I had my first heart-stopping moment (and I made it through)

[Ckcampbell248]

When you fly again, try using the radar display and see what it's telling you.

Why do you prefer the radar over the map?

 

[whitelineNI]

Print out the user manual and read it...i spent £1600 On my p4pro...an hour at the kitchen table with the drone and the manual before my first flight...basic stuff here guys.

 

[KevMo Photog]

I'm a newbie as well. I'm amazed at the distances I read about on these forums. On my third flight yesterday, I flew about 575 feet out at an altitude of 285 over a beautiful lake, and although the app showed I had excellent range left and could go out much further, I could barely see my P4P. I definitely couldn't tell which way the bird was facing. Definitely not comfortable just looking at and flying from what I see in the monitor. Maybe that'll come with more practice. Some of you folks are truly amazing...

It will def come with practice jdharrin. After you study your screen a while you start to understand when your height is over an object that is coming up in front of you. Such as a building for instance. When you are near the top of it, just as start to see more than just the front lip of the building this means the camera is higher than that lip. You are clear. When camera is pointed dead level and not pitched down. Whatever is right in center of your screen is what your gonna hit. LOL But it does def take practice looking at screen and then looking back at bird to see how close bird is to object when it looks that close in monitor. Practicing orbit moves in an open area is very good too. Getting those moves down so your not afraid to use them when you need to shoot a building or any object. You can do it!!!!

 

[Meta4]

Why do you prefer the radar over the map?

You could use either.
I like the radar because it takes up less screen space and the map doesn't add anything I need.

 

[iflyp3s]

In this case, I had fairly clear line of site and was on 2.4 but interference is what I can't really speak to. Lots of power lines and houses so I suspect a lot of Wi-fi.

I get it, "your mileage may vary". I just want to understand what typical vs. optimal is. TBH, a half mile feels like a very long way right now but I want to be better prepared next time.

Thanks for the reply!

I remember reading somewhere in the MagicPower documentation (a mod for older Phantom birds to improve WiFi performance) that, depending on the frequency or channel that your Phantom is communicating to your transmitter on, there are different timeouts that help in reaquiring a lost signal.

For instance, before I did the MP mod on my P3S I would regain signal within a few seconds of the craft coming back on RTH with low image transmission quality. After doing the mod which altered the channel ranges I could use, the bird sometimes takes minutes to regain communication with the controller regardless of how close it is. One time with the MP mod in action my bird was right in front of me at shoulder height landing for RTH and it still wouldn't connect till it had been sitting on the ground for a while.

I think a combination of this and the bad interference in the area played into your situation, but feel lucky because many do not have their $$$ Phantom sitting perfectly waiting for their owner to reduce them! [emoji846][emoji106]

Happy and SAFE flying!

 

[mfarris2]

Before you set up the setting to return to controller,....take a moment to consider this issue. If you have lost signal with the craft,.....and the craft did not reconnect,...........how will the craft know where you are with the remote? I would leave the RTH set at your starting point. And either stay close to that location. Or land the craft every so often if on the move and set a new Home Point. Regardless,....you and the craft would know where to go should the need for RTH present itself. (Which happens very often)

 

[KevMo Photog]

Before you set up the setting to return to controller,....take a moment to consider this issue. If you have lost signal with the craft,.....and the craft did not reconnect,...........how will the craft know where you are with the remote? I would leave the RTH set at your starting point. And either stay close to that location. Or land the craft every so often if on the move and set a new Home Point. Regardless,....you and the craft would know where to go should the need for RTH present itself. (Which happens very often)

I would think it knows where the transmitter by GPS. Why would they have this feature if it did not do what it is supposed to do?

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

If you lose connect, then it doesn't know where the transmitter is, it just knows where home POINT is, that is my understanding.

 

[KevMo Photog]

If you lose connect, then it doesn't know where the transmitter is, it just knows where home POINT is, that is my understanding.

If you set it to Return Home to Transmitter wouldn't it go to the transmitter. I'm wondering why they have the feature if it does not work that way? Or does it only do that if you hit return home without actually losing RC for 3 seconds or a disconnect? Like flying off of a boat and you want it to return to you on the boat that has moved since takeoff. But your saying if you had Return To Home set to come back to transmitter and you lose RC connect that it will not come back to transmitter then?

 

[Meta4]

Before you set up the setting to return to controller,....take a moment to consider this issue. If you have lost signal with the craft,.....and the craft did not reconnect,...........how will the craft know where you are with the remote?

If you set it to Return Home to Transmitter wouldn't it go to the transmitter. I'm wondering why they have the feature if it does not work that way?

If you lose connect, then it doesn't know where the transmitter is, it just knows where home POINT is, that is my understanding.

If you reset home to the current location of the controller, you reset the stored home point to the GPS location of your controller (actually the location of the phone or tablet since the controller does not have a GPS receiver of its own).
This new home point is stored in the Phantom just like any home point and the Phantom is able to RTH to it whether there is radio signal or not.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

The GPS is in the drone, not the RC, unless the phone or Tablet has GPS. But, the home point is stored in the drone, so if the AC disconnects, it can go home.
Until you re establish the link, it has no idea of what you are doing at the RC, unless I have misunderstood what you were saying.
Turn off the RC, it comes back to the home POINT stored on board.

 

[Meta4]

Until you re establish the link, it has no idea of what you are doing at the RC, unless I have misunderstood what you were saying.

If you reset the home location to anywhere, whether that's a location of the Phantom or controller at some time during the flight, that's the home point that the Phantom will return to in an RTH situation.
It is not a dynamic home point - it does not continually update after you reset.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

If you reset the home location to anywhere, whether that's a location of the Phantom or controller at some time during the flight, that's the home point that the Phantom will return to in an RTH situation.
It is not a dynamic home point - it does not continually update after you reset.

Yes, but I was thinking you could change the home point, when comms were lost, if not, my mistake.

 

[Meta4]

Yes, but I was thinking you could change the home point, when comms were lost, if not, my mistake.

When you lose signal, you have no options.
Your Phantom will attempt to return to the last home point it recorded.
That is usually where it launched but it can also be a new home point if the pilot chose to reset the home point somewhere during the flight.
The idea is to think ahead and reset home if you are moving during the flight and don't want the Phantom trying to go back where things started when it thinks it only has enough battery to get back there.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

When you lose signal, you have no options.
Your Phantom will attempt to return to the last home point it recorded.
That is usually where it launched but it can also be a new home point if the pilot chose to reset the home point somewhere during the flight.
The idea is to think ahead and reset home if you are moving during the flight and don't want the Phantom trying to go back where things started when it thinks it only has enough battery to get back there.

Sure, I understand what you are saying now.

 

[mfarris2]

If you reset home to the current location of the controller, you reset the stored home point to the GPS location of your controller (actually the location of the phone or tablet since the controller does not have a GPS receiver of its own).
This new home point is stored in the Phantom just like any home point and the Phantom is able to RTH to it whether there is radio signal or not.

My concern is that if you are walking down a trail, then your new home point could be anywhere if set to return to remote. Is this the last point the controller had a connection? I have always just used take off location as Home Point,.....and up to this point,....never had an issue. I have always known where the craft should land,....and so far the craft has also always landed a few feet from that point. Never been a gambler,....so playing the odds of craft finding the remote,....or last know remote area,.....well just not feeling the odds. But then,....I'm the guy whom doesn't waste money on a lottery ticket either,.....no matter how large the pot is.

 

[mfarris2]

Also,....if the craft has no GPS,....how does it know the GPS location of the remote if it has no radio signal to the remote?

 

[Meta4]

My concern is that if you are walking down a trail, then your new home point could be anywhere if set to return to remote. Is this the last point the controller had a connection?

No ... Your Phantom records it's home point when you turn it on and get GPS reception.
If you are moving far away, you can reset the home point. That only changes the home point once.
It doesn't keep updating if you move further and your home point is still back where you last set it until you reset it again if you choose to.

Also,....if the craft has no GPS,....how does it know the GPS location of the remote if it has no radio signal to the remote?

If the Phantom has lost GPS, it can't find anything.
But you aren't going to lose GPS unless you fly down under cover or in a canyon.

 

[Lachiep4]

Pretty good line of site. It was down a straight road. Some trees. Lots of houses plus power lines running along road. I was facing in the general direction of the drone the whole time. Antennas pointing straight up and parallel.

G'day mate. You should try facing the antennas up and out it really helps my Phantom 4.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

Typo, what I meant to say, was that I thought YOU were saying you could change the home point after the craft has lost comms. Need to read before posting.

Also,....if the craft has no GPS,....how does it know the GPS location of the remote if it has no radio signal to the remote?

Sorry, the craft has the only GPS. The RC has none, the phone doesn't have to have one to fly.