Smart RTH overprotective nanny....or is it.

[wreckinball]

I also tried the distance record under P mode and only ended up with 15,000 and change. I will try the 30 mph as you suggest. Is there an altitude that is best?

The lowest you can safely fly will have the least wind speed generally. You may have to increase height as you go to maintain signal.

 

[Wilbur&Garth]

The best setting for distance I have found is obstacle avoidance off in position mode. It will be at about 30mph and use the battery most efficiently. Sport mode is fast but the RPM is out of the sweet spot for distance. Entering sport mode may be necessary on the return trip if fighting heavy winds but I have not tried that scenario yet.

Interesting. I've always heard slower speeds (about 15 mph) are best for getting the most time out of the battery, but sport mode was best for getting distance. Looks like I've got testing to do!

 

[wreckinball]

Interesting. I've always heard slower speeds (about 15 mph) are best for getting the most time out of the battery, but sport mode was best for getting distance. Looks like I've got testing to do!

Maybe for time that's correct, but my best results for distance are as I stated. Forward obstacle avoidance off with full stick forward.

 

[Ripper7620]

I leave OA on when I RTH, because I often fly in mountainous regions, and the AC needs OA to avoid hitting trees on the RTH. In my experience, RTH doesn't always take the original route back, it usually goes in a straight line, and I recently avoided disaster by leaving OA on and narrowly missing a tree. I had to reset my max altitude to avoid trees on the RTH. Also, I take into consideration battery%, distance from RTH point, and conditions.

 

[wreckinball]

I agree with your statement. I was flying at Red Rock Canyon outside of Vegas and lost signal behind a cliff face, when the RTH took over to bring the craft back it ascended about 20 feet to clear the top of a peak. I did not know it until viewing the footage later on at home. That was a lesson for me because although I was under 400 feet AGL I was 700 feet above takeoff altitude and never adjusted the RTH altitude to the highest possible obstruction where I was conducting my flight. I still turn off the OA when flying for distance knowing I will be at least 2x the altitude of any land or man made feature. I am now curious at what speed RTH will fly at with different settings. With OA on I think RTH flies at around 22 mph, but what about with it off or sport mode active. There is so many different aspects of flight that I know nothing about which is what keeps my interest.

 

[wreckinball]

A little off topic, but a big flaw with RTH is with OA on and returning into the sun the sensors may treat the sun as an obstacle and if the radio has not reconnected the drone may stop and hover until the battery hits 10% and land in an unknown location.

 

[davemorts]

I recently upgraded from Mavic pro to Platinum, and I keep finding myself returning to home thinking I was low on battery. This internal clock needs to be reset because the Platinum seems to fly forever. On the best day of the year here in the Pacific northwest I decided to do a distance run with my new Mavic. With no modifications to controller or drone, flying into a 5mph wind, knowing I would have the wind at my back returning, and with the Marco Polo tracker on it's back I flew to 30,000 feet out. Yes 5.7 miles away with just starting to get signal loss at 60% battery. Of course I was warned by smart RTH about not having enough battery to return, but that was with 75% left so I cancelled it. So on return I was getting about the same performance out of the battery until about 24,000 feet out, it began dropping at the rate of 3% per 1000 feet, from the 1% per 1000 feet. The range anxiety began and took hold as my wife was asking what all the beeping was for as she had never heard the low battery warning before. I launched from a lake shore which is on a 1 mile wide lake with miles and miles of cow pasture in the direction I flew. Just on the other side of the lake is a dairy I know well and with 6% remaining in the tank I looked for a safe place and as the Mavic descended into pasture I lost signal behind a row of trees. I started packing up and my wife said wheres the drone? I pointed in the general direction and went to test the Marco Polo for the first time. It took 10 minutes to drive around the lake in which I called my uncle who works at the dairy for permission to enter. With proper clearance and my tracker receiver i found my drone within 10 minutes, safe and sound video intact. The video is interesting because as the drone descended the knee high grass apparently is not suitable for landing so at several feet the drone hovered and then the video cut out and I assume the drone fell into the grass flat and made a crop circle. So the moral is the drone is smarter than even what appears to be plenty of power to return. I can only surmise that the drone takes into consideration temperature and battery performance, or lack there of. Also the field was 100 acres, I will never fly without that tracker. Although I had phone service there is no wifi or data so most other trackers would be useless. Long story but if any of the information is helpful then it is well worth it to me. Oh, for the LOS crowd I have one word "hobbyist".

I have recently purchased the Marco Polo kit. I can't decide where to mount it on my Mavic Pro where it won't cause problems with the compasses. Could you please tell me where you mounted your.
Thanks in advance.

 

[wreckinball]

Right on top in the front with velcro. Never had any problems with the compass because the transmitter only transmits when it receives the signal from the handheld receiver and then the drone is not flying.

 

[davemorts]

Right on top in the front with velcro. Never had any problems with the compass because the transmitter only transmits when it receives the signal from the handheld receiver and then the drone is not flying.

Thanks for the fast reply, one other question, did you do a compass calibration after you mounted the transmitter ?

 

[wreckinball]

I only do a compass or IMU cal when the DJI app says to. Many people do them every flight, I will if I have changed location drastically like a different state or suspect a major change in interference, otherwise the app knows if its needed.

 

[davemorts]

I only do a compass or IMU cal when the DJI app says to. Many people do them every flight, I will if I have changed location drastically like a different state or suspect a major change in interference, otherwise the app knows if its needed.

Thanks for your help wreckin ball, I'm going to fit it now. Cheers

 

[Turn11]

I think RTH flies at around 22 mph

When the AC turned around the forward speed dropped from about 32 mph to a little over 23 mph and the elevation changed from 700' to about 875. besides going past the RTH warning (already discussed), not a good combination of events.

On the good side, wearing a charged and turned on Marco Polo, and the AC was retrieved.

 

[ChazzMonkey]

I recently upgraded from Mavic pro to Platinum, and I keep finding myself returning to home thinking I was low on battery. This internal clock needs to be reset because the Platinum seems to fly forever. On the best day of the year here in the Pacific northwest I decided to do a distance run with my new Mavic. With no modifications to controller or drone, flying into a 5mph wind, knowing I would have the wind at my back returning, and with the Marco Polo tracker on it's back I flew to 30,000 feet out. Yes 5.7 miles away with just starting to get signal loss at 60% battery. Of course I was warned by smart RTH about not having enough battery to return, but that was with 75% left so I cancelled it. So on return I was getting about the same performance out of the battery until about 24,000 feet out, it began dropping at the rate of 3% per 1000 feet, from the 1% per 1000 feet. The range anxiety began and took hold as my wife was asking what all the beeping was for as she had never heard the low battery warning before. I launched from a lake shore which is on a 1 mile wide lake with miles and miles of cow pasture in the direction I flew. Just on the other side of the lake is a dairy I know well and with 6% remaining in the tank I looked for a safe place and as the Mavic descended into pasture I lost signal behind a row of trees. I started packing up and my wife said wheres the drone? I pointed in the general direction and went to test the Marco Polo for the first time. It took 10 minutes to drive around the lake in which I called my uncle who works at the dairy for permission to enter. With proper clearance and my tracker receiver i found my drone within 10 minutes, safe and sound video intact. The video is interesting because as the drone descended the knee high grass apparently is not suitable for landing so at several feet the drone hovered and then the video cut out and I assume the drone fell into the grass flat and made a crop circle. So the moral is the drone is smarter than even what appears to be plenty of power to return. I can only surmise that the drone takes into consideration temperature and battery performance, or lack there of. Also the field was 100 acres, I will never fly without that tracker. Although I had phone service there is no wifi or data so most other trackers would be useless. Long story but if any of the information is helpful then it is well worth it to me. Oh, for the LOS crowd I have one word "hobbyist".

Glad you got your bird back. Especially glad to hear that the Marco Polo tracking deivce performed well under a real situation. Luckily my Quad has never gone down so I haven't had the chance to test Marco Polo on anything other than the cat. The spam dector won't let me change drive to device, go figure.

 

[Turn11]

...... went to test the Marco Polo for the first time....... I will never fly without that tracker. Although I had phone service there is no wifi or data so most other trackers would be useless.

Handle the worst case and everything else is a piece of cake.