Lost drone

[HWCM]

I am sorry for your loss.

In the future, whether you are able to get your drone back or a replacement from DJI, I recommend to practice flying in Atti mode.

A few years ago my first couple of drones did not have GPS, I had an on board camera with a whoapping 1MB resolution, and an incredible video resolution of 480 P, the battery only lasted 8 minutes. I had to setup a timer in my pocket every time I flew the drone, to land the drone before the battery ran out. Otherwise it just would drop from the sky with a dead battery. Every time I flew those things they could easily drift to the wind, I remember spending countless hours at my local park trying to keep them steady, fighting the wind.
That lack of GPS back then has paid off in the present, I was in your situation couple of times but was able to bring the drone back safely.

Good luck, I hope you either find your drone or get a replacement from DJI.

Mavic does not have atti mode.

 

[Simmo]

Mavic does not have atti mode.

That is so phrased wrong Brother!
The Mavic does indeed have ATTI mode, you just cant switch to it 'on the fly'.

 

[Haloweenhamster]

Your both wrong you can but you have to change a parameter on the mavic

Sport switch can be changed to

0 = Manual Mode (GPS position and Altitude Stabilization are disabled)
3 = ATTI Mode (Altitude Stabilization)
4 = GPS mode indicated, sport mode speed for some reason
6 = Beginner
7 = PGPS Mode (Normal)
8 = Sport Mode
9 = FARM Mode (Altitude stabilization with RTH capability)

 

[Simmo]

Your both wrong you can but you have to change a parameter on the mavic

Which parameter?

 

[Haloweenhamster]

You will find your answer here
howto:start [dji.retroroms.info]

 

[Lake_Flyer]

Your both wrong you can but you have to change a parameter on the mavic

Sport switch can be changed to

0 = Manual Mode (GPS position and Altitude Stabilization are disabled)
3 = ATTI Mode (Altitude Stabilization)
4 = GPS mode indicated, sport mode speed for some reason
6 = Beginner
7 = PGPS Mode (Normal)
8 = Sport Mode
9 = FARM Mode (Altitude stabilization with RTH capability)

Does this mean that you sacrifice sport mode?

 

[Haloweenhamster]

Yes
But if you just want practice you can change it then change back when you're done
9 is probably best for practicing by the description

 

[Simmo]

You will find your answer here
howto:start [dji.retroroms.info]

Yeah but now we are hacking stuff....

FFS for the NORMAL person, flying day in day out......THAT is not in your stock standard Go4 crapp..... DWIOI

 

[Haloweenhamster]

Yeah but now we are hacking stuff....

FFS for the NORMAL person, flying day in day out......THAT is not in your stock standard Go4 crapp..... DWIOI

You say hacking I say changing a setting

Lots of things have hidden menus with settings TV's, phones, etc

 

[Lake_Flyer]

Yes
But if you just want practice you can change it then change back when you're done
9 is probably best for practicing by the description

agreed, thanks.

 

[Bachi]

Hi all. Unfortunately my first post here is to report a lost drone. I'm a complete newbie to drones. My first flight was on Christmas where I just flew it straight up in my yard on beginner mode. I panned 360 degrees for a video and brought it straight down. Yesterday I did the same thing, but took it out of beginner mode to take it higher. I went up to 380' panned for a 360 degree video and went to bring it down. I received high wind alert and magnetic interference alert. I hit RTH and it started to come down. Then it started drifting. After some panicked moments hoping it would come back it drifted out of site. I'm getting disconnect messages off and on and still hoping RTH would work. I looked at the flight record on my home and drop to its last known point. I got permission to search a few back yards and no luck. Later I used the "Find my Drone" feature and it showed the same rough location, but actually gave Latitude and Longitude. If it's very accurate it put it in a tree in a front yard that I didn't check. When I first drove over there my RC said connecting, but didn't. Battery life eventually went to zero, but before it died I think the remote did detect the drone nearby. Is find my drone accurate? Could it have drifted well beyond that last known point and my RC detected it anyway?
As a newbie I shouldn't have done this and deserve any criticism directed my way.
Coordinates: 42.730705 -71.483317

It did happen to me several times (fortunately I could recover my drone from a good neighbour's home), the signal loss happens more often if I fly the drone straight up (poor antenna orientation). The best way to solve this problem is to switch off the remote control and wait for the Mavic to return home once the signal is completely lost. Practice "emergency drills" in a safe environment. If you practice and you know on advance what will be happening, you can stay calm.
In a known and open area fly your drone to a reasonable altitude and distance (i.e. 30 mts and 50 mts) where con can still see it. Drill one: disconnect your phone and flight it back (or return it home using the button in the remote control) without it, meaning using just the remote and the information it provides you. This will train you in case the app crashes, your phone runs out of battery, the USB cable gets broken or whatever may result in your not having a working screen. You will become confident that the phone is a plus but not a must and you will learn to read the information on the remote's screen. In case you get too nervous, you can always reconnect you phone (have it at hand just in case or push the RTH button in the remote) The second, and even more dreadful drill, is just to switch off the remote (you can leave your phone connected and app running, the screen will freeze and go grey). The drone will be left flying on its own and after a few second it will return to its recorded home point. This is what you have to do when you have intermittent signal (radio signal). A poor HD signal is not a problem if you know you can fly without a phone (after drill 1). In case you get too nervous, you can always switch on the remote and regain control The real problem most people are having is an intermittent RC signal (low or intermittent but not completely lost) so you cannot fly the drone and it may not respond to the RTH command. Normally it would hover and drift away with the wind while you panic and risk losing it. Hope this comment helps

Mostrar menos

 

[netfolks2000]

I just ordered another one. This one I'll never take out of beginner mode.

I live in a very rural country area so have less anxiety about flying high and pretty far. In a crowded neighborhood I, too, would be anxious about getting it up and flying around. You'd be more prone to "spying" complaints and if you needed to come down there are less areas where you could access it. Another neighbor's yard is not easy access. Try to fly in open areas on weekends, near a park or out of the city. It's portable, so easy to take elsewhere and launch.

 

[sar104]

I just checked the "Find my drone" feature again and now see a line going from the last know location to further down its path. The problem is the map won't scroll and let me see where the line terminates. It scrolls part way and then pops right back to the origin. It this a bug in the software that anyone else has experienced?

Did you take a look at the area I indicated in post #19? That's likely to be a more accurate estimate than "Find my drone" can provide.

 

[netfolks2000]

Hey, folks, this just occurred to me. If you lose the phone app in flight, due to any reason, you can still fly the drone home without a map, by looking at distance on the controller. Fly a few feet to notice if it is getting further away or closer. When you see it getting closer, continue to fly that direction until it is over you. The drone will hover until you give it a command with the sticks. Keep height up high to avoid obstacles, fly forward as distance decreases until you see it overhead.

 

[sar104]

Hey, folks, this just occurred to me. If you lose the phone app in flight, due to any reason, you can still fly the drone home without a map, by looking at distance on the controller. Fly a few feet to notice if it is getting further away or closer. When you see it getting closer, continue to fly that direction until it is over you. The drone will hover until you give it a command with the sticks. Keep height up high to avoid obstacles, fly forward as distance decreases until you see it overhead.

That works, although in situations like this one where the aircraft switches to ATTI due to compass errors, you will not have the luxury of the aircraft simply hovering if you center the sticks - it's drifting with the wind which makes that process more difficult.

 

[Simmo]

Thats a good tip Bro!!! Never thought of that....
Shouldn't have DJI thought of that and given us pilots an update?? Sheesh..

 

[Dust Monkey]

Hi all. Unfortunately my first post here is to report a lost drone. I'm a complete newbie to drones. My first flight was on Christmas where I just flew it straight up in my yard on beginner mode. I panned 360 degrees for a video and brought it straight down. Yesterday I did the same thing, but took it out of beginner mode to take it higher. I went up to 380' panned for a 360 degree video and went to bring it down. I received high wind alert and magnetic interference alert. I hit RTH and it started to come down. Then it started drifting. After some panicked moments hoping it would come back it drifted out of site. I'm getting disconnect messages off and on and still hoping RTH would work. I looked at the flight record on my home and drop to its last known point. I got permission to search a few back yards and no luck. Later I used the "Find my Drone" feature and it showed the same rough location, but actually gave Latitude and Longitude. If it's very accurate it put it in a tree in a front yard that I didn't check. When I first drove over there my RC said connecting, but didn't. Battery life eventually went to zero, but before it died I think the remote did detect the drone nearby. Is find my drone accurate? Could it have drifted well beyond that last known point and my RC detected it anyway?
As a newbie I shouldn't have done this and deserve any criticism directed my way.
Coordinates: 42.730705 -71.483317

Really sorry to hear of the loss, can only imagine how gutted your feeling. Befire flting

 

[Dust Monkey]

Really sorry to hear of the loss, can only imagine how gutted your feeling. Befire flting

Before flying did you calibrate the compass?

 

[Snow Bird 1]

As far as I am concerned SAR and MSINGER walk on water - see me bowing!!!! Good luck!

 

[Tim Crabtree]

For the "next time", if you put a radio tracker, like the Marco Polo system, on your drone it would have taken you to the exact spot, even if it was in someone's backyard or inside their home. Check out the videos of guys finding their lost drones in all kinds of different circumstances using Marco Polo: RC Model Tracking and Recovery - Tracking and Recovery Made Easy | Marco Polo the Tracking and Recovery System