RC Signal Lost question

[Peterhenrybarnard]

hi, I flew my P3 advanced about 500 metres away ... it was behind some trees so it was out of sight (and the battery had gone red too). Then I got signal lost .... it is the first time I had been in this situation. So after holding my breath and a few moments of panic I started to hear the phantom flying back and sure enough it flew home to me at a decent height and came down safely. Just like it was supposed to

But I noticed in the Advanced Settings on the DJI Go app there is an RC Lost options with
"Return to Home" (selected),
"Landing"
"Hover".

... and I thought if Landing or Hover had accidentally been selected this would have been an absolute disaster for me - as the drone was not in an ideal place to get back .... especially with a low battery !! so I wondered why these options are even there as I cannot see why anybody would ever not want their quadcopter to come home after losing connection to RC. Any ideas on this or am I missing something obvious ?

 

[Wibble]

Well sometimes people push the envelope or winds shift - then there may not be enough juice to get home. That is what auto land is for.
I dont know why you would want hover - recipe for disaster!

 

[robby3265]

Keep it on rth and set a good height to clear everything, get use to losing the signal especially with this latest firmware, I have lost count how many times I have lost either the video downlink or the complete signal

 

[bobmyers]

hi, I flew my P3 advanced about 500 metres away ... it was behind some trees so it was out of sight (and the battery had gone red too). Then I got signal lost .... it is the first time I had been in this situation. So after holding my breath and a few moments of panic I started to hear the phantom flying back and sure enough it flew home to me at a decent height and came down safely. Just like it was supposed to

But I noticed in the Advanced Settings on the DJI Go app there is an RC Lost options with
"Return to Home" (selected),
"Landing"
"Hover".

... and I thought if Landing or Hover had accidentally been selected this would have been an absolute disaster for me - as the drone was not in an ideal place to get back .... especially with a low battery !! so I wondered why these options are even there as I cannot see why anybody would ever not want their quadcopter to come home after losing connection to RC. Any ideas on this or am I missing something obvious ?

Welcome to the forum.

What you are missing is not being completely knowledgeable about the app and how to set everything up. If you haven't completely read the Manual then do yourself an favor and do that.
Then take the props off the Phantom, set it on a table and connect with your controller and spend a couple of hours reviewing the app, all the options, and how they need to be set. Yes it will land if that option is set to land.

Also check this guide out-- Dropbox - DJI Phantom P3 Summary Guide.pdf-- it has a lot of basic information that you need to know.

Spend as much time on this forum reading and researching all the videos and helps that you can, And then start asking questions.. Cheers

 

[N017RW]

If you do decide to follow the great advice here regarding app. familiarization be mindful that without props the throttle/motor control may not appear to respond properly in some cases. The control system is closed-loop system and once a command is given and the output(s) have occurred 'the quad' is expected to respond accordingly and without props and when not in flight those responses cannot occur. Thesame would be true with the props on but the quad tied or secured to the ground, table, etc.

 

[JB-I]

Examples of "Hover" on fail safe might be if you are intending on flying under a tight overhead obstruction like in the thick woods, in which case you would not want it to ascend in the case of a signal lost. Also if you launch on a boat and your home point is now over the water but you are not there anymore because you have moved the boat! You can keep updating your home point over the water near your current location but if it did need to RTH you would want it to hover until you could position yourself under it and retrieve.

 

[Peterhenrybarnard]

Examples of "Hover" on fail safe might be if you are intending on flying under a tight overhead obstruction like in the thick woods, in which case you would not want it to ascend in the case of a signal lost. Also if you launch on a boat and your home point is now over the water but you are not there anymore because you have moved the boat! You can keep updating your home point over the water near your current location but if it did need to RTH you would want it to hover until you could position yourself under it and retrieve.

yes that makes sense. I think my phantom will be staying on Return-to-Home for most of the time - worth being aware of those situations though so thanks

 

[Peterhenrybarnard]

Welcome to the forum.

What you are missing is not being completely knowledgeable about the app and how to set everything up. If you haven't completely read the Manual then do yourself an favor and do that.
Then take the props off the Phantom, set it on a table and connect with your controller and spend a couple of hours reviewing the app, all the options, and how they need to be set. Yes it will land if that option is set to land.

Also check this guide out-- Dropbox - DJI Phantom P3 Summary Guide.pdf-- it has a lot of basic information that you need to know.

Spend as much time on this forum reading and researching all the videos and helps that you can, And then start asking questions.. Cheers

hi yes that is a useful document to read - thanks