How reliable is the return home function if signal is lost?

[DarkSky]

The place I'll be flying it most is dense with trees - I have an open spot, and will take it up from there, but will be flying out over some trees. In the event the line of sight is lost, how reliable is it to return home if the signal is lost?

After reading some threads on here, it seems people are having some disaster stories about losing connection then also losing their drones.

(I'll be buying either the P3P or P3A)

 

[flpholt]

it works very well trust it it does work

 

[msinger]

RTH by itself works great. Many people lose their drones due to crashes from not setting the RTH altitude high enough, running out of battery before the Phantom can make it home, and various other pilot errors.

 

[DarkSky]

I trust the RTH function works well if it's initiated by the operator - but have there been any issues (that I should be concerned with) with it not returning home if it loses its connection with the controller?

Another question:

Is a clear line of sight -desperately- needed all the time, or if I lose it behind some trees, will I still have enough signal to fly it back into line-of-sight under most situations?


(the reason I'm asking all these pre-buying questions, is that I'd had to drop a thousand dollars down only to realize that the place I'll be using it most, is not well-suited for it)

I'm just hesitant, because I have a heavily forested area on one side, and a lake full of water on the other - with me on a rock clearing between the two. I'm absolutely paranoid about losing connection and having it either getting lost way out in the heavily wooded (and heavily rocky) area, or dropping into the lake.

Thanks for your replies - you guys are a great source of experienced knowledge!

 

[msinger]

Is a clear line of sight -desperately- needed all the time, or if I lose it behind some trees, will I still have enough signal to fly it back into line-of-sight under most situations?

The line of sight must be clear between your Phantom and remote controller at all times. Otherwise, the remote controller signal will drop and your Phantom will start returning home three seconds later.

 

[DarkSky]

The line of sight must be clear between your Phantom and remote controller at all times. Otherwise, the remote controller signal will drop and your Phantom will start returning home three seconds later.

Thanks. I wasn't sure if it also used WiFi on top of the Lightbridge (as wifi will bounce around/through objects pretty well, within a short range).

Off topic again: Can you shoot a full-res photo WHILE recording video? Doing a google search brought me to a P2 thread on here which said 'no', and on the DJI forum the answer in another thread, also said 'no'.

This guy around the 7:20 mark says you CAN.

??

AND.... (yah, I know..)

I'm guessing for carrying capacity, it would be possible to also strap my GoPro 3 on to it somewhere to have either multiple angles, or one camera shooting 24 or 30fps, the GoPro at 120 or 240, etc...

 

[msinger]

You must stop recording in order to take a photo.

 

[gklugie]

RTH works quite well, but fly it home.. Use your eyes, this way you can avoid obstacles as well as keep your pilot skills honed.

 

[Meta4]

The place I'll be flying it most is dense with trees - I have an open spot, and will take it up from there, but will be flying out over some trees. In the event the line of sight is lost, how reliable is it to return home if the signal is lost?

After reading some threads on here, it seems people are having some disaster stories about losing connection then also losing their drones.

RTH in the Pro & Advanced is very reliable.
The biggest problem is users that don't try it out to become familiar with it.
The day you need RTH is not the day to start learning how it works.

 

[DarkSky]

When you are all saying RTH works well - are you meaning in instances that I was referring to? (when contact is lost with the controller) Or do you mean when in instances where the operator SELECTS return to home.

 

[flpholt]

When you are all saying RTH works well - are you meaning in instances that I was referring to? (when contact is lost with the controller) Or do you mean when in instances where the operator SELECTS return to home.

any which way doesn't matter all you need to know is trust the bird it will come back I fly out 2 + miles all the time and hit rth no problem just have it high enough so you don't hit anything on way back

 

[henick]

Just make sure your home point is set correctly and you'll be ok. There will be 2 dots though.. one for home and one for rc location (if you have a gps tablet). So if you're walking down the road flying ahead of yourself and RTH it's going to the other dot so start running

Just be careful and it's not difficult. I think a lot of accidents are from complacency. It actually is a really easy to use device that causes people to forget that it is a complicated machine.

 

[Brew132]

If you end up buying a P3 in the app itself it will always show where the home point is by a line. This line helps give you visual of where your drone is from you and helps you determine your home point.

 

[mhuilker]

I've used it 30+times with my P3S and P3A due to lost signal over the ocean. Lands within 5ft of take off every time.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[toegema]

I have a P3Standard and have also flown a lot with the P3Pro and P4 from work and they all behave very well. RTH has worked perfectly the times I have used it. mostly when it had initiated automatically when losing contact with the P3Standard.
Hope to start Inspire training soon. (I work at a tv station in Norway)


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[gklugie]

any which way doesn't matter all you need to know is trust the bird it will come back I fly out 2 + miles all the time and hit rth no problem just have it high enough so you don't hit anything on way back

Does this mean that you exceed visual range "all the time"?

 

[flpholt]

Does this mean that you exceed visual range "all the time"?

yep

 

[Multicoptertec]

Everything works very well, assuming you have the correct home point and RTH altitude set correctly. Your only enemy then is wind and battery life.

 

[timmer]

RTH worked very well even on my P1.

 

[DarkSky]

Thanks y'all. You've restored my confidence in the RTH. It must be just the 1-in-a-thousand people that are making a lot of noise about them losing contact and having their drone go rogue.