POLL: What is your typical RTH altitude setting?

[PhantomFandom]

So if I'm at higher ground, will my M2P adjust as it comes back?

No. Altitude is always in reference to the spot from which it launched.

Can you RESET your RTH Altitude when your flight is in progress.

Yes you can. Go into the menu where the RTH altitude is and change it, even mid-flight.

 

[f13dfx]

No. Altitude is always in reference to the spot from which it launched.


Yes you can. Go into the menu where the RTH altitude is and change it, even mid-flight.

Perfect! Thank you so much for your insight.

 

[OneQuickSix]

No. Altitude is always in reference to the spot from which it launched.

I've often wondered why it does not include the altitude based on the geo-located spot at any given moment. In either situation -- starting out high and ground dropping away or low and rising ground -- could get you into trouble, and would be nice to have that extra info on screen.

I know it can't have a sophisticated system like ground radar on a chopper onboard, but seems like since it can pull map data up for the surrounding area and store it in memory, it's not a whole lot more bandwidth/memory to get the altitude data as well. Do any sUAS systems employ ground altitude info?

 

[PhantomFandom]

I've often wondered why it does not include the altitude based on the geo-located spot at any given moment. In either situation -- starting out high and ground dropping away or low and rising ground -- could get you into trouble, and would be nice to have that extra info on screen.

I know it can't have a sophisticated system like ground radar on a chopper onboard, but seems like since it can pull map data up for the surrounding area and store it in memory, it's not a whole lot more bandwidth/memory to get the altitude data as well. Do any sUAS systems employ ground altitude info?

That is not a practical matter for many reasons:

• Land topography is not as easy to obtain and also not accurate since it is always changing. Trees grow. Buildings get built. Forests get cleared. etc...
• GPS is getting more accurate but it still is not accurate enough for real-time determination of altitude above terrain.
• As you mentioned, the accurate way to do this would be with a radar altimeter, but that is not feasible for a drone.

 

[OneQuickSix]

That is not a practical matter for many reasons:

• Land topography is not as easy to obtain and also not accurate since it is always changing. Trees grow. Buildings get built. Forests get cleared. etc...
• GPS is getting more accurate but it still is not accurate enough for real-time determination of altitude above terrain.
• As you mentioned, the accurate way to do this would be with a radar altimeter, but that is not feasible for a drone.

Gotcha, thanks for that info. Although with the first one, it seems like it is very readily available. Also, I didn't think those maps took trees/buildings into account, do they really? But, assuming #2 is true, it's kind of moot I guess.

 

[Baqca Sanke]

Just curious what people tend to set as their RTH altitude. Realize it could vary regionally (would be cool to collect that data) and for other factors, but just a general consensus.

I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains. So RTH is basically a death sentence lol. If it's too low i'm garunteed to crash into a tree, or cliff side. But if it's too high i will no doubt waste too much power ascending and fighting wind shear coming of the mountains to make it back (if the RTH is low battery initiated). I fly over mountains but also through them, in valleys, along rivers etc. I never, ever use or trust RTH. My only use might be to set it as high as possible so if i loose signal and it RTH's it flies up and hopefully just close enough for me to regain signal.

 

[PhantomFandom]

Also, I didn't think those maps took trees/buildings into account,

Which is exactly the point. If your drone had that data available and displayed that it was 30 feet AGL but there is a huge 70 foot tree there, then the data doesn't do you much good.

 

[JayTea26]

I'm still learning it like the photo.

 

[OneQuickSix]

Which is exactly the point. If your drone had that data available and displayed that it was 30 feet AGL but there is a huge 70 foot tree there, then the data doesn't do you much good.

Well no, at least not for me. If you are not compensating your altitude (especially automated RTH) for trees, etc. then you are doing it wrong. So, for example, IF it had the ground level, I would still fly and/or have RTH for at least 200-250 feet above whatever ground level actually is. Trees around here are typically at 150 feet at most. This is the vast majority of vertical obstacles, with a sprinkling of radio, water, electrical and cell towers.

I was mainly thinking this would be helpful for avoiding being in violation of FAA rules and so you would not get the above 400 feet warning, etc. Not a huge deal, just a wishlist item.

 

[Gealousy]

I'm usually set to 120' when I'm at home flying around here in various areas. Suburbia so.... not many 10 story tall trees

If I'm in a new location I'll look to see if anything seems taller than 120' and then adjust accordingly...