RTH

Max Headroom · Sunday at 12:23 PM

Could i ask members what height they have their RTH set to.

Thanks in advance.

AeroJ · Sunday at 12:28 PM

For me it changes with every site to be about 30 ft above the height of the tallest tree / ground hazard. If you are not sure what that is you can set your gimbal straight, fly to the top of the tallest thing and your current altitude will tell you.

But if you are looking for a general number my vote would go to something like 150 ft, which is high enough to clear most typical things on the ground yet not so high it will take much battery to climb to or place you in a lot of extra wind by gaining unnecessary altitude.

rgarjr · Sunday at 12:44 PM

Yes it depends how high are things in your environment.

GFields · Sunday at 1:01 PM

Higher than the tallest building/object in the area where I'm working.

Yorkshire_Pud · Sunday at 1:24 PM

Changes with location, high enough to clear any obstacles by about 10m and that's it for me. Any higher risks putting the drone up into unnecessary wind and wastes power in both the climb to, and the descent from, RTH height.

Max Headroom · Sunday at 1:28 PM

Thanks all

For me it changes with every site to be about 30 ft above the height of the tallest tree / ground hazard. If you are not sure what that is you can set your gimbal straight, fly to the top of the tallest thing and your current altitude will tell you.

Can you do this while in flight or do you have to make a note of the height and set it when landed?

Droning on and on... · Sunday at 1:31 PM

Max Headroom said:
Thanks all

Can you do this while in flight or do you have to make a note of the height and set it when landed?

You can change RTH settings in-flight.

Droning on and on... · Sunday at 1:34 PM

Do not rely on this, I mention it only for a little peace of mind.

Obstacle Avoidance is active during RTH. So even if you estimate wrong and your drone has OA, there's a chance it will successfully avoid the tree/building/hillside and make it back safely.

Max Headroom · Sunday at 1:38 PM

Obstacle Avoidance is active during RTH. So even if you estimate wrong and your drone has OA, there's a chance it will successfully avoid the tree/building/hillside and make it back safely.

Unfortunately the DJI Mini 2 SE doesn't have obstacle avoidance.

AeroJ · Sunday at 1:46 PM

Oh, I should probably pop back and point out the RTH traps that await new pilots...

1. If you are flying in woodland the RTH height is irrelevant because you will be setting that to HOVER in the event of signal loss, and not RTH, lest your drone loses signal amongst the trees and tries to ascend through the canopy ! As mentioned above, sometimes OA can save you from this potential disaster, but it would be foolish to rely on it to do so, because twigs are the arch-nemesis of Obstacle avoidance systems !

2. When being tracked for large distances remember to stop and update your home point at regular intervals, so the drone doesn't fly back to where it took off from, which may be miles away from where you are now !

3. Wait on the ground until you have enough satellites for RTH to become available / effective (normally 13+, but ideally 20+). When the DJI lady announces 'Home point updated' go into the map and check it is correct !

4. The first time you run low on power (approaching 18%) while in flight you'll get a warning about auto-RTH in 10 seconds. Be prepared to cancel that fast with C1 if that RTH would compromise the crafts wellbeing.

5. If you do cancel a low power RTH really do get home fast, or you may find it landing itself before you are ready and wherever it is now !

Droning on and on... · Sunday at 1:58 PM

AeroJ said:
4. The first time you run low on power (approaching 18%) while in flight you'll get a warning about auto-RTH in 10 seconds. Be prepared to cancel that fast with C1 if that RTH would compromise the crafts wellbeing.

5. If you do cancel a low power RTH really do get home fast, or you may find it landing itself before you are ready and wherever it is now !

Expanding on that a bit, don't get in the habit of using low-batt RTH as your means to get maximum time out of your battery. While DJI has done an amazing job of tuning and perfecting the estimation calculations over these years, they can't account for everything, so going until you're forced to come home has a risk of not making it back.

Come back on your own when the system estimates you have 2 minutes left at the distance your flying. On your way back the estimated time-before-RTH will likely go up. Good.

Does that mean don't use RTH? Of course not! When I hit 2 minutes that's how I come back: Smart RTH. Push the button (so to speak).

I'm lazy.

Max Headroom · Sunday at 2:50 PM

Thanks AeroJ great advice.

Cafguy · Sunday at 3:15 PM

RTH and Obstacle Avoidance are great Features BUT To rely on them to much will breed very bad habits for you in your future Piloting Skills. I hardly ever use RTH. I know it works perfectly ....Still Don't like doing it really. I guess its the reason I wont get a Tesla either. lol

Yorkshire_Pud · Sunday at 5:15 PM

Max Headroom said:
Can you do this while in flight or do you have to make a note of the height and set it when landed?

Both RTH height and the maximum height can be changed whilst the drone is in flight, BUT the RTH height can not be changed whilst the drone is executing an RTH.
I haven't checked whether or not maximum height can be changed whilst the drone is executing an RTH.

Meta4 · Sunday at 6:10 PM

AeroJ said:
4. The first time you run low on power (approaching 18%) while in flight you'll get a warning about auto-RTH in 10 seconds.

That would only be around 18% if the drone is quite close to you.
The drone is constantly monitoring battery level and distance from home to calculate when you would get the low battery RTH warning and that could show at any percentage..

MotoSavy · Monday at 12:33 PM

As other have set, it depends. But I normally have mine set to 140 feet. That can clear most power lines and trees. Of course trees can be taller, such as pines, and also big power transmission lines can be taller.

You do have to decide in all cases, but I mostly just have mine set at 140 feet. That works well in most cases for me based on my location.

Droning on and on... · Monday at 3:06 PM

Reviewing and setting RTH must be a routine preflight item.

Because it is referenced to takeoff/homepoint, RTH may need to be set unusually high, say 800ft just to pick a number out of thin air, if the particular mission is heading up the side of a hill or mountain.

I have been the victim of neglecting this. I lost my first Mavic Pro when RTH was set to 200ft, I was visiting Tahoe, flew up a ski run at Heavenly (summer, closed), lost signal at around 400' height when I went behind a tree, and RTH just plowed straight into it. I was around 75-100' AGL the entire time. Lost it, the tree was not reasonably accessible.

Check that RTH setting every time you fly. Set uniquely for the conditions of every flight.