Rookie mistake?

Matt1979 · Dec 16, 2016

My P3S arrived last night. It was after dark so I charge everything read a bunch of stuff and watched a few videos. Then this morning I take it outside. with beginner mode on. Ok, cool. Bring it home shut it down take beginner mode off and launch it up in the air. Keeping an eye on the altitude. Right around 200 feet it disconnects. I'm just standing there stunned. Like "wtf do I do now?" Thinking it's a good thing I didn't go with something more expensive as I just threw away 400 bucks. Battery will die eventually and it'll crash down in my driveway. I killed the dji go app and restarted it. Luckily it picked back up. And I was able to safely land the thing. Time to go inside and calm my nerves.

I had tried originally in the backyard. But kept saying there was magnetic interference. I figured because of the power lines? But in front in my driveway, it was just fine! It's cold today but that shouldn't be an issue as I've read on here about people routinely flying in cold weather. It's also completely overcast right now. But all that would have done would make satellites an issue? I had 10 btw. Could there have still been a bit of interference even though it wasn't being picked up by the app? It did say "safe to fly" when I was out front. Both times before I took off. It just lost connection all at once with the app.

Cookie$Dough · Dec 16, 2016

I'm guessing the cold weather played some kind of factor. What temp was your battery? or your tablet could of gotten too cold as well causing a disconnect.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

jbrown630 · Dec 16, 2016

Directly overhead is the worst place for signal reception. Gotta keep the RC pointed at the drone if you end up directly overhead or close to it.

Numone · Dec 16, 2016

I'd move location - away from buildings, in the open - and try again. There could be all sorts of interference so close to your and others homes. And don't fly it directly above you unless you have the RC correctly orientated.
No, cloud cover doesn't interfere with satellite signals.

Ohiowoodsman · Dec 16, 2016

Yep, what JB said

Matt1979 · Dec 16, 2016

Cookie$Dough said:
I'm guessing the cold weather played some kind of factor. What temp was your battery? or your tablet could of gotten too cold as well causing a disconnect.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Ah, that would make sense. Phones don't like cold. Battery was in the house all night. Though it was on cold trucks the past few days.

jbrown630 said:
Directly overhead is the worst place for signal reception. Gotta keep the RC pointed at the drone if you end up directly overhead or close to it.

Good to know, thanks!

I did find in the settings for the fail safe to return home when signal lost. But at 200 ft it looked like it was just hovering there. Since the return home thing is so slow. I panicked. All good now. I'll wait till this afternoon and go find a nice open area somewhere. Recharging batteries in the meantime.

jbrown630 · Dec 16, 2016

Also, be aware that if you're within roughly 60' of where the drone took off it will land right where it is, in the water, on your roof , where ever it happens to be. When you start the motors it should log inside the aircraft, the location of either the RC gps or the aircraft gps location as the RTH location. You choose which one it uses in the GO app. Make sure it's set to RTH on signal loss in GO app ( Other options are to land, or hover ). ALSO make darn sure your RTH altitude is high enough to clear trees and structures in the area you're planning on flying in. I set mine to ~390' to be safe.

Matt1979 · Dec 16, 2016

jbrown630 said:
Also, be aware that if you're within roughly 60' of where the drone took off it will land right where it is, in the water, on your roof , where ever it happens to be. When you start the motors it should log inside the aircraft, the location of either the RC gps or the aircraft gps location as the RTH location. You choose which one it uses in the GO app. Make sure it's set to RTH on signal loss in GO app ( Other options are to land, or hover ). ALSO make darn sure your RTH altitude is high enough to clear trees and structures in the area you're planning on flying in. I set mine to ~390' to be safe.

I see by default it's set to 30'. I'm guessing that means it drops to 30 feet before it starts to make it's trek home? But it is set to RTH on signal loss now.

Ohiowoodsman · Dec 16, 2016

Panicking may be your enemy! If your RTH settings are correct you can TRUST it to do exactly that. And remember you can end rth and take control. Practice taking control with ATTI mode. Here's a video on antenna practices.
Best position for remote controller antenna

msinger · Dec 16, 2016

The RTH altitude is in meters, so that's actually 30 meters. If your Phantom is below the RTH altitude, it'll ascend and then return home. You should review the Phantom manual for more information since the RTH feature will do different things depending on how far away the Phantom is from the home point.

Matt1979 · Dec 16, 2016

Ohiowoodsman said:
Panicking may be your enemy! If your RTH settings are correct you can TRUST it to do exactly that. And remember you can end rth and take control. Practice taking control with ATTI mode. Here's a video on antenna practices.
Best position for remote controller antenna

I know that now. Had I been thinking I would have realized the battery isn't gonna run out and the thing come crashing back to earth. Regardless of which setting I had it set for. I would have landed safetly anyway. Like I said, "rookie mistake"

captainmilehigh · Dec 16, 2016

Msinger is correct as always. Review the Phantom manual as suggested and know what you need to do in any situation. I downloaded the manual to my iPad 2 mini that is dedicated only to flying the Phantom. That way it is available for reference if needed while flying. Pay close attention to the pages in the manual that concern RTH.....all three pages of it. Good luck and FLY SAFE ! [emoji106]

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

Great_Lakes · Dec 16, 2016

It was mentioned briefly, but make sure your antenna orientation is correct. They are somewhat directional in nature. The antennas should be pointing straight up with the flat sides towards the aircraft. It works very well when the aircraft is out and away from you. But If your bird is directly overhead, the flat side of the antennas are pointing forward and not pointing towards the aircraft. Hence, the weak signal.

WilliamM · Dec 16, 2016

TR

Matt1979 said:
I see by default it's set to 30'. I'm guessing that means it drops to 30 feet before it starts to make it's trek home? But it is set to RTH on signal loss now.

RTH never drops to anything, it only goes up to that height if needed. And 30 METERS is a bit low, unless there's no big trees or buildings over three stories near by. I keep mine at 50m.

gvsukids · Dec 16, 2016

Also, you could manually land the craft even if disconnected from Dji. Just use los to bring it near to land

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

Matt1979 · Dec 16, 2016

WilliamM said:
TR

RTH never drops to anything, it only goes up to that height if needed. And 30 METERS is a bit low, unless there's no big trees or buildings over three stories near by. I keep mine at 50m.

I set it to 70. Probably a bit high. But then i wont have to think about it

Matt1979 · Dec 16, 2016

gvsukids said:
Also, you could manually land the craft even if disconnected from Dji. Just use los to bring it near to land

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

What is los?