DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Lost Mavic Bel Air, MD. US

Well, I know for the most part, people up near us are really down to earth country folk and generally very friendly and considerate. If someone found it and can figure out that the battery comes out I am sure you will get it back. Especially if it fell in someone's yard or on a car or house...............

Just out of curiosity, have you called the local sheriff? I know that sounds crazy but as long as you were flying within the limits of the law, ie, not over people, residences, or traffic, and YOU TELL THEM THAT, they might not be so judgemental and return it if they have it. Could be someone found it and just gave to one of the local cops. There are a lot of older people like me up there that just like to do nice things for people.

There are just so many places in that area it could be. Without some sort of direction or path or even an educated guess where it is, I think you are screwed. I mean, it could literally be hung up in a tree at 70' above the ground, or it could have fell through the tree canopy and is literally under water in a area that floods (there are a lot of those up there).

If it fell into that area where they are now doing construction at the corner of Water Tower Rd, and Rte 23, with all the heavy equipment, that thing is certainly toast.

Things like this really made me want to get a tracking device at first. Sure, there is the "find my drone" feature but that isn't helping you. And if all power is depleted and the signal failed to transmit most of the mission and there isn't a log of any path, a tracking device would be crucial.

On the other hand, for the next one, just give my State Farm insurance agent a call (Melanie Cook - State Farm Insurance Agent in Baltimore, MD) and tell them you want the drone insurance. Or any State Farm office near us. It costs 60 bucks a year for total coverage regardless of how or what happens and they just cut you a check. That is cheaper than DJI refresh or some tracking device yearly fees.

Good luck!
Rob


Thanks Rob. I won't be calling the Sherrifs as they pulled me over during my search and rescue for a car freshener hanging over the rear view mirror. I didn't get a ticket or nothing but I did tell him i was looking for a drone and he was cool about it. I think the drone probably landed in a lumber yard near the water tower behind the Dairy Queen but I'm sure by now someone picked it up and can't read the reward or knows what a telephone number is and that is why i haven't received a call. Lol. I think I'm going to come to terms. Not blaming DJI/Litchi...it is what it is. For the next bird, I'm definitely doing the state farm thing. Thanks again for the info
 
I put the log in D but not sure if you can open it.

Dropbox - Hickory
I accessed the mission, and it is as I figured. The mission terminated halfway through. Your drone lost GPS satellite lock and switched to ATTI mode. Without GPS it can't do anything, and RTH will not work. Your drone was carried away by the wind. Your RC was connected for half the time it was in ATTI mode, so you actually did have an opportunity to bring it back. I'll work on calculating probable locations it may have ended up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Michael Ainsworth
I see why you say 50%, now odds go down from here.
 
So I see 3 potential scenarios. The first scenario is the drone continued to drift after the RC disconnected and it landed somewhere shown below. Presumably in a 100 meter radius.
Possible location.jpg

The next scenario is that the drone immediately started landing when the RC disconnected meaning it would have landed within a 10 meter radius of the pin shown below.
Possible location.jpg

The third scenario is the drone reacquired GPS lock as it drifted and tried to make it home, in which case, it's probably lost as it landed somewhere that can't be predicted.

I hope this helps.
 
I accessed the mission, and it is as I figured. The mission terminated halfway through. Your drone lost GPS satellite lock and switched to ATTI mode. Without GPS it can't do anything, and RTH will not work. Your drone was carried away by the wind. Your RC was connected for half the time it was in ATTI mode, so you actually did have an opportunity to bring it back. I'll work on calculating probable locations it may have ended up.

Thanks CYBER. Like I think I said initially, I kept getting APP Error both on the R/C and on my Phone screen. By the time I could switch to sport, I had lost video and didn't know where the drone was. When I went to search, I went to the area where I last saw video. If you are saying it got carried away by the wind, then it could of gone farther then where I last saw. My bird really flew the coop. Why would it loose GPS lock if you know? Well I guess I can chuck this to my error for not knowing how to orient my drone to bring it back. The whole experience was an "OH $H!% moment" when I noticed that the drone had gone off course. Then the notice of APP Error freaked me out even more because I have never seen it and when the video had disappeared that's when I really said OH $#!T. If I cant find my drone, then soon enough I will purchase another. But I'm afraid to use Litchi as I never had that happened on DJI GO before. Again, CYBER, thank you for all your help and at east letting me know what went wrong.
 
Thanks CYBER. Like I think I said initially, I kept getting APP Error both on the R/C and on my Phone screen. By the time I could switch to sport, I had lost video and didn't know where the drone was. When I went to search, I went to the area where I last saw video. If you are saying it got carried away by the wind, then it could of gone farther then where I last saw. My bird really flew the coop. Why would it loose GPS lock if you know? Well I guess I can chuck this to my error for not knowing how to orient my drone to bring it back. The whole experience was an "OH $H!% moment" when I noticed that the drone had gone off course. Then the notice of APP Error freaked me out even more because I have never seen it and when the video had disappeared that's when I really said OH $#!T. If I cant find my drone, then soon enough I will purchase another. But I'm afraid to use Litchi as I never had that happened on DJI GO before. Again, CYBER, thank you for all your help and at east letting me know what went wrong.
There's still hope. Your drone may have ended up where I predicted in the above posts. You may be lucky.
 
So I see 3 potential scenarios. The first scenario is the drone continued to drift after the RC disconnected and it landed somewhere shown below. Presumably in a 100 meter radius.
View attachment 12156

The next scenario is that the drone immediately started landing when the RC disconnected meaning it would have landed within a 10 meter radius of the pin shown below.
View attachment 12157

The third scenario is the drone reacquired GPS lock as it drifted and tried to make it home, in which case, it's probably lost as it landed somewhere that can't be predicted.

I hope this helps.

CYBER, The second was near the area where I last saw video. There is a lumber yard near the water tower and a couple of other business. I checked most of the area except for the lumber yard. Every time toe gates are closed. But that was the one place I felt it could of been
There's still hope. Your drone may have ended up where I predicted in the above posts. You may be lucky.

I'm optimistic as based on your predictions, the first is the area where Inlast saw video footage from and it's the one place I have not been able to search; a lumber yard with locked gates and I can seem to get a hold of them. The second, not sure where that is exactly but I'm guessing south of my location by a mile. The third option is the scary one but I'm prepared to accept and learn from this experience. Again, whether I find it or not, I appreciate all your assistance as well as everyone else's in this forum. I'm new to the forum and all of you have been very supportive and informative. Thank you all and I'll advise on my continued search.
 
CYBER, The second was near the area where I last saw video. There is a lumber yard near the water tower and a couple of other business. I checked most of the area except for the lumber yard. Every time toe gates are closed. But that was the one place I felt it could of been


I'm optimistic as based on your predictions, the first is the area where Inlast saw video footage from and it's the one place I have not been able to search; a lumber yard with locked gates and I can seem to get a hold of them. The second, not sure where that is exactly but I'm guessing south of my location by a mile. The third option is the scary one but I'm prepared to accept and learn from this experience. Again, whether I find it or not, I appreciate all your assistance as well as everyone else's in this forum. I'm new to the forum and all of you have been very supportive and informative. Thank you all and I'll advise on my continued search.

It's actually NW from the takeoff point. The coordinates are in the image. Just google those coordinates to get a pin.
 
So today I went searching being guided by Cyber's location where my drone could of possibly flown to. Location one is still a possibility as where I need to search is a lumber yard but it appears to be either shut down temporarily or altogether. Location 2 is definitely a no go as there is no way of actually even getting to it due to dense vegetation, trees and it seem impossible of a search. Maybe that's why no one has called
me to return it. If it's back there, I might as well cut my losses. I'm still hopeful it will be at location 1. I'm coming to terms and will call off the search and get another one. I will take Rob's advise and get Insurance from State Farm. Cyber, again, thank you for plotting out a possible LZ for me to search.
 
So today I went searching being guided by Cyber's location where my drone could of possibly flown to. Location one is still a possibility as where I need to search is a lumber yard but it appears to be either shut down temporarily or altogether. Location 2 is definitely a no go as there is no way of actually even getting to it due to dense vegetation, trees and it seem impossible of a search. Maybe that's why no one has called
me to return it. If it's back there, I might as well cut my losses. I'm still hopeful it will be at location 1. I'm coming to terms and will call off the search and get another one. I will take Rob's advise and get Insurance from State Farm. Cyber, again, thank you for plotting out a possible LZ for me to search.

Have you tried binoculars. I personally use a trackimo which acts as my insurance policy in case it disappears.
 
Have you tried binoculars. I personally use a trackimo which acts as my insurance policy in case it disappears.

Yes to binoculars and I thought of the trackimo but was afraid of adding extra weight. I used the Trackr which was fairly small but worked on blue tooth only which was good for 150 feet. Based on recent experience, I don't recommend it on a drone as it doesn't work. Next one will be insured, trakimoed and whatever else may give me a piece of mind.
 
Yes to binoculars and I thought of the trackimo but was afraid of adding extra weight. I used the Trackr which was fairly small but worked on blue tooth only which was good for 150 feet. Based on recent experience, I don't recommend it on a drone as it doesn't work. Next one will be insured, trakimoed and whatever else may give me a piece of mind.
Trackimos are light enough to not have an impact on the balance. I recommend mounting it onto the head of the drone.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,597
Messages
1,554,228
Members
159,602
Latest member
Tenakeetwo