Is it my drone with the flyaway problem? How can i discover the cause of it?

[Nick Lopes]

Well, hello guys, i've recently buyed a phantom 3 standard. Today i used the aircraft for the third time, at the moment i touched for the drone to go up, its started to fly at my direction, without i command it. Lucky me, i was able to catch him at midflight.

Of course ive been researching on the internet, i read a alot about the flyaway problem, so, how can i discover whats causing this?

Note: i used it after that was happen, no problems. But now i concerned about that happening again. I really want to solve this, or at least have an idea of what have cause it.

PS: sorry for the bad english, im not american (speaking from brazil o/)

 

[Techcop50]

Make sure you have a solid GPS signal and are flying in GPS mode, otherwise the wind can blow it anywhere...

 

[Nick Lopes]

When that happened the GPS was in the yellow state, and yes, the wind was blowing (not that rought, but there was a wind). This confirm what you're saying?

 

[Techcop50]

Sounds about right. No GPS, no way for the drone to hold position.

 

[Nick Lopes]

But the yellow signal does not mean a weaker but existing signal of GPS? Thanks for replaying me!

 

[Aaron407]

Yeah, it sounds like a GPS issue. I had a bad experience a few months back where I had it take off in the cold without giving it enough time to snag a GPS location. It took off at an angle rather than straight up, and couldn't hold its position horizontally, even without wind, until it was flying for awhile and locked on a GPS location. Since then, I always give it a bit of extra time until the green 'safe to fly (GPS)' message is shown. I believe the yellow means that it hasn't locked on enough GPS satellites to properly control it. You can still take off in this state, but it wouldn't be able to hold position.

 

[Juan Wong]

But the yellow signal does not mean a weaker but existing signal of GPS? Thanks for replaying me!

The yellow GPS signal means that the GPS signal is weak and you should not fly. Also you should not fly in windy conditions especially when your new at it.

 

[Nick Lopes]

Thanks very much! I really believe thats happened because of the GPS, cause when i moved away from the trees (i was above them), he flys well even with the wind blowing. Thanks guys, im happy now knowing i scaped from the worst that could've been happen!

 

[Rodolfo Vaz]

Just make sure you have good GPS signal before taking off. Check your mobile (middle top) if it´s green (this means P3 has found lots of GPS sats for a safer flight). Then, go for it ...

 

[Juan Wong]

Good idea to check this website before you fly UAV Forecast
It will let you know if its safe to fly. Make sure to un-click the " Include GLONASS Sats" button if your flying a P3 standard.

 

[Nick Lopes]

Good idea to check this website before you fly UAV Forecast
It will let you know if its safe to fly. Make sure to un-click the " Include GLONASS Sats" button if your flying a P3 standard.

Can you tell me why?

 

[QuadBart]

It provides flying data before you start, wind direction, temp, cloud conditions, wind direction, sunrise, sunset, etc.. then it tell you on a single line/bar if the conditions are favorable.. Its more of an indicator...

I've flown when it said conditions weren't good due to cloud cover, but I had no issues....

Can you tell me why?

 

[dewaynet]

or your switch was set to atti mode.

 

[Nick Lopes]

It provides flying data before you start, wind direction, temp, cloud conditions, wind direction, sunrise, sunset, etc.. then it tell you on a single line/bar if the conditions are favorable.. Its more of an indicator...

I've flown when it said conditions weren't good due to cloud cover, but I had no issues....

Thx for the rep, but i was asking about de glonass sats.

 

[QuadBart]

Ah, because the "Standard" does not use GLONASS Sats for GPS. Only the Advanced and Pro... You'd be basing your flying decision on erroneous data. You'd have less satellites "locked" than what the app showed...

Thx for the rep, but i was asking about de glonass sats.

 

[kirk2579]

Good idea to check this website before you fly UAV Forecast
It will let you know if its safe to fly. Make sure to un-click the " Include GLONASS Sats" button if your flying a P3 standard.

Other than the comfort of knowing the info provided , you really do not need to go to such trouble to fly.

If it is too windy ---you should be able to feel it or see it(trees, flags, going crazy)
if it is too cold you will know---your fingers are freezing!
if you don't have enough satellites to get home point lock , you will know--- the LED is flashing YELLOW, Not Green.
if it is rain/snowing you will know--- your getting wet.

so if you aren't getting wet, freezing, getting blown away and have green led lock FLY and have fun.

if you are having trouble getting all green led flash, move the quad to better spot that has as much horizon visible as possible. Many gps satellite's are low in the sky and when on ground buildings and trees etc can block.
In my case , simply moving my quad from in front of my garage to beside it, is night and day as far as gps reception at take off.

good luck and have fun flying!

 

[D Myers]

In the aviation world we have a thing called winds aloft (or at elevation) it could feel calm on the ground but above the tree tops on up could be a different story. And at the altitudes we sometimes go, even 400ft, it's a nice app that for the wind data and forecast (which it looks like it is pulling from the METARS and TAFs) it's not a bad thing to know.


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