mean it would be valid if you regularly hit the RTH button with the AC far out & then just walk in for a coffee & start doing other thing's totally relying on that the AC can be picked up on the landing pad at a later occasion. Precision landing is no more than a fancy function fun to use for showing off ... nothing you should need to use every time you fly, normally you should pilot or monitor your craft the whole flight & guide it down manually.

Wasting battery ... in 6 seconds of hover time?? Really??

 

[slup]

...some of your comments are correct and others - well not so much.

...Not all of us have the luxury of wide open spaces with 13-14 sats floating above. You stated it's not preferable to takeoff and go straight up to acquire GPS. That is the only way to acquire GPS in many locations

Every drone pilot "needs" to learn to fly in ATTI

Can you explain which advice I give to a guy (the OP) that right now doesn't know anything about when or where the HP is recorded that is "...not so much".

For what I know I've emphasized what you say in 2 posts already (below) ... either you stay on ground & wait or you ascend up if you have to & don't have another option in order to acquire sat lock, one of these methods is preferred if you can choose ... especially for a newbie.

...Preferably you wait for the lady voice to announce that the HP has been recorded... A second acceptable (but not preferred...) way is to rise straight up if the take off spot is shielded from the sky, this to make it easier to acquire satellite lock & then wait for the HP to be recorded.

... of course it can be the only way to get satellites if the take-off location is severely shielded from the sky...

...Every drone pilot "needs" to learn to fly in ATTI

Couldn't agree more ... but all have it's time. When the knowledge level is low it's not advisable to point a newbie to a method to record the HP that could mean ATTI mode at low level where you perhaps are close to objects, especially if you could suspect that they can't judge when it's a risk for that to happen.

Wasting battery ... in 6 seconds of hover time?? Really??

That's not the main point ... the point is about recording the HP & what method the OP should use to properly get it without consuming battery unnecessarily & not put his drone unknowingly in ATTI mode if he doesn't need to ...

The advantage regarding precision landing you mentioned in your post hardly outweigh the disadvantages with ascending without a proper sat lock & a HP recorded.

 

[RogerDH]

The getting up and hovering at take off helps with the precision landing... lets the drone know what the home point "looks like". Which allows for a much more precise landing. And not much battery is "burned" in the couple seconds it takes to do this.

I believe the M2P and M2Z (and I'd guess other models) can record an image of the take-off point and try to find it again, but the Mini series does not support precision landing.

 

[A.O.]

I believe the M2P and M2Z (and I'd guess other models) can record an image of the take-off point and try to find it again, but the Mini series does not support precision landing.

Ah ha, that I did not know..

 

[Kilrah]

The getting up and hovering at take off helps with the precision landing... lets the drone know what the home point "looks like". Which allows for a much more precise landing. And not much battery is "burned" in the couple seconds it takes to do this.

But this discussion is about the home point, not precision landing. This can take a minute to acquire when you're not lucky.

 

[Peshoa]

I can't believe how many of you guys do not read the Manual. Sooooo many useless posts about this question - HP record. "Must hover and wait" or "record an image of the take-off point" and others bla bla blaa bulshits ...it is clearly described in two places in the manual. How many other things you do not know if you not read the manual:

SO BUEL, if you had read this in the manual, would you ask this question?