Check your RTH Height

[Dadcat]

Of course you can also set a custom RTH height each flight to suit your flying environment rather than making a global setting.
It's easy to fly to a position you are comfortable with and set a new Home Point up in the air to provide a safe clearance above trees etc.

This is the Android app. iOS app looks nothing like this. As far as I can tell, there is no way to reset home point in the iOS app other than height. With my iPad mini 2, RTH worked as expected the day before yesterday, climbing to the 30 meters I set before takeoff.

Yesterday I didn't even check the RTH height but every time I hit RTH it tried to descend to zero meters right where it happened to be. I haven't checked RTH since I did the latest update after flying yesterday.

This may be an iOS specific issue. I agree with the skyhighdiver. Need to set, or at least check RTH height before takeoff, at least in the iOS app.

UPDATE- I just checked the iOS app on my iPhone 6. It looks the same as the Android app on my Nexus 7. All are at latest update levels. My problem may only be on MY iPad and nowhere else. I suspect there's just something funky with the iPad (mini 2) version that I updated to. I've seen comments elsewhere referring to the map moving to the lower left corner, replacing the "radar". This must be more of a work in progress than I thought.

 

[Dadcat]

It turns out I was wrong about the lack of a home point setting button being specific to my iPad mini 2.
Here's shot of my iPhone 6 screen:

Note there is no button on the left side to set home point. It's the same on my iPad mini and also my Nexus 7. All off my devices had that button showing before, but it disappeared once I connected them to the Phantom 3.

So it looks like it might be something I've done to screwup a setting in the Phantom itself. Any ideas how that happened or how to fix it?

 

[leekiya]

No i don't have the set home point button on my iphone 6 or mini 2 either. I thought this the other day when i spotted meta4's photo and just thought it was something android had ios didnt, or his app was not updated. Mine were both deleted and reinstalled the other night and are good.

 

[Dadcat]

No i don't have the set home point button on my iphone 6 or mini 2 either. I thought this the other day when i spotted meta4's photo and just thought it was something android had ios didnt, or his app was not updated. Mine were both deleted and reinstalled the other night and are good.

Thanks. I'll try that.

Oh wait. Do you mean that reinstalling didn't work, but that the apps were good otherwise?

 

[leekiya]

Sorry i didn't mean after reinstalling that the set home point feature was there, its not i was just saying my apps are up to date so to speak.

 

[Dadcat]

Sorry i didn't mean after reinstalling that the set home point feature was there, its not i was just saying my apps are up to date so to speak.

Right! I just reinstalled the app on my iPhone. Still no home point set button.

Anybody have any other ideas?

 

[leekiya]

Its not a feature on the new P3 app, at least not for ios. Dont know about android. It was there on the app before it updated for P3 use but not after. Dont worry its not something you would likely ever use anyway.

 

[jackiedh]

Of course you can also set a custom RTH height each flight to suit your flying environment rather than making a global setting.
It's easy to fly to a position you are comfortable with and set a new Home Point up in the air to provide a safe clearance above trees etc.

Where are you seeing these settings on the left above? They are not there in the IOS or Android version of the App for the P3 unless you have an Inspire connected--ie-setting for Home Point and Gimbal mode only there for Inspire

 

[Meta4]

That's what my app (V1.1.0) looks like with no Phantom connected.
My P3 is arriving this week.

 

[Dadcat]

Where are you seeing these settings on the left above? They are not there in the IOS or Android version of the App for the P3 unless you have an Inspire connected--ie-setting for Home Point and Gimbal mode only there for Inspire

Your right. The picture on page 35 of the manual doesn't show it. I just didn't notice because I assumed a feature that's kind of always been there, would be. That plus the app in all 3 of my devices showed it before I connected to the Phantom 3.

The apps were configured for the Inspire1 initially so your explanation makes sense.

Now I still need to figure out why RTH is behaving like low battery failsafe autoland instead of RTH when I hit the button.

 

[Meta4]

If it's missing for the P3, you'd hope they remedy this very soon.
It's there for the Inspire and has always been a very useful feature with the P2 series.

 

[dysan911]

I had reported that relinking my RC seemed to resolve my RTH height staying put but noticed when I took it out today that It was back to Zero. I made 2 more flights and each time I power cycled the bird I had to put the RTH height in each time. So much for the RC linking being the fix. Guess it's a bug that we'll have to wait for DJI to address. Seems like a serious one too. I don't know that everyone would think ahead of time of checking their RTH height.

 

[leekiya]

It is still meant to be stored in the craft itself, all though anyone not changing it before every flight is a braver pilot than me. Wish this app update would come soon. Dji recognised it was a problem straight away but we still have not had an app update.

 

[Dadcat]

There are at least 4 issues with RTH in the P3 and Pilot app:

1) The app doesn't show what the current height setting is.

2) The app/phantom doesn't remember the RTH height you set through power cycles.

3) Pressing either of the RTH buttons sometimes results in the craft landing right where it happens to be. Some have said you have to be 20+ meters from Home to have it come back. That's ridiculous, and worse, undocumented.

4) No way to reset home point after first start/takeoff. I'm not talking about Dynamic Home Point - just the basic reset the P2V+ had over a year ago.

 

[leekiya]

Did not know about problem 3, and yes your right you should not need to be more than 20mtrs away for RTH to work properly and return to its home point. We need a update fast.

 

[skyhighdiver]

Ok as I posted yesterday RTH height is not stored in app or on bird as thought it needs to be set each

There are at least 4 issues with RTH in the P3 and Pilot app:

1) The app doesn't show what the current height setting is.

2) The app/phantom doesn't remember the RTH height you set through power cycles.

3) Pressing either of the RTH buttons sometimes results in the craft landing right where it happens to be. Some have said you have to be 20+ meters from Home to have it come back. That's ridiculous, and worse, undocumented.

4) No way to reset home point after first start/takeoff. I'm not talking about Dynamic Home Point - just the basic reset the P2V+ had over a year ago.

YES, YES, NOT REALLY A ISSUE, YES
AFTER ALOT OF TEST FLIGHTS yesterday. I can confirm all of these!
The most scary to me is when I closed the app during flight and restarted it, as if app were to crash. The return to home became default 65ft.
So if im on a flight went over power lines or other obstacle back down to say 60ft and app crashes or restarts and RTH happens its coming back at 65 ft not the 100ft I had set before take off. The really weird thing is during my test flights sometimes the height did stick during the app restart but not all. So figure that one out.

The have to be 20 meter away before RTH works is a non issue to me as who is in need of RTH if only 65 ft away ?

Anyway as DADCAT said DJI Please address these all soon

 

[Dadcat]

Ok as I posted yesterday RTH height is not stored in app or on bird as thought it needs to be set each



YES, YES, NOT REALLY A ISSUE, YES
AFTER ALOT OF TEST FLIGHTS yesterday. I can confirm all of these!
The most scary to me is when I closed the app during flight and restarted it, as if app were to crash. The return to home became default 65ft.
So if im on a flight went over power lines or other obstacle back down to say 60ft and app crashes or restarts and RTH happens its coming back at 65 ft not the 100ft I had set before take off. The really weird thing is during my test flights sometimes the height did stick during the app restart but not all. So figure that one out.

The have to be 20 meter away before RTH works is a non issue to me as who is in need of RTH if only 65 ft away ?

Anyway as DADCAT said DJI Please address these all soon

So the failure to remember your RTH height setting is unpredictable. Thanks, that's good to know.

My main point on my #3 was "...and worse, undocumented." The manual says that it will return to the takeoff point and that's what the Phantom 2 did.

The 3 DJI guys over on RC Groups are now saying it's 20+ meters from home point, and that it's a feature for people flying under a tree cover or who take off from under their patio awning. Don't know how much consideration they've given for the guying flying 12 feet over the lake when he pressed the RTH button. What I didn't see anybody say (at least as of a couple of hours ago) is that they will make sure the manual is updated to reflect how RTH actually works.

Comments buried in a 650+ page thread are not "documentation". Nor are comments like I've seen that "It was thoroughly discussed..." over on some Inspire forum.