How to disable home point?

[shootist]

I was shooting from a moving boat. Seems that as I moved, I went beyond the range based on the home point and the drone just hovered until we went back near the drone. I haven't had that problem in the past, what happened? I ran through all the settings and couldn't find anything obvious. I have max range set to on. What am I missing?

 

[Loz]

It was probably your RTH setting, which sounds like it is (correctly) set to hover if signal lost, rather than the more typical ‘Return to Home’ (GPS location on earth that AC took off from) which one doesn’t want from a boat usually as its typically moving, implying ‘Home’ is a past tense spot the boat was at, that you don’t want the drone landing at, because it’s going to wet!

Does this sound like your situation?

Or, what exactly is the problem with the situation you described, as it sounds like the drone did a good job of not getting damaged by hovering till control was regained - what do you wish to change?

Ps range has nothing to do with home point if you are moving (like on a boat) it’s primarily distance between RC and AC (interference, loss of line of sight etc aside)

 

[shootist]

'hover if signal lost'...I was pretty close to the drone. When I landed it back on the boat, it kept saying I was at max range.

 

[Oso]

I was shooting from a moving boat. Seems that as I moved, I went beyond the range based on the home point and the drone just hovered until we went back near the drone. I haven't had that problem in the past, what happened? I ran through all the settings and couldn't find anything obvious. I have max range set to on. What am I missing?

The "Enable Max Distance" option in the app is used to set a distance limit. Leave this option disabled to fly the maximum distance. Only enable this option if you want to set a max distance limit. [Note - I've always thought this option was poorly named. I think "Enable Distance Limit" would be more intuitive.]

 

[Meta4]

I was shooting from a moving boat. Seems that as I moved, I went beyond the range based on the home point and the drone just hovered until we went back near the drone. I haven't had that problem in the past, what happened? I ran through all the settings and couldn't find anything obvious. I have max range set to on. What am I missing?

Did your Phantom lose signal and hover because you had set Hover as the Loss of Signal action?
One thing you also need to be aware of if flying from a moving boat is Low Battery RTH.

The low battery level failsafe is triggered when the DJI Intelligent Flight Battery is depleted to a point that may affect the safe return of the aircraft.
Users are advised to return home or land the aircraft immediately when prompted.
The DJI GO app will display a notice when a low battery warning is triggered.
The aircraft will automatically return to the Home Point if no action is taken after a ten-second countdown.
The user can cancel the RTH procedure by pressing the RTH button on the remote controller.
The thresholds for these warnings are automatically determined based on the aircraft’s current altitude and distance from the Home Point.​

You don't want to be flying near your moving boat and have the Phantom wanting to go back because it thinks the battery level is just enough to go back where it started.
The way around that is to reset your home point during the flight so the Phantom knows it is not far from home.
You can reset home in the app and you get two options.
Reset home to the current location of the Phantom
Reset home to the current location of the controller (only if you have a GPS enabled phone or tablet).
Either should be fine to keep the home point nearby.
Reset a few times during the flight as you keep moving.
Here's where you reset the home point in DJI Go 4.
Your version may be different but it should be similar:

 

[shootist]

I never go below 50% battery when flying over water. I never lost signal or telemetry, I could rotate the craft but could not fly further away from the homepoint. When I got close to the drone, I could bring it down for landing. I wasn't ever more than 100 yards from the drone and less than 100' altitude.

I was on the edge of class d airspace

There is no way to make the moving controller the homepoint continuously is there?

 

[Meta4]

I never go below 50% battery when flying over water. I never lost signal or telemetry, I could rotate the craft but could not fly further away from the homepoint. When I got close to the drone, I could bring it down for landing. I wasn't ever more than 100 yards from the drone and less than 100' altitude.
I was on the edge of class d airspace

If you were flying into an airport NFZ, that's like bumping into an invisible wall in the sky.
Looking at the recorded flight data should clear up exactly what the issue was.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.

There is no way to make the moving controller the homepoint continuously is there?

Not in DJI Go.
You can reset home but it's only to where the drone or the controller is at that point in time.

 

[shootist]

OK, finally getting back to this...

Here is the log message: Max Flight Distance Reached. Adjust in Main Controller Settings if necessary

I went to a field outside any restricted area. Made many flights. I never lost control.
I tried many different settings; mainly "enable max distance" I had at 500m and tried it both on and off.
It kept flying out to about 100' and stopped. I could fly laterally and return but could not go further. I had the "Beginner mode OFF". My only guess is Beginner Mode is somehow stuck ON even though I have it switched off. I tried switching it on and then back off to see if that would 'kick' it. Perhaps there is a more elaborate reset method?

Addendum; Max distance was 160' in the last tests. At other times it was around 100', so it isn't consistent and it does not appear to be Beginner Mode. Hmm.

Addendum 2: Checked a flight log from the shoot and it gave Max Flight Distance Reached at 1630'. Checked a flight log from prior to the shoot and had Max Flight Distance Reached at 160'.

My impression of 100' was mistaken. On several flights it was 160' and on the shoot over water it was 1630' on 2 flights.

 

[Loz]

The logs that Meta4 asked you to send may provide better evidence of what is causing the symptoms you are experiencing, something is not right, not apparent why from your description to me.

 

[shootist]

I got that info from the logs. What else from the logs?

 

[shootist]

Update
I use an Ipad Mini 2 for this drone and don't use it for anything else. therefore I'm forgetful on the ins and outs of the operating system. I checked on how to close the pas and completely reboot the tablet and that fixed the short range limits. I just flew it out to 1000' with no problems. I would still like to exceed the 500 meter distance when shooting on the water. How do I do that? I have Enable Max Distance off.

 

[Meta4]

I got that info from the logs. What else from the logs?

You asked lots of questions that still appear to be unanswered.
If you want others to help you have to let them see the flight data.
You do that by posting a link to the report Phantomhelp gave you.

I just flew it out to 1000' with no problems. I would still like to exceed the 500 meter distance when shooting on the water. How do I do that? I have Enable Max Distance off.

That sounds like you have fixed it.
Enable Max Distance is to enable a limit.
Switch that off and the only limit is how far you can maintain signal.