I just learned a very good FPV lesson today. I'm a beginner and this was the first time that I couldn't see, hear, or know where my Phantom was for an extended period of time.
I was flying around in a new area and took my Phantom out of sight to go "explore" a bit. I was right about at the limit as I could see the video starting to glitch a bit. I took it down to take a closer look at something and the video completely cut out. I didn't worry too much as I knew I had video feed a little higher so I just brought the quad up a bit. It didn't reconnect. I started to walk towards where I was filming and brought the quad up a bit more. Still nothing. I was right in the place I had lost contact and I couldn't hear or see anything. I sent the quad towards home (with Home Lock) as I knew my batteries were getting low but I still didn't see anything. I figure it must have had "fly away" and that I had lost my quad.
Suddenly, the video feed connected again! The quad was like 500+ ft in the air! I couldn't quite tell where it was but I knew I had sent it way too high (I know a lot of you fly much higher but I've just flown this thing a few times and haven't gone much higher than that yet). I brought it down and sent it home again but the video cut out again. I was afraid it wasn't going home because I was close enough to home to connect but couldn't. I searched the skies and ran to the home location (batteries but be close to fail safe right about now). There I finally heard the wonderful sound of those rotors spinning in the air. I finally caught a glimpse of my Phantom hovering about 20 feet from the home location! It was descending because of the battery and I safely crash landed in a patch of grass near the home location.
Doesn't sound like much now but for those 8 minutes, my heart was pounding like crazy! I know some people have have had worse with fly aways but man what a lesson learned. I'm definitely not going to test the FPV limits by my self again. You're technically not supposed to fly out of line of sight, but if you're testing the limits, always have a spotter!
I was flying around in a new area and took my Phantom out of sight to go "explore" a bit. I was right about at the limit as I could see the video starting to glitch a bit. I took it down to take a closer look at something and the video completely cut out. I didn't worry too much as I knew I had video feed a little higher so I just brought the quad up a bit. It didn't reconnect. I started to walk towards where I was filming and brought the quad up a bit more. Still nothing. I was right in the place I had lost contact and I couldn't hear or see anything. I sent the quad towards home (with Home Lock) as I knew my batteries were getting low but I still didn't see anything. I figure it must have had "fly away" and that I had lost my quad.
Suddenly, the video feed connected again! The quad was like 500+ ft in the air! I couldn't quite tell where it was but I knew I had sent it way too high (I know a lot of you fly much higher but I've just flown this thing a few times and haven't gone much higher than that yet). I brought it down and sent it home again but the video cut out again. I was afraid it wasn't going home because I was close enough to home to connect but couldn't. I searched the skies and ran to the home location (batteries but be close to fail safe right about now). There I finally heard the wonderful sound of those rotors spinning in the air. I finally caught a glimpse of my Phantom hovering about 20 feet from the home location! It was descending because of the battery and I safely crash landed in a patch of grass near the home location.
Doesn't sound like much now but for those 8 minutes, my heart was pounding like crazy! I know some people have have had worse with fly aways but man what a lesson learned. I'm definitely not going to test the FPV limits by my self again. You're technically not supposed to fly out of line of sight, but if you're testing the limits, always have a spotter!