For those new to the Hobby, and important way NOT to lose your drone

[LakeTravis]

On the PhantomPilots version of this same site, there's a post titled "First flight - RIP", in which our good friend (on this and the other site) MavicHelp (msinger) does an excellent diagnosis of why this user lost his Phantom 4 on what I think was the maiden flight. Sadly, this same procedure is a common cause of loss of aircraft for just about every advanced drone and non-advanced user. Definitely an important read for all you new folks... As always, it reminds me of my favorite slogan "just because it says ready to fly, doesn't mean you are".

And yes, the name of the thread should have been "an important..."

First flight - RIP

 

[Mahoosiv]

Thank you for pointing this out. Noted.

 

[niclariv]

That post is about someone who lost contact with his new drone and had his RTH height set too low so it crashed in to a building on the way to the launch point. With the Mavic's obstacle avoidance it's supposed to detect obstacles and go over them... hopefully that works reliably - like in this video.

anyone had that fail to work during RTH?


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[Gimpy]

With the Mavic's obstacle avoidance it's supposed to detect obstacles and go over them . . . anyone had that fail to work during RTH?

Yes, it should. Just the same, though, once I get my Mavic I plan to keep the RTH altitude well above any obstacle it might encounter on the way back; I'd prefer to let someone else figure out how reliable obstacle avoidance really is.

Thanks for the video link, though; that's encouraging.

 

[niclariv]

Definitely. I do wonder how small an obstacle it can detect - like can it detect a single power line? That would be a good one to know.


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[F6Rider]

Definitely. I do wonder how small an obstacle it can detect - like can it detect a single power line? That would be a good one to know.


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I am going out on a limb here and say NO!, the tower, yes, the power line, not so much. I learned to stay away from those things.

 

[niclariv]

Thanks!


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[LakeTravis]

That post is about someone who lost contact with his new drone and had his RTH height set too low so it crashed in to a building on the way to the launch point. With the Mavic's obstacle avoidance it's supposed to detect obstacles and go over them... hopefully that works reliably - like in this video.

anyone had that fail to work during RTH?


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Correction, the post I mentioned was a P3.

 

[m0j0]

Power line no way. That worked like a charm though


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[Marco Cantieni]

I plan to put a GPS tracker on my drone, the RF-V16. I have tested it off drone for a few day works good. Updating every 60sec the position sent to the internet via SIM card for 9h took 50% of it battery live and did cost 30cents of my prepaid card


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[Random155]

I watched a youtube video where a guy stretched a hose across in front of the mavic, and the mavic didnt detect it. So I can say that it won't detect a power line.

 

[RobertD]

If I take off and don't hear, "Home Point Set. Check the Map", I immediately land, power cycle the Mavic and try again.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10208947131543095