RTH minimum altitude of 20m...why so high?

[imassoc]

We just purchased a Mavic for a shoot in which we will be following ATVs along a mountain trail with trees all around us and above us (we'll be under the canopy). If the drone flies upward 20m for any kind of RTH, it's going to end up stuck in a tree. I'm unclear on why the minimum RTH is so high and can't account for being in such a situation.



How do we handle this situation?

 

[msinger]

You could set the "Remote Controller Signal Lost" setting to "Hover" in DJI GO. That will prevent your Mavic from attempting to return home if the remote controller signal is lost.

 

[Logger]

The idea of using a low RTH on a mountain trail sounds totally fraught to me. Unless the trail is actually flat and dead straight. A hypothetical RTH at 5m above takeoff point would just about gauruntee a collision. You do realise it climbs to a height above the home point and not a height above current terrain don't you.
But as msinger said, the likely answer is to set to hover instead.

 

[tcope]

We just purchased a Mavic for a shoot in which we will be following ATVs along a mountain trail with trees all around us and above us (we'll be under the canopy).

I'm not sure how that works... you are going to try to get the Mavic to follow ATVs while they are driven around trees? Is it just me seeing an problem with this? Trees are connected to the ground by large columns of wood and usually there are also branches on the lower parts of trees. Do you think the Mavic is simply going to track the ATVs while flying around each and every tree? I think RTH is probably going to be the least of your worries.

DJI sets the minimum at 20m as their software is taking control of the drone and most obstacles are lower to the ground.

It can't be changed and I'd certainly not recommend flying in and around a forest of trees.

 

[Ian in London]

I'm assuming you're plannig on manually flying the Mavic, not relying on Active Track or Follow Me modes (as I'm sure those modes simply would not cope with the terrain and trees).
So on that basis, my advice would be
A - set RTH to hover as mentioned; that pretty much removes that element of issue for you, and
B - Consider the use of 'Tripod Mode' to slow down the movement and controls. This will admittedly slow down the forward movement speed of the Mavic to what may be an unacceptable slow speed, but it will allow you to navigate round trees and branches far easier as the controls are dampened significantly.
You can only change into Tripod Mode once you've taken off.
Also, (as it will be new), make sure you don't use Sports Mode as this disables the collision avoidance systems and you''ll need every bit of help you can get on that

Cheers and good luck

Ian