Lost Mavic Help!! I am terrified!

AlanTheBeast · Mar 5, 2017

rbhamilton said:
Bit off topic (sorry I can't help recovering this drone) but another vote for a tracker for future.

I use the RF-V16 is only 27g but it takes a SIM card. T-Mobile sells a spare SIM for $25. After that you need a phone plan for your SIM. T-Mobile has been handing out free lines like crazy for US residents recently. I picked up 2 free lines on Black Friday and another last Tuesday (it was the Tmobile Tuesday deal). I've got 5 lines for $80/Month now and I'm running out of spare phones to put them into. Another option for a free line - sign up for Tmobile's "Digits" beta. They will give you a cloned SIM of your main number that you can use in your mobile device, watch, spare phone or Tracker.

The only issue with the RF-V16 is that I think it might have messed up my GPS. I mounted mine to my battery with velcro and the very next flight my quad kept entering ATTI. I was able to fly it back and land manually. I'm going to try mounting it on the side next and see what happens.

Some of the comments on other sites are not very positive wrt the RF-V16's actual performance or accuracy. Some do mention using a "pay as you go" data plan. Have you tried that? (Guess not with all those lines for $80/month ...)

Mavicsailor · Mar 5, 2017

AlanTheBeast said:
I'm oscillating between the Marco Polo (expensive but no fees) and Trackimo (cheaper but recurring fees and account maintenance).

Have you done a range test with the Marco Polo? In deep weeds and woods?

Edited: Ah, screw it! I just ordered a Trackimo. CAD$158 with one year's subscription included.

I have the latest Trackimo and it works great. I have mine set to one minute updates. It charges using the same cable that charges the Mavic RC. It's also great to track luggage, and other valuables anywhere. It's a bit heavier than the MP, and built very well. I think you'd be very happy with either.

flyNfrank · Mar 5, 2017

bvogel said:
No,

I launch it from the ground, I get on the rooftop for better visibility and for the antenna to avoid interference.

I noticed several took time to lend a hand, some more then others. This thread is now into the 4th page and not once have you bothered to show any appreciation whatsoever. I know what it's like to lose a drone. And it is very frustrating, but....

Robbyg · Mar 5, 2017

flyNfrank you might want to edit that post. I think it's possible the guy is still out looking for it. Without battery power he is looking for a needle in a haystack.

Rob

F6Rider · Mar 5, 2017

AlanTheBeast said:
Thanks - nice to know the real numbers. If the drone goes down in the woods I should easily get within 500 m w/o help. The MarPo should carry the rest easily enough.

It's in contention again!

I had a crash and lost my Mavic in tall grass and weeds over 1/2 mile away, the Marco Polo found it for me in 15 minutes. As a Radio Direction Finder is does not use or need GPS, and as I fly in the mountains and desert a lot with spotty cell service I am glad I have it.

Bintryin · Mar 5, 2017

rt60 said:
Looks like you flew out with a good tail wind. Speed out is > 40mph but back in direction of home is < 6mph. At a distance of 7700feet/2.3km at 1000 feet/300m altitude and with high wind warning, it may not have been able to get home. Draw a straight line on a map from last known position to home point and search along that. Also home point being around a building and trees may have caused loss of signal.

1000 feet omg thats up there

Sent from my SM-T355Y using MavicPilots mobile app

BorisTheSpider · Mar 5, 2017

rbhamilton said:
The only issue with the RF-V16 is that I think it might have messed up my GPS. I mounted mine to my battery with velcro and the very next flight my quad kept entering ATTI. I was able to fly it back and land manually. I'm going to try mounting it on the side next and see what happens.

Please can you report how you get on with that - I won't be using mine if I think it will mess with the GPS in the mavic so if you're going to test I'd be very interested to know if you find a suitable mounting location where it doesn't do that.

stratos · Mar 5, 2017

bvogel said:
Hello All,
I lost my Mavic after 12 minutes of using it, everything was going smoothly, I started getting strong wind signals, I was flying over a farm with little interference, I got a lost signal initial then it cameback and I immediately hit the return button and suddenly it lost signal for good, while the controller kept beeping return home.. I got in my car and ran to the point it had last GPS signal and it wasnt there. I spent approx. 2 hours looking for it. Can anyone please help me with this. I live in Nicaragua & I had just brought that drone about a week ago.I added a link to the flight log.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

You should have waited on the place you took off mate. why did you ran the last GPS position if the drone was returning to you?

bvogel · Mar 5, 2017

Hey guys, spent all day looking for the Mavic, it was a frustrating unsuccessful day. I started by going back to the point where it had the last coordinates connected. Then I went to the area @msinger suggested covering the perimeter he drew. The trees and shrubs are very dense and make walking freely near impossible so there were certain parts I was not able to access. After that I went to the point where it could have landed assuming it went in the straight direction it was heading. I left my phone # to people living nearby asking them for help. Tomorrow I will go out there and look again, following the route assuming it tried to return home, although I find it unlikely. It is very unusual how this happened, tomorrow I plan to call DJI and see what input I can get from them. Going forward I plan on purchasing a GPS tracker, thanks for that tip! having this uncertainty sucks!

I want to thank this community for your quick responses & help, all the knowledge, experience and insights shared in such a short time perhaps might not have worked this time, but will serve to make me a more aware, experienced and resourceful pilot, as I do not plan to quit using drones any time soon. I will keep you guys posted if anything worth sharing comes up.

stratos · Mar 6, 2017

bvogel said:
Hey guys, spent all day looking for the Mavic, it was a frustrating unsuccessful day. I started by going back to the point where it had the last coordinates connected. Then I went to the area @msinger suggested covering the perimeter he drew. The trees and shrubs are very dense and make walking freely near impossible so there were certain parts I was not able to access. After that I went to the point where it could have landed assuming it went in the straight direction it was heading. I left my phone # to people living nearby asking them for help. Tomorrow I will go out there and look again, following the route assuming it tried to return home, although I find it unlikely. It is very unusual how this happened, tomorrow I plan to call DJI and see what input I can get from them. Going forward I plan on purchasing a GPS tracker, thanks for that tip! having this uncertainty sucks!

I want to thank this community for your quick responses & help, all the knowledge, experience and insights shared in such a short time perhaps might not have worked this time, but will serve to make me a more aware, experienced and resourceful pilot, as I do not plan to quit using drones any time soon. I will keep you guys posted if anything worth sharing comes up.

Mate best luck to you buddy. One of the reasons I am using a white skin in my mavic is that in the event I lose it, It would be easier for me to search for it from above and below.

Rnl · Mar 6, 2017

Still thing ping will be better and smaller with longer battery life

Cyberpower678 · Mar 6, 2017

I live in spotty cell service in very wooded and mountainous areas. I want the one with the best range possible with the best way of finding it when it gets lost even 7km out should I foolishly fly that far for some reason.

AlanTheBeast · Mar 6, 2017

Mavicsailor said:
I have the latest Trackimo and it works great. I have mine set to one minute updates. It charges using the same cable that charges the Mavic RC. It's also great to track luggage, and other valuables anywhere. It's a bit heavier than the MP, and built very well. I think you'd be very happy with either.

Yesterday I ordered the Trackimo believing the 2nd year of SIM would be $5.00. Not $5.00 / month. That starts to be ridiculous. I'm not sure if there are data plans here that are "pay as you go" - that could be useful - and that would work in the Trackimo.

So cancelled the Trackimo.

The MarPo is less attractive in one sense (does not report position but direction to the asset) so it's not going to be any fun to see what my cat is really up to on long summer nights ...

Another user points out the RX-D16 (whatever). User comments online are not especially warm towards it (setup issues, does not report when triggered until triggered 2 or more times) - and again I'd have to be sure to be able to get the right sort of data plan here. (Canadian cell co's are not nearly as competitive as in the US).

Anyway sitting this out until the drone MarPo is available easily in Canada (the pet version is - maybe I just need to re-package the asset transceiver).

AlanTheBeast · Mar 6, 2017

bvogel said:
Hey guys, spent all day looking for the Mavic, it was a frustrating unsuccessful day. I started by going back to the point where it had the last coordinates connected. Then I went to the area @msinger suggested covering the perimeter he drew. The trees and shrubs are very dense and make walking freely near impossible so there were certain parts I was not able to access. After that I went to the point where it could have landed assuming it went in the straight direction it was heading. I left my phone # to people living nearby asking them for help. Tomorrow I will go out there and look again, following the route assuming it tried to return home, although I find it unlikely. It is very unusual how this happened, tomorrow I plan to call DJI and see what input I can get from them. Going forward I plan on purchasing a GPS tracker, thanks for that tip! having this uncertainty sucks!

I want to thank this community for your quick responses & help, all the knowledge, experience and insights shared in such a short time perhaps might not have worked this time, but will serve to make me a more aware, experienced and resourceful pilot, as I do not plan to quit using drones any time soon. I will keep you guys posted if anything worth sharing comes up.

Don't give up and certainly do make an offer to the local kids for a reward if found!

flyNfrank · Mar 6, 2017

bvogel said:
Hey guys, spent all day looking for the Mavic, it was a frustrating unsuccessful day. I started by going back to the point where it had the last coordinates connected. Then I went to the area @msinger suggested covering the perimeter he drew. The trees and shrubs are very dense and make walking freely near impossible so there were certain parts I was not able to access. After that I went to the point where it could have landed assuming it went in the straight direction it was heading. I left my phone # to people living nearby asking them for help. Tomorrow I will go out there and look again, following the route assuming it tried to return home, although I find it unlikely. It is very unusual how this happened, tomorrow I plan to call DJI and see what input I can get from them. Going forward I plan on purchasing a GPS tracker, thanks for that tip! having this uncertainty sucks!

I want to thank this community for your quick responses & help, all the knowledge, experience and insights shared in such a short time perhaps might not have worked this time, but will serve to make me a more aware, experienced and resourceful pilot, as I do not plan to quit using drones any time soon. I will keep you guys posted if anything worth sharing comes up.

The aircraft was likely just starting to go into a landing process. On the very last few lines of data changes were starting to take place.
-The app had just indicated a change from S to P mode.
- A Voltage Warning had just been received. (Smart Battery did in fact engage a RTH)
- The Remote Controller was in A-mode throughout entire flight.

So what I found to be one of the main issues is to do with the battery. While flying against strong winds for an extended amount of time, the voltage level in the battery can drop below a programmed set point. In this case once it begins getting close to that number, the app goes into failsafe mode. So the aircraft will either Hover, Land, or RTH based on your setup selection. In this case the aircraft was set to RTH. The aircraft was on it's way to what it thought was it's Home Point. And it was still fighting strong wind, and maintaining altitude at 930ft.

I don't think the aircraft went much further from where the data stopped. I believe the battery went into a critical stage and force landed the aircraft at that time.

wngan · Mar 6, 2017

I do wish you will find it and have a happy ending.

F6Rider · Mar 7, 2017

Cyberpower678 said:
I live in spotty cell service in very wooded and mountainous areas. I want the one with the best range possible with the best way of finding it when it gets lost even 7km out should I foolishly fly that far for some reason.

Then the best option for you is the Marco Polo, I have only had to use it once, but that saved my A**. The area I was in did have cell service but I don't think a gps tracker could have found it any faster than the Marco Polo did, and I often fly in areas with no or spotty cell service. I almost never fly more than 1 mile away, except in the desert and there the range on the MP is 2 miles, even if I was outside of that all I would have to do is go in the last known direction and it would ping the tag as soon as it was in range. Yes the handheld receiver is a bit large but its not that big, and fits in my sling bag, plus it holds a charge much longer than my phone. I would hate to have a gps tracker and find I had a low or dead phone.

Cyberpower678 · Mar 7, 2017

bvogel said:
Hello All,
I lost my Mavic after 12 minutes of using it, everything was going smoothly, I started getting strong wind signals, I was flying over a farm with little interference, I got a lost signal initial then it cameback and I immediately hit the return button and suddenly it lost signal for good, while the controller kept beeping return home.. I got in my car and ran to the point it had last GPS signal and it wasnt there. I spent approx. 2 hours looking for it. Can anyone please help me with this. I live in Nicaragua & I had just brought that drone about a week ago.I added a link to the flight log.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Have you had a chance to look in any of the areas @Robbyg, @msinger, or myself suggested. We all came up with different locations to search that may help to reunite you with your Mavic. Have you had any luck?