Flying in or around Boston, MA

[jeffcutler]

You guys are braver than I. I pretty much won't fly anywhere near the city. Too congested, too many people and no open areas. The only flying I've ever done in the area was on the north shore over the ocean off season. I have to go up north NH or VT to get my kicks. I've had fly aways with both DJI and Autel products and for that reason alone I wouldn't want these to come down near any roads, houses or people. The tech just is not that solid.

How high/far are you flying when you've had the fly-aways? I've been religious/fanatical about watching the DJI Go app and its warnings regarding interference and have tried when I can to keep the antenna in clear LOS with the aircraft. I've had ONE instance where the drone initiated a return to home because of lost signal, but I was able to see it and fly it home manually.

To provide more detail, I've flown it in three primary areas.These are a neighborhood with large houses on 1.4-acre lots, pretty crowded; in a neighborhood with water on one side and horrible cell coverage; and then at a the local beach which has no local wifi or any wireless infrastructure at all. I got more warnings in the horrible cell area than in the other two areas. And that horrible cell area was the area where the drone lost contact and initiated RTH.

To be clear, I have OK eyesight and have not flown the craft beyond my line of sight in height or distance. I think I've been close to 375 feet high and close to half a mile away...maybe a little more.

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[Jnnyr]

How high/far are you flying when you've had the fly-aways? I've been religious/fanatical about watching the DJI Go app and its warnings regarding interference and have tried when I can to keep the antenna in clear LOS with the aircraft. I've had ONE instance where the drone initiated a return to home because of lost signal, but I was able to see it and fly it home manually.

To provide more detail, I've flown it in three primary areas.These are a neighborhood with large houses on 1.4-acre lots, pretty crowded; in a neighborhood with water on one side and horrible cell coverage; and then at a the local beach which has no local wifi or any wireless infrastructure at all. I got more warnings in the horrible cell area than in the other two areas. And that horrible cell area was the area where the drone lost contact and initiated RTH.

To be clear, I have OK eyesight and have not flown the craft beyond my line of sight in height or distance. I think I've been close to 375 feet high and close to half a mile away...maybe a little more.

Let me know your thoughts.

Hey Jeff,
Long story short I had people much wiser than me help me out tremendously (on this site), to diagnose the issue. My P3A had a massive hardware failure (GPS and Compass). W/O their help I would have never succeeded in getting a new drone from DJI. My old craft went down in a deep forest. The Autel also had Compass errors before it went bye bye. They also made good on replacing. I have had many successful flights before and since over 5 years or so and know all the ups and downs. I am in areas with no interference btw. Very few houses, no power lines or cell towers. What I have learned is that I need to practice flying in ATTI mode should I lose the GPS signal again. Btw, on the failure with both units I lost all video transmission.

 

[jeffcutler]

Hey Jeff,
Long story short I had people much wiser than me help me out tremendously (on this site), to diagnose the issue. My P3A had a massive hardware failure (GPS and Compass). W/O their help I would have never succeeded in getting a new drone from DJI. My old craft went down in a deep forest. The Autel also had Compass errors before it went bye bye. They also made good on replacing. I have had many successful flights before and since over 5 years or so and know all the ups and downs. I am in areas with no interference btw. Very few houses, no power lines or cell towers. What I have learned is that I need to practice flying in ATTI mode should I lose the GPS signal again. Btw, on the failure with both units I lost all video transmission.

Didn't mean to imply anything regarding skill or your diligence in tracking down the problems. I was asking so I could try to ensure I don't run into the same issue. Though what I've heard and seen is that sometimes it just happens. A gust of wind confuses it; interference blocks your control; or gremlins just happen.

Thanks!

Jeff

 

[Jnnyr]

Didn't mean to imply anything regarding skill or your diligence in tracking down the problems. I was asking so I could try to ensure I don't run into the same issue. Though what I've heard and seen is that sometimes it just happens. A gust of wind confuses it; interference blocks your control; or gremlins just happen.

Thanks!

Jeff

No. I didn't take it that way at all. The actual incidents were very involved and I got tons of on screen warning and did all the usual precautions for pre-flight. When my flight log was analyzed the helpful member noticed my GPS health went into the toilet and compass errors went haywire. Btw, in both cases the RTH didn't work and it's useful to know it never does when you have a GPS failure for obvious reasons. This is why being well-versed in Atti mode is good.

 

[nightspy]

Hey guys mike in Plymouth I fly a p3p and p3s looking to buy a Mavic Pro soon. Let’s get fly sometime