OMG! WTF is my DRONE!

[cj2164]

Had my first experience with complete panic mode this morning. Flying low level, about 50 ft above the Gulf of Mexico (I'm in Florida) getting some cool surf to sand to panoramic shots for the city's new website. Everything is going fine, drone is holding steady at 50 ft about 700 ft away from me. I had just lost sight of it due to bright sunlight but still had it on my screen, no worries. Then BAM...."warning, avoidance detection system disabled" pops on my screen. WTF, never seen that before. I immediately try to gain altitude and for a second the drone seems to respond. 2 seconds later BAM .... DISCONNECTED! Now I know once it is disconnected it should return home (yes I have all the correct settings done before going up). I was on a fresh battery so I wasn't to worried. 5 minutes goes by, no drone. OK, I try RTH button on home screen even though it still says disconnected. Wait 5 more minutes, no drone. WTF!? Now I start to panic. 2K into the GUlf of Mexico is not a good feeling. I move out to the end of the seawall to see if I can spot it over the water, no good but now my remote starts beeping. Usually I hate that beeping, right now I love it because it gives me hope my drone is not in the drink. I start scanning the sky, no drone. 10 more minutes goes by, no drone. I figure its gone and I start walking back to my car. I turn the corner....YES! There's my little buddy hovering 5 ft over it take off point. I pack up and head straight for the nearest bar where I down 2 shots of premium tequila and all is right with the world again.

Next up, someone on here is going to help me download and decipher my flight log to find out what happened. I've never done it before.

 

[HeavensAbove]

Did the controller still show connected ie did it gain altitude when you throttled up?

If so it is just the tablet/phone that disconnected. This is scary but it can happen and can be resolved with drone still in flight (be brave though). Kill the app (take it right out of memory) and disconnect tablet from controller. Reconnect and now launch the app.

A couple of likely causes, cable issue (try another) and older slow device like an iPad mini 2.

 

[JDawg]

DJI Flight Log Viewer - Phantom Help

 

[Colbymh]

Yet another.. reading further I see it was hovering.. glad to hear. Was thinking this was another mysterious drone took off situations.

 

[DanMan32]

FYI, if you're not flying as a hobby, you should be flying under part 107. Flying to get shots for a city website would disqualify the flight as recreational.

Glad nothing bad happened. Looks like it did exactly like it's supposed to.

 

[HeavensAbove]

FYI, if you're not flying as a hobby, you should be flying under part 107. Flying to get shots for a city website would disqualify the flight as recreational.

Glad nothing bad happened. Looks like it did exactly like it's supposed to.

Only if he's getting paid. If it's voluntary then it's not commercial. I've had my footage used by my local tourist board, it was taken as a hobby and requested later after I shared on soc med (they have my permission to share as and when). If he's doing it under contract, then yes it's, by nature, commercial.

 

[sar104]

Only if he's getting paid. If it's voluntary then it's not commercial. I've had my footage used by my local tourist board, it was taken as a hobby and requested later after I shared on soc med (they have my permission to share as and when). If he's doing it under contract, then yes it's, by nature, commercial.

Actually it's not a question of whether he was being paid - it's a question of the intent of the flight. He stated that he was flying to get "shots for the city's new website". That's not recreational flight - that has a non-recreational purpose. The case that you describe is different if you were flying recreationally when you took the footage.

 

[Ping^Spike]

Yet another

Yet another what mate?

 

[dirkclod]

I agree with ya Ping.
I'm just going to watch this to see how far OT this goes before I clean it .
Like anything after post #3 already is until he post back .

 

[HeavensAbove]

Actually it's not a question of whether he was being paid - it's a question of the intent of the flight. He stated that he was flying to get "shots for the city's new website". That's not recreational flight - that has a non-recreational purpose. The case that you describe is different if you were flying recreationally when you took the footage.

If he creates the city website as a hobby, not for gain nor recompense, it's non commercial. I have a non monetized YT channel, and other social media accounts to share my footage. The companies which own these sites are for profit, but I make no money so even though footage is used on a commercial platform the flights could still not be considered as anything other than recreational.

 

[sar104]

If he creates the city website as a hobby, not for gain nor recompense, it's non commercial. I have a non monetized YT channel, and other social media accounts to share my footage. The companies which own these sites are for profit, but I make no money so even though footage is used on a commercial platform the flights could still not be considered as anything other than recreational.

It doesn't matter - it's the city's website (as he stated) and so anything on that is regarded as in furtherance of a business. It unambiguously falls under Part 107. The FAA has been completely clear on this issue.

For example: https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/model_aircraft_spec_rule.pdf

 

[HeavensAbove]

It doesn't matter - it's the city's website (as he stated) and so anything on that is regarded as in furtherance of a business. It unambiguously falls under Part 107. The FAA has been completely clear on this issue.

For example: https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/model_aircraft_spec_rule.pdf

That’s fair enough but doesn’t cover my jurisdiction.

 

[sar104]

That’s fair enough but doesn’t cover my jurisdiction.

So I see - but it does cover the OP's situation, which is what we were discussing.

 

[tcope]

You returned to to your vehicle and saw the Mavic hovering above the home point? So the home point was next to your car the whole time? Where did you think the Mavic was going to return to?

 

[Speedmeister]

First 60 seconds of failsafe RTH is retracing its route back in hopes of regaining connection. I am surprise after 5 minutes OP still didnt have connection. OP stated that after 5 minutes, he pressed the RTH button. Why would you press button if it is already beeping from failsafe RTH? RC has a builtin screen with status reading. This is where I would look the minute my main screen disconnects. The only time I will glance at the RC status display screen. My 10.5 ipad blocks my view.

 

[cj2164]

FYI, if you're not flying as a hobby, you should be flying under part 107. Flying to get shots for a city website would disqualify the flight as recreational.

Glad nothing bad happened. Looks like it did exactly like it's supposed to.

My drone, not the city's. I volunteered my time and equipment on a weekend, not paid.

 

[cj2164]

15 replies to my original post (including 1 of my own), only 3 actually addressed the issue originally raised. Lets try this again....anyone ever had this type of situation happen? Were you able to determine the cause? Pilot error, technical glitch, bird strike?

The rest of this prime digital real estate got taken up by those who believe their mission in life is to tell other people how how to live, work and play. Maybe remember that not everyone is an expert (including me obviously), but even us idiots spent $1500 to $2000 for this fun and we come here asking honest newbie questions about a very complicated piece of equipment. Your arrogance is outweighed only by your lack of ability to pay attention.

 

[DanMan32]

It sounds like your RC had connection to your AC all along. Rather it sounds like your app lost connection to your RC.
You can fly with just your RC. Not easy, but possible, especially with the RC having telemetry on its display.

RC can't indicate fail-safe RTH until it regains signal, just as OP didn't know it had returned home until he was able to see it.

 

[DanMan32]

I wasn't able to see a sig on any of your posts, but it may be they don't appear on the Android version of the app for this site.
It's best for one to either post in the forum specific to your model, or indicate it in one's post. This can be important as there are differences in function for the different models.

 

[swooshdave]

15 replies to my original post (including 1 of my own), only 3 actually addressed the issue originally raised. Lets try this again....anyone ever had this type of situation happen? Were you able to determine the cause? Pilot error, technical glitch, bird strike?

The rest of this prime digital real estate got taken up by those who believe their mission in life is to tell other people how how to live, work and play. Maybe remember that not everyone is an expert (including me obviously), but even us idiots spent $1500 to $2000 for this fun and we come here asking honest newbie questions about a very complicated piece of equipment. Your arrogance is outweighed only by your lack of ability to pay attention.

Please post the make and model of phone/pad. That might help clarify some things.

The only ones bent about 107 are the ones who paid for theirs...