Find my drone feature

[Crofty]

So the thing is, I bought a new MP, I have flown it 4 times then found the FMD feature, clicked it and it says its in China.. I am guessing where it was before it shipped to me. Is there anyway of forcing it to updates its new location? Or is it just a bit bugged?

 

[RAS666]

Mine does that too some times has yours asked for a Chinese phone number to be able to fly atall? I have to re install dji go when it does it!

Thank god it was sat in front of me when I found this now sure what I'd have thouht if it just flew over the horizon on its own

 

[Crofty]

Will it ever try and fly on its own to this location or is it just a last known location?

 

[RAS666]

Just out of interest have you used the simulator and is your location the same as mine? Mine started doing it after I used the simulator once it seems to save as a default location in china when the drone has been powered off for a few days. I find that if I leave the drone out side without turning the controller on till the drone gets its current gps location all seems to work as normal. If I power it up inside and connect it when it has no gps signal that is when it suddenly decides it is in china.

 

[Crofty]

Not used the simulator but might give it a go and see if it resets it, mine is a different location but is in China, mine says it’s where I am when it has a GPS lock but like yours as soon as the gps goes that’s when it seems to think it’s traveled to the other side of the globe.

 

[RAS666]

Just beware tho when you use the simulator there is the chance that it will not let you fly till you enter a Chinese phone number and the only way I found to cure it was to leave the drone outside till it got a good gps lock and then re install dji go

 

[RAS666]

Also the simulator is pretty poor it doesn't simulate anything relevant like battery life and there is a wind option but it's a constant really seems quite pointless also it drains the battery in the drone almost as much as real flying

 

[Crofty]

I might just contact DJI themselves and see what they say.

 

[RAS666]

I forgot to ask but does it show the correct position on the map when you are actually flying it?

 

[Crofty]

When it has a GPS lock it shows my location yeah. When the drone is off or not GPS lock it shows China.

 

[BossBob]

I’ve had my Mavic since March and travelled the length of Britain, well South Devon to Western Scotland, and since it has been available, the find my drone feature has always been accurate, even with the drone off, the position shown is the last position that the drone was powered up.

 

[Crofty]

I thought that too but as soon as the drone is shut down, the location goes back to China, il contact DJI and see if there is some sort of override. Il post when I got a reply.

 

[HighlandsVideo]

I suppose this is the place for this story and my question.

I managed to fly my MP into a tree 1000' across a meadow yesterday and I had occasion to use the 'Find My Drone feature.

So long as I was running the app on a device with GPS, it worked pretty well in that the map showed the location of both the iPhone and the drone. Still it took me hours to find it because the map is all but featureless showing only me and the drone, a green line between us and, luckily, the nearest body of water. I wandered disoriented within a few yards of it for more than an hour and only located it after it got dark enough for me to see its lights amid a blackberry thicket at the base of the tree I'd hit.

My question is, why does there seem to be no way for the drone to emit a sound. It can chirp when it is powered on. Why isn't the Find My drone feature able to set off an alarm on board the aircraft or perhaps make the controller beep as you get closer. I would have found it within minutes if it had made a noise.

Anyone else have this problem with it?

 

[Crofty]

If you click the red arrow which is symbolising the drone, you should get two options, one for ESC beep and another for Smart LED. Hope this helps, but hope you never need it again XD

 

[HighlandsVideo]

Thanks, Crofty. That helps a lot, in fact. I agree, I hope I won't need it again, but it's certainly nice to know. It only took out all four props but I got a great shot of a herd of elk and an excuse to try the quieter props.

Thanks, again. Happy flying!