Just lost my P4 this evening.

[neven]

My guess is that your P4 is on the roof of the small building next to the skyscraper on the left

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[Sky Architect]

I think with the trajectory of your phantom that the other guy might be right, it could very well be on a rooftop. I would still make flyers though. That's an expensive investment

 

[KevMo Photog]

My guess is that your P4 is on the roof of the small building next to the skyscraper on the left

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That is totally what Im thinking neven! I am going to find the name of each building in that area and see if they would possibly check the roof for me. I have already turned it into Louisville Police. They were very nice btw. My guess is that it totally hovered there until battery hit 10% and then landed on top of one of those there close for sure. Thanks so much btw.

 

[KevMo Photog]

What really puzzles me is that I got no warning of weak signal at all as I was moving forward. I would have pulled back and brought it closer if I did. But it just instantly said DISCONNECT! And that was it. I am gonna send this all to DJI too and see if they have anything to say on it. Def not looking for a replacement for free. But maybe they might help me out. Just a shot in the dark I'm sure. Now to replace my bird. Prob get another P4 especially since I have my transmitter for it. But I'm def ready to upgrade to a bigger camera too though. Love to get the Inspire with X5 tbo!

 

[neven]

That is totally what Im thinking neven! I am going to find the name of each building in that area and see if they would possibly check the roof for me. I have already turned it into Louisville Police. They were very nice btw. My guess is that it totally hovered there until battery hit 10% and then landed on top of one of those there close for sure. Thanks so much btw.

I'm not sure how OA works on RTH but my guess is altitude gain until obstacle is cleared. I also have no clue what happens if altitude ceiling is reached during that process but stop and hoover is most logical assumption. If all of this is really how things work on P4 then move last know position 50-100ft further in direction you were flying and then draw a straight line on the map from that position to your home point. It should be under that line where it meets the skyscraper on a way home (roof of the red building under first skyscraper on the left).


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[frands1]

I hope that quick disconnection didn't mean battery failure

 

[WWK888]

I hope that quick disconnection didn't mean battery failure

I have flown Litchi missions where I will have full bars and a second later a disconnect and then full bars a few moments later which leads me to believe an obstacle was temporarily blocking the signal.

 

[fastfed]

I bought a trackimo gps attachment for this, so you may want to look into that option in the future. Also leave notes around the last known location. Better to try and fail than not have tried at all. Future speaking be aware of metal and magnetic fields, ships with antennas, anything that has that or emits a signal close enough to the 2.4 GHZ will jam your drones antenna. Some corporate businesses are already looking into this technology. The building itself probably is to blame here but anyways, hope this helps.

pretty sure its illegal to block radio frequencies

 

[Sky Architect]

pretty sure its illegal to block radio frequencies

 

[Pharm]

If the building was between you and the bird, the sudden "disconnected" is expected behavior. 3 secs later, RTH would have kicked in and it would have flown directly back toward you (into the building since RTH alt. was lower than the top of the building). I think your initial evaluation is correct. If it stopped and hovered because of OA, it may very well be on the lower roof of the building on the left.

 

[KevMo Photog]

If the building was between you and the bird, the sudden "disconnected" is expected behavior. 3 secs later, RTH would have kicked in and it would have flown directly back toward you (into the building since RTH alt. was lower than the top of the building).

But I have seen where OA works in RTH mode though. Is that not right?

 

[Foosy]

Maybe you can find someone with a phantom in your area to do flyovers over the suspected buildings?

 

[Foosy]

Maybe you can find someone with a phantom in your area to do flyovers over the suspected buildings?

I actually suspect that it is on the top of one of the ledges of the building to your left. These are the most logical place it could have landed

View attachment 62941
On these ledges:
View attachment 62942

 

[KevMo Photog]

I actually suspect that it is on the top of one of the ledges of the building to your left. These are the most logical place it could have landed

View attachment 62941
On these ledges:
View attachment 62942

That would be so cool if maintenance from one of htose buildings calls me with some good news in a day or so! Thanks for your comment and diagram of where it might be too. Thats cool! Because of this loss I have def learned a little bit about buildings and being that far away trying to do shoot them too. But I also learned that I will never set a max altitude on my bird to 400 ft ever again! Period! As I was driving forward I was trying to raise altitude several times but I already at my max. But the screen was looking so dang cool with sunset I like an idiot kept driving! I also learned that I should have had RTH alt set to 550 ft or so too in this one case. Those two tall ones were about 500 ft I would say. And the last thing I learned is fly the buildings over near by them or program a Litchi mission so it will go ahead and finish even with disconnects.

I had over 250 flights on my P4! It was my 2nd bird that I have owned. I had a Blade Chroma for 3 months before my P4. But I have been an RC guy every since I was 11 years old. Now 54. Yikes! But even flew super fast pattern aiplanes for a while. My dad still has a hobby shop for almost 30 years in our little town. Horizon Dealer btw. I am a pro portrait photographer of over 30 years now. It has been so refreshing to get into this new hobby of flying drones and making pretty dang cool video's. Totally blown away by what the P4 will do and has done for me. So I am not in a good way right now being without it for sure. But anybody have any suggestions as far as getting just the bird itself ordered without a transmitter? I preordered my bird direct from DJI btw. Would love to trade up the the X5 Camera too but I might have to wait a few months. See what's coming out next March. LOL.

 

[KevMo Photog]

Maybe you can find someone with a phantom in your area to do flyovers over the suspected buildings?

I really don't. I live an hour and a half Northwest of Louisville. So I really know any drone guys down that way. Great idea though. That would be the way to spot it for sure if it's on a ledge or a roof.

 

[FlyingPh@ntom]

Tall (office) building are usually loaded with WIFI transmitters that can cause interference as they often run on the same frequencies as the radio controller. I would be extra carefull around them for that reason alone.

 

[joet]

Hopefully somebody will be able to track you down through your FAA number you placed on your drone. I'm not sure if that's possible--I have not heard of anyone trying it yet.

I would imagine that the first question that the FAA would have for the OP is "How did you maintain visual contact of your sUAS at one mile away as the law requires?"

 

[John Locke]

See what's coming out next March. LOL.

DJI will be announcing the new Inspire2 next week. I'm looking forward to that.

Some friendly advice:
1. Try to avoid flying over populated areas like downtown, traffic or homes, it's high risk if something goes wrong. Do you have liability insurance if it hurts someone?
2. Don't fly between objects (such as buildings) when you are not within VLOS, never (unless flying a Litchi mission autonomously). Since you can't see behind you while flying, it's easy to make the mistake of flying behind an object when you don't have VLOS. This can lead to radio connection trouble by accidentally flying behind any object (mountain, building, etc).
3. Don't buy the Inspire until you have better flying record, unless money is no object. With all due respect sir, you would be classified a novice by most pilots, doing what you did, being distracted from rational flight by the emotion of the moment. These things happen, no disrespect intended. There's a learning curve that costs money sometimes.

 

[neven]

DJI will be announcing the new Inspire2 next week. I'm looking forward to that.

Some friendly advice:
1. Try to avoid flying over populated areas like downtown, traffic or homes, it's high risk if something goes wrong. Do you have liability insurance if it hurts someone?
2. Don't fly between objects (such as buildings) when you are not within VLOS, never (unless flying a Litchi mission autonomously). Since you can't see behind you while flying, it's easy to make the mistake of flying behind an object when you don't have VLOS. This can lead to radio connection trouble by accidentally flying behind any object (mountain, building, etc).
3. Don't buy the Inspire until you have better flying record, unless money is no object. With all due respect sir, you would be classified a novice by most pilots, doing what you did, being distracted from rational flight by the emotion of the moment. These things happen, no disrespect intended. There's a learning curve that costs money sometimes.

Some excellent advices there John. If I might add something to your second point. Going between very high buildings which are close to each other can be catastrophic even on autonomous mission since there will be less visible satellites and there is a risk of mode switch to ATTI. So if anyone is trying something like that better make sure that you have perfect VLoS and signal strenght. And a plan B.

 

[KevMo Photog]

DJI will be announcing the new Inspire2 next week. I'm looking forward to that.

Some friendly advice:
1. Try to avoid flying over populated areas like downtown, traffic or homes, it's high risk if something goes wrong. Do you have liability insurance if it hurts someone?
2. Don't fly between objects (such as buildings) when you are not within VLOS, never (unless flying a Litchi mission autonomously). Since you can't see behind you while flying, it's easy to make the mistake of flying behind an object when you don't have VLOS. This can lead to radio connection trouble by accidentally flying behind any object (mountain, building, etc).
3. Don't buy the Inspire until you have better flying record, unless money is no object. With all due respect sir, you would be classified a novice by most pilots, doing what you did, being distracted from rational flight by the emotion of the moment. These things happen, no disrespect intended. There's a learning curve that costs money sometimes.

Thanks for your friendly advice John. And I appreciate it with no disrespect intended too. But come on, at some point you have to be a little bold to get some great stuff! Everyone flies right over towns and cities eventually if they are wanting to get good stuff. Trees and farms get boring after a while. LOL. Totally agree that this was absolutely my fault for sure though. Def a lesson learned. I am just a hobbyist as of now btw. And money is an object for sure. I am a very serious photog that is always gonna push things to get a freaking rocking shot! So I was ready to get into the Inspire with bigger sensor anyway. Novice! I don't think that's very accuarate. Flying record?? Not sure about flying records, but I have never had a crash ever with over 250 flights on the P4. And a ton of flights with a Blade Chroma as well. But seriously thanks for the help again and can't wait to see what the new Inspire brings to the game.