Loss of RC connection!

[ElliottJackson]

Hello all,

Still fairly new to the world of drone flying and if I wasn’t already worried enough about losing such a costly piece of kit, I am now more so.

I took off from my garden and ascended to a sensible height (maybe 200ft) and set off in the direction of my mother’s house which is as the crow flies probably around half a mile.

Still within plain sight, I suddenly had a message on the phone screen telling me there was an RC signal loss between controller and aircraft and lost visual from the camera.

Panic set in and I fear I may have let out a little tear and then, the screen came back on with the camera view and the phone told me that it was returning to home due to loss of RC signal.

I am wondering what might have made this happen at such a short distance from the controller and am now worried about a total loss. I have DJI care but obviously you have to have the drone to claim.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[Thomas B]

You don’t list your controller type which is important. Reports of intermittent signal loss with SC are common.... likely a glitch?
Maybe post the flight logs to see what our resident experts can actually see there.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Welcome to the forum Elliot.
I've read a few cases like this in recent times here, so you aren't alone.
It's never happened to me (yet, knock on wood) but I imagine it would be fairly frightening even in VLOS, morso if not !

As Thomas B replied just now, the controller type is important . . . if a phone or tablet what it is too (ios or android, model of phone / other).

There's a number of things that may have contributed to this . . .
Antenna orientation
Vegetation / other between you and the M2P
Possible interference from wifi of other such (though ocusync 2.0 is probably the most reliable there)
Sometimes a cable is to fault for the drop out

Was this the first time you flew from there ?
HAve you flown further no problems, and what sort of environment was that ?

 

[Starz]

Still within plain sight,

You must have some very good eyesight. At 2500 feet(from your description)I would be struggling to see the one I have.
Be careful and be safe.

 

[sar104]

You must have some very good eyesight. At 2500 feet(from your description)I would be struggling to see the one I have.
Be careful and be safe.

I'm sure that the OP meant LOS, not VLOS.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Just to add one thing, since you're worried: the craft did an auto RTH. It will always do that when it loses connection with the RC. So go ahead and worry, but worry less now that you have actually seen the fail-safe measure work and found your craft was returning to home, just as designed.

If you want to be more properly cautious, be sure that your RTH Height is set properly in settings for each flight. Set a reasonable default; then for each new take off point, look around to be sure there isn't something higher than your your current setting.

Even then, the Mavic 2 Pro won't just fly into an obstacle while doing a fail-safe RTH (as older DJI craft would do). But it still might not come all the way home if it encounters an obstacle (it will hover until it needs to land due to low battery), so having an adequate RTH Height set is best.

Chris

 

[ElliottJackson]

Welcome to the forum Elliot.
I've read a few cases like this in recent times here, so you aren't alone.
It's never happened to me (yet, knock on wood) but I imagine it would be fairly frightening even in VLOS, morso if not !

As Thomas B replied just now, the controller type is important . . . if a phone or tablet what it is too (ios or android, model of phone / other).

There's a number of things that may have contributed to this . . .
Antenna orientation
Vegetation / other between you and the M2P
Possible interference from wifi of other such (though ocusync 2.0 is probably the most reliable there)
Sometimes a cable is to fault for the drop out

Was this the first time you flew from there ?
HAve you flown further no problems, and what sort of environment was that ?

Many thanks for your reply,

I am using the standard controller, hooked up to my iPhone 11 max pro. Does the antennae position really make a big difference? And if so then how would you know when to adjust? Or purely based on signal displays.

Wifi interference is a possibility as it is a fairly populated area, as for vegetation, there was nothing at all in between me and the drone.

Unsure as to how to find or upload flight logs I’m afraid so if anyone could help that would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Elliott

 

[ElliottJackson]

Unsure as to what you mean exactly but there is no way it was that kind of distance.
Ascended to 200ft and was still in sight.

Thanks

You must have some very good eyesight. At 2500 feet(from your description)I would be struggling to see the one I have.
Be careful and be safe.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Many thanks for your reply,

I am using the standard controller, hooked up to my iPhone 11 max pro. Does the antennae position really make a big difference? And if so then how would you know when to adjust? Or purely based on signal displays.

Wifi interference is a possibility as it is a fairly populated area, as for vegetation, there was nothing at all in between me and the drone.

Unsure as to how to find or upload flight logs I’m afraid so if anyone could help that would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Elliott

No worries Elliott, happy to try and assist.

Your setup should be reliable, I take it the cable is the std one in the kit from DJI . . . it should be ok, but I suppose if this happens again I would try another to rule it out.

Yes, antenna position will make a difference, usually not that close, but if there was wifi interference it all makes a difference.
Check the manual, the diagrams are in there (if you haven't got the full - readable - manual, just google mavic 2 pro manual).

Flight logs may give a clue, you can do that easily here . . .

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Post a link up to the report, the txt log and other can be downloaded by people having a look for you, and used in other more advanced programmes.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

And if so then how would you know when to adjust? Or purely based on signal displays.

Sorry missed that bit, telemetry as in distance / height, use map orientation with red arrow towards drone, at distance the accuracy is easier, just the flat faces of the antenna to the ~ location of the drone if out of VLOS.

I understood you were only flying towards your mothers house (1/2 mile away) and not even out of VLOS when this happened.
Some misunderstood your original post as you were that distance away.

In VLOS and 200' up, you should have great connection, keep glancing at that little wireless strength meter on the screen from time to time when flying next, see if it keeps at a decent level as you fly away and around.

 

[ElliottJackson]

Sorry missed that bit, telemetry as in distance / height, use map orientation with red arrow towards drone, at distance the accuracy is easier, just the flat faces of the antenna to the ~ location of the drone if out of VLOS.

I understood you were only flying towards your mothers house (1/2 mile away) and not even out of VLOS when this happened.
Some misunderstood your original post as you were that distance away.

In VLOS and 200' up, you should have great connection, keep glancing at that little wireless strength meter on the screen from time to time when flying next, see if it keeps at a decent level as you fly away and around.

Thank you. Will make sure I keep an eye on it in future. Hopefully it will prevent me from having another ‘near miss’!

 

[ElliottJackson]

No worries Elliott, happy to try and assist.

Your setup should be reliable, I take it the cable is the std one in the kit from DJI . . . it should be ok, but I suppose if this happens again I would try another to rule it out.

Yes, antenna position will make a difference, usually not that close, but if there was wifi interference it all makes a difference.
Check the manual, the diagrams are in there (if you haven't got the full - readable - manual, just google mavic 2 pro manual).

Flight logs may give a clue, you can do that easily here . . .

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Post a link up to the report, the txt log and other can be downloaded by people having a look for you, and used in other more advanced programmes.

Yes the cable is the standard one that came with the drone kit. I did carry out a compass calibration before flying today as I was prompted to do so but I’m guessing that’s a different thing. Losing RC I don’t suppose it to do with compass calibrations?

I don’t have a full manual so will check out your link. Thank you. Also o didn’t know about having the flat faces of the antenna facing direction of drone so will also keep that in mind in the future.

Will have a look now at uploading the files.

Again, many thanks for all your help

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Thank you. Will make sure I keep an eye on it in future. Hopefully it will prevent me from having another ‘near miss’!

Sure, and be sure to pay attention to RTH settings, as Not a Speck mentioned above.
I would not trust the OA part of RTH in all situations though, especially if autumn or winter when a lot of trees have shed leaves.
The OA won't pick up fine things, like twigg like branches, typically found at tree top height !!
(Also telephone and electricity cables aren't detected.)

No, compass calibration shouldn't have any effect on RC - drone link, but it can have its own problems if done in a bad spot (magnetic interference from metal, rebar / mesh in footpaths concrete, even minerals in Earth if concentrated enough.

 

[ElliottJackson]

Just to add one thing, since you're worried: the craft did an auto RTH. It will always do that when it loses connection with the RC. So go ahead and worry, but worry less now that you have actually seen the fail-safe measure work and found your craft was returning to home, just as designed.

If you want to be more properly cautious, be sure that your RTH Height is set properly in settings for each flight. Set a reasonable default; then for each new take off point, look around to be sure there isn't something higher than your your current setting.

Even then, the Mavic 2 Pro won't just fly into an obstacle while doing a fail-safe RTH (as older DJI craft would do). But it still might not come all the way home if it encounters an obstacle (it will hover until it needs to land due to low battery), so having an adequate RTH Height set is best.

Chris

Thanks Chris,

Duly noted and makes sense.

 

[ElliottJackson]

Yes the cable is the standard one that came with the drone kit. I did carry out a compass calibration before flying today as I was prompted to do so but I’m guessing that’s a different thing. Losing RC I don’t suppose it to do with compass calibrations?

I don’t have a full manual so will check out your link. Thank you. Also o didn’t know about having the flat faces of the antenna facing direction of drone so will also keep that in mind in the future.

Will have a look now at uploading the files.

Again, many thanks for all your help

It seems I need my Mac to retrieve the files in question which i didn’t realise and don’t have my Mac with me at the moment.

Will do my best to get them tomorrow hopefully.

Cheers

 

[Starz]

Unsure as to what you mean exactly but there is no way it was that kind of distance.
Ascended to 200ft and was still in sight.

Thanks

I probably misread the post. My mistake and apologies.

 

[manowar_gub]

In my case, signal loss was in reason of cheap, narrow stock DJI cable between RC and phone.
Try to use another cable (for example, your iphone cable) via bottom RC USB connector

 

[Dave Maine]

Antenna position is critical. Flat sides facing drone’s actual current position, and both antennas parallel to each other.

 

[Frog47]

You must have some very good eyesight. At 2500 feet(from your description)I would be struggling to see the one I have.
Be careful and be safe.

He didn’t say he flew a half mile he said it was about a half mile to his mothers house.

 

[Starz]

I’m a little slow, and yes you are correct.