Hi all.... Please help

[Deleted member 62848]

OK is that it,the battery fall out,sorry for dumb question, I'm using 2 sorts of batt in my p4,5350 & 5870mah both clip hard in cause they blooming hard to get out,looking at both clips it wouldn't be hard to get grit under there to stop it clipping home properly or in the drone moulding itself,
Time to check ya clips

 

[Reg55]

Sorry for the loss. It’s jarring as I just lost mine a little over a week ago. I did find that my homeowners insurance would cover the cost of a replacement as long as the deductible was paid.

As far as what happened I’ll leave that to smarter members here but maybe someone can chime in on my theory. Is there a way a radio/cell tower in the area could interfere with signal and cause a disconnect? Hopefully the drone can be found. Did you have any identification on it or a way to contact you if found? Best of luck.

Unfortunately no, it sounds dumb now but I did not think to put an identification sticker on it. That’s how much faith I had in DJI, it did not cross my mind.
Very hard lesson learned

 

[Reg55]

OK is that it,the battery fall out,sorry for dumb question, I'm using 2 sorts of batt in my p4,5350 & 5870mah both clip hard in cause they blooming hard to get out,looking at both clips it wouldn't be hard to get grit under there to stop it clipping home properly or in the drone moulding itself,
Time to check ya clips

I am unsure as I always check the battery pre flight, and they all clipped home solid.
Not to say something didn’t give out, but on wouldn’t have thought so as getting them in and out was always a good tight fit

 

[Reg55]

I have just heard back from DJI.
As my purchase was June last year, it is outside the year warranty. Which i already knew, but I am very surprised and upset to hear they will not even look at the flight logs or have any communication.
Almost $2000 dollars and they will not even have a discussion about their flagship drone.
Not only am I disappointed, I purchased the Mavic 2 Pro on the strength of my experience with the Phantom.
I can no longer rightfully stand behind them.

 

[Meta4]

I am unsure as I always check the battery pre flight, and they all clipped home solid.
Not to say something didn’t give out, but on wouldn’t have thought so as getting them in and out was always a good tight fit

It's not normal for batteries to come out in flight (if it happens at all).
People get confused by finding the battery separate from the Phantom but the explanation is usually that it happened in the crash, not that it caused the crash.

I have just heard back from DJI.
As my purchase was June last year, it is outside the year warranty. Which i already knew, but I am very surprised and upset to hear they will not even look at the flight logs or have any communication.
Almost $2000 dollars and they will not even have a discussion about their flagship drone.
Not only am I disappointed, I purchased the Mavic 2 Pro on the strength of my experience with the Phantom.
I can no longer rightfully stand behind them.

You have already heard all they could have told you and it was in more detail and better explained than DJI would.
Their warranty is 12 months so it's not surprising that they wan't look into things after that time.

 

[Reg55]

You have already heard all they could have told you and it was in more detail and better explained than DJI would.
Their warranty is 12 months so it's not surprising that they wan't look into things after that time.

I appreciate and understand that.
But I find that very disappointing, that they offer no support or interest.
For contrast, I have used Nikon for years and I expect them to last for years if not decades.
Any issues I have had, small or large Nikon stand behind their product.

The attitude of $2000 dollars on a drone and accept 18 months is its life span I find very disappointing.

 

[The Drone Professor]

On my ancient Phantom 2V, there was a red triangle on the control screen just as it lost power and came down. I was trying to figure out what it meant when I heard it bounce off a cabana roof.... You didn't happen to see or notice anything like that, did you? PS: The battery came down separately so I suspect it wasn't fully latched in (operator error).

 

[timlittlegrass]

I have to agree with Professor. If the battery came out seperate it wasn't locked in all the way and vibrated out. I came close to having this happen to me once. Now I got in the habit of grabbing the battery to make sure it is latched. Also having replacement insurance is a must with so much at stake. Only cost about $60.00 per year and well worth it.

 

[PunaPhantom]

Some haver indicated it was "that" battery issue again...
I have been flying the P4P as soon as it came out...
Up until a month or so ago I would always insert the battery one way...

Turn her on her front resting on her front arms... then insert battery up to the latch, then use thumbs (while gripping back arms with fingers) to push battery all way in and seat.​

I thought this the most positive way to seat the battery....
The other day I had to land quickly and change batteries... I did it my usual way.
Then took off and hovered to give the once over that I always do... to my amazement (luckily) I noticed a distinct shadow at the join of the battery to the body - underneath... landed again and sure enough the bottom latch had not engaged... (I simply pushed it in and had an uneventful flight)

My point is, you may think the battery is in properly (and from the top it appears so) but in reality it can be partially out.
My new practice is to push in to latch position then hold the two latches on the battery open as I push it in to seat it... this will also prevent wear on the plastic latch mechanism. I also give it a good tug and jiggle to ensure it is seated properly...

I am convinced it is more a seating problem than a fault with the battery... I just don't see the bird able to generate enough force to dislodge a properly seated battery... just my 2¢

Aloha

 

[PunaPhantom]

Unless the drone was flown very close to a cell tower, it's not going to cause any problem.
At worst, interference could block signal and perhaps cause a disconnect.
However that would only cause the Phantom to initiate RTH and come home.
The loss of signal in the OP's flight data is almost certainly because his Phantom completely lost power and fell to earth.

On one of my contracts I fly 30ft away from a cel tower and at the cel antennae height only on ce did I ever have a slight hiccup as it passed... (lucky me I guess)

 

[PunaPhantom]

If this fell in the high street you can bet someone rushed over and picked it up... I have reward stickers on my birds "just in case"

 

[Andy9]

If the drone hit something it Would be shown on the log dat. (At least a motor obstruction or compass error or altitude - descending dat at falling down.) Here is nothing. The sudden stop of all data most likely mean the power switched off.
But I would really like to get some explanation on that weird alert of "command timeout". A few months ago we had here two flight reported with exactly the same warning alert and at both drone failed to respond on any RC input. It seems as it was for unknown reason the RC set to such mode or state where it says to push the stick downward !?
Do somebody know anything about it as this is really a fatal situation at which the drone hoovers at a place waiting for the command which will never come as it is blocked for some reason.
It seems that pressing the stick downward as it is blocked would do something !?

 

[lonjsnyder]

Hi,

Long time lurker here

It pains me for this to be my first post, my name is Reg and tonight I lost my Phantom 4 Pro.
I was out around 2000 feet at 200 altitude, direct line of sight, 46% battery, 17 satellites and all was looking well as I had done countless times before.
I had no warnings just a sudden ... Aircraft disconnected, which does happen some times so I did not panic I gave it some altitude to clear any obstacles which usually works.
When that failed I hit return to home on the remote, but nothing.
My Mrs waited at the home point as I ran the 2000ft to where it last was but no connection and no sign of it.
I have been over the flight record and where it says it is, is where it was last connected. It’s as if it disappeared from the sky.
I contacted local police and DJI but I am not hopeful.
CSV attached (I hope)

Airdata link

If I can provide any more information I am happy to do so, my fingers are crossed a wizard amongst you can help out

Many thanks

“2,000 feet line of sight”.... you have really good vision

 

[Meta4]

“2,000 feet line of sight”.... you have really good vision

Having a line of sight does not necessarily mean you can see the drone.
It means that there are no obstructions between the controller and the drone.

Line of Sight is a term that has been around for a century before drones.
Someone invented the awkward expression visual line of sight (VLOS) when what they meant was within visual range.
Since then people have been shortening VLOS to LOS without knowing what they were doing.

LOS is about the line and not the seeing.

 

[Andy9]

Maybe truth. But, how can you say that the drone is in the line of sight if you can't see it? It could be somewhere else.

 

[Meta4]

Maybe truth. But, how can you say that the drone is in the line of sight if you can't see it?

Within visual range and line of sight are not the same thing.
Something can be in LOS but beyond visual range.
LOS is a radio term to signify that there are no obstructions between the radio source and the receiving antenna.
The OP used the term LOS correctly to indicate that there were no obstructions blocking the signal.
That the Phantom was out of sight is irrelevant.

 

[PunaPhantom]

Within visual range and line of sight are not the same thing.
Something can be in LOS but beyond visual range.
LOS is a radio term to signify that there are no obstructions between the radio source and the receiving antenna.
The OP used the term LOS correctly to indicate that there were no obstructions blocking the signal.
That the Phantom was out of sight is irrelevant.

Technically and semantically you are correct, but you have to include "intent" and no matter what you call it, the "intent" was to keep it within visual range.
But even then, looking at the map with all those buildings etc and it being so far away, Im not sure it was even in LOS... still, benefit of the doubt eh?
Or it could have landed in one of those topless double decker buses that take the tourists around and be on the other side of the city by the time you get to it... wishing you luck though mate... Aloha

 

[Albert Mills]

Maybe not related, but I just had a farmer's wife calling in frantically. He had a message "remote malfunction" or something and lost all contact. P4 Pro did not respond to any command. I told them to switch the remote off and on again, and yip, all is ok. Got control again and activated RTH.