Mavic 3 Enterprise lost signal Class B airspace

[R.Cowan]

Today I had issues with my M3E. It unexpectedly lost signal during a mapping mission with drone deploy in class B Airspace. It would not return home and only hovered until it forced landed. I've never experienced this before. I had an airspace authorization and DJI unlock license. Speaking with another part 107 pilot, he told me that if it was in controlled airspace and loses its signal that it will not let it return home. I've never heard of this. Any thoughts or comments?

 

[mavic3usa]

.... he told me that if it was in controlled airspace and loses its signal that it will not let it return home.

That's not a given or a rule but it is possible depending on where it is and where it needs to go. Half or more of my flights are in controlled airspace, certainly the RTH function setting for "Return Home" vs "Hover" or "Land" is not disabled. Maybe he meant "restricted" airspace instead of "controlled" airspace.

 

[Cafguy]

If you receive authorization for an unlocked area, your drone is allowed to fly into that unlocked zone from the outside, but cannot fly back out and return to home if the homepoint is outside the unlocked zone.

 

[R.Cowan]

Thanks mavic3usa for your input. He may have said "restricted". I was flying a video plan when it happened. Signal strength was good right up until it went from five bars to no connection. I managed to maneuver it away from the trees and land on the side of a road. Once it was retrieved, I attempted the mission again and only had the same results with it losing signal at the exact same spot. This time I was not able to maneuver it before it clipped a tree limb During a forced landing. A broken arm and headed back to DJI for repairs and needless to say, embarrassment in front of a customer.

 

[R.Cowan]

If you receive authorization for an unlocked area, your drone is allowed to fly into that unlocked zone from the outside, but cannot fly back out and return to home if the homepoint is outside the unlocked zone.

Thanks Cafguy. Home point was in the unlocked zone... But since you have mentioned this, it leads me to think that possibly I flew outside of the unlocked zone and then couldn't come back. I'm going to do some further investigation.

 

[Cafguy]

This is an interesting read.

Be *very* careful when drawing your GeoZone for unlocking... (almost lost Mavic 3 Pro)

I suppose this is technically my fault, but the situation really highlights the problems with how DJI implements GeoZones and how it affects drone behavior. So I got a weeks-long authorization to fly in the Class C airspace in the city where my in-laws live, since we travel there often and...

mavicpilots.com

 

[R.Cowan]

Good information. However, I'm still not sure what caused the loss of signal at the same location at 2 different times. It was very close to a building that had numerous signs posting of radiation area. Could the possible construction of that building, potentially lead walls, Somehow kill my connection?

 

[Cafguy]

The lost signal is unusual Not sure what the radiation would do to the Drone BUT It would sure give me some motivation to up my expenses lol
Could for sure have been some kind of Equipment someone was using maybe.
You might think about taking it out someplace with no restrictions and see if you lose signal again. I bet you won't.

 

[R.Cowan]

The lost signal is unusual Not sure what the radiation would do to the Drone BUT It would sure give me some motivation to up my expenses lol
Could for sure have been some kind of Equipment someone was using maybe.
You might think about taking it out someplace with no restrictions and see if you lose signal again. I bet you won't.

I agree. I've been flying the M3E for a couple of years now
and have rarely ever experienced signal lose. Since it
will be heading back to DJI on Monday, i'm assuming during the repair that they test everything and ensure everything is working properly.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Good information. However, I'm still not sure what caused the loss of signal at the same location at 2 different times. It was very close to a building that had numerous signs posting of radiation area. Could the possible construction of that building, potentially lead walls, Somehow kill my connection?

I'd be interested if you were able to find out what that particular building housed. As for lead sheeting: first hand experience let me know just how efficiently this can block RF transmissions (but only when it lies directly between the drone and the controller antennas). Same with copper or steel gridwork.

 

[R.Cowan]

I will definitely be asking those questions when this flight is rescheduled. Before I start another autonomous mission with dronedeploy, I plan to go right near the building in a safe area and just raise the drone up fifty feet and see if I have signal issues or wifi interference.

 

[Arnold LeVine]

Is the Drone Deploy flight plan first uploaded to the M3E, or is each command transmitted to the M3E in real time?
Does your flight logs indicate what happened? or why?
I've had similar issue in the past with my P4P V2, stopping in mid mapping mission, once it repeated the issue, once it continued on after a restart. No clue why.

 

[R.Cowan]

Dronedeploy missions are created in your account and flown real time. I have not had an opportunity to review the flight logs. Hope to have some answers this week.