What to do when you lose the drone connection to the controller?

[PhoebeSnow]

On a couple of occasions I've lost the connection of the Mavic Pro to the controller. Fortunately today I was returning home and it got close enough that I could manually bring it down. The Mavic Pro still responds to the controller despite there being no screen view on the phone so that is a plus. For that reason I didn't want to turn the controller or the phone off and try to reconnect as I could fly it and didn't want to risk not having any control of it. If it wasn't on it's way home heaven knows where it could end up or if it would have enough power to RTH. And even though it was on its way home it was a tight spot that required some re-tweaking for a perfect landing. What do others do when this happens?

 

[DanMan32]

Sounds like the app (or phone itself) lost communication with the controller. You had connection between AC and RC or else you would not have been able to control it.

On the other hand, with the P3A/P you can lose downlink (no video or telemetry to RC) but still have uplink (control of the AC). That happened to me where I waited 4 minutes for RTH when signal was lost. Tablet logs showed RC didn't hear from AC, but AC logs never showed signal lost. It only returned due to low battery. I'm not sure if the MP is prone to be in that state

 

[DanMan32]

As to what to do if it is indeed downlink loss but not uplink: raise altitude or send RTH until you get the signal back, or powercycle the RC to force signal loss both ways.

 

[PhoebeSnow]

As to what to do if it is indeed downlink loss but not uplink: raise altitude or send RTH until you get the signal back, or powercycle the RC to force signal loss both ways.

I think you're right here. I purposely tried both disconnecting (1) the phone and 2) the controller each independent of the other. The drone still flies with the phone cable disconnected. So the disconnect had to be as stated just the phone-controller cable connection. But when the controller was powered off (phone still on) the drone went into landing mode until a connection was made where I could cancel it. So if the altitude was low it would probably land well before you could regain control of it. If the phone and the controller were both off - by the time both powered back on and a connection made the drone would most likely have landed where it last was located unless the altitude was quite high.

 

[KELLARK]

Ive posted about the same issue. It was suggested that the problem is with the data cable between the sideport and the phone.
I made some adjustments and so far its been OK.

 

[Karl D]

I think you're right here. I purposely tried both disconnecting (1) the phone and 2) the controller each independent of the other. The drone still flies with the phone cable disconnected. So the disconnect had to be as stated just the phone-controller cable connection. But when the controller was powered off (phone still on) the drone went into landing mode until a connection was made where I could cancel it. So if the altitude was low it would probably land well before you could regain control of it. If the phone and the controller were both off - by the time both powered back on and a connection made the drone would most likely have landed where it last was located unless the altitude was quite high.

If the craft was near you it would just autoland but if it was further away it would do the normal RTH as in climb first

 

[PhoebeSnow]

Ive posted about the same issue. It was suggested that the problem is with the data cable between the sideport and the phone.
I made some adjustments and so far its been OK.

Thanks for the information. I sensed this issue and have been using a reinforced cable from the type c phone port to the USB port on the controller. I stopped using the side micro usb port on the controller as it used to happen more frequently. Also, DJI didn't design the micro usb to accept the cable only one way and I feared I'd inadvertently ruin this port. Their port is not tapered as most ports are. Not sure why but there are many posts about it. By reinforced the cable is heavy duty with large type c connector that "snaps" in place. I lost confidence in those little side cables supplied by DJI. I'll try another cable to play it safe. Thanks.