Took off with 4 Sats.... Warranty possible?

[Meta4]

Because the app didn't show any warning message at the take off. I was allowed to take off and I was in GPS mode while take off according to:

The recorded flight data shows that your drone had no GPS location data at all until 0:50.5.
The flight controller had no confidence in the GPS location data until 0:55.5, at which point the drone recorded its home point.
But by then you had flown out into the harbour, well away from land.
Up until then, the drone had no knowledge or where you were flying, so no warning could be given.

 

[000]

The recorded flight data shows that your drone had no GPS location data at all until 0:50.5.
The flight controller had no confidence in the GPS location data until 0:55.5, at which point the drone recorded its home point.
But by then you had flown out into the harbour, well away from land.
Up until then, the drone had no knowledge or where you were flying, so no warning could be given.

Ooops! Should of never left the ground in the first place.

 

[DanMan32]

No, but unless PhantomHelp is misreporting the flight mode, it never should have registered P-GPS. It should have read P-OPTI and not let you go any higher than 15ft. But it did so when you were out of VPS range, it changed to ATTI.

 

[Cobra193]

Because the app didn't show any warning message at the take off. I was allowed to take off and I was in GPS mode while take off according to:

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

The pilot, not the app, is responsible for knowing where you’re flying. That feature of the app is just an aid. Unfortunately you Learned the hard way. Even flying for a hobby it’s still your responsibility. In the past with RC flying this hasn’t been as much of an issue because people used to go to AMA flying fields that were approved areas for flying. Now anyone can fly anywhere, which is a problem, ESPECIALLY for hobbyist who typically would have no knowledge of this stuff.

Personally, buyers should have to take a very basic test before being able to purchase a drone. And I’m not talking about quadcopter. A DRONE is only a drone when it has autonomous capabilities.

 

[crusty50]

that's exactly what happened to me. The app authorized me to take off without warning, in an authorization zone. I had 4 sattelites. A few moments later just after the number of satteltes increased to 10, auto landing triggered and my drone fell into the sea. Do you guys think the warranty will work?

DO NOT EXPECT DJI TO DO THE RIGHT THING

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Just out of curiosity, am I correct in thinking that the drone, once it realised it was in a no fly zone, let the pilot fly the drone 'sideways' whilst it was descending, reaching 49ft? home the "Uh oh I am in a no fly zone point" which might, in more favourable conditions, have allowed the drone to escape the no fly zone?

I doubt an such an escape was possible in this case but, if the drone had been high enough, it might have allowed it to reach land or a jetty.

 

[PBDawg]

For what it's worth, here's what happened to me when I took off with only six satellites in range.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

That was fun, beautiful scenery. Great video!
The remote height limit was something I didn't think of, what a sting in the tail that is!

 

[TS_Thomas02]

that's exactly what happened to me. The app authorized me to take off without warning, in an authorization zone. I had 4 sattelites. A few moments later just after the number of satteltes increased to 10, auto landing triggered and my drone fell into the sea. Do you guys think the warranty will work?

"Do you guys think the warranty will work?"

While I don't think a 100% replacement under warranty will occur, I do believe that the DJI refresh might allow you to purchase a replacement drone at a small cost.

 

[TS_Thomas02]

You'll likely have trouble getting a full warranty replacement but I see no problem with getting a reduced price on a replacement drone if you have the DJI refresh coverage.

 

[dixter]

For what it's worth, here's what happened to me when I took off with only six satellites in range.

Great example... thanks for sharing that.... the best anyone can do in that example is exactly what you did... perfect recovery... you recognised a problem existed, you didn't freak out, you figured out your general location in relation to the drone and the surrounding topography and brought the bird home.... excellent... my lesson learned from watching your vid was... take off, hoover and verify height/distance and home point are correct... then fly away

 

[Cobra193]

You'll likely have trouble getting a full warranty replacement but I see no problem with getting a reduced price on a replacement drone if you have the DJI refresh coverage.

I don't think they'll do ANY kind of replacement or discount if you don't have a drone to replace.

 

[PBDawg]

That was fun, beautiful scenery. Great video!
The remote height limit was something I didn't think of, what a sting in the tail that is!

A sting in the tail? Yes... that sounds about right!

 

[PBDawg]

Great example... thanks for sharing that.... the best anyone can do in that example is exactly what you did... perfect recovery... you recognised a problem existed, you didn't freak out, you figured out your general location in relation to the drone and the surrounding topography and brought the bird home.... excellent... my lesson learned from watching your vid was... take off, hoover and verify height/distance and home point are correct... then fly away

It felt as though I was freaking out - My hands were shaking so badly that my wife couldn't stand to watch! Fortunately, I did have enough presence of mind to figure things out and I'm glad that you were able to gain something useful from my misadventure!

 

[Galeforce1]

You kind of answered your own question. You had flown from that location before and had to go thru the process to "unlock" the location; but this one time it did not ask you to do so. That alone should have set off bells in your mind that something was amiss - thus finding out satellite issues kind of after the fact.

Properly setting up your drone before flying is a critical issue - almost every newbie video I've seen on YouTube / others covers this very important aspect pretty well. Having the drone set to land when an issue happens is not wise to me. You found that out too. Setting it to hover or RTH should be the go to setting, not land - esp if you fly a lot over water or other places where landing would end up losing the drone.

Highly encourage you to watch quite a few videos on how to fly your drone of choice - as each drone from the Mini to the Mavic Pro are way different in many respects. I've watched quite a few on my Air2 and still know about half of its features. So, until I learn more of them - I fly very conservatively as losing a $1k drone is not my idea of a good / fun time.

If Norway has "drone insurance," I'd recommend it as a failsafe, as DJI is real finicky on responsibility and replacement of the drone - even with Refresh and all their additional replacement items that earn them A LOT of money in the long run - as if they can blame it on pilot error - guess who pays - NOT DJI.

I agree totally. Flying, any type of aircraft, is hazardous at the best of times. Aircraft, even tiny drones, are also very complex machines with many many settings that control their behaviour.

Anyone who doesn't take the time and trouble to learn, prepare and take precautions cannot legitimately try to blame the manufacturer for their flying problems, unless they can confidently rule out any possible mistakes they might have made.

DJI produces very high quality machines that are mostly very reliable. Just like in general aviation the vast majority of crashes and incidents are pilot error. Pilots who haven't learned enough, or who make serious mistakes.

I have had many near-misses, both in light manned aircraft as pilot, and with my MPP. But each time, I make the effort to work out what went wrong and what I could have done to prevent it, and try to incorporate that learning into my flying habits. It's worth it, believe me.