Lost my Mavic Air in a first day

[BrianOrillia]

Has anyone put their contact info on their drone in case of loss? Someone I know did that with their drone and it went AWOL on him. Fortunately, the person who found it called him and sent him an email and he was able to retrieve it. I guess it's a crap shoot as to whether or not the people will call you back if they find it, but at least it's something.

 

[CanadaDrone]

In Canada, you are supposed to put your name/address/phone number on your drone - not sure if it's the same in the USA. I imagine most people put that info under the battery compartment, but then someone who finds it may not realize it's there.

You can also buy very small/light tracking devices, I imagine they are very popular on drones.

 

[balla80]

Trackimo. It cost me $5 a month after I get my one year free subscription

How did yours fit on you MA? I've been wondering how the MA takes it mounted, how it handles, and is there any interference with it on.

 

[swooshdave]

Has anyone put their contact info on their drone in case of loss? Someone I know did that with their drone and it went AWOL on him. Fortunately, the person who found it called him and sent him an email and he was able to retrieve it. I guess it's a crap shoot as to whether or not the people will call you back if they find it, but at least it's something.

Phone number that is readily visible. None of this "under the battery" crap. 99.9% of the people who find a lost drone will know how to remove the battery let alone think to look there. Since your odds are already low that your drone might be found why make the odds even lower.

 

[JoBri]

Good job. No drone in this world that could handle the strong wind at ease. its very difficult to fight. might as well land fast.

agreed. winds are too dangerous

 

[balla80]

If you fly where there is cell service, there is a new tracker out I'm going to try. Ping tracker.

How did it fit on your MA? I'm interested as well. Do you have a pick of it mounted?

 

[InvisibleName]

Good job. No drone in this world that could handle the strong wind at ease. its very difficult to fight. might as well land fast.

Who says the MA can’t handle wind?

 

[Will.i.am]

The last email update I received from them said they started shipping their first units.

I just received my two-pack of Pings. So far I am not impressed. They are small, I'll give them that. And they appear to be water-proof, as claimed. But I have not been able to activate either one, after following their sparse instructions - full charge, start the app, select to add a device, push the button until colors cycle. The app says 'searching for ping' and that's all that happens. The only recourse mentioned in the instructions is to try a reset, which I did, but no joy on either one. I emailed their support. I am very disappointed after waiting almost two years for this.

The Ping is not a GPS tracker, ie you cannot do real-time tracking or geo-fencing. At best, it is an emergency locator. All you can do is ping it and it is supposed to send its last measured position. Measured position is by GPS if available, cell tower location, or Bluetooth. I don't know what they mean by "last" but it doesn't sound like it is necessarily the current position, so I'm not sure how good it will be for finding a lost drone.

I will wait to hear from support to see if I can get them activated, then I will test performance and report back.

 

[Rnl]

Hope it's not a problem mine comes in Mon. Looked like a good thing for drones, good luck. They'll getting going I'm sure.

 

[msinger]

All you can do is ping it and it is supposed to send its last measured position.

Right -- it'll show you the tracker's current location. If you only purchased these for tracking drones, I don't know that real-time tracking or geo-fencing would be very beneficial.

 

[Will.i.am]

Right -- it'll show you the tracker's current location. If you only purchased these for tracking drones, I don't know that real-time tracking or geo-fencing would be very beneficial.

Well, that's the problem. I'm not sure if it will show "current" location. They say that it will show last measured position. They don't explain how often the device measures its position. So it is not really a tracker. It is a locator.

Other users on the Ping support site are reporting that they are pinging the device and getting locations that are 2 to 6 hours old. That is not very useful for a moving object. I will certainly test this out when I get my Pings activated.

 

[msinger]

Well, that's the problem. I'm not sure if it will show "current" location. They say that it will show last measured position. They don't explain how often the device measures its position.

When I open the Ping app, I often do not see the current location of my tracker if it has recently moved. It can sometimes take minutes for it to retrieve the current location.

So it is not really a tracker. It is a locator.

I guess it's a term often interchanged by many people. Ping does advertise it as "the world's smallest GPS locator" on their website.

 

[Rnl]

So, what do you think msinger?

 

[msinger]

So, what do you think msinger?

About the Ping? See this post.

 

[wytnyt]

I believe that if you are too close to the drone it will also not go to the RTH height first. Keep that in mind if you are surrounded by obstacles.

itll still go to a 30 ft rth