My DJI P3A Flew away just now :( what to do?

[SenginUK]

Sorry for your loss pal,,, I feel like I'm at a funeral,,, lol

Yea my p3p flew away from me,,, my fault, I was talking with someone who took my attention away for what seemed only like a few seconds, and in that time I hit the atti mode switch unknowingly, it was only about 30-40 feet in the air and right above me when I hit the switch, I looked up and it wasn't there,, it was gone,, I had no trace of it,, I couldn't even here it,, I lost all telemetry, no video, it all happens at once and so fast,,, also I was at the beach in a pretty open area but the wind was wipping around a little bit too,,, I am very calculating when I go fly,,, I usually always use p mode or f mode... Some sort of gps lock always. I only put in atti mode once in a while... I like that it will just stay in the air right where you put it...

Anyway,,


i freaked out a little, yea right!!! went to the police station filed a report, studied the logs of that flight, walked all around the neighborhood, people probably thought I was casing the neighborhood,,, lol,,, I walked all around where I thought it might have drifted, with the wind,,,, I posted signs on telephone poles...... About 30 posters hung,,, And waited...... Didn't have a great nights sleep too ....... The next day I got a call and it had crashed landed into this guys house/trees/yard, crashed into everything,,, and it got rained on that night too.... All my luck.... Lol

Soooo,,,


I did get it back but was really damaged I had to replace the shell and the camera, I did it myself and it cost 400$ for s new cam, and about 50$ for the new shell. While it was apart I replaced the motors with new one as well they were 18$ each. I put it all back together and it looks and flies like brand new....

To say the least I am even more vigilant over watching and making sure all the situations are optimal before I put Betsy back up in the air....


Hope you find it I feel for ya....


Well that's my story and I'm sorry that you had lost your bird,,, my advice is to study the logs,, post signs and walk the area you think it might be,,, it can't be too far,,, I'm sure you will find it

Good luck

Drone Dude CT

Drew [emoji576]



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Thank you for sharing your story.
How many days did it take them to call you back?
good that you found.
I will post signs tomorrow.

 

[SenginUK]

Well look on the bright side. 223.9mph has got to be the fastest phantom out there...I hope DJI takes care of you.

DJI sent me RMA form and Analysis form, wrote everthing and sent back to them.lets see.

 

[SenginUK]

Hey @Meta4, you think BladeStrike with DJI could help the OP resolve this flyaway? He's helped out here before, and hopefully nobody has made him mad lately. [emoji35]. Just a thought. [emoji3]


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I need helppp

 

[captainmilehigh]

I need helppp

At least you got a quick response back from DJI. That's a positive step in the right direction.


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[SenginUK]

Unfortunately the last GPS entry in the log agrees with your telemetry and I'm sure you've checked there and would have seen it. The log shows about 3 minutes and 46 seconds of data after you initiated RTH but at that point (as your video shows), GPS wasn't being updated. I also can't figure out why it says GPS signal lost but it's still reporting 19 satellites. I'm sure the battery is dead by now but I wonder in cases like this, if you could remove the antennas from the RC and walk around waiting until you got a signal. I haven't tested how far you can be to regain signal with no antennas on the RC (if at all) but I'd imagine you'd have to be pretty close and then you'd at least know you are in the area. Just a thought.

MikeView attachment 60802

Thanks for your advise.
I did it yesterday, I checked around and I was hoping to get signal but no luck.
I will post signs around but as you may see from the area (trent park, enfield, london) it is a huge area with many trees.
If you can see from the video, after last point, flight distance is increasing too much as the drone is going to the other way.

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[SenginUK]

At least you got a quick response back from DJI. That's a positive step in the right direction.


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If the see the logs, they will understand that it is not my mistake. I hope so.
I will share the developments with you.
Hope it will develop positively

 

[John Locke]

I'm sure the battery is dead by now but I wonder in cases like this, if you could remove the antennas from the RC and walk around waiting until you got a signal. I haven't tested how far you can be to regain signal with no antennas on the RC (if at all) but I'd imagine you'd have to be pretty close and then you'd at least know you are in the area. Just a thought.View attachment 60802

That's not a good idea. Taking the antennas off the RC could potentially blow the RF circuitry from having no antenna load. Besides, you cannot remove them very easily without destroying them, almost impossible, and it requires splitting the RC case.

SenginUK, if you get it back, consider a Marco Polo beacon for tracking. That's what I use on my P3P, good for 2mi, and it works anywhere, any country, it doesn't need cellular to work.

 

[SenginUK]

That's not a good idea. Taking the antennas off the RC could potentially blow the RF circuitry from having no antenna load. Besides, you cannot remove them very easily without destroying them, almost impossible.

SenginUK, if you get it back, consider a Marco Polo beacon for tracking. That's what I use on my P3P, good for 2mi, and it works anywhere, any country, it doesn't need cellular to work.

is Marco Polo this one?;
RC Model Recovery Systems Archives - Pet Tracking Made Easy | Marco Polo The Pet Tracking System

 

[MikeyOnline]

If you can see from the video, after last point, flight distance is increasing too much as the drone is going to the other way.

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That's the part I don't understand. How can it calculate distance if it doesn't know where it is (GPS signal lost)? It must look at the last known speed and direction and assume it's still going that way? I doubt it's calculating that based on RC signal.

Mike

 

[captainmilehigh]

That's not a good idea. Taking the antennas off the RC could potentially blow the RF circuitry from having no antenna load. Besides, you cannot remove them very easily without destroying them, almost impossible.

SenginUK, if you get it back, consider a Marco Polo beacon for tracking. That's what I use on my P3P, good for 2mi, and it works anywhere, any country, it doesn't need cellular to work.

@John Locke:
Not to get off topic, but have you ever had to use MarcoPolo, or ever landed somewhere other than home point and tracked it to its' location? Just wondering John. Thanks.


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[SenginUK]

That's the part I don't understand. How can it calculate distance if it doesn't know where it is (GPS signal lost)? It must look at the last known speed and direction and assume it's still going that way? I doubt it's calculating that based on RC signal.

Mike

I wonder DJI's comments on the logs.

 

[captainmilehigh]

I wonder DJI's comments on the logs.

We ALL are. The bird was totally out of your control at that point, so no pilot error in my opinion. The logs speak for themselves. I think they should send you a new bird.

We're all waiting to see what DJI is going to do. Good luck! [emoji3]


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[SenginUK]

We ALL are. The bird was totally out of your control at that point, so no pilot error in my opinion. The logs speak for themselves. I think they should send you a new bird.

We're all waiting to see what DJI is going to do. Good luck! [emoji3]


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Thank you for your positive opinion and motivation )))
I will update here with the DJI comments.

 

[SenginUK]

it is showing it was travelling to me but it is up to GPS signal problem, after the GPS signal problem AC shows it is towards to me but actually it is travelling to the opposite direction with high speed.
i tried to draw its possible direction on the map after the GPS signal lost. This is my possibility 1.
I need another drone to find it
If the battery died at the video transmission cut point. it should be around here. farming fields are there and crops are 60cm tall

 

[Numone]

Thank you for your positive opinion and motivation )))
I will update here with the DJI comments.

Yep, it'll be good to know what they do and I really hope they replace the AC.

 

[SenginUK]

Yep, it'll be good to know what they do and I really hope they replace the AC.

Thanks. I will update you for sure.

 

[razzyh]

Hi your not too far from me but I'm not sure a drone camera will find your crashed drone.

Hopefully wait and see what DJI say.

 

[SenginUK]

Hi your not too far from me but I'm not sure a drone camera will find your crashed drone.

Hopefully wait and see what DJI say.

Hi, if you have free time can we make a try for that?
I believe we can find it with another drone.
The area is wheatfield, white drone will be seen eaisly, i think.

 

[John Locke]

@John Locke:
Not to get off topic, but have you ever had to use MarcoPolo, or ever landed somewhere other than home point and tracked it to its' location? Just wondering John. Thanks.


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No, luckily I've never lost my drone. I've only tested it by having a friend hide my drone somewhere in the hills. It was about a mile away. Distance varies based on beacon's antenna angle to ground and terrain,similar to cellular tracker connections to get a cellular signal. Deep canyons could be a problem, but if you walk through the canyon you could theoretically activate the MarcoPolo into beacon mode. As long as you have a reasonable idea where the craft would be, it should help to find the craft. When you activate the beacon, you will be acknowledged that the beacon is on and working. If you don't get that acknowledgement you need to start walking or driving around the area you think craft is located and retry to activate the beacon. This is why it helps a lot to know the general area where the drone went down, within a mile or two.

The biggest problem with Marco Polo is remembering to turn it on when launching, putting the transmitter into sleep mode. It only sends out beacon signals when you wake up the transmitter from sleep mode. In sleep mode the battery lasts for 30 days, but you don't want to leave it in sleep mode for more than 15 days before recharging it. This leaves enough power at day 15 to activate the device into beacon mode to send a beacon signal for a couple days while you look for the craft. Transmitting the beacon signal takes more power from the battery, so you don't want to fly around with the beacon transmitting all the time. Leaving the MarcoPolo in sleep mode while flying is best way to conserve the battery. If I'm flying a lot over the weekend, I'll simply enable sleep mode for the whole weekend between flights. Sometimes I'll leave it in sleep mode for 9 days for a whole week and both weekends of flying, charge, and leave the unit off until I fly next, and hopefully I'll remember to enable sleep mode when I fly.

I need to buy a second beacon for my P4, and figure out how to mount it. $93 for another beacon. I'm looking for a reasonable mounting method that won't interfere with VPS like gimbal guards do.

 

[captainmilehigh]

Great ! Thanks for taking the time to explain everything. I learned a lot about this system from you. Sounds like a good plan to find a missing bird. Good idea playing hide and seek too. I guess a good place to mount the transmitter would be on one of the rear legs? I've got a P3S.

Either way it sounds like a good investment. Thanks again for all the info John.[emoji106][emoji3]


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