MY SIGN SIMIU AND MY DRONE IS NOW. I'VE LOST

[Kilrah]

For a few seconds only, disconnecting just speeds things up.

I pressed the RTH button on my remote and nothing happened.

Just to clarify, you do know that you must hold the button for a couple of seconds for RTH to engage, right? Several have forgotten about that before...

 

[Mr. Salty]

I was flying with my Mavic Pro when the signal was lost. I tried to change the position of the antennas, I moved to try to reestablish the signal and nothing. The signal did not come back and I lost my drone ...
I had a normal Satellites 16 signal altogether. Have the Drone calibrated without problems.
The Drone was 617 meters from me.
I was in a valley (as can be seen in the video below) at the top of the mountains.
I have the possibility of buying another Drone, but without knowing the causes of the disappearance of the Drone I have no confidence in acquiring another.
Can someone please help me clarify what might have happened? I thank you in advance for your help.

Video of the moment the signal was lost ...

Honestly, the way the terrain was changing, it looks to me like you flew backward into a hill or some trees.

I'd be curious to see the flight logs. Without those we can't help much. It would be great if you could post them.

 

[Marko9219]

I’ve seen several postings saying that RTH doesn’t always work. OK, I understand that RTH might not always get your drone back to you. We’ve all read the accounts of it hitting something on ascent (upward facing sensors would be nice at times, huh?) or, hitting something because you didn’t set the RTH altitude correctly. There is the times it might stop forward progress because it sees the sun and loses it’s battery while hovering. We’ve all read accounts of RTH not bringing the drone home into a stiff headwind. (Yay sports mode!). We should all know that RTH is totally, 100% dependent on a good GPS lock.
But...Someone please answer me this: If none of those things happen, if everything was configured and you have great GPS lock, then how, how, how can RTH not engage and work if there is a signal loss from the controller? By design, it’s like what...3 seconds without signal and it’s going home?

 

[msinger]

Someone please answer me this: If none of those things happen, if everything was configured and you have great GPS lock, then how, how, how can RTH not engage and work if there is a signal loss from the controller?

Got a link that shows a scenario where that happened?

 

[Marko9219]

Got a link that shows a scenario where that happened?

No, I'm wondering how it even CAN happen! I'm questioning people who suggest in this thread that RTH "doesn't always work." I contend that if it didn't/doesn't work, the pilot probably made a mistake. Did or didn't do something critical to a proper RTH. Asked an 18 mph drone to fly against a 25 mph wind to get home. Something like that. I want examples of RTH not working when everything is within correct parameters.

 

[MrMavic]

I pressed the RTH button on my remote and nothing happened. The drone didn't movie. Luckily it was only 400 feet away and could visually see it and was able to guide it visually back to me with the remote which still worked. it seems like the RTH doesn't work unless the app is working.

Return to home should have been triggered with the signal loss. That happens automatically if it is set right. In other words, you should be able to turn the controller off and it should come home.

 

[Marko9219]

Return to home should have been triggered with the signal loss. That happens automatically if it is set right. In other words, you should be able to turn the controller off and it should come home.

Exactly! So, in the OPs instance, he lost his drone because something happened that STOPPED the RTH from initiating, or completing successfully. A complete LOS only initiates an RTH.

 

[Kilrah]

I'm questioning people who suggest in this thread that RTH "doesn't always work."

It "doesn't work" in the situations you described. Nobody said "it doesn't always work even when everything's OK".

A complete LOS only initiates an RTH.

IF configured that way. Remember you can set signal loss behavior to hover or land in place.

 

[Marko9219]

It "doesn't work" in the situations you described. Nobody said "it doesn't always work even when everything's OK".


IF configured that way. Remember you can set signal loss behavior to hover or land in place.

”...RTH doesn't always work. I was flying my drone and it wasn't far only like 400 feet away from me. My app crashed and I couldn't reconnect. I tried RTH and it did nothing. Luckily I was able to visually find my drone and the remote still worked but not the RTH. So I got it back to me safely.”

These are the kinds of posts that leave me scratching my head every time I read them. How could the remote still work, but RTH NOT work?! Aircraft error or pilot error, or untold factors in the scenario? If RTH was correctly configured, how could it NOT work?

To me, it’s like the ejection seat of a modern jet fighter: If it is activated within it’s design parameters, it is simply going to work as designed.

 

[Simmo]

So an App crash on mobile device can cause the controls on the RC itself to not function? That is scary...

No! You do not need the mobile device to fly. Nor does the RC need the mobile device. (for normal flight modes.)

 

[Kilrah]

How could the remote still work, but RTH NOT work?! Aircraft error or pilot error, or untold factors in the scenario?

Almost certainly pilot error or untold factors.

You'll notice the question I asked that poster and he didn't answer. So many people think they know and put the blame on the machine when they actually did something stupid.

 

[Zonian]

Almost certainly pilot error or untold factors.

You'll notice the question I asked that poster and he didn't answer. So many people think they know and put the blame on the machine when they actually did something stupid.

Yes. Must "Press & Hold" RTH button to initiate RTH...I just went back to the manual to confirm this...good reminder Kilrah.

No! You do not need the mobile device to fly. Nor does the RC need the mobile device. (for normal flight modes.)

That is what I thought...I have always understood that you can fly with just the RC, no mobile device.

I'm curious if anyone has actually tried this...turned off their RC in flight to test the LOS = RTH/hover/land feature?

 

[Huddy]

My first thought about the RTH issue is how high was the drone above your home point? If your RTH altitude was say 30 metres, and the ground below your drone was more than 30 metres above your home point, it’s first action upon losing the signal would be to descend to 30 metres, and hit the ground. Of course, we’d expect the sensors to see the ground, but maybe not so clearly if there were trees and branches below.

 

[Rnl]

Doesn't descend will come back at present alt. If above set alt.

 

[ajsiemers]

”...RTH doesn't always work. I was flying my drone and it wasn't far only like 400 feet away from me”
These are the kinds of posts that leave me scratching my head every time I read them.

I once lost connection and the drone immediately went to the RTH point, descended neatly in the narrow 20ft of space between the trees (I was so scared!) but kept hovering at 8ft with no intention of landing. Couldn’t reconnect so I was faced with waiting till the battery was drained or disconnecting the battery in mid-flight. I opted for the latter since it was cold. With a new usb-cable I haven’t had the issue again

 

[wytnyt]

I once lost connection and the drone immediately went to the RTH point, descended neatly in the narrow 20ft of space between the trees (I was so scared!) but kept hovering at 8ft with no intention of landing. Couldn’t reconnect so I was faced with waiting till the battery was drained or disconnecting the battery in mid-flight. I opted for the latter since it was cold. With a new usb-cable I haven’t had the issue again

8ft?,get a stool and grab that puppy

 

[Zonian]

....disconnecting the battery in mid-flight...

How does one do this on a Mavic?

 

[Marko9219]

Yes. Must "Press & Hold" RTH button to initiate RTH...I just went back to the manual to confirm this...good reminder Kilrah.



That is what I thought...I have always understood that you can fly with just the RC, no mobile device.

I'm curious if anyone has actually tried this...turned off their RC in flight to test the LOS = RTH/hover/land feature?

Yes, several YouTube videos of this being done.

 

[Johnmcl7]

This is a good video showing what the Mavic does when the app is closed and when the remote controller is switched off and in different modes as well:

 

[Bernie707]

When the app crashes it can lock stuff up that is waiting for it - unplug the USB cable and normal function should return.

So to enable RTH on the controller if the app crashes you need to unplug the cable to the phone before pushing the RTH button on the controller? If true it seems like a design flaw.