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Question regarding return to home altitude...

rockgarden

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Hello all, can you help me understand the return to home altitude setting and how it works. Here is my situation, I fly from my vacation home which is situated on a ridge line above a valley. I set my home point and then my RTH altitude to say 100 feet, and then fly across a valley where I am actually flying at a lower altitude than the home point (looking down on the Mini). If I then needed to initiate RTH will the Mini go back up to 100 feet above the original home point altitude or only 100 above the current flying area altitude? Also if so does it actively adjust to go higher as the land comes up towards my home to stay at 100 feet? Obviously this could lead to a crash if I don't understand how it works. Thank you.
 
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Hello all, can you help me understand the return to home altitude setting and how it works.
It doesn't matter where your home point is or how much higher or lower you fly from there.
All heights, including the RTH height are relative to your home point.
So an RTH height of 100 ft is 100ft higher than the home point.
 
OK, so that makes me feel a lot better. I was imagining flying down into the valley, hitting RTH and watching my Mini fly into the hill below my home! Obviously I would likely have the chance to stop the RTH and fly it higher but good to now understand. Thank you for your reply.
 
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You could do a test and see what happens for yourself. If for some reason it misbehaves, you can quickly take control back or stop the RTH function by hitting the "pause" button.

This is a good question. Myself, I'd want to prove to myself how it works before depending on it.
 
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You could do a test and see what happens for yourself. If for some reason it misbehaves, you can quickly take control back or stop the RTH function by hitting the "pause" button.

This is a good question. Myself, I'd want to prove to myself how it works before depending on it.
Agreed and thank you...I got to thinking about it and wanted to make certain I understood it.
 
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Another question...does the Mini calculate the RTH based on the distance you are from the HP and the remaining battery? In other words is is "actively recalculating" the point at which it needs to tell you to think about returning to home?
 
Another question...does the Mini calculate the RTH based on the distance you are from the HP and the remaining battery? In other words is is "actively recalculating" the point at which it needs to tell you to think about returning to home?
Battery level and distance from home are monitored to provide an appropriate warning of time to return to home.
 
Another question...does the Mini calculate the RTH based on the distance you are from the HP and the remaining battery? In other words is is "actively recalculating" the point at which it needs to tell you to think about returning to home?


Battery level and distance from home are monitored to provide an appropriate warning of time to return to home.


Mine must be on a different setting then, because it warns me at the same % of power left regardless of distance away from me.
 
Mine must be on a different setting then, because it warns me at the same % of power left regardless of distance away from me.
For most DJI drones, the battery level and distance from home are monitored but the wording in the Mini manual is different.

Mavic Mini manual:
Low Battery RTH
Low Battery RTH is triggered when the Intelligent Flight Battery is depleted to the point that the safe return of the aircraft may be affected.
Return home or land the aircraft immediately when prompted.

Mini 2 manual
When the Intelligent Flight Battery level is too low and there is not enough power to return home, land the aircraft as soon as possible.
Otherwise, the aircraft will fall when it runs out of power, resulting in the aircraft being damaged and other potential hazards.
To avoid unnecessary danger due to insufficient power, DJI Mini 2 will intelligently determine whether the current battery level is sufficient to return home based on the current location.
Low Battery RTH is triggered when the Intelligent Flight Battery is depleted to the point that the safe return of the aircraft may be affected

Perhaps the feature is missing in the original Mini?
 
Another question...is it better to use the RTH function VS manually flying the drone home if battery is getting low? I know the RTH only uses the slower P mode speed but manually I could fly faster with S mode.
 
You might want to do a hover test ...let the drone hover in each mode and see how long it takes to get down to the point that you get a low battery warning from a full charge
 
Another question...is it better to use the RTH function VS manually flying the drone home if battery is getting low? I know the RTH only uses the slower P mode speed but manually I could fly faster with S mode.
Just like you wouldn't drive your car at 90 mph to reach the fuel station when you are running low, Sport Mode burns your battery wastefully.
And flying too slowly in RTH uses more battery just fighting gravity and not enough covering distance.

If you wanted the most fuel economy, you would fly manually at full speed in Normal Mode.

But just like real pilots do in real planes, it's good practice to avoid getting in a tight situation with a low battery.
It's a good idea to bring the drone back with a comfortable reserve to allow for the unexpected.
 
You might want to do a hover test ...let the drone hover in each mode and see how long it takes to get down to the point that you get a low battery warning from a full charge
Hovering would burn the battery at the same rate in all flight modes.
 
Hello all, can you help me understand the return to home altitude setting and how it works. Here is my situation, I fly from my vacation home which is situated on a ridge line above a valley. I set my home point and then my RTH altitude to say 100 feet, and then fly across a valley where I am actually flying at a lower altitude than the home point (looking down on the Mini). If I then needed to initiate RTH will the Mini go back up to 100 feet above the original home point altitude or only 100 above the current flying area altitude? Also if so does it actively adjust to go higher as the land comes up towards my home to stay at 100 feet? Obviously this could lead to a crash if I don't understand how it works. Thank you.
The RTH 100 feet is from the point where you took off. Just be very aware of obstructions when you fly below where you took off. Best to keep the drone in view
 
You might want to do a hover test ...let the drone hover in each mode and see how long it takes to get down to the point that you get a low battery warning from a full charge
Mark, I don't think that is a good test. Hoving in each mode does not take into account the speed of the drone and drain on the battery in that mode. Sport mode takes more power due to the faster speed of the motors so it would drain the batteries quicker. Just hovering does not equal a real flight thru the breeze in that mode. Make sense?
 
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