Almost lost my bird....

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Hello all! Just had my first scary experience with the P3. Cliffnotes will be provided at the bottom.

On another thread I was wondering how to do the screen captures so that I could get the info (height, distance, battery life, etc) on the screen, and someone advised me to download a screen capture app.

I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S4, so I went on the google play store and downloaded "recordable free" and decided to test it. At the same time, I also decided I wanted to do a range test. Which now that I think about it, adding 2 new variables (screen recording and range testing) at the same time wasn't a great idea.

So I get everything setup, and I take her off flying about 120m up and going for distance. I get about 2000m out (double my previous record!) and my DJI app closes. First time that's ever happened. No big deal, I just reboot it and we're good.

Then I continue flying back, and get about 400m away and my phone shuts off. No warning, just off. Mind you, its plugged into my P3 controller and charging, so its not a battery issue.

This is when I start to get nervous, I've been out flying and probably have around 30% battery, 120m up, 400m away and can't see it at all.

I quickly try to reboot the phone and can't do it, so I just push the P3 forward and hope it eventually comes back into sight.

After what seemed like forever, I could finally hear the phantom buzzing again, and was able to bring her home.

TLDR;

-Download "recordable free" app to screen capture
-Go for range test
-2000m out, DJI app fails. Reboot it and continue
-400m out, phone shuts off and won't turn back on.
-Bring bird back in by sheer luck.
-Hypothesize that running both the recordable app and DJI app overpowered my phone?
-Glad nothing seriously bad happened.

My recordable free app file corrupted when the phone shut off, so I don't have that video, but I do have the video from the P3. It looks normal, with 2 points in which the bird just stops in the air for 1-2 minutes while I reboot stuff.

I have no idea why the DJI app turned off when it did, but I hypothesize that the phone shut off due to overusage. I had the DJI app opened, the "recordable free" app open, and was also screen mirroring to my FPV goggles.
 
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Serious question, not meaning to sound snarky, but why did you not opt for hitting the RTH button when you could not see the Phantom?
 
Serious question, not meaning to sound snarky, but why did you not opt for hitting the RTH button when you could not see the Phantom?

I've never used the RTH function and don't intend to ever use it unless its an emergency. I don't really trust the function in all honesty.

I knew the phantom was facing towards home when it shut off, so unless something would have caused it to turn, pushing it forward would bring it right back to me.
 
Logical answer. Glad you made it back on one piece.
 
The RTH is a champ, if the copter loses connectivity it will come home. Set it, check home point before launch, set your RTH altitude and try it a few times.
 
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That's wild, thank for posting! Every little bit of info from scenarios like this will help someone.
 
The RTH is a champ, if the copter loses connectivity it will come home. Set it, check home point before launch, set your RTH altitude and try it a few times.

I think after this experience I definitely will be testing it out

That's wild, thank for posting! Every little bit of info from scenarios like this will help someone.

Yeah I hope so.
 
We would have lost a good video photographer, I'm so glad it worked out. RTH works! Just make sure the home point looks correct. Calibrating should by MY fear be done at every launch and double checked. I launched in the Desert a long way from home, and calibrated but I was in a state park and sweating bullets is the term. I did not check my home point and came to find out the calibration must have failed and it would of tried to go back to the house. The first time I used RTH like a charm she was, now I practice with it.

My Pre Launch check list is getting bigger and bigger.

Just think! you could of lost your new ND filers! :)
Glad you will rise another day.
 
We would have lost a good video photographer, I'm so glad it worked out. RTH works! Just make sure the home point looks correct. Calibrating should by MY fear be done at every launch and double checked. I launched in the Desert a long way from home, and calibrated but I was in a state park and sweating bullets is the term. I did not check my home point and came to find out the calibration must have failed and it would of tried to go back to the house. The first time I used RTH like a charm she was, now I practice with it.

My Pre Launch check list is getting bigger and bigger.

Just think! you could of lost your new ND filers! :)
Glad you will rise another day.

Haha I haven't received the ND filters yet, so no worries there!

Can some of you experienced RTH guys tell me everything I should be checking to make sure it's setup properly?

I just went in and configured RTH height to be 120m (to clear everything in my area), but how do I check where the home point is set? I always do a calibration before flying.
 
That's the tradeoff for a phone or tablet's technical ability to multitask. Reliability goes completely out the window. Apple knows this and they made that choice. The android stability issue is a concern for devs and not much they can do about it. As a game producer I have to face android BS like skype of various version running in the background and somehow crashing my app--or the whole OS--stuff I never deal with on iphone. My advice for android users, kill as many running apps as possible before flight.

Side note. I have ONLY used RTH to bring my drone back and land. Why? build up trust. Smoother, more reliable descent. Also, why not. I can always override if i feel it's off.
 
Yep I'd definitely go along with over usage on the phone, mirroring, screen record, the dji app streaming 720p and whatever other background apps on what is a 2 year old phone now. If trying all that again I'd give the phone a good clear out of apps you don't need anymore and make sure to task kill everything else and switch off Bluetooth and whatever else you can but I'd say it still might be too much. Samsungs are known to overheat as they get older, did you notice if the battery was hot?
I'd say it's time to invest in something a little newer like the S6, Note 4 or even the Nvidia shield. I have the note 4 and it's a powerhouse of a phone and will be getting the note 5 in a few months because the screen is just so big. I'll also be getting the Nvidia Shield.
 
Yep I'd definitely go along with over usage on the phone, mirroring, screen record, the dji app streaming 720p and whatever other background apps on what is a 2 year old phone now. If trying all that again I'd give the phone a good clear out of apps you don't need anymore and make sure to task kill everything else and switch off Bluetooth and whatever else you can but I'd say it still might be too much. Samsungs are known to overheat as they get older, did you notice if the battery was hot?
I'd say it's time to invest in something a little newer like the S6, Note 4 or even the Nvidia shield. I have the note 4 and it's a powerhouse of a phone and will be getting the note 5 in a few months because the screen is just so big. I'll also be getting the Nvidia Shield.

Yeah I had no idea that phones could even reach a point of over usage, it didn't hit me until after everything happened.

The battery didn't feel abnormally hot to me, but I wasn't checking for it, just moved it from the tablet into the case as usual.

And yeah I'm definitely looking to purchase an Nvidia Shield once I find one at a decent price. I bought the S4 purely to use as an FPV monitor with my old P2, because I found it at such a bargain price on craigslist.
 
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The RTH feature has worked wonderfully for me except one time. It initiated on the opposite side of a building. I about went nuts. Fortunately, got it back online. Taught me one thing, plan for the events of the day. City and buildings, plan for RTH height. Also plan for cell phone towers.
 
Haha I haven't received the ND filters yet, so no worries there!

Can some of you experienced RTH guys tell me everything I should be checking to make sure it's setup properly?

I just went in and configured RTH height to be 120m (to clear everything in my area), but how do I check where the home point is set? I always do a calibration before flying.

The Map will show your home point... (H) Now test it a few times if you like.... remember you can stop it by pressing the Home button again. Find a place with details like a parking lot or a baseball Mound. Something you can clearly see on the satellite image of your location from space. Start everything up to launch and look at the full satellite page and you should see (H) and be able to tell that is your location. Shut everything down and move to a different spot you can verify from the satellite and start everything up, you should see it moved from X to Y. This will build your confidence with RTH. Then send her up and out a ways and go for the RTH. You can turn it off remember. Let her land or take control and land yourself, I trust Auto land and Take off some don't.

Your Done... The new RTH on IOS I know nothing about Android this end..
 
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Be wary of setting rth at 120m unless absolutely necessary, if you are running low on battery remember she will take her sweet time getting up to and coming back down from that height and it may be precious seconds if your battery is dangerously low.
 
The Map will show your home point... (H) Now test it a few times if you like.... remember you can stop it by pressing the Home button again. Find a place with details like a parking lot or a baseball Mound. Something you can clearly see on the satellite image of your location from space. Start everything up to launch and look at the full satellite page and you should see (H) and be able to tell that is your location. Shut everything down and move to a different spot you can verify from the satellite and start everything up, you should see it moved from X to Y. This will build your confidence with RTH. Then send her up and out a ways and go for the RTH. You can turn it off remember. Let her land or take control and land yourself, I trust Auto land and Take off some don't.

Your Done... The new RTH on IOS I know nothing about Android this end..

I use a phone with no cell plan on it (bought the phone just for FPV) so as far as I know, I don't have access to any of the mapping features. In the bottom left corner, where it's supposed to show a map, its always just empty and nothing happens.

Be wary of setting rth at 120m unless absolutely necessary, if you are running low on battery remember she will take her sweet time getting up to and coming back down from that height and it may be precious seconds if your battery is dangerously low.

Yep, I considered that, but I've never flown a battery below 40% before, so I don't think it will be an issue. The only time I should ever need to use RTH is if something goes wrong like tonight, or if I lose satellite signal, and I hope that 40% battery will be sufficient in either case.
 
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I use a phone with no cell plan on it (bought the phone just for FPV) so as far as I know, I don't have access to any of the mapping features. In the bottom left corner, where it's supposed to show a map, its always just empty and nothing happens./QUOTE]

You should be able to connect your phone without cell plan to your home wifi and download and cache the maps in the areas where you will be flying. Then you will see something instead of nothing.

Chris
 
I often use my phone as a GPS navigation system, playing music over my car stereo (streaming data), and charging at the same time. It often cuts out in this setup when it gets too hot so I would imagine that is the problem. Side note: the controller charges the phone over USB?! I don't have mine yet but if this is true this is good to hear!
 
caching seems to just happen when loading the maps over wifi. pan, zoom and explore the area you intend to fly and it should be cached. The limitations of the cache are unknown. I wish DJI built in come controls for doing it.
 

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