Almost lost it!

[J Dot]

Hello ALL,
After a year of flawless flying, my P2V,
I ALMOST lost it a few minutes ago! Man, SUPER
SCARY! My kids were outside playing a neighborhood
Basketball game, I decided to take some footage,
Booted up the phantom, normal startup, I also,
Re calibrated my compass ( last flight was a different
City ) got 7 satellites , home lock, both switches up as usual,
Lifted off, raised to about 10 feet, had a bit of neg drift, noticed
I lost 2 satellites , now 5, and blinking yellow, 98% battery, got 6 back
Green again, it stabilized, then back to 5 with neg drift, then back to 7
Satellites And stable again, flew to 25% alarm, brought back to 20' or so, flew
To 15% alarm, was above me about 15' ( feet ) started to land, came down to
About eye level, THEN:
Like a bat out of hell, it shot straight up ( FULL THROTTLE ), I tried to grab it
When it first revved up, but no dice ( too freaking fast ) I tried pulling down throttle,
As well as steer ( NOTHING ) no response ( meantime ) she is about 150' straight up now,
So I pulled hard down throttle, she started to descend ( SLOWLY ) I'm now coming down,
Still NO STEERING, but decending, I did let off throttle once ( and it shot up again ) so
I kept pulling down till I could physically grab it and manually shut off battery! Whew!
She came back safe and sound! But that crap was crazy stressful!
I'm going to hook to pc tonight, and review flytrex data! Will update, if I find anything?
Ps: I was really close to shutting down the remote, but luckily, she responded enough to
Come back!

For a stressful event, I was surprisingly exhilarated when I had it back in my hand!
Like a kid at Christmas!

just thought I would share with you!
Take care!
J dot

 

[phantomi]

Auto RTH!

 

[Prylar Bek]

WOW. any ideas to what happened? This is why I catch ONLY when need to. Don't like getting a haircut

 

[J Dot]

As ( phantome ) replied above
( I'm assuming ) I lost controller signal, and return home was initiated?
The wired part is I maintained ( fpv ) and NO RTH was on screen, it was
Still buzzing ( bamp bamp bamp ect ) also the one time I released the throttle
Stick ( it went back upwards ) when I pulled down again ( slow decent )
That I cannot explain? Like I said going to run diagnostic tonight ( after
Kids in bed ) I have some quiet time! ( lol ) I'm also lucky enough to
Have a flytex 2 core installed! I will reply my findings!

This is the first anything weird has ever happened ( that was not my fault ) {:0)

( I'm also wondering if maybe when I lost the Sattelites it might have logged a
New home point? Maybe it was confused a bit? )

Take care, Fly safe!

 

[J Dot]

Also,
I agree, after seeing a video of a guy HAND CATCHING,
A phantom with carbon fiber props, SLICING open his arm
And leaking badly, I NEVER HAND CATCH! But I just wanted
It back ( safe and sound ) I took the FIRST opportunity I could,
I knew I could reach it, so I went for it, it came quietly, thank God!

But I DEFINATELY do not make a habit of hand catching!

I also have a Mobil tracker installed, so that was cool, if it did
Decide to take a voyage on me!

 

[Prylar Bek]

True Funny all the guys talking about how 'safe' hand catching is..that is until...it slices someones fingers!

 

[gunslinger]

I always had catch. If you show the aircraft respect and understand it can hurt you if you don't, there isn't much danger in getting whacked by the blades... even on a fairly windy day.

Keep it downwind and just high enough that you have to reach up over your head for it, but not high enough that you have to stretch to reach it. Easy peasy...

-slinger

 

[phantomi]

As ( phantome ) replied above
( I'm assuming ) I lost controller signal, and return home was initiated?
The wired part is I maintained ( fpv ) and NO RTH was on screen, it was
Still buzzing ( bamp bamp bamp ect ) also the one time I released the throttle
Stick ( it went back upwards ) when I pulled down again ( slow decent )
That I cannot explain? Like I said going to run diagnostic tonight ( after
Kids in bed ) I have some quiet time! ( lol ) I'm also lucky enough to
Have a flytex 2 core installed! I will reply my findings!

This is the first anything weird has ever happened ( that was not my fault ) {:0)

( I'm also wondering if maybe when I lost the Sattelites it might have logged a
New home point? Maybe it was confused a bit? )

Take care, Fly safe!

Hi. I think auto RTH was initiated because of the 15% battery second alarm. If you have last firmware I think it is set as default that at the 15% of battery charge second alarm it initiate RTH. I'm considering turning this off.

 

[gunslinger]

As ( phantome ) replied above
( I'm assuming ) I lost controller signal, and return home was initiated?
The wired part is I maintained ( fpv ) and NO RTH was on screen, it was
Still buzzing ( bamp bamp bamp ect ) also the one time I released the throttle
Stick ( it went back upwards ) when I pulled down again ( slow decent )
That I cannot explain? Like I said going to run diagnostic tonight ( after
Kids in bed ) I have some quiet time! ( lol ) I'm also lucky enough to
Have a flytex 2 core installed! I will reply my findings!

This is the first anything weird has ever happened ( that was not my fault ) {:0)

( I'm also wondering if maybe when I lost the Sattelites it might have logged a
New home point? Maybe it was confused a bit? )

Take care, Fly safe!

Hi. I think auto RTH was initiated because of the 15% battery second alarm. If you have last firmware I think it is set as default that at the 15% of battery charge second alarm it initiate RTH. I'm considering turning this off.

Excellent point. We really have to be conscious about what DJI is adding and setting as defaults on firmware updates. Some of these features are fine, even welcome, but if you don't understand what your aircraft is now designed to do... Things can get a little hairy as you may react counter to what actually needs to be done...

-slinger

 

[J Dot]

I did just update, not the new RC firmware, but did the phantom update!
I did it before RC was avail, but it was the first time 15% was reached ( while in flight )
I feel better now, but why would the app not show ( RTH ) on screen?
And why when I let the stick go it went back up? Instead of just landing?
( also I have not changed my controller batts in a while? Could be part of the problem?
The show good, but who knows? )
I usually change them quite often, but been raining, and windy lately, so I have not logged
Many flights, these past couple months, same batteries, but been sitting! I did charge my extender
Up, as well as the p2v batts! Both to 100%.

But I'm sure that is the answer, RTH somehow took over! It sure hauled *** going up,
I was like OH CRAP, what now, but I did stay PRETTY calm and collected! ( before when battery reached
15% or so, it would try to land, you had to give nearly full throttle, just to keep it a foot or 2 off the ground, this went
Up FULL BORE, like it was a fresh battery?

Thanks for the replies, guys!
Have a good evening! ( it is sure a beautiful one here in Sarasota, Florida! )
Jd

 

[J Dot]

Yeah,
It was my first hand catch, I grabbed the leg, right at belly of
Phantom, not at bottom, no wind at all, it stayed nice and level,
Never revved up at all? A good clean catch. I don't have prop guards
Any longer ( due to case ) tired of removing them, plus flies WAY better
Without! Looks more wimpy, not so bulky, but cruises well!

Cheers
Jd

 

[J Dot]

DIRKCLOD,
no it would not shut down with stick, as I hand caught it I realized I was holding the stick
All the way DOWN, with my left hand, as I was trying to hold the controller with left , catch with right,
Once I caught it, I was going to perform, stick shut down, but the stick was already down during catch, and for a while
After, when I realized it was already down, I just kept it pinned, and nothing, so I put controller down in grass, and
Manually turned off the battery! Strange huh? But if it was auto landing, maybe I had not input from remote, and only
thought I did? Maybe I lost remote signal ( batteries bad? )causing RTH? But the screen on my iPhone was giving me FPV,
But never said returning home? Just blinking red, and alarm was sounding, 15% alarm,( when took off ) by the time I shut it down, it was 6%!

RTH , Makes sense, but with strange side effects?

I'll try to see if anything is weird on flytrex, or pic assistant?
Maybe bad compass cal? Or combination of everything?

Jd

 

[Prylar Bek]

Boy it sure sounds like a batt issue eh?

 

[Prylar Bek]

True But as I read these threads it seems this auto RTF tied to the batts causes a lot of mischief with the quad. Granted, loss of GPS and the related issues are part as well, but who knows ???

 

[phantomi]

DIRKCLOD,
no it would not shut down with stick, as I hand caught it I realized I was holding the stick
All the way DOWN, with my left hand, as I was trying to hold the controller with left , catch with right,
Once I caught it, I was going to perform, stick shut down, but the stick was already down during catch, and for a while
After, when I realized it was already down, I just kept it pinned, and nothing, so I put controller down in grass, and
Manually turned off the battery! Strange huh? But if it was auto landing, maybe I had not input from remote, and only
thought I did? Maybe I lost remote signal ( batteries bad? )causing RTH? But the screen on my iPhone was giving me FPV,
But never said returning home? Just blinking red, and alarm was sounding, 15% alarm,( when took off ) by the time I shut it down, it was 6%!

RTH , Makes sense, but with strange side effects?

I'll try to see if anything is weird on flytrex, or pic assistant?
Maybe bad compass cal? Or combination of everything?

Jd

J Dot be aware that if you hand catch the quad you have to mantain it really steady for the stickshut down turn off the motors. If you're moving the quad it won't turned off because it is interpreting movement and won't cut the motors. That is my guess why you have to put it in the grass to manually turned it off.

 

[paulajayne]

J Dot be aware that if you hand catch the quad you have to mantain it really steady for the stickshut down turn off the motors. If you're moving the quad it won't turned off because it is interpreting movement and won't cut the motors. That is my guess why you have to put it in the grass to manually turned it off.

+1

You have to keep it still for RTH to think it has landed.

 

[J Dot]

Thanks for the input,
( PHANTOMI ) I actally, was NOT aware of that,
Now that you said that, the whole ordeal makes perfect sense!
I did hook it up, everything looks the same ( I always keep a log
Of my numbers, everytime I hook to PC )
IMU ( normal )
Mods ALL ( normal )
Compass ( normal )

Nothing strange.

Like I was saying earlier, I have not flown much
Over these last few months, so when I did get a chance
I went ahead and updated firmware ( without research )
Or any knowledge of the update what so ever ( total fail on my part )
So
DID NOT KNOW ( RTH ) auto initiated at 15% batt. ( most likely what happened )
DID NOT KNOW ( that if phantom is not still/level CSC would NOT shut it down ( again what happened )
So I'm going RIGHT NOW, to do my research, like I SHOULD have done originally!

So,
Now that I had a ( REAL MEN of GENIUS ) moment, I'm going back to start over, and do it RIGHT
this time, and try to regain a bit of my dignity back!

I do appreciate all your replies ( all very helpful ) I believe problem solved!
USER ERROR! ( me )
But now I know, thanks again!

Take care,
Fly safe

Your friend,
J Dot