Buk said:
Rustysocket said:
I'm sitting here reading the manual and I can't find any mention of the two sets of green lights. It is very unclear and frankly a lot to remember what all the different lights mean.
That's often the root of the problem. Which manual, which software/firmware version and more importantly which Phantom? For each model of Phantom there are quick start manuals, advanced manuals, Naza manuals, the blink pattern charts and the flowcharts.
One flowchart such as, "PHANTOM Flying Flowchart V1.0 (Simplified Version)" describes "LED:Blink Green Quickly Record the forward direction" and "LED:Blink Green Quickly Record the Home Point" for the two sets of blinking LEDs for course lock and home lock.
Oh and the other problem; translation from Chinese to some other language.
Your post at least makes me feel a little more confident in what I am seeing with my particular bird. I have a Phantom FC40 which I believe is a version 1 Phantom. Somewhere in all my reading on the forums, I recall a statement from somebody, never to fly unless you see a rapid green light followed by a second set of greens. That is what I have always done since I got it and RTH functions properly. Then I came across a thread that says rapid green lights means IMU needs calibrated.... so I hooked it up to NAZA and calibrate IMU. (which it reported it did not need).
I just tested something to see what would happen, I have a little over an acre of property and lots of clear space around me. I fly CP helis, and planes also so I am pretty good at the spatial orientation and understand stick reversal (I don't panic and don't get disoriented often). I followed my normal startup procedure which is to :
Turn on transmitter
Install Phantom Battery and let music stop. Then close battery door and wait for the flashing green/red to stop until I get the two series of rapid greens. I took off, went up to about 100 feet and activated RTH. As expected it came home and initiated the landing process. I took over by switching to atti. and landed manually.
Then without turning anything off, I walked through my house and went out in front, about 200 yards from where I powered up.
I then rapidly flipped the GPS/ATTI switch to initiate a calibration. Rotated the quad through the horizontal and vertical rotations and set it down. This time I did not get the two sets of rapid greens as I thought I would. I went ahead and lifted off, went up to about 100 feet and initiated RTH. The phantom headed to the back yard to land in the original location (as I expected)
I'm beginning to understand a few things, but it doesn't always seem to be consistent.
I'm not sure when to initiate the calibration dance, and why I would do it.
I don't know how to reestablish a home location once the bird is powered up, so I always install my battery at the "home" location.
When flying in course lock, (which is a great feature for following a moving object) sometimes my spatial instincts take over and I am trying to override it with ATTI type inputs. ( Cant help it, it just is because I have been flying for so long my brain thinks that way.) So I will likely develop my normal style to be flying in ATTI rather than GPS and use GPS when I need to stabilize the craft and regain orientation.
I like the RTH function but not always confident I have properly set a home location.