I’ve been tempted to do an intentional lost signal RTH for some time now, but I haven’t quite been able to work up the nerve to do it. Now Reliant, my Mini-1, has done it for me.
I’ve settled on a standard “qualification” for testing new drones in my somewhat challenging mountain flying environment. It’s pretty simple: Is the drone stable with a reliable signal at 2000 ft away, and at 1000 ft ATL? My canyon environment makes it easy for me to get 1000 ft ATL while remaining below 400 ft AGL at all points in the flight.
Reliant passed her distance qual early, although the signal strength is a bit shaky compared to the Mini-SE, and not close to comparable to the Mini-2. But Reliant’s altitude qual has been more elusive…uncooperative winds.
Reliant was the 4th of my 5 Minis to fly during the Easter Sunday Marathon, and I really wanted to get that altitude qual done. But at a measly 350 ft ATL, I got a high wind warning. So I reduced altitude and waited for a bit, but when I tried again I got the same warning. I finally gave up, and decided to bring her back to play close to home instead. I dropped the altitude twice more in response to high wind warnings.
There is, of course, a trade-off between altitude and control signal quality, all other things being equal. Very broadly, the higher you are, the better the control signal quality, because you get farther away from ground clutter.
I was doing a relatively low local cruise, when I got the high wind indication again. I dropped again, and figured it was time to come home. That’s when the fun started. Check out this video:
22-04-07 Lost Signal RTH Mini-1.mp4
00:00 The video starts after I reduce altitude after the high wind warning, and start to come back home. When you get a high wind warning, it also tells you that it can’t come home automatically, but that’s not entirely true…
00:15 Note that the drone stops moving. At that point I get a low signal alert, and Reliant says that she’s not going to send me any more video, and that she’s coming home. Note that there was no reduction in the RC signal strength indicator in Fly prior to this warning. Five bars good, and then dead. Everything Reliant does after that, is on her own, with no control input from me. It is a very weird and disconcerting feeling to know that your drone is doing something, but you can’t see any data from the drone. No video, nothing.
00:23 Reliant makes her turn to come home.
00:29 Reliant starts to climb to her assigned RTH altitude. Highly problematic! I’d been flying low to avoid the winds, and she was going up to meet the Monster. I also hadn’t accounted for that climb in my power management plan, which will now be amended accordingly.
00:42 A strange sequence of events begins. Reliant rotates left for some reason beyond my understanding. Note also that I have the camera in FPV mode, so you can actually see the effects of the Wind Monster.
00:47 Reliant is coming home, obviously fighting the wind valiantly, but she’s pointed at 90º left of her direction of motion. I had nothing to do with that choice of orientation.
01:23 The signal is reacquired. At this point, the home point is about 120º left of the nose. As I’m bringing her home, I now get a low power warning! The combination of fighting the wind, and the unplanned climb, had burned up my power reserves. At that point we were in danger from an Attack of the RTH! But I was able to cancel a couple of those warnings, and land normally with about 1:30 minutes left on the battery, well below my normal landing levels.
Obviously, anyone who says a Mini-1 can’t handle anything other than a light breeze, is badly misinformed!
It's not just flying a drone; it’s an adventure!
MM…FP..?
I’ve settled on a standard “qualification” for testing new drones in my somewhat challenging mountain flying environment. It’s pretty simple: Is the drone stable with a reliable signal at 2000 ft away, and at 1000 ft ATL? My canyon environment makes it easy for me to get 1000 ft ATL while remaining below 400 ft AGL at all points in the flight.
Reliant passed her distance qual early, although the signal strength is a bit shaky compared to the Mini-SE, and not close to comparable to the Mini-2. But Reliant’s altitude qual has been more elusive…uncooperative winds.
Reliant was the 4th of my 5 Minis to fly during the Easter Sunday Marathon, and I really wanted to get that altitude qual done. But at a measly 350 ft ATL, I got a high wind warning. So I reduced altitude and waited for a bit, but when I tried again I got the same warning. I finally gave up, and decided to bring her back to play close to home instead. I dropped the altitude twice more in response to high wind warnings.
There is, of course, a trade-off between altitude and control signal quality, all other things being equal. Very broadly, the higher you are, the better the control signal quality, because you get farther away from ground clutter.
I was doing a relatively low local cruise, when I got the high wind indication again. I dropped again, and figured it was time to come home. That’s when the fun started. Check out this video:
22-04-07 Lost Signal RTH Mini-1.mp4
00:00 The video starts after I reduce altitude after the high wind warning, and start to come back home. When you get a high wind warning, it also tells you that it can’t come home automatically, but that’s not entirely true…
00:15 Note that the drone stops moving. At that point I get a low signal alert, and Reliant says that she’s not going to send me any more video, and that she’s coming home. Note that there was no reduction in the RC signal strength indicator in Fly prior to this warning. Five bars good, and then dead. Everything Reliant does after that, is on her own, with no control input from me. It is a very weird and disconcerting feeling to know that your drone is doing something, but you can’t see any data from the drone. No video, nothing.
00:23 Reliant makes her turn to come home.
00:29 Reliant starts to climb to her assigned RTH altitude. Highly problematic! I’d been flying low to avoid the winds, and she was going up to meet the Monster. I also hadn’t accounted for that climb in my power management plan, which will now be amended accordingly.
00:42 A strange sequence of events begins. Reliant rotates left for some reason beyond my understanding. Note also that I have the camera in FPV mode, so you can actually see the effects of the Wind Monster.
00:47 Reliant is coming home, obviously fighting the wind valiantly, but she’s pointed at 90º left of her direction of motion. I had nothing to do with that choice of orientation.
01:23 The signal is reacquired. At this point, the home point is about 120º left of the nose. As I’m bringing her home, I now get a low power warning! The combination of fighting the wind, and the unplanned climb, had burned up my power reserves. At that point we were in danger from an Attack of the RTH! But I was able to cancel a couple of those warnings, and land normally with about 1:30 minutes left on the battery, well below my normal landing levels.
Obviously, anyone who says a Mini-1 can’t handle anything other than a light breeze, is badly misinformed!
It's not just flying a drone; it’s an adventure!
MM…FP..?
