For those who need to know about Home Lock and Course Lock!

[Rene75]

Hi pilots,

Last monday I almost lost my Phantom due to orientation loss. I flew against the sun, a tree blocked my sight, and I lost in which direction my Phantom was pointed at. I started panicking a little and switched to Atti mode i.s.o. Fail Safe to get my Phantom fly back to it's starting off position.
So my Phantom flew away with the wind and it took me more than two hours to get it back.

See the video below
http://youtu.be/gXr6xwrHckU


So far I didn't take the time to understand about Home Lock and Course Lock. I thought is was too complicated to use as a novice in the RC world. But... it's actually quite easy to use and would have saved me from lots of adrenaline in my last "Lost and Found' flight.

Here's is an easy to understand series of videos which explains perfectly about HL and CL.
In the end of this first (1 out of 3) video you can click to the second, and third.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfcHlKcIshw

Good luck with it

Kind regards,

Rene
The Netherlands


P.s. now I know why it started hovering at some point in my video. In the NAZA M software I set the range to 300 meters. That saved me buying a new one...

 

[mikrob]

Re: For those who need to know about Home Lock and Course Lo

When I first got my Phantom I thought IOC was something for experienced pilots. But newbies need it more than pros. I am surprised it isn't mandatory instead of an option.

 

[martcerv]

Re: For those who need to know about Home Lock and Course Lo

I think its more of a feature for beginner pilots too and I really havent used it all that much, It may be disabled by default to help teach people to fly the more regular way possibly as learning in IOC will cause even more issues to a novice if they lose GPS signal. In a good open area though a beginner using home lock and failsafe could get out of most situations but they need to learn the basics of these functions and how they differ to the other flying modes.

Flying in home lock its best to also understand the limitations of the GPS and what will happen if you have less then 6 satellites. At that point if someone is using home lock it will revert to ATTI mode which will also revert them to course lock mode. Also if you have less then 6 satellites RTH may not work so relying purely on this mode is quite risky I think but definitely something new users should learn about as it can save them when they lose orientation or visual of the phantom.

 

[nperic]

Re: For those who need to know about Home Lock and Course Lo

What a lucky landing you got there! Nice video, panic is our worst enemy but it's almost impossible not to panic in that situation.

Try to wear sunglasses the next time and if you lose orientation give some small inputs to find out which direction your phantom is facing.

copied from a post Idahomojo made

1. Give forward motion input to phantom
2. Is it moving in relationship to background?
2a no - it is flying either at you or away....give left turn input...does it go left? If yes it is flying away from you. Continue left turn until it is not moving related to background, if is now coming at you. If left turn makes it go to the right, it was Already coming at you, reverse this with slight right turn until it is flying at you.
2b yes, it is moving in relationship to background....to the left? Give left turn input until motion relative to background stops. It is now coming at you, if it was traveling to the right, give right turn until motions stops. It is coming at you.

Now with RTH you can avoid this issues, but is good to know how to do it by yourself.

Good luck!

 

[ericty]

Re: For those who need to know about Home Lock and Course Lo

So glad you got your Phantom back - and with a super landing at that! I experienced the same thing in very gusty windy conditions on my 3rd flight.

http://youtu.be/R9FTzwYzxeM

 

[Firestat]

Re: For those who need to know about Home Lock and Course Lo

I don't understand why it didn't land back where you took off? Was it because of low battery that it landed meters from where it took off?

 

[hhstefan]

Re: For those who need to know about Home Lock and Course Lo

DJI Phantom with GoPro Camera Gimbal with no jello Nr 1

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTOLxyOreSQ[/youtube]