First flight lost drone :(

[JRoffers]

Bad start to using the drone for the first time. Just received a Mavic 2 Enterprise and took it for a flight in my back yard. The controller disconnected from the drone and now i cant find it. I went to the last known GPS location but cant find it can anyone help please! I have no clue how to pull flight logs from the controller

 

[old man mavic]

welcome to the forum
sorry for the loss of your drone ,i am sure there will be members on soon who will be able to assist you

 

[JRoffers]

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

It shows it was last connected over my pond, The pond is frozen right now and there is no drone

 

[GFields]

Greetings from Birmingham Alabama USA, welcome to the forum!
Sorry to hear about your mishap. Hope you are able to find your drone. @Meta4 is very good at analysing the flight records and may be able to help you

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

If it did disconnect from the controller and flew somewhere else then the logs can not track the movements of the drone since no data is recieved from the drone during the disconnection.
With regards to retrieving the log, have a look at the instructions lower down DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Currently your best bet would be to assume that the disconnection would trigger the failsafe RTH behaviour, page 19 of the drone's manual, where it will retrace the last 60 second of its flight path and then RTH to the home point.
The log should reveal if RTH was the failsafe behaviour, the RTH height and the location of the home point.


Ooops I guess I missed the log lol

 

[Meta4]

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

It shows it was last connected over my pond, The pond is frozen right now and there is no drone

The drone is not where signal was lost because when signal was lost, the drone was 70 feet up and flying southeast at 26 mph with no indication of a crash or collision in the data..

The Loss of Signal action was set to RTH, with RTH height at 98 ft.
The drone was 850 ft SSE of the home point.
Two seconds after losing signal, the drone would have initiated Failsafe RTH.
Here is an extract from the manual describing Failsafe RTH:

Failsafe RTH​

The Forward Vision System allows the aircraft to create a real-time map of its flight route as it flies.​

If the Home Point was successfully recorded and the compass is functioning normally, Failsafe RTH automatically activates after the remote control signal is lost for more than two seconds.​

When Failsafe RTH is activated, the aircraft starts to retrace its original flight route home. ​

​

If the remote control signal is re-established within 60 seconds of Failsafe RTH being activated, the aircraft hovers at its present location for 10 seconds and waits for pilot commands. ​

The user may press the RTH button on the remote controller to cancel Failsafe RTH and retake control. ​

If no pilot command is given, the aircraft flies to the Home Point in a straight line. ​

If the remote control signal is still lost 60 seconds after activating Failsafe RTH, the aircraft stops retracing its original flight route and flies to Home Point in a straight line.​

Unless there are any trees or other obstructions 100 feet high between the last location and the homepoint, the obvious place to look for the drone is the home point, which it would have been returning to.
Wind was from the south, so shouldn't have affected RTH.

If the trees around the pond where signal was lost are 70 ft or higher, the trees are another place to check.

 

[Meta4]

For some reason I have a sneeking suspicion the home point might not be where you think it is but that is a totally "Outer limits" thought that just popped into my head.

The homepoint is exactly where the drone was launched from.
There's no irregularity in the data regarding the homepoint.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Yes I see that now, when I made the original post, #5, I had missed the fact that the log had been made available. Post has #5 has been edited accordingly.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

The homepoint is exactly where the drone was launched from.
There's no irregularity in the data regarding the homepoint.

Correct me if I am wrong but wouldn't a 60 sec retrace put the drone aproximately where the drone was at around flight time 10:04, around 67ft from the home point and possibly/hopefully at a height of 132ft?
If so wouldn't the RTH start from there?

 

[JRoffers]

It did not return home. What if it’s not possible to land at the home point in a straight line?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Correct me if I am wrong but wouldn't a 60 sec retrace put the drone aproximately where the drone was at around flight time 10:04, around 67ft from the home point and possibly/hopefully at a height of 132ft?
If so wouldn't the RTH start from there?

If the drone did not climb but executed the retrace at the loss-of-contact-height of 70ft there appears to be two trees enroute to 10:04 that might present problems at 70ft, they were over flown/bypass at 132ft & 88ft (10:45.5).

 

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!

 

[IronSky1]

Get a secondary tracking device on your drone so the next time this happens you have a chance. Once the main battery fails (which wont take long) you can have another 1-2 days to find. I have been using Trackimo for 6 years and it save my drone twice.

 

[JRoffers]

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. The drone did end up trying to make it back home. it was coming in for a landing and ended up in the tree by where it took off.. I did learn some very valuable information though...I will defiantly be getting a tracking device, and taking off in a more open spaces! Merry Christmas!

 

[IronSky1]

I use the Trackimo 4G since the 3G and old versions run on retired network infrastructure
I attach to the side of mount we make.

 

[KB9Radio]

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. The drone did end up trying to make it back home. it was coming in for a landing and ended up in the tree by where it took off.. I did learn some very valuable information though...I will defiantly be getting a tracking device, and taking off in a more open spaces! Merry Christmas!

So to be clear, you did recover it? And if so, is it in ok condition?

 

[YVRGUY]

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. The drone did end up trying to make it back home. it was coming in for a landing and ended up in the tree by where it took off.. I did learn some very valuable information though...I will defiantly be getting a tracking device, and taking off in a more open spaces! Merry Christmas!

Forget the tracking device…ensure, that you have set your safe RTH to a proper height wherever you fly. Scope it out.
Merry Christmas

 

[JRoffers]

So to be clear, you did recover it? And if so, is it in ok condition?

I did recover it. A couple busted propellers and a missing rear landing gear pad.

 

[IronSky1]

Good to hear (you were lucky). RTH altitude is critical however, Tracking device buys you time in the event of a loss. Your drone battery will run out quickly while the tracker will go for 1 to 2 days.

 

[orionshooter]

Good to hear (you were lucky). RTH altitude is critical however, Tracking device buys you time in the event of a loss. Your drone battery will run out quickly while the tracker will go for 1 to 2 days.

A big shout out to our daily heroes Meta4 and Yorkshire_Pud for coming to the rescue again!