Mini 2 distance shown in app

[Deleted member 103366]

Ah well I think you and I have discussed this enough in this thread and we do not appear to be achieving anything so lets leave it at that shall we?

 

[tlswift58]

WOW! Arguing about RTH. It's a FAILSAFE people and if anyone truly depends on it for every flight - you need to unlearn that. It's a nice feature, don't get me wrong - but unless your drone gets homepoint prior to takeoff or just as taking off vertically - not horizontally - it's not going to be where the drone took off from. If you take off from a wooded area with little real space to go horizontal - doubtful homepoint will be where the drone took off from due to catching enough sats.

No way do I depend on RTH to bring my drone back and land exactly where it took off from. Unreasonable expectation to me unless you gained homepoint sitting on ground before take-off or set just at take off in vertical flight.

RTH is nice when the drone disappears from VLOS as you were looking down at the screen for seeing the video / pic taking and look up and that tiny gray drone blended in with the sky / environment and you are unsure exactly it's location. Yet, I still go to the map screen in lower left corner of screen to locate the drone and know where it is in relation to homepoint. I can then maneuver the drone to get it closer to that homepoint (may not be that close to take off point due to sat issues). I then have an approx spot and can usually find the drone again and know where it is. I always land my drone under my power / control, not using RTH and expecting good results. Most of my flying is in wooded conditions with water (creeks / rivers / waterfalls) and RTH would probably end up in a crash scenario. A drone is much like a manned aircraft, no pilot lands on autopilot (RTH); but under direct control of the pilot themselves. You should be learning and doing the same.

 

[umanbean]

WOW! Arguing about RTH. It's a FAILSAFE people

I think RTH is more complicated, and important, than most people think, so it's worth debating, and I don't think it's a Failsafe except at Low Battery RTH - that's when the drone has calculated there's just enough battery left to get home. (but it doesn't take into account the wind - the pilot has to do that!)

I think of RTH, by using the RC button or on-screen icon, as an everyday tool. When the AC is 'out there' and you notice battery is ~40%, just press RTH and relax a minute until it gets overhead. I wait for Sheila to say "Landing" and sometimes take control - sometimes not. My C2 button flips the camera straight down and I can use the diy landing pad to get it 'centered'.

unless you gained homepoint sitting on ground before take-off or set just at take off in vertical flight.

Exactly, when I'm around heavy tree cover, I just ascend straight up to above treetop... it sets correct homepoint, no problem, away we go.

You should be learning and doing the same.

I think that's what we're all doing, partly right here in this thread.

 

[spudster]

I think RTH is more complicated, and important, than most people think, so it's worth debating, and I don't think it's a Failsafe except at Low Battery RTH

I agree. I cases where I have had a pretty intense flight to try to get some shots and video just right, it's nice to be able to hit RTH and lean back and relax for a few minutes for it to land. To each their own, at least I don't put others down for doing it differently.

 

[tlswift58]

I think RTH is more complicated, and important, than most people think, so it's worth debating, and I don't think it's a Failsafe except at Low Battery RTH - that's when the drone has calculated there's just enough battery left to get home. (but it doesn't take into account the wind - the pilot has to do that!)

I think of RTH, by using the RC button or on-screen icon, as an everyday tool. When the AC is 'out there' and you notice battery is ~40%, just press RTH and relax a minute until it gets overhead. I wait for Sheila to say "Landing" and sometimes take control - sometimes not. My C2 button flips the camera straight down and I can use the diy landing pad to get it 'centered'.


Exactly, when I'm around heavy tree cover, I just ascend straight up to above treetop... it sets correct homepoint, no problem, away we go.


I think that's what we're all doing, partly right here in this thread.

You are entitled to your opine and how you fly your drone. I have the same.

Why is RTH so important under normal flying. Just want to see why you state that.

I bought my drone to fly myself. If you want autopilot - then fly autopilot. I'm not learning when in autopilot, so that is why I prefer to only use RTH as a final solution. Also where I fly and what I fly for - RTH allows me to miss out on some probably last shots / vids as I'm coming home before my battery is critical. I also fly where there is A LOT of tree cover (90+%), so RTH - depending on where the homepoint is set, may not correctly land the drone in a clear spot. So, I do have very specific reasons for not relying on RTH to come home and land on it's own. I'm learning all the time while flying where and when I do and does autopilot accomplish that - not to me.

I'm simply stating my reasons and you along with others who maybe can & do fly in wide open spaces and bored with the scenery can do RTH and expect a good result while taking a break. Again your drone / your flying - do as you please. There is no debate in that, at least from me.

 

[umanbean]

Why is RTH so important under normal flying. Just want to see why you state that.

I didn't state that it's so important to me, simply a harmless convenience. I said it was important to discuss, because when setup correctly, RTH can and has saved many peoples' drones.

If you want autopilot - then fly autopilot.

I will when I want to... thank you. I also fly Litchi missions on autopilot and that's just something else good to learn... I like learning.

 

[umanbean]

To each their own, at least I don't put others down for doing it differently.

 

[Kilrah]

the drone had indicated the it got a homepoint fix as it took off, the rear LED's flash in a specific way.

So you hadn't waited for it to record before taking off, so it's all obviously irrelevant as it doesn't match the mentioned recommendation.

Ah well I think you and I have discussed this enough in this thread and we do not appear to be achieving anything so lets leave it at that shall we?

Homepoint recording is critical, so if you don't want to correct your misunderstandings about it at least don't come and post wrong info to users asking for help.

You just don't take off before HP is recorded and you checked its accuracy, and that way you have no problem.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I understand perfectly the importance the home point, why else would I seek to check its location?

 

[EyesWideShut]

@PhiliusFoggg - Thanks for reminding me that the rear LEDs (in addition to other things), also indicates that the Home Point has been acquired. A must for flyers like yourself who can't hear the audio announcements (and warnings) or have the device volume turned down.

 

[manc54]

I'm not 100% sure here but I seem to recall reading that if rerurn to home was initiated within a set distance relative to home point ( ie within 50 meters ) it does not return to home but lands immediately. ( my distance may be incorrect it could be " feet " ) Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Meta4]

I'm not 100% sure here but I seem to recall reading that if rerurn to home was initiated within a set distance relative to home point ( ie within 50 meters ) it does not return to home but lands immediately.

For most models, the distance is 20 metres.
Check your manual to check for your drone.

But what's that got to do with the topic being discussed?

 

[umanbean]

( my distance may be incorrect it could be " feet " )

20 meters

 

[vulcanclassic]

G'day vulcanclassic. Here's the specifications from the manual-

Hovering Accuracy Range
Vertical: ±0.1 m (with Vision Positioning), ±0.5 m (with GPS Positioning)
Horizontal: ±0.3 m (with Vision Positioning), ±1.5 m (with GPS Positioning)

I took some photos for a timelapse video this morning. I took off from a hover from the middle of two shrubs and a tree, about a metre from the ground. The drone was about a metre from any one of them. I was after a nice timelapse with the paddocks beyond my place on the other side of a tree lined creek. I sent the drone straight up to 120 metres and let it do its stuff for 20 minutes, just hovering. Then I brought it straight down to a hover within ten centimetres from where I took off. So even though it was a little windy up above, the drone stuck to its GPS position really well.

I've never had a problem with RTH. It always comes back to where the home point was set. I always hand launch and hand catch and I've never had to move from where I sent it up to go catch it.

Thank you for reply. Much Appreciate!

 

[vulcanclassic]

With regards to indicated distance it might be as well for you yourself to see what the RTH behaviour of your drone is when 'close'. There is/are distance threshold/s where the behaviour changes, if the 'error' affects that/those thresholds you could be caught out by the subsequent unexpected behaviour.

With my Mavic Mini, RTH is normally accurate to within 4 or 5 ft, often within 2 to 3ft.
That said, before relying on it for a real flight, I often send the drone out a short distance and then RTH it just to verify where it thinks home is set. This stems from a couple of flights where, with a different drone, the homepoint was inaccurate and the error would have brought it down into a fir tree.

Appreciate your reply. Thank you!

 

[vulcanclassic]

Thanks to all for reply to my question. I really appreciate the communities willingness to help out. It seems that the behavior I experienced with regards to actual distance from the home point may be normal and I will take the advice of just doing some practice RTH drills just to get a feel for the accuracy that can be relied upon. So far loving the Mini 2. Flown RC airplanes and a variety of small quadcopters over the years, but this Mini 2 is a whole new thing and so far a joy to fly. Thanks again to all that jumped in on this to help me out.

 

[vulcanclassic]

Any northern cali folks here?

 

[Meta4]

It seems that the behavior I experienced with regards to actual distance from the home point may be normal

It's not normal at all (and it's hard to see how you came to that conclusion).
I'd still suggest posting your flight data to find out what caused it so you can avoid it in future.

 

[vulcanclassic]

I think RTH is more complicated, and important, than most people think, so it's worth debating, and I don't think it's a Failsafe except at Low Battery RTH - that's when the drone has calculated there's just enough battery left to get home. (but it doesn't take into account the wind - the pilot has to do that!)

I think of RTH, by using the RC button or on-screen icon, as an everyday tool. When the AC is 'out there' and you notice battery is ~40%, just press RTH and relax a minute until it gets overhead. I wait for Sheila to say "Landing" and sometimes take control - sometimes not. My C2 button flips the camera straight down and I can use the diy landing pad to get it 'centered'.


Exactly, when I'm around heavy tree cover, I just ascend straight up to above treetop... it sets correct homepoint, no problem, away we go.


I think that's what we're all doing, partly right here in this thread.

When you say you ascend straight up when you're around trees and it sets the correct homepoint, are you saying you set the homepoint once you've ascended above the treeline to achieve a better sat lock verses setting on the ground when surrounded by trees? I do understand the point of not relying on it and to fly the drone and be comfortable doing so. My only thought around the horizontal distance discrepancies I noticed was in trying to get a sense of what range of error is expected.

 

[Meta4]

My only thought around the horizontal distance discrepancies I noticed was in trying to get a sense of what range of error is expected.

The range of error you can expect (if you have a good GPS environment is 2-3 feet.
You said earlier: I've noticed the distance to the Mini 2 shown in the app says 20-30 ft even when it's sitting less than two feet away.
That's not at all normal and a simple explanation for it will be found in your flight data.
If you post your flight data, I can analyse it and find the explanation for what you observed, and help you to have confidence in your GPS and homepoint in future.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.
Or .. just post the txt file here.