Lost Drone in Brazil during RTH

maninjello · Nov 25, 2017

So this is my first time using any kind of thread/forum like this.. I really like the help that many have been getting through this site. I'm assuming I can make a new thread involving my drone and I'm really hoping to get some help or clearer information on the location of my drone is. I have a week left here before returning to the states.

So to begin, I was in RC mode, I had done 3 decently long flights that day, had no communication issues and had multiple batteries with me so on this last flight I had 60% to go up, take some shots of the countryside and then when it reached 25% or so I started to try and come back. While coming back I completely lost visuals on my iPhone and I was attempting to RTH. It said it was attempting to come back, but I could not see it or hear it. It was about 1000 to 1500 feet away.

I have all the data I can get without the drone itself and was able to upload the .txt file to see more detailed information. I'm wondering what else can be deciphered from this information. We checked in the field south of the last location point and where I last had a visual on the iPhone, but still no luck. I'm assuming now that it's in the trees, but it would be great to get some some second opinions.

LINK: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

The most puzzling thing to me is the extremely sharp line it takes before the end of the video. From the log information, it shot straight up, but didn't seem to be coming back straight to my home point. When I looked at the Find my Drone it shows that it is at a previous take off point that I had taken that day. Also wondering if this is more user error than technology error?

Thank you Mavic Pilots, I hope I can soon be of help to others as well after I learn a couple things the hard way.

JP

msinger · Nov 25, 2017

maninjello said:
The most puzzling thing to me is the extremely sharp line it takes before the end of the video.

Your Mavic didn't actually fly that path. No data was recorded in your flight log for 1m 37s while the downlink was disconnected (between the yellow markers in the image below). My flight log viewer just connected the flight path between the last two recorded points (which is why you see that perfect straight line).

Your flight log shows your Mavic auto landed at -29.208, -51.1094 (at the yellow circle in the image below). It should be close to that location (maybe up in a tree too).

maninjello · Nov 25, 2017

msinger said:
Your Mavic didn't actually fly that path. No data was recorded in your flight log for 1m 37s while the downlink was disconnected (between the yellow markers in the image below). My flight log viewer just connected the flight path between the last two recorded points (which is why you see that perfect straight line).

View attachment 25559

Your flight log shows your Mavic auto landed at -29.208, -51.1094 (at the yellow circle in the image below). It should be close to that location (maybe up in a tree too).

View attachment 25560

Thank you for such a prompt response. I figured it was up their somewhere, but was hoping by chance that it may have landed in the field. I guess I'm lucky to at least have road access to the area. I'll keep trying to find it in that location after it get knocked loose from the storms here.

Only question I have left is, what do you think may have happened all of a sudden for me to lose signal and how do I avoid this from happening again? I am already planning to get another one, but I'm not looking to make it a habit, haha.

Thanks again!

msinger · Nov 25, 2017

maninjello said:
what do you think may have happened all of a sudden for me to lose signal and how do I avoid this from happening again?

Trees maybe? It looks like there were some trees between you and your Mavic. Make sure no obstacles ever come between the Mavic and the remote controller.

maninjello · Nov 27, 2017

So I was really hoping to reply back with good news, but unfortunately I have not been able to find it after looking multiple times at and around those coordinates.

Is there any chance that it's not there and I am receiving false information on its whereabouts? Also, why is the Find my Drone function saying that its more than 1500 ft. away from it's last know spot. I've watched some people on YouTube successfully find their drones or at least confirm it's irretrievable whereabouts using these same features, yet I am not finding any luck at all.

We looked for hours cutting down thick grass, small trees and scouting the canopy. I am providing pictures just to give a better idea of what terrain and foliage we are dealing with, obviously not providing much help in determining its location.

If their is any other insight on this it would be greatly appreciated. The clock is ticking now until I leave to return back home.

Thank you!

msinger · Nov 27, 2017

maninjello said:
Is there any chance that it's not there and I am receiving false information on its whereabouts?

I've never seen a flight log (free of GPS errors) that contained incorrect coordinates. I'd fire up Google Maps, plug in "-29.208, -51.1094", and look within a 20 foot radius of that point.

maninjello said:
why is the Find my Drone function saying that its more than 1500 ft. away from it's last know spot

I'm not sure. I'd trust the flight log over the Find My Drone feature.

maninjello · Nov 28, 2017

msinger said:
I've never seen a flight log (free of GPS errors) that contained incorrect coordinates. I'd fire up Google Maps, plug in "-29.208, -51.1094", and look within a 20 foot radius of that point.

I'm not sure. I'd trust the flight log over the Find My Drone feature.

Thank you very much again for your insight. I guess I can only try again and again searching in that area until I've exhausted my time here. I feel as though the Find My Drone function is extremely misleading, but fortunate that it was a clearing I could more easily check and confirm not where the drone had landed.

Thanks again for your help.

Colla · Nov 30, 2017

Good luck on your search. (Looking at the sat image we can see that that area is under heavy deforestation, so I guess in a few weeks there will be no more trees, birds, etc there, and the search will be easier). 8(

pvidamaster · Dec 8, 2017

I lost my drone 2 weeks ago on automatic RTH with enough battery. After two days I found the drone crashed near the last point of the flight log.

The "find my drone" function seems to be garbage. In my case it pointed to a point on the flight track several minutes before and the timestamp was after I lost RC communication. Forget it.

Interesting is, that in the form I had to fill out, there is a special category "RTH lost" to check for the service personal...

I hope you find your bird. Make sure you report to DJI, including weather information. I got the replay, that its not a warranty issue as they detected "water damage". Luckily I mentioned, that in the 48 hrs it took me to find my drone there was heavy rain.... They have not responded yet.

maninjello · Feb 26, 2018

pvidamaster said:
I lost my drone 2 weeks ago on automatic RTH with enough battery. After two days I found the drone crashed near the last point of the flight log.

The "find my drone" function seems to be garbage. In my case it pointed to a point on the flight track several minutes before and the timestamp was after I lost RC communication. Forget it.

Interesting is, that in the form I had to fill out, there is a special category "RTH lost" to check for the service personal...

I hope you find your bird. Make sure you report to DJI, including weather information. I got the replay, that its not a warranty issue as they detected "water damage". Luckily I mentioned, that in the 48 hrs it took me to find my drone there was heavy rain.... They have not responded yet.

I had to leave it there unfortunately. I explained my case to DJI and they are saying it is not a malfunction and it was me who canceled the RTH. That infuriates me because how could I do that If i had no visual on my phone. The controller even spoke out to me that it would return in 10 seconds. Load of crap. A lot happened in those last few minutes, but regardless I really thought I had a chance at recovering it from the last known coordinates. But what use is their software and fail safes if they're garbage. Any tips on how you're working with DJI and also, what form are you mentioning?