It went down and I couldn't stop it.

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Help in reading the flight records would be appreciated.
DJI sent me a replacement P4 for the one I had that threw a prop. My new P4 was built July 17, 2018. It died Oct. 8, 2018.
i was on my second battery With 29% left. I was flying in Black Water Canyon. Beautiful day. I wanted to take a still of the Elakala falls # 2. There are 3 in that series of falls on Shays run. It looked like I was over the third falls when it decided to land. I was going to come home with the wind in my favor. Totally LOS.Nothing but air between us. My cognitive skills are slower as I have aged. I hit the cancel to land as soon as I noticed it, repeatedly, with no success. I think it was in critical battery mode and I couldn't make it come up. The dreaded disconnect came up. It landed near the bottom of the canyon. I have read about people taking pictures of Elakaia falls #2 and #3 over land. It said do not attempt unless you are in good physical condition with good climbing skills. I think being a 65 year old disabled man rules me out.
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
 
I hit the cancel to land as soon as I noticed it, repeatedly, with no success. I think it was in critical battery mode and I couldn't make it come up.
That is correct. IMO, you had your critical battery set too high @29%.....That is usually the low battery setting, with critical much lower on average. It appears to me that you would have had enough power for RTH, had your settings been a bit higher.
 
That is correct. IMO, you had your critical battery set too high @29%.....That is usually the low battery setting, with critical much lower on average. It appears to me that you would have had enough power for RTH, had your settings been a bit higher.
Good assumption. That was not the case. I flew a battery before that one and I landed at 12%.
 
Mate sorry for your mishap ,could check smart return home settings see what that set at,might have been on autoland, if it was turned off,it might have known home point was to far on remaining batt and autoland mayby ???couple warnings on cpu in device full so some stuff might need clearing,,65 young if the lycra don't fit no more mayby a volunteer club for rescue might like some training or another drone with a hook and wire,,hope you get it back,I be waiting,,just a thought mayby smart return home % setting is different than normal first batt warning before critical at 10%,,??????:oops:
 
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It appears to me that you would have had enough power for RTH, had your settings been a bit higher.
Those settings don't determine when the battery actually reaches the low and critically low levels. They just display alerts in DJI GO when the battery reaches the set levels.
 
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Those settings don't determine when the battery actually reaches the low and critically low levels. They just display alerts in DJI GO when the battery reaches the set levels.
If this is the case, then the P4's react differently than the P3's, although the manual verbiage is exactly the same. I know that "Low Battery" is only an app warning, per the "Low Battery" setting you have selected. However, at "Critical Low Battery" per that setting is where the second warning is issued and the aircraft goes in to auto land. My own levels are changed from time to time depending on how and where I am flying. I rarely allow the critical battery setting to be reached. Normally, I will use 28% for Low Battery and 18% for Critical Battery. The few instances I have allowed the 18% to be reached, a warning is issued and the aircraft starts to descend almost immediately. Am I reading this incorrectly? Not per my own experiences.

LOW BATTERY.PNG
 
If this is the case, then the P4's react differently than the P3's, although the manual verbiage is exactly the same.
Both work the same way. This video explains it well:

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Both work the same way. This video explains it well:
Yep, case and point. In this video, the Low Battery was set at 29%, with critical battery at 10%. Notice these points on the battery bar never move, because that is the level set in the app. An alarm sounds at 29%, and auto-land begins at 10%, which is exactly what I described. I noted the points with the arrows below. This is why I said what I did in post #2 and in Post #6. I was just making a point of the settings.

Percentage.png
 
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In this video, the Low Battery was set at 29%, with critical battery at 10%. Notice these points on the battery bar never move, because that is the level set in the app.
Right.

An alarm sounds at 29%, and auto-land begins at 10%, which is exactly what I described. I noted the points with the arrows below. This is why I said what I did in post #2 and in Post #6. I was just making a point of the settings.
If that's the case, then can you explain why the actual critical low battery level is above the set level in this screenshot?

1539096873643.png
 
can you explain why the actual critical low battery level is above the set level in this screenshot?
The red line to the right of the critical value set point is not actually "Critical Battery". It is a calculated value warning that the AC will go in to auto land when that point is reached. The difference being that once that point is reached you can cancel auto-landing and resume normal flight ( Not a good idea, but you can ). Once the Critical battery set point is reached, it will again enter auto land but with no option to cancel. We are basically splitting hairs here really. Wouldn't you agree? Maybe my use of terms was confusing.
 
No. This is how those features actually work:
Using the video you provided, says otherwise. I don't mean to make this into a never ending discussion over spilled milk but these shots tell a different story. I hope this explains better what I am trying to say. Maybe?

Image #1

Low Battery warning still in effect @ 15%, Auto-land with cancellation option available.

LOW BATTRY LANDING  2.png



Image #2

Auto-land cancelled @ 14%

CANCEL AUTO LAND.png


Image # 3

Below the 10% Critical Battery setting, auto-land re-initiated with no cancellation option


CRITICAL POWER.png
 
I don't mean to make this into a never ending discussion over spilled milk
It's no problem at all. I'm sure you probably know I like discussing the nitty gritty of DJI drones.

Image #1

Low Battery warning still in effect @ 15%, Auto-land with cancellation option available.
The Mavic Air was auto landing after it returned back to the home point. The pilot cancelled the auto landing so he could continue on with his demonstration and show what happens when the critically low battery level is reached.

Image # 3

Below the 10% Critical Battery setting, auto-land re-initiated with no cancellation option
The critically low battery level was reached at this point and the Mavic Air started to auto land. Unfortunately, this isn't the best example since the critically low battery setting and critically low battery level appeared to have been at the same point. It would have been easier to show the difference if he had been flying another drone (like the Mavic Pro) where the critically low battery setting can be changed in DJI GO. He could have then set it to 29% (for example) and then showed the auto landing did not actually trigger until 10%.
 
It's no problem at all. I'm sure you probably know I like discussing the nitty gritty of DJI drones.
Well, we can just let it go at that then. As I mentioned in Post#6, I know may aircraft ( the very few times I have allowed it to reach that level ) has auto landed at the Percentage I have set. I never really paid attention to the other "red" line when below the set "Low Battery" level, and certainly have never cancelled auto-land. Anyway, interesting discussion. Will have to fully test that after my next flight. However, I rarely use GO, and have not for a while, but could for test purposes..;)
 
Well my low battery is set at 30% and critical is at 10% and I never had a problem. After I took my picture, it was no sweat to come home in the mid 20's and land.

It's fun and I have a lot of raw footage I'll be working on. I loved flying. It was a dream come true. It's not a cost effective hobby that I can keep pouring money into. This was a virtually new drone which I was glad to get. My other one threw a prop from a broken mount in August. I love nature and I'll be putting less money into my land base equipment with a greater return. I'll keep the memory of that beautiful canyon in my mind. (Well, I do have it on my IPad.)
 
Well my low battery is set at 30% and critical is at 10% and I never had a problem. After I took my picture, it was no sweat to come home in the mid 20's and land.

It's fun and I have a lot of raw footage I'll be working on. I loved flying. It was a dream come true. It's not a cost effective hobby that I can keep pouring money into. This was a virtually new drone which I was glad to get. My other one threw a prop from a broken mount in August. I love nature and I'll be putting less money into my land base equipment with a greater return. I'll keep the memory of that beautiful canyon in my mind. (Well, I do have it on my IPad.)
Get some nephews together and offer a reward for safe return of them and drone,yes my dream job was to fly..I just have to do it this way, me in charge of real aircraft,,I don't think I be allowed behind the wheel,best of luck
 
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Will have to fully test that after my next flight. However, I rarely use GO, and have not for a while, but could for test purposes.
Or, you could just look at the OP's data. It shows the following:

- The low battery warning was set to 28%
- The critically low battery warning was set to 10%
- The battery was deemed critically low at 29%

Csv.jpg
 
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I confess I too thought this worked as Fly Dawg outlined, but my respect for your experience Mike has got me too scratching my head now. I firmly believed (though I guess never pushed to experience in person) that the AC would commence autoland upon reaching the critical battery level I set in the app (which I have set at 10% like most folk I think), not land based on a calculated critical battery level. Delighted to be educated if this is true, but want to test and verify too (mostly because I thought I knew this). Thanks!
 
Get some nephews together and offer a reward for safe return of them and drone,yes my dream job was to fly..I just have to do it this way, me in charge of real aircraft,,I don't think I be allowed behind the wheel,best of luck
I only have one niece and she is a frail thing that wouldn't get her hands dirty. That place is dangerous area to venture, unless you like climbing cliffs and rattlesnakes. I like rattlesnakes, they taste good. I can't do cliffs anymore is an understatement.
I wanted to post a $100 US reward, but my wife was against it figuring it would be a broken piece of junk.
 
In a much earlier post in the loss of a drone by ways of a fly away !...i added that to maybe get the drone back beings it was lost..that the small name and address labels we all get around CHRISTmas time would have been nice to have stuck inside the squares on the sides of the battery's......ever one of my battery's has the name address city labels on them and i was laughed at....I imagine IF the guy that did that to me (Laughed about my idea).... encounters a fly away....he will wish he had done my idea...and i don't wish bad things on No body period ! ever one should have a name address and city and even a phone number in side their drone OR in a small water proof packet taped to the back side surface of the camera.....Mines got it their too !..............W.V Rootman....i hated to read about the loss !:(
 

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