Return To Home Altitude Change - Lost Drone

[Gonzoshots]

Hey Gonzoshots,
Maybe try using google earth before hand with the "party" present and the snapshot of the log map ... check your wind also from log as that may give away to possible drift while comming down. Using Google Earth will put everyones mind on same page.
Yea ... using another drone would be great ... I have a few here but your too far away from me my friend

Yeah I did that I ran the search crew a Google Earth session to the last known location, also I had flown the route the day before so I showed them actual video opf the exact area. But alas, they could not locate the bird, its just a thick forest and dense undergrowth. But maybe I can get another drone up to do some looking.

 

[dguth66]

Ahhh ... well maybe time will be on your side, hope u find and if I think of something else I'll chime back in.

 

[Phantom fool]

RTH will be in a straight line from where it was initiated. Clipping the hill is likely cause of the loss

Good luck finding it!

 

[Meta4]

Yeah I did that I ran the search crew a Google Earth session to the last known location, also I had flown the route the day before so I showed them actual video opf the exact area. But alas, they could not locate the bird, its just a thick forest and dense undergrowth. But maybe I can get another drone up to do some looking.

The last known location is probably not where you should be searching because that just shows where your Phantom lost contact ... not where it may have run into terrain.
If you want to find it,
Go to https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.

Come back and post a link to the report it provides and some of the experienced people here will probably be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident and perhaps point you to a likely area to search for the Phantom.

 

[dguth66]

Hey Gonzoshots,
Maybe try using google earth before hand with the "party" present and the snapshot of the log map ... check your wind also from log as that may give away to possible drift while comming down. Using Google Earth will put everyones mind on same page.
Yea ... using another drone would be great ... I have a few here but your too far away from me my friend

Meta4 is right, Have you checked your log yet ?
( remember things like wind can play a big factor )

 

[cbgeorge]

Here where I live I live on side of a mountain and most my flying is down over the valley so I can set my RTH at 50 meters or 164' which is well with 95% my flying, but if I fly over toward the lake, I have to set it about 250' to make sure i can get over the one hill to the SW side, it is just a short knole of the foot hill but if I am over lake, it is within direct line of RTH so I have to set higher for that, but only when I send it over toward the lake.
I always when going to a new area to fly, look at a topo map to see where all the elevation heights are within my flight. I always make sure i am high enough to clear anything !

 

[GeoffJ]

You can't rely on OA. If it detects an obstacle and rises up it could hit something above it, or it might hit a cable or thin branches which are not solid enough to be detected.
These things can be useful, and might sometimes get you out of trouble, but rely on them at your drone's peril.

Interesting wording in that picture "will climb to the lowest safe altitude".
I wonder why it doesn't say " will return home at the current altitude or preset RTH altitude if higher".

 

[Start Visit]

Search party found came up empty handed. It is a thicket up there on the side of that mountain. Maybe I can try and locate with another drone if I can launch closer to the last know location. I;ve attached a photo from near the last known location taken by the search crew.

how high did you fly before signal lost? this ridge from the picture looks really high.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I always when going to a new area to fly, look at a topo map to see where all the elevation heights are within my flight. I always make sure i am high enough to clear anything !

Topo maps are great and necessary, but won't tell you the height of the tallest trees, tall buildings, cell towers, and power lines above the ground level. Be careful out there! Figure on at least another 250-300 feet AGL everywhere along your flight path for a starting RTH altitude. A sufficient RTH elevation setting will also likely allow you to immediately take over control during the ascension, and cancel RTH.