RTH or fly home?

[schroeder1959]

No, I have not tried that yet. I should give that a try as well!

Thank you!

 

[Rbruz]

View attachment 10949
I don't take off unless I have at least 15 satellites and my controller tells me that the home point has been updated. I also follow your take off procedure listed above. I usually get 17 satellites when I fly!!! My MP comes right home, finds my landing pad, starts its descent, and then about 10 feet off the pad, it stops, hovers, and my controller has the message that the ground is not suitable for landing. Very confused! The Mavic is directly above the landing pad. All I do to land is pull the left stick back, and it lands dead center. At first I thought the sun may have been a factor, but I proved that theory wrong. Each time I try the precise landing sequence, it stops around 10 feet and just hovers until I give the MP input from the controller.

Here is my landing pad and a view from the MP when it stops descending. I have also tried the orange side, same behavior.
View attachment 10949

Have you tried turning the sensors off to see what happens ? I use a landing pad that I have berm selling for a few years and its got way more graphics then that and have never had anyone have issues, also avoidence has never kicked in but mine is different colors, try making some other pad use like a blanket see what gives

 

[schroeder1959]

Have you tried turning the sensors off to see what happens ? I use a landing pad that I have berm selling for a few years and its got way more graphics then that and have never had anyone have issues, also avoidence has never kicked in but mine is different colors, try making some other pad use like a blanket see what gives

I will try my pad on the grass, maybe it is all the boring concrete all around the pad. Not sure! I have contacted DJI, but have yet to hear back from them. That being said, when it starts to land, the sensors are disabled, so I don't think that is the issue. Who Knows???

 

[LeonZ]

Agreed on manual back home. However RTH need to be tested every now and then, just to make sure it works well.

Fully agree, you need to test the rth... just in case

 

[Rbruz]

I will try my pad on the grass, maybe it is all the boring concrete all around the pad. Not sure! I have contacted DJI, but have yet to hear back from them. That being said, when it starts to land, the sensors are disabled, so I don't think that is the issue. Who Knows???

Odd indeed !!!

 

[HFMan]

Make sure when you take off or land that you yourself or your shadow are not in the frame. This can cause issues with precision landing, especially if you move.

 

[schroeder1959]

My new landing pad arrived, (3 Ft Diameter Drone Launch Pad - HDLP3 in Launch Pad) and I tried it on my driveway, and it still didn't land, I got the same error, Ground Not Suitable for Landing. I then put the new landing pad in the grass, and tried the precise landing again, and it worked perfectly. I am not sure what the Mavic has about my concrete driveway, but is sure doesn't like to land by itself on or near it.

 

[Rbruz]

My new landing pad arrived, (3 Ft Diameter Drone Launch Pad - HDLP3 in Launch Pad) and I tried it on my driveway, and it still didn't land, I got the same error, Ground Not Suitable for Landing. I then put the new landing pad in the grass, and tried the precise landing again, and it worked perfectly. I am not sure what the Mavic has about my concrete driveway, but is sure doesn't like to land by itself on or near it.

Think since the contrast is so great the pad is seen as an obstical, bet if you do this on asphalt same maybe even dirt. Grass is very complex. My landing pad I make is busy but I never do autoland ever, so not tried yet

 

[Jez6640]

Well tried the map and worked perfectly, thank you for your help [emoji4][emoji106]

 

[PabloSC]

To each his own......options are great for the end user. I have had zero issues (knock on wood!) with using RTH and I have used it over 50 times to-date. And setting up the RTH altitude takes seconds if you even need to change it for a given flight/mission so I wouldn't consider this to even be a factor.

This reminds me of my dad back in the 80's when he would say " who needs power windows or power door locks...it is just one more thing to brake".......now it is almost a given that 90% of all cars have these features and we don't even think twice about using them.

I actually used it last Saturday when I was using active track to film my son doing laps on a motocross track in my SXS when he flipped it in a turn. I hit RTH and set the remote down and ran over to make sure he was OK. The drone landed autonomously while I focused on my sons safety. So other than the obvious, it was also pretty cool for others to see this take place while I was 50 yards away checking on my son. Had I not used RTH so much in the past and having confidence in it working, I would have been freaking out what to do.....do I try and land before going to check on my son or do I let it hover and hope the battery doesn't die while leaving it unattended......since I do use it frequently and it has always worked as advertised, it was a no-brainer for me to trust it to do it's job. My point is, using these features frequently and having confidence that they work can ultimately pay off down the road.

What is the best mode to use the Mavic when you go alone to the motocross track? I have bought the mavic for that and tomorrow I want to make my first video there.

 

[Heavysledz]

What is the best mode to use the Mavic when you go alone to the motocross track? I have bought the mavic for that and tomorrow I want to make my first video there.

for filming yourself or others at the track? Need a bit more information about what you are wanting to achieve before we can make suggestions.....but sounds like Active Track is what you are looking for.

 

[PabloSC]

I go alone to the track so I want to film Myself. I would appreciate any suggestion because I am a new owner and I bought Mavic Pro to film myself in action sports.

 

[bowens44]

i use both, why not? that is what the modes are for, sometimes i have done what i want or need to do and someone will want to chat and have a smoke etc etc.

Then yes i will hit RTH, why should i not trust these systems, that is what i paid my money for too. if i cant use them i might as well just buy a cheaper drone and be done with it.

i have used RTH many times, like i say sometimes there are other distractions going on which makes RTH perfect even just for having a smoke break before another flight, chatting to people who come up and wanna ask a lot of stuff about the drone (great way to reassure people drones are safe and can do this kind of stuff).

It is normally one of the first things i am asked "can it fly itself"

and i love the gormless look on their faces as they stare into the sky for 5 minutes trying to spot a drone and they only see it when i ask em to move out the way before it lands on their heads.

Tech is built to be used, i don't buy a car and leave it in my garage in case it breaks down, or never use the seat belt just in case it does not work, or use the satnav in case i end up in a river.

If it has a use and a function i will use it.

I agree completely. If all you want to do is fly manually you can get a drone that flies just as well without all the tech for a lot less money.

 

[Av8rshane]

I like to do my flying at low altitude and in sport mode going as fast as it will go. I want the RTH there as backup and like to show friends how well it works. I have a house on a residential airport in a rural area and another across the road from the airport. I enjoy returning home without using the map and avoid what few houses there are in the area. Just go out and have fun! If RTH is what you like then that's what you should do.

 

[alexanderguelph]

I occasionally use RTH mostly just to keep my confidence that it will work. I like to keep my piloting skills sharp and always maintain positional awareness. I've even practiced flying to the legal ceiling, unplugging my phone so I can't see, spinning it to an unknown heading and flying off, then trying to return it to overhead using only the distance telemetry readout on my controller. That being said, I always make sure the RTH settings are appropriate for the environment before EVERY flight and I know in a panic or more realistically if I lose signal that I can rely on it to RTH safely. That being said, once it's close to me I prefer to cancel the RTH and land manually.

 

[P1XL]

I do all my flying manually, but takeoff I use the precision mode, and landing I'll fly within a few meters and just hit return to home and let it autoland. Sometimes when I'm doing really long shots and want a nice smooth line I will use tap to fly, too.

I don't get this whole "Using advanced modes isn't really flying" nonsense. You spent all that money on the feature, why not use it if it makes your flight easier? If I want to manually fly something, I've got a 250 racing quad with no smart modes.

 

[MavPro75]

I'm of the opinion that you never want to turn control over to an automatic system unless there is no other choice. Why open the door for possible failure. But to each there own.

I am of the opinion of using/testing the RTH feature to insure it's reliability before it is actually needed!

 

[MavPro75]

Precision Landing requires you to have GPS lock and use the auto-takeoff function. When you hit the button to auto-takeoff, there's a checkbox to record data for precision landing. This increases the takeoff height to just over 5m (from 1.6), but records more data that the Mavic can reverse for a precision landing.

There is no data recorded for precision landing if you take off manually, even if you hover for five minutes.

What? Always use manual takeoff. Hover at 10 m and precision landing info always recorded

 

[Oconnb910]

I am a newbie and I have been experimenting with rth just so I feel comfortable with it because the first couple of times I did try it freaked me out LOL

 

[m0j0]

lots of things can ans do go wrong with rth

Not really. Especially for inexperienced operators most of the time where I read of accidents proper use of RTH would have saved their Mavic. So i'm curious, aside from setting up RTH incorrectly what exactly goes wrong?

95% places I have never been and trying to spend all the time to set rth height etc not worth it.

This is actually terrible advice. If you are truly trying to optimize the chance that you get your Mavic back probably the single most important thing you can do is set up RTH for the location you are flying in.. It is a must for each new location as far as I am concerned.

I do use auto take off every time, just on the off chance simething crazy happens and lose connection, might have a chance it comes back

Why, that is unessary. Just lift off and let make certain the Mavic sets the correct home point. Seeing how you say you don't set the RTH height for new locations you aren't exactly safe if you lose connection anyway.