Nanjing TV Tower - Lost RC & Lost Drone

[drewdrones]

Hello Guys (you've been a lot of help for people here and I'd appreciate some more knowledge than what I can see myself)

Not my first time posting, but my first time losing a drone and total RC lost.

I was flying near a TV Tower ( I know that a lot of people say; it shouldn't affect anything, but I guarantee you it did a lot more than just that, had messed up video feed, and then total lost of RC control and visuals )

I need help recovering it if possible and let the management know where to find it as its a secured location.

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

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My guess is that its on the roof of the TV Tower but if I look at the log, it says the last point recorded was 2 feet, but I think the IMU took a beating and might have a wrong reading. The battery was still connected and when I got into the TV station, I got the camera feed back, but the camera was facing downwards and couldn't see much.

Let me know if you need the .DAT files also

I hope you guys can help!

 

[sar104]

Looks like it lost connection when it flew behind the tower, switched to failsafe RTH, and then hit the tower, or something on the tower, on the RTH route. That log indicates that it ended up at the base of the tower.



The DAT log will have more data after the motors shut down. FLY349.DAT.

 

[drewdrones]

Looks like it lost connection when it flew behind the tower, switched to failsafe RTH, and then hit the tower, or something on the tower, on the RTH route. That log indicates that it ended up at the base of the tower.

View attachment 82299

The DAT log will have more data after the motors shut down. FLY349.DAT.

Here you go! I was hoping you'd find this thread @sar104

 

[RayOZ]

Last line on the log seems to indicate it's at ground level. I wonder if someone picked it up. I do hope it didn't hit anyone.

 

[drewdrones]

Last line on the log seems to indicate it's at ground level. I wonder if someone picked it up. I do hope it didn't hit anyone.

It for sure wasn't on ground level, we were allowed in by the security guards, the map doesn't show any elevations but the carpark you see is elevated and the blue metal structure is about 20' higher than that. We were allowed to walk all the way around the bottom of the tower, but only the guards were allowed at the other spots.

My spotter went back today, as I had to take the train back to another city and they put a team of 4 on it to search for it this afternoon, so hopefully, I can get some news back shortly.

As per hitting someone, that was my biggest worry, I do have insurance coverage, so hitting a car wouldn't have been too bad, but could never live with hurting someone with the drone.

I will for sure change my settings for FailSafe to hover instead of RTH - an expensive mistake but one that was bound to happen some day as my girlfriend said.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

I will for sure change my settings for FailSafe to hover instead of RTH - an expensive mistake but one that was bound to happen some day as my girlfriend said.

Sorry to hear about the incident.

But the problem was not the RTH, but the level you set it at and the Tower being obviously higher ...
It's not like hovering (or landing) is a panacea instead of returning home. You should choose upon every flight, which works best after elaborating the possibilities of what could go wrong.

Hope it ends well and you get your drone back.

 

[drewdrones]

Sorry to hear about the incident.

But the problem was not the RTH, but the level you set it at and the Tower being obviously higher ...
It's not like hovering (or landing) is a panacea instead of returning home. You should choose upon every flight, which works best after elaborating the possibilities of what could go wrong.

Hope it ends well and you get your drone back.

The RTH was set at 200M (663.4 feet) which was higher than the large observatory deck, but not the entire tower (my error), must have clipped something that was on the roof of the observation deck.

Its surely not a panacea but had I turned the function of hovering, I could of potentially ran around the tower and regained signal, but again, all speculation. I also thought my RTH Obstable Check was turned on, but it didn't seem to be.


I will be sure to check all my settings before my flights next time, that I can guarantee you!

 

[globetrotterdrone]

@drewdrones
Yeah, it was not meant as an accusation, just a reminder to myself to take care about these settings carefully every time.
Hovering would have been the better choice retroactively.

Force of habit can be tricky.

I learnt a lot from mistakes of others in this board in my short member time already.
So I hope you get it back soon and everything gets sorted.

 

[drewdrones]

@drewdrones

Thanks!

And I appreciate all the feedback really, I hope I find it as well!

 

[RayOZ]

I assume it's an MP or MPP? Cos it didn't circle back for a minute but headed straight to home. Even if RTH OA was on, if it encountered an obstacle, it would the pause and ascend. But it there something above it, it's going to hit it and then crash back down. So depending what it might hit, it could be on the observation deck. Or else, it fell to the ground, but any wind would mean it won't be straight down, but whichever direction the wind blows. I guess here is where sar104 might shed some light. He's pretty good with that.

 

[drewdrones]

I assume it's an MP or MPP? Cos it didn't circle back for a minute but headed straight to home. Even if RTH OA was on, if it encountered an obstacle, it would the pause and ascend. But it there something above it, it's going to hit it and then crash back down. So depending what it might hit, it could be on the observation deck. Or else, it fell to the ground, but any wind would mean it won't be straight down, but whichever direction the wind blows. I guess here is where sar104 might shed some light. He's pretty good with that.

Your assumptions are correct, Mavic Pro.

Sadly, it didn't circle back no, and it did a straight line as you mentioned. I am hoping it would be on the

I am waiting on see sar104's analysis as he has a pretty good recovery rate from this forum!

 

[sar104]

Here you go! I was hoping you'd find this thread @sar104

OK - that clarifies the situation. It did not return to ground level – the last entry in the txt log is spurious. It continued to send good position and elevation data for some time after the motors shut down. The location is a little closer to the tower center (32.067706° N, 118.745261° E) at 222 m AMSL (728 ft) or 210 m (689 ft) above the takeoff location, so based on your earlier statement it's around 10 m above the level of the observation deck.

The image below shows the location, but pinned to ground level – there is no point elevating the pin in the angled 2-D image.

 

[drewdrones]

OK - that clarifies the situation. It did not return to ground level – the last entry in the txt log is spurious. It continued to send good position and elevation data for some time after the motors shut down. The location is a little closer to the tower center (32.067706° N, 118.745261° E) at 222 m AMSL (728 ft) or 210 m (689 ft) above the takeoff location, so based on your earlier statement it's around 10 m above the level of the observation deck.

The image below shows the location, but pinned to ground level – there is no point elevating the pin in the angled 2-D image.

View attachment 82321

I will ask the guards to go check, I am guessing its on the second ring above the elevation deck!

I hope they will let us in again;

Thanks so much and I will let you know as soon as possible!

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Sar104 . . . dude! I don't even know what to say about you bro. You're a scary dude . . .

 

[sar104]

Sar104 . . . dude! I don't even know what to say about you bro. You're a scary dude . . .

Well I guess if you can't be good, be scary...

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Your assumptions are correct, Mavic Pro.

Does the MP have all around sensors like the M2P? I would think it would maneuver around all obstacles until it found a safe path home. I mean, thin antennas and guy (guide) wires won't be detected and could kill the RTH trip, but it should have not hit anything, right? I'm asking the forum because I thought it would safely maneuver home. This would greatly affect how I place my settings on RTH.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Well I guess if you can't be good, be scary...

You sir . . . are both!

 

[old man mavic]

you could say he is scarily good, and a great asset to this forum

 

[Skywatcher2001]

you could say he is scarily good, and a great asset to this forum

I concur . . . . sometimes those simple words do not convey the gravity of his worth.

 

[Neil Reid]

Sorry you lost your MP; mine hit a wall and then fell straight down onto concrete from 10m two weeks ago. MP's are surprisingly rugged; it cost me about $220USD to repair- two arms, a new battery, both camera cables, and a gimbal because I couldn't figure out how to wire the camera ribbon cable (didn't find a YT vid that showed what I needed to know).

Good luck getting underway again; live and learn. FWIW, I don't fly near cell or TV antenna's (am in the RF business). Good luck with your search- let us know how it worked out for you.