New flyer here. Looking at flying up a medium sized non-navigable river with no wires across and am concerned about going around corners. How do I know if the next bend will leave me with no control.
Flying up a river.
- Thread starter TomRe
- Start date
Be sure that your RTH height is adequate, and more importantly, be aware of your signal strength, be sure to recalibrate your compass before your flight
If there is a clear, unobstructed line of sight between you and the drone, you'll have no problem.
But if you are down low and following the stream around bends, out of sight, you will lose signal and cause the drone to initiate Failsafe RTH , at which point you'd better hope you have set an appropriate RTH height.
Why?? How is that at all relevant?
Just be sure you set RTH properly with good RTH height that you think no obstacles in the way. Always check your signal strength and be aware of GPS Satellite being used which should be higher than 10 satellites being connected. If your HD Transmission Quality is low you should nit flt beyond that point since you might lose realtime video and RC connection or even GPS connection and leave yoy fly witgout flight telemetry. In yhis case you can set the drone to perform RTH upon lose connection to the RC.
BD0G
Well-Known Member
If possible jog down the bank of the river so you can follow the Mavic around the bends as you will surely loose signal around complete and total obstructions. No big deal with Lichti though. You can setup a mission and even if you loose signal the Mavic will still fly the course to its final waypoint.
Thanks all! I will review my RTH settings (and test it), also keep an eye on signal strength and GPS. The ground is very flat on both sides of the river. Are trees considered obstructions?
A few branches won't do much to block signal but tree trunks, branches and leaves are full of water.
Water blocks signal.
More trees = less signal.
Remember, to stay within the law you must maintain LOS with your drone. How do you intend to do that?
Guys we should be helping new members to stray within the law or else, soon, we can kiss our hobby goodbye.
Guys we should be helping new members to stray within the law or else, soon, we can kiss our hobby goodbye.
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FoxhallGH
Well-Known Member
Only if they are higher than the RTH height you have set in Go 4 ... When you set RTH height, remember that the drone will need to clear EVERYTHING in a straight line between you and where it drops the connection. If there is a tree-lined ridge in the way, you need to account for that!!
Bobby Brown
Well-Known Member
I’d fly it once at a much higher altitude than you want to go and look for possible problem areas take note at distance from start point then fly again at the altitude you want to fly.
My two cents......
My two cents......
One caution with the fail-safe RTH height, if there are trees or anything overhanging this river, a lot of accidents are inadvertently caused by the drones flying directly up into an obstacle when it is ascending to the preset RTH altitude (either triggered manually or automatically after signal failure). Often times it is certainly true that the safest thing to do is fly straight up to clear other obstacles, but there are scenarios where you do not want that happening, so just be very aware of your surroundings.
I think you your best bet is to fly along the route at a higher altitude first keeping the drone and transmitter in a direct line, to check for any obstructions before going any lower, when I have flown previously and gone my drone slightly out direct line back to the transmitter, the video transmission feed signal can fail suddenly, I found that as soon as that happens stop all stick movement and just use the up stick, as soon as your drone is in line with the transmiiter you should have a video signal back, at least this is what I have found but this is with the RTH only initated by me if required.
You certainly can lose signal between you and the RC, but if you started with a good GPS signal, I wouldn't be too concerned about that. The RC connectionhas nothing to do with the GPS reception. Trees could possibly obscure the signal some though.
As for compass, if you've been flying without issues, don't recalibrate unless the app tells you to. Even then, check for any magnetic interference at your launch site.
As for compass, if you've been flying without issues, don't recalibrate unless the app tells you to. Even then, check for any magnetic interference at your launch site.
Clarification please. Does LOS mean you can see the drone or does it mean you have an unobstructed path to the drone? I ask because in a big field, I can go 400’ straight up but cannot see the drone.
LOS doesn't mean what many here think it does.
Line of Sight is a radio term that's been around since long before drones.
You have to have a clear, unobstructed LoS between your controller and the drone to fly it.
That's due to the laws of physics.
Your drone could be 10 miles away and have a clear LoS.
Being visible isn't part of LoS.
People get confused because some regulatory authorities use the clumsy expression Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) when they mean you should keep your drone in visual range.
You can also use Litchi, or another waypoint app and place the waypoints along the river. If it does lose connection, the drone will continue to fly the route and then RTH when it is completed
So, which is it? Must you be able to see the drone, or do you have to have an unimpeded contact with the drone, even if you can't see it?
That depends on which laws you want to obey.
The laws of the land or the laws of physics.
Check with the regulatory authority in your country to see what rules apply there.
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