Not writing the eulogy just yet, but...

RoadGoddess · Jul 4, 2017

I've been the happy owner of a P4P for all of five days and have been really amazed by the capabilities of this unit. Well, I guess I should say I WAS the owner of a P4P. This evening, while flying over a relatively small (but dense) wooded area, I learned first hand how Icarus must have felt. One minute, solid connection, the next, complete loss of signal (about 250 ft up and maybe 300 yds away). The sound of props slashing through trees was the next unwelcome event. I had made a couple of flights earlier in the day with no issues and had recharged the battery (was @ 94% when it crashed) before the flight. Also checked the seating of the battery before the flight. All good. Had not removed the props from the earlier successful flights. Was at least 100 feet above the treeline and a RTH ceiling of 300 feet, so I'm not sure what happened. As others have said, Murphy will bite - it's not a matter of if, but when.

I also labeled the copter with my contact info and FAA reg number. Still, I don't think anyone is likely to be walking back in this area that might stumble upon it.

After 20 mins of searching in failing light and completely unsuitable footwear, I decided to abort the search and return tomorrow with some friends (beer is a wonderful enticement - LOL!). At least I had the presence of mind to purchase CareRefresh, but that's not going to do me much good if I can't find it. I'm actually a little more miffed about losing the footage stored on the SD card, but my purse will be in acute pain for a while nonetheless.

Being a VERY new "pilot", I'd welcome any suggestions as to things that I might review (log files, etc.) that might provide some insight as to the cause of the crash. I did manage to reach the immediate area of the last GPS track, but again, was ill prepared for a search and rescue this evening.

THANKS! for letting me cry on everyone's shoulders for a bit.

tevek · Jul 4, 2017

Well that sucks, try uploading your file through this link. There are some very clever people who can look at the data and offer up some advice.
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

RoadGoddess · Jul 4, 2017

tevek said:
Well that sucks, try uploading your file through this link. There are some very clever people who can look at the data and offer up some advice.
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

THANKS, Tevek! I was just reading a thread regarding how to pull the logs from the controller. Will use the link you provided as soon as I have them.

tevek · Jul 4, 2017

RoadGoddess said:
THANKS, Tevek! I was just reading a thread regarding how to pull the logs from the controller. Will use the link you provided as soon as I have them.

No worries, look forward to looking through it! The data will come from your device.

RoadGoddess · Jul 4, 2017

tevek said:
No worries, look forward to looking through it! The data will come from your device.

Since my smartphone is iOS based, I'm having to sync it with iTunes to get at the logs. I usually just back up to cloud and skip iTunes, but it looks like that's the only way to download the files from the DJI Go app. Will keep you posted. Thanks, again!

RoadGoddess · Jul 5, 2017

Reviewing the flight log, nothing jumps out at me. I'm attaching the last two seconds of capture. Looks like things were going great and then, nothing. Does anyone see something I'm missing as a newbie?

Thanks!
Angie

Screen Shot 2017-07-05 at 12.51.53 AM.png

tevek · Jul 5, 2017

RoadGoddess said:
Reviewing the flight log, nothing jumps out at me. I'm attaching the last two seconds of capture. Looks like things were going great and then, nothing. Does anyone see something I'm missing as a newbie?

Thanks!
Angie

View attachment 84896

Can you can you upload the entire log as it will contain any warnings etc during your flight? It should upload as a link to reveal the entire flight.

RoadGoddess · Jul 5, 2017

Hi, Tevek! Here's a link to the log viewer data:

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

I've attached the relevant logs to this message as well. The only thing that comes to mind is EM interference from the high voltage lines that I cleared by at least 38 metres feet before flying towards the wooded area. But, I didn't note any issues until approximately 30 metres past the lines. I would have thought that since I had RTH on disconnect active, the P4P would have returned rather than dropped like a stone. Thanks for taking a look!!!!

Phill2 · Jul 5, 2017

RoadGoddess said:
Hi, Tevek! Here's a link to the log viewer data:

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

I've attached the relevant logs to this message as well. The only thing that comes to mind is EM interference from the high voltage lines that I cleared by at least 38 metres feet before flying towards the wooded area. But, I didn't note any issues until approximately 30 metres past the lines. I would have thought that since I had RTH on disconnect active, the P4P would have returned rather than dropped like a stone. Thanks for taking a look!!!!

I start to lose signal around high voltage lines when I'm at 400' so I'd say that could be your problem

tevek · Jul 5, 2017

Quick look through the flight data and apart from you taking off before homepoint was recorded, nothing else. There are no flags in the file regarding loss of signal, RTH being activated, no compass errors or interference issues.
Seems like it went straight into a tree at speed for whatever reason......

tevek · Jul 5, 2017

Phill2 said:
I start to lose signal around high voltage lines when I'm at 400' so I'd say that could be your problem

I fly around HV and mobile/cellular towers all the time with no ill effects. If the OPs logs are complete it would show that there were issues with either signal,compass or other warnings in the data.

Jthomp · Jul 5, 2017

I know this thread is about a P4P, but I just lost my P3S this evening in what appears to have been an electromagnetic interference-induced incident. I know where the drone is - hopefully I can retrieve it from the roof of the building that it landed on - and if I can I will be able to download the flight logs from the drone itself. In the meantime, is it possible to download flight data from the controller itself, and, if so, how is that done?

tevek · Jul 5, 2017

If you

Jthomp said:
I know this thread is about a P4P, but I just lost my P3S this evening in what appears to have been an electromagnetic interference-induced incident. I know where the drone is - hopefully I can retrieve it from the roof of the building that it landed on - and if I can I will be able to download the flight logs from the drone itself. In the meantime, is it possible to download flight data from the controller itself, and, if so, how is that done?

If you have your device/tablet, use the link above, the only other data is available on the drone itself.

ibuyufo · Jul 5, 2017

My guess was that your RTH setting was set to default which I believe is 30 meters. So when your P4P lost signal to the remote, it initiated RTH. Because it lost signal, it also did not record the last moments the RTH command was activated as well as when it collided with the tree. If you can find the P4P, you can extract the full flight data.

Jayfdee · Jul 5, 2017

ibuyufo said:
My guess was that your RTH setting was set to default which I believe is 30 meters. So when your P4P lost signal to the remote, it initiated RTH. Because it lost signal, it also did not record the last moments the RTH command was activated as well as when it collided with the tree. If you can find the P4P, you can extract the full flight data.

I may be wrong, but if you are above the RTH height when RTH kicks in, then the Phantom returns at this height, it does not descend to the RTH height.

tevek · Jul 5, 2017

Jayfdee said:
I may be wrong, but if you are above the RTH height when RTH kicks in, then the Phantom returns at this height, it does not descend to the RTH height.

Yes it does but no RTH signal in the flight log to indicate that that was initiated.

Meta4 · Jul 5, 2017

RoadGoddess said:
complete loss of signal (about 250 ft up and maybe 300 yds away). The sound of props slashing through trees was the next unwelcome event.

The problem here is trying to match the incident description to the log.
The log stops with the Phantom only 247 feet from home (and well above tree level).
How/why did you say it was maybe 300 yards away?
If it was 300 yards away, it would be hard to hear any crashing.
The loss of signal is a puzzle.
It appears that there's no terrain or trees that could have blocked signal.
There's nothing up as high as the Phantom was to run into.
The conjecture about RTH is a distraction. - The Phantom was already well clear of the trees.
If the Phantom continued in the same direction, there's nothing to run into.

RoadGoddess said:
I decided to abort the search and return tomorrow with some friends

Investigate the Find my Phantom feature in the app.

RoadGoddess · Jul 5, 2017

ibuyufo said:
My guess was that your RTH setting was set to default which I believe is 30 meters. So when your P4P lost signal to the remote, it initiated RTH. Because it lost signal, it also did not record the last moments the RTH command was activated as well as when it collided with the tree. If you can find the P4P, you can extract the full flight data.

I had the RTH ceiling set to 91 metres because the area near my home has a fair amount of coverage of old oak trees. Overkill, I know, but being new to this, I've been overly cautious with the RTH function. The tallest obstructions in the area in which I was flying when I lost connection were the HV towers, and I was at least 22 metres above those during the outbound flight (and would have been approximately 38 meters or so above them had the RTH function kicked it).

The P4P didn't so much crash into a tree as drop from the sky and land in the tree canopy. I can only hope that it made it to the ground. Will know more today when I return to the site.

RoadGoddess · Jul 5, 2017

Meta4 said:
The problem here is trying to match the incident description to the log.
The log stops with the Phantom only 247 feet from home (and well above tree level).
How/why did you say it was maybe 300 yards away?
If it was 300 yards away, it would be hard to hear any crashing.
The loss of signal is a puzzle.
It appears that there's no terrain or trees that could have blocked signal.
There's nothing up as high as the Phantom was to run into.
The conjecture about RTH is a distraction. - The Phantom was already well clear of the trees.
If the Phantom continued in the same direction, there's nothing to run into.

Investigate the Find my Phantom feature in the app.

Hi, Meta! My mistake....I meant 300 feet, not yards LOL!. So, my estimate was about 50 feet more than what is shown in the log. You are correct. At the crash location, there were no trees or other obstructions of sufficient height to have impeded the flight path of my P4P. THANKS for the tip on the Find My Phantom feature! I will try that this evening when I return to the site.

RoadGoddess · Jul 5, 2017

Jthomp said:
I know this thread is about a P4P, but I just lost my P3S this evening in what appears to have been an electromagnetic interference-induced incident. I know where the drone is - hopefully I can retrieve it from the roof of the building that it landed on - and if I can I will be able to download the flight logs from the drone itself. In the meantime, is it possible to download flight data from the controller itself, and, if so, how is that done?

Hi, JThomp! Were you able to access the logs? If not, what type of smartphone/tablet (Android or iOS) are you using with your controller? The procedure to retrieve the logs differs between the two platforms.