Flyaway Question

murraymacdonald said:
Latest firmware. I updated it last week. I read all the manuals, watched their videos, and followed their instructions exactly. As I had moved my flight location 300 miles I re-calibrated the compass. It flew well in GPS mode for the first 2 minutes, then it flew away never to be seen again. I had not power cycled it since calibrating the compass as the documentation doesn't tell you to, but I think you might be right that this may be part of the problem. When flashing slow green, don't trust it to operate as documented. Clearly it does not always record the home point when it enters "Ready to Fly" mode. It had worked correctly on many previous flights, but not this time. Obviously it has an intermittent problem registering the home point and falsely enters "Ready to Fly" mode (slow green flashing) without having done so. Too bad this thing isn't open source. I'd check the code and fix it.

Page 2 of the manual references the DJI training videos - many references to ensuring HP is set (rapid flashing green)
Pages 27 and 28 of the manual discusses setting HP, and again rapid flashing green
You claim you read the manual, watched the videos and followed the instructions exactly yet you still deny rapid flashing green lights are discussed in the manual and that slow flashing green means that it is ready to fly.
Unfortunately for you it isn't and you paid a dear price for your misunderstanding. Again, I'm sorry for your loss.
But please don't spread misinformation about a faulty product when in fact, the craft did exactly what it was designed to do: fly to the last recorded home point.
It is THE OPERATOR'S responsibility to ensure that HP is properly set and the proper # of sats are detected before initiating CSC and lifting off. If it doesn't give indication that it has recorded the HP, don't even CSC.
 
murraymacdonald said:
I suggest everyone write their phone number on their drone in sharpie. Sure wishing I had...

I was going to ask you if you had put a name, number, email, reward notice, etc on your quad.
There have been quite a few instances of people getting their quads back from finders.

Since you didn't I would suggest putting up notices in your area. Craigslist, local classifieds, flyers tacked to notice boards and telephone poles. Don't give up without an effort.
 
Michigan_PI. Come on dude.

1) There is no URL on page 2 of the User Manual (V1.1) shipped with the Phantom 2 Vision Plus other than DJI.com. If you download the updated manual, the URL printed on page 2 of version 1.4 of the manual produces a 404. Try it yourself. http://www.dji.com/phantom2visionplus/training/ If you scan the QR code it takes you to a Chinese page, for which the English version is http://www.dji.com/product/phantom-2-vision-plus/video . Are you telling me you can access the URL printed on page 2 of V1.4 and that this URL (if it even worked) would have solved this problem? No. It's all marketing hype. Nothing that addresses this issue. This error is typical of the DJI documentation. It is wrong and careless.

2) The User Manual (v1.4) in section 3.3 "LED Flight Indicator Descriptions" DOES NOT EVEN LIST FAST GREEN BLINKING.

3) The Preflight checklist on page 25 fails to mention that you need to wait for fast green blinking. Same is true in the "Quick Start Guide" and "Earning Your Stripes". NOWHERE in their documentation does it tell you to wait for fast green blinking before taking off. It also does not tell you to check the Home Point prior to taking off. I agree that these things should be added to the documentation and preflight checklist AS THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY.

4) Section 3 "Flight Test" (Page 26 in V1.4) specifically section 3.1 "Take off procedures" does not say to wait for fast green blinking. It says: "(4) Wait until the Rear Flight Indicator blinks green. This means it has initialized and is ready to fly." THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE.

5) Section 4 (page 27 in V1.4) titled "4 Failsafe Function" says "Home Point: When the Phantom Enters "Ready to Fly" from the 'Ready to Fly status (non-GPS), the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE. THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY.

6) The diagram on page 27 titled "1) Record Home Point" indicates that the Home Point is recorded when the LED Flight Indicator goes from Yellow Flashing -> Green Flashing. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE. THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY.

7) Page 28 in V1.4 mentions fast green blinking when manually resetting the Home Point by quickly flipping the S2 Switch 5 times or more. I never touched S2 and given the promise on page 27 that "the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point" when the phantom enters "Ready to Fly" state why would I do this? I was not changing my home point during flight. We both know the Phantom intends to record the GPS Home Point when it enters "Ready to Fly" (as it says it does on page 27), and it often does BUT IT IS NOT RELIABLE AS THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY.

8) The flick S2 switch 5 times feature is for changing the HP during flight. If this is required before takeoff, then it is NEGLIGENT that it is missing from the Preflight Checklist, the Taking Off Section, and the Quick Start Guide, etc... Also, if required, why did the HP and Failsafe work the first dozen times when I didn't toggle S2? If toggling S2 five times to set the home point is required, why did my phantom think the Home Point was 300 miles away? I never toggled S2 five times while I was there. The Phantom's promise of setting the Home Point when it goes into "Ready to Fly" is intermittent. It's a bug dude.

8) Where in the manual does it say that it is the Operators responsibility to ensure the HP is set prior to lift-off? It says the operator shouldn't take off until it is "Ready to Fly" which is indicated by slow green blinking. Furthermore it says on page 27 that it sets the Home Point when it goes from Slow Yellow blinking to Slow Green blinking. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE.

9) NONE of the training videos mention fast green flashing. I don't even understand why you are mentioning them. If I am wrong, be specific about which video this information is in. Having watched them all multiple times, there is no such information.

10) Your statements about me are incorrect. I have indicated MULTIPLE times that Slow Green Blinking indicates "Ready to Fly" which it doesn't, because it will do so without registering the Home Point which it clearly says it does on page 27. IT DOES NOT WORK RELIABLY. SOMETIMES IT FAILS TO WORK. IT'S BUGGY.

11) NONE of the information I am sharing is incorrect and it is important that other users and potential customers know about this bug. If you think I am providing incorrect information please respond to numbers 1-10 above providing explicit proof that this information is incorrect. It seems to me you're a lonely fellow that wants to argue with people and always be right. YOU'RE NOT. The manual speaks for itself. It has numerous errors and omissions, and the device does not behave as documented. It does not reliably record a Home Point when it changes from Slow Yellow Blinking to Slow Green Blinking as claimed on page 27 BECAUSE THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY. If it worked reliably there would be no issue. Clearly this is a bug, and it seems you like to argue rather than acknowledge facts. I expect products to act as they are described to act in their documentation, and it is NOT TRUE that the Phantom records and sets the Home Point when it goes to "Ready to Fly" (as indicated by Slow Green Flashing) from "Ready to Fly (non-GPS)" as indicated by Slow Yellow Flashing. THIS STATEMENT IS FALSE. THEIR SOFTWARE IS INTERMITTENT AND UNRELIABLE. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE KNOW THIS. I'm sorry you find these facts uncomfortable. Also, I'm not the only person who has experienced this. The internet is full of people describing similar fly-aways. Google it. The fact that mine flew away towards a home point 300 miles away is very telling. Setting the Home Point is BUGGY. It does not reliably perform as documented. THE HOME POINT BEING SET WHEN ENTERING "READY TO FLY" IS INTERMITTENT and does not always function as described.
 
I hate to rain on your parade murray but my phantom records my home point every time I fly it. I know this because I test it every time like a ritual. First of all I fly in NAZA mode because it is the only way to fly. Takes all the guesswork out of the init process. I sit there and whisper to myself "okay there's course direction.....and there's home point ready". Then I take off, fly out on an angle, switch to HL, and make sure it comes back to where it just set home. I even watch for the transition to CL at 10m to verify that. It has never not worked in around 90 flights.

I know this is no consolation to you nor does it address the manual. But most of us have found that our own knowledge is the best way to have a trouble free experience. If u know anything about writing technical manuals, it is very difficult to cover everything, in the right order, when you are dealing with a complex system. Which the phantom is.

I read the manual at the beginning but I can tell you that it was my own experiences and the help of this forum and others that has gotten me to this point. I did not rely on the chinglish dji manual for everything. Which btw has much improved since the first version.
 
The product is unreliable and doesn't function as documented. What is clear is that it doesn't always reliably set the home point when it boots up. You're not raining on my parade. Expecting a product to operate as documented isn't a parade, it's a reasonable expectation. I work for a technical company writing software and documentation, and it would not be hard to document a reliable procedure if there was one. The problem is THERE ISN'T A RELIABLE PROCEDURE. The Home Point feature of the Phantom is unreliable. Sometimes it registers a Home Point when it blinks green indicating "Ready to Fly", sometimes it doesn't.

If what you said is true (that it records a home point every time you fly it) then why did DJI tech support tell me that the "Find Your Phantom" location indicates it's last home point? Why did mine (which indicated 7 satellites and flashed green for minutes before takeoff) think the home point was 300 miles away where I was flying last week? BECAUSE IT DOESN'T REGISTER THE HOME POINT RELIABLY. If it did what you claimed, there would be no issue and I would have my drone. It flew away towards a home point 300 miles away despite flashing yellow, then green, for many minutes before takeoff. I'm happy for you that yours hasn't done it. Mine did. That's the nature of intermittent software. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Do you calibrate your compass before your flights?
 
murraymacdonald said:
Michigan_PI. How many times are you going to argue with FACTS?

When you actually give some FACTs
1) There is no URL on page 2 of the User Manual (V1.1) shipped with the Phantom 2 Vision Plus other than DJI.com. If you download the updated manual, the URL printed on page 2 of version 1.4 of the manual produces a 404. Try it yourself. http://www.dji.com/phantom2visionplus/training/ Are you telling me you can access the URL printed on page 2 of V1.4? YES or NO?
I didn't lose my Phantom to operator error, but you are correct (there is a fact), it is a bad link. But anyone with rudimentary google skills would say "Hmmm, broken link" and search it out. Besides you already said that you did all of that, watched all the videos, checked out the training
2) The User Manual (v1.4) in section 3.3 "LED Flight Indicator Descriptions" DOES NOT EVEN LIST FAST GREEN BLINKING.
Recording on home point is pre-flight and the blinking is not a Flight Indicator
3) The Preflight checklist on page 25 fails to mention that you need to wait for fast green blinking. Same is true in the "Quick Start Guide" and "Earning Your Stripes". NOWHERE in their documentation does it tell you to wait for fast green blinking before taking off. It also does not tell you to check the Home Point prior to taking off. I agree that these things should be added to the documentation and preflight checklist AS THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY.

The manual (pg 27, section 4 - above photo) states that the home point will be indicated on the GUI of the vision app. It also states that "After successfully record the home point, rear LED flight indicators blink fast green." It doesn't say slow green, it says fast green.
So in fact, you didn't verify home lock, YES or NO?
4) Section 3 "Flight Test" (Page 26 in V1.4) specifically section 3.1 "Take off procedures" does not say to wait for fast green blinking. It says: "(4) Wait until the Rear Flight Indicator blinks green. This means it has initialized and is ready to fly." THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE.

5) Section 4 (page 27 in V1.4) titled "4 Failsafe Function" says "Home Point: When the Phantom Enters "Ready to Fly" from the 'Ready to Fly status (non-GPS), the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE. THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY.
Software not buggy, your reading skills are, read the rest of the paragraph instead of cherry picking to suit your agenda
6) The diagram on page 27 titled "1) Record Home Point" indicates that the Home Point is recorded when the LED Flight Indicator goes from Yellow Flashing -> Green Flashing. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE. THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY.
Refer to above
7) Page 28 in V1.4 mentions fast green blinking when manually resetting the Home Point by quickly flipping the S2 Switch 5 times or more. I never touched S2 and given the promise on page 27 that "the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point" when the phantom enters "Ready to Fly" state why would I do this? I was not changing my home point during flight. We both know the Phantom intends to record the GPS Home Point when it enters "Ready to Fly" (as it says it does on page 27), and it often does BUT IT IS NOT RELIABLE AS THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY.
again, cherry picking, refer to above
8) The flick S2 switch 5 times feature is for changing the HP during flight. If this is required before takeoff, then it is NEGLIGENT that it is missing from the Preflight Checklist, the Taking Off Section, and the Quick Start Guide, etc... Also, if required, why did the HP and Failsafe work the first dozen times when I didn't toggle S2? If toggling S2 five times to set the home point is required, why did my phantom think the Home Point was 300 miles away? I never toggled S2 five times while I was there. The Phantom's promise of setting the Home Point when it goes into "Ready to Fly" is intermittent. It's a bug dude.

8) Where in the manual does it say that it is the Operators responsibility to ensure the HP is set prior to lift-off? It says the operator shouldn't take off until it is "Ready to Fly" which is indicated by slow green blinking. Furthermore it says on page 27 that it sets the Home Point when it goes from Slow Yellow blinking to Slow Green blinking. THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE.

9) NONE of the training videos mention fast green flashing. I don't even understand why you are mentioning them. If I am wrong, be specific about which video this information is in. Having watched them all multiple times, there is no such information.

10) Your statements about me are incorrect. I have indicated MULTIPLE times that Slow Green Blinking indicates "Ready to Fly" which it doesn't, because it will do so without registering the Home Point which it clearly says it does on page 27. IT DOES NOT WORK RELIABLY. SOMETIMES IT FAILS TO WORK. IT'S BUGGY.

11) NONE of the information I am sharing is incorrect and it is important that other users and potential customers know about this bug. If you think I am providing incorrect information please respond to numbers 1-10 above providing explicit proof that this information is incorrect. It seems to me you're a lonely fellow that wants to argue with people and always be right. YOU'RE NOT. The manual speaks for itself. It has numerous errors and omissions, and the device does not behave as documented. It does not reliably record a Home Point when it changes from Slow Yellow Blinking to Slow Green Blinking as claimed on page 27 BECAUSE THEIR SOFTWARE IS BUGGY. If it worked reliably there would be no issue. Clearly this is a bug, and it seems you like to argue rather than acknowledge facts. I expect products to act as they are described to act in their documentation, and it is NOT TRUE that the Phantom records and sets the Home Point when it goes to "Ready to Fly" (as indicated by Slow Green Flashing) from "Ready to Fly (non-GPS)" as indicated by Slow Yellow Flashing. THIS STATEMENT IS FALSE. THEIR SOFTWARE IS INTERMITTENT AND UNRELIABLE. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE KNOW THIS. I'm sorry you find these facts uncomfortable. Also, I'm not the only person who has experienced this. Setting the Home Point is BUGGY. IT IS INTERMITTENT.
I am tiring of picking your argument apart. You had an incident that, unfortunately resulted in losing your quad, which is tragic. What makes it worse is it could have been prevented. I think everyone agrees that the manual kinds sucks but the information is in there, albeit the order may be a bit off. Like the ordinance defusing manual that says "cut the blue wire (turn page) but first short the red to the green"
But to run out and declare to the world that the software is buggy, intermittent, etc, to shuck the responsibility of a simple operator error is simply dishonest. The information is in there and there is more than 1 way to verify home lock before you get into a situation where you need to initiate a RTH
Agan, sorry for your loss.
 

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murraymacdonald said:
The product is unreliable and doesn't function as documented. What is clear is that it doesn't always reliably set the home point when it boots up. You're not raining on my parade. Expecting a product to operate as documented isn't a parade, it's a reasonable expectation. I work for a technical company writing software and documentation, and it would not be hard to document a reliable procedure if there was one. The problem is THERE ISN'T A RELIABLE PROCEDURE. The Home Point feature of the Phantom is unreliable. Sometimes it registers a Home Point when it blinks green indicating "Ready to Fly", sometimes it doesn't.

If what you said is true (that it records a home point every time you fly it) then why did DJI tech support tell me that the "Find Your Phantom" location indicates it's last home point? Why did mine (which indicated 7 satellites and flashed green for minutes before takeoff) think the home point was 300 miles away where I was flying last week? BECAUSE IT DOESN'T REGISTER THE HOME POINT RELIABLY. If it did what you claimed, there would be no issue and I would have my drone. It flew away towards a home point 300 miles away despite flashing yellow, then green, for many minutes before takeoff. I'm happy for you that yours hasn't done it. Mine did. That's the nature of intermittent software. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Do you calibrate your compass before your flights?
Had you verified your home point we wouldn't be having this discussion and you would be posting beautiful photos/videos of your flights.
 
So you finally admit the product doesn't operate as documented. Section 4 (page 27 in V1.4) titled "4 Failsafe Function" says "Home Point: When the Phantom Enters 'Ready to Fly' from the 'Ready to Fly status (non-GPS)', the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point." ALTHOUGH THIS HAPPENS SOMETIMES IT IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE. THE SOFTWARE PERFORMS INCONSISTENTLY. If it were not buggy or incorrectly documented, it would not be Slow Blinking Green after Slow Blinking Yellow without having set the home point.
 
murraymacdonald said:
So you finally admit the product doesn't operate as documented. Section 4 (page 27 in V1.4) titled "4 Failsafe Function" says "Home Point: When the Phantom Enters "Ready to Fly" from the 'Ready to Fly status (non-GPS), the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point. ALTHOUGH THIS HAPPENS SOMETIMES THIS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE. THEIR SOFTWARE PERFORMS INCONSISTANTLY. If it were not buggy or incorrectly documented, it would not be Slow Blinking Green without having set the home point.
For the love of Pete, RTFM

Home Point: When the Phantom enters ‘Ready to Fly’ from the ‘Ready to Fly status (non-GPS)’, the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point.
When Remote Control signal is lost, the aircraft will return to the recorded home point coordinates and land. Home point coordinates are used to calculate the horizontal distance of the aircraft (shown as “Distance” on the GUI of the DJI VISION App).
After successfully record the home point, rear LED flight indicators blink fast green.


Seriously, what part of that do you NOT understand?
 
I have calibrated my compass maybe 6 times in 90 flights. 2 of those were just for fun. I even was doing the dance wrong for the first 2. But it turned out it didn't matter!!
 
BlackTracer said:
I have calibrated my compass maybe 6 times in 90 flights. 2 of those were just for fun. I even was doing the dance wrong for the first 2. But it turned out it didn't matter!!

+1
I'm right there with you.
I just plugged mine in to the computer tonight and it said I need to do a cal, probably because it was next to my iMac.
I was doing the cal-dance wrong too but it didn't seem to matter.
I will only do a cal if the quad or the app indicate it needs to be done.
I'll probably do one tomorrow (but only if it indicates I have to) as I am traveling 300+ miles to the Upper Peninsula and plan on getting some stunning photos and video of northern Michigan.

And what will I do before I CSC?
- A thorough pre-flight
- Check battery level of the GPS locator
- Make **** sure the home point has been recorded!
 
As other posters have said they have observed it not registering the Home Point after compass calibration, and as I had relocated by 300 miles I did the right thing a re-calibrated it.

As for Michigan_PI, you RTFM. It says "Home Point: When the Phantom Enters "Ready to Fly" from the 'Ready to Fly status (non-GPS), the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point." Are you saying this statement is true? YES or NO?

It is not true. It happens sometimes, but it is not reliable. The registration of the home point is flaky, possibly after compass re-calibration.

BUYER BEWARE. THE MANUAL IS FULL OF ERRORS AND SOME CRITICAL CLAIMS ARE NOT TRUE.
 
This all circles back to a question I asked here ...

Is it possible for the Phantom (in NAZA mode) to show the slow green flashes of GPS Ready-to-Fly mode without ever having registered a home point and showing rapid green flashes? I suspect that it is, but I have no evidence of that.

What I am not asking:

  • I'm not asking if it's OK to dispense with a check for rapid green flashes. I wait to see that before I check if I have enough satellites to fly. If I think I missed it, I will send it up a dozen feet and re-register the home point, just to be sure.
  • I'm not asking if it is the first or second set of rapid green flashes. Actually, I believe is the first set of rapid green flashes because the rapid flashes from registering a course are yellow, or at least that's what they are when I re-register course from below.
Is anyone prepared to give a definite answer to that question?
 
murraymacdonald said:
As other posters have said they have observed it not registering the Home Point after compass calibration, and as I had relocated by 300 miles I did the right thing a re-calibrated it.

As for Michigan_PI, you RTFM. It says "Home Point: When the Phantom Enters "Ready to Fly" from the 'Ready to Fly status (non-GPS), the GPS coordinates will be recorded and set as the home point." Are you saying this statement is true? YES or NO?

It is not true. It is sometimes true, but not reliable. The thing is flaky.

BUYER BEWARE. THE MANUAL IS FULL OF ERRORS AND SOME CRITICAL CLAIMS ARE NOT TRUE.
Keep reading to the end of the paragraph, does it say "After successfully record the home point, rear LED flight indicators blink fast green." YES or NO?
 
Werz said:
This all circles back to a question I asked here ...

Is it possible for the Phantom (in NAZA mode) to show the slow green flashes of GPS Ready-to-Fly mode without ever having registered a home point and showing rapid green flashes? I suspect that it is, but I have no evidence of that.

What I am not asking:

  • I'm not asking if it's OK to dispense with a check for rapid green flashes. I wait to see that before I check if I have enough satellites to fly. If I think I missed it, I will send it up a dozen feet and re-register the home point, just to be sure.
  • I'm not asking if it is the first or second set of rapid green flashes. Actually, I believe is the first set of rapid green flashes because the rapid flashes from registering a course are yellow, or at least that's what they are when I re-register course from below.
Is anyone prepared to give a definite answer to that question?

I have missed seeing the flashes myself, maybe I got distracted, maybe it was too bright out. I always verify with the app as well. If I'm unsure then I don't even CSC, I reboot it.
On my second flight, after verifying HP of course, I initiated CSC I saw "loss of control signal" on the phone and the quad leapt up to 20m. I think I stained my shorts. It turned out to be one of the included AA batteries was out of spec and power cycled my transmitter. I did hear the familiar beep of the Tx coming back on. I landed, shut down, gently shook the Tx and it did it again. Replaced the batteries w/ Duracell sand never happened again.
This is why it is important to ensure your HP is registered prior to starting the motors. If for some reason it loses signal, it's going to try to go back to its last recorded HP which may be 300 miles away.
 
In Naza mode on a P2, the first set of rapid green flashing is course lock heading.
The second set is >/= 6 GPS SVs locked onto.
 
N017RW said:
In Naza mode on a P2, the first set of rapid green flashing is course lock heading.
The second set is >/= 6 GPS SVs locked onto.
Rapid green flashes or slow green flashes for 6+ satellites? I ask because that has not been my experience, nor does it seem to be consistent with the LED flash codes shown in the NAZA documentation. If I am wrong about that, please show me documentation.
 
Werz said:
This all circles back to a question I asked here ...

Is it possible for the Phantom (in NAZA mode) to show the slow green flashes of GPS Ready-to-Fly mode without ever having registered a home point and showing rapid green flashes? I suspect that it is, but I have no evidence of that
In naza mode the satellite count has ZERO to do with home point recording. Other than home npoint recording can only occur with 6 or more sats. The slow flashing green only indicates you have greater than six SATs. It is the rapid greens that tells of course direction and home position. The first set indicates course direction established and can and usually does occur before slow greens. The second set indicates home point ready and can occur with one red and one green or with all slow greens.
 
Michigan_PI said:
It is, indeed, more confusing. It lists two sets of rapid green flashes: course registration, followed by home point registration. However, it indicates that those LED flashes occur only when starting in IOC mode. I start in GPS ATTI mode, and I switch to IOC mode only when I intend to use it. It is unclear that the flashes in question will occur when IOC is off (S2, Position 1).
 

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