Lost Drone - Is there hope?

[ryo]

It's always sad to hear about somebody loosing his drone. The real problem is that most of the times pilot panic and is not able to handle a situation that normally can be easily solved: very often people forget that the RC always can override the app so it's just about desconnecting the phone and it's done, just fly back. But most of the times people panic, loose precious minutes or worse, make disastrous errors.

 

[Fearless Flight]

Due to the incredible knowledge of the forum members I am learning a lot since receiving my mavic.I have 1 question on this subject.
Would I be correct in assuming in a situation as the op you would be wise to set the home point as the controller?.

Yes. Anytime you plan on moving or if you are not stationary (a boat) it is best to use the controller as a homepoint.

I'm sure most people could use the controller as a homepoint all the time. I never do and I'm not really sure why because I never use RTH anyhow. If i did I could certainly cancel it when it got close and land in a suitable area if I was standing on uneven ground or under the canopy of a tree, etc.

 

[rydfree]

Failure to not set RTH according to how you are going to fly is not Dji's problem , not even 80% their fault . If you are going to change locations from where you took off ,
1. Set RTH to return to controller not where it took off.
2. You can also set RTH action to hover in place instead of trying to go back to where it took off .

 

[GerdS]

Setting the controller as home point is only possible by using the GO app. If the GO app and/or the mobile device will fail, as happend in this case, there is no chance for modifying the home point.

 

[geigy]

A radar display or other bearing/heading readout would be great.

Another thought is Loc8tor. Inexpensive and lightweight, it has a very short range of 400 meters, but no subscription fee. With a systematic pattern you can cover a fair amount of territory. It will work in areas with no cell coverage, and runs for months per battery. Beats weed whacking.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

There's a radar display on my screen, I use IPad.

 

[Fearless Flight]

There's a radar display on my screen, I use IPad.

I think geigy is talking about having it on the RC since the OP lost his phone connection (screen).

 

[Wipster]

I have Marco Polo

Hello,

I'll try to keep the story short. I was flying my drone for a car shoot, and I was in said car. Wasn't a long drive. Nearly finished, when my phone freezes. We get out of the car, and I try to fix my phone. It's dead frozen. I then start to panic a little. We can see the drone, but just barely, very barely. Tried to fly it towards us but to no avail. Due to battery it wanted to fly home, but I didnt let it, as I wasn't where "home" was anymore. Then, battery got critical, and took off on its own. It didnt fly towards me, nor the original "home" point. Then the remote said landing.

Anyway, the DJI App flight record and find my drone features are useless, as my phone froze, so it only has information up until that freezing point. So my drone is very lost. Searched everywhere, with a full search party mind you.

I have sent DJI not only the flight logs (which are again useless for it's where abouts), but also the files off the RC black box. As the RC was connected to it until the end, I really hope there could be a location hidden in it's files. What do you guys think? Is there hope?
And if not, will I get a discount or replacement? Because this really sucks, and is at least 80 percent DJI's fault.

I

 

[TTFullTimer]

Due to the incredible knowledge of the forum members I am learning a lot since receiving my mavic.I have 1 question on this subject.
Would I be correct in assuming in a situation as the op you would be wise to set the home point as the controller?.

On another thread it states Controller home point has to be updated if controller moves. So with the phone display not visible, the menu could not be accessed to set the new controller location. The advise to watch distance away and keep it coming toward you is very good advice. Keep altitude at some height to clear all obstacles and to be sure of LOS for the control signals. As you get overhead then lower the Mavic.

 

[dbyantis]

Hello,

I'll try to keep the story short. I was flying my drone for a car shoot, and I was in said car. Wasn't a long drive. Nearly finished, when my phone freezes. We get out of the car, and I try to fix my phone. It's dead frozen. I then start to panic a little. We can see the drone, but just barely, very barely. Tried to fly it towards us but to no avail. Due to battery it wanted to fly home, but I didnt let it, as I wasn't where "home" was anymore. Then, battery got critical, and took off on its own. It didnt fly towards me, nor the original "home" point. Then the remote said landing.

Anyway, the DJI App flight record and find my drone features are useless, as my phone froze, so it only has information up until that freezing point. So my drone is very lost. Searched everywhere, with a full search party mind you.

I have sent DJI not only the flight logs (which are again useless for it's where abouts), but also the files off the RC black box. As the RC was connected to it until the end, I really hope there could be a location hidden in it's files. What do you guys think? Is there hope?
And if not, will I get a discount or replacement? Because this really sucks, and is at least 80 percent DJI's fault.

You should try the "Find my Drone" option in GO4.

 

[danman999]

I After my initial panic wore off I climbed the craft to 200ft.
Next I pushed the stick forward and noticed the distance was increasing. So I yawed the craft for a second and pushed the stick forward again. I was still moving away but at a slower clip. Two more yaws and I found the distance starting to narrow. A few nudges of yaw back and forth while returning and I had a peak spot for the fastest distance countdown. Then I just held the stick forward, waited about 40 seconds and the distance was down to 90ft and I could hear the Mavic above me. After a 50 ft descent I spotted my baby. The rest was an easy visual landing.

Hope this helps out someone else
Rob

Great technique! You regained your composure and everything turned out well. Glad you got your drone back. Unless an operator is very experieced (which you obviously are) flying it out of sight is asking for trouble.

 

[MrMavic]

I had the exact same kind of problem but for a different reason. My iPhone lost connection and nothing I tried would restore it. Long story short I made it back from about 1500ft and after landing and emptying my shorts I discovered the lightning connector was half way out. A quick squeeze of the arms and I was reconnected. I never realized the problem until I had already made it back. As this was around my 5th flight I was not prepared for this kind of event.

So what saved me when I was way out of visual range and was seemingly navigationaly blind?

An often over looked redundancy system on the mavic.
On your RC LCD display you have Height, Distance and speed.
This info is all you need to return to your location.

After my initial panic wore off I climbed the craft to 200ft.
Next I pushed the stick forward and noticed the distance was increasing. So I yawed the craft for a second and pushed the stick forward again. I was still moving away but at a slower clip. Two more yaws and I found the distance starting to narrow. A few nudges of yaw back and forth while returning and I had a peak spot for the fastest distance countdown. Then I just held the stick forward, waited about 40 seconds and the distance was down to 90ft and I could hear the Mavic above me. After a 50 ft descent I spotted my baby. The rest was an easy visual landing.

Hope this helps out someone else
Rob

It's easier to just point the drone towards you an come home. (Lower let cover of the screen)

 

[Eyvindj]

I had the exact same kind of problem but for a different reason. My iPhone lost connection and nothing I tried would restore it. Long story short I made it back from about 1500ft and after landing and emptying my shorts I discovered the lightning connector was half way out. A quick squeeze of the arms and I was reconnected. I never realized the problem until I had already made it back. As this was around my 5th flight I was not prepared for this kind of event.

So what saved me when I was way out of visual range and was seemingly navigationaly blind?

An often over looked redundancy system on the mavic.
On your RC LCD display you have Height, Distance and speed.
This info is all you need to return to your location.

After my initial panic wore off I climbed the craft to 200ft.
Next I pushed the stick forward and noticed the distance was increasing. So I yawed the craft for a second and pushed the stick forward again. I was still moving away but at a slower clip. Two more yaws and I found the distance starting to narrow. A few nudges of yaw back and forth while returning and I had a peak spot for the fastest distance countdown. Then I just held the stick forward, waited about 40 seconds and the distance was down to 90ft and I could hear the Mavic above me. After a 50 ft descent I spotted my baby. The rest was an easy visual landing.

Hope this helps out someone else
Rob

I was recently introduced to another technique when you only barely have visible contact (and of course RC):
1. Start flying slowly forward, irrespective of direction
2. Observe if drone is moving left or right
3. If left, you yaw slowly left until it stops and vice versa if right
4. When it no longer moves to any side it flies towards you and you keep going until the bird is home