HEART ATTACK MATERIAL. Was out happily enjoying the unbelievable technology of my DJI P3 Pro, flying along a deserted beach in South Australia, filming the red cliffs and surf. Suddenly at 1510 metres from home BLANK SCREEN, except for red flashing no connection. WTF, no indication of a crash or bird strike on the feed, EVERY scenario ran through my head, more than once. I could see a couple of beach fishermen, way in the distance, they appeared to be walking out into the water, I'm thinking it has crashed near them. By this stage, minutes have ticked by, seemingly an eternity. In my stressed state of panic, I was about to put the RC down and go searching. As I bent over the screen came to life again, and the music to my ears after 160 seconds my bird was overhead, thank God for the dji technology, can't tell you how happy I was. HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
Lost Signal
- Thread starter Ewan
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Wow that was a very abrupt signal loss! Bird was pretty far out though. Surprisingly it took a long time to regain signal!
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Video is the first to go. Usually you still have an RC link. See the nice graphic above.. You can wait a bit or hit RTH. 1500 meters is a pretty long distance though. You might want to get a set of Windsurfers - cheap antenna booster.
I had the same thing happen to me. I left take off location after watching P3A fly off into the sunset. Waited a few minutes but it's like a lost child (which i do not have). I took controller with me and went to location on GPS map. NO copter. ****!!!! Walked home after trespassing on many peoples property with head hanging low thinking of replacement cost. I walked back on my property and there she was, sitting there , lights blinking, saying I'm home daddy!! I figure the thing went 1/2 mile before coming home.
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Today I took my P3s out for a little range test after buying windsurfers for it.. Got about 7k feet out with a couple momentary intermittent signal loss instances but still had relatively good signal up till that point. Then I got two "strong interference" warnings and the video signal was gone.. The screen appeared to be frozen and I was getting no flight info,. Since I was at a good height not near any objects I waited a minute to see if it would regain signal.. It didn't so I hit RTH but got no response.. I walked around where I was a little and hit it two more times before it finally started beeping and engaged.. I minute later I got video back and saw the P3 on its way back. Don't think I'll go out that far again.. Though the windsurfers definitely at least doubled my range..
Unless it's just a very local flight, 2k or less, I have gotten to the point that I always do a waypoint mission in Litchi. This gives me some peace of mind my P3A will fly it's pre-planned route and return to my programmed last waypoint regardless of signal. When using the GO app, if RTH kicks in, who knows what you will be flying over on the RTH trip...a school yard, public venue, etc. I routinely lose signal when flying longer distances......but it's not that big a deal as I know the P3A is going to simply fly the mission....and I will re-acquire the signal at some point as it heads back towards me. Even if I turn the remote controller off, my P3A will return to the last waypoint and hover until low battery....then it will land itself. I also really like the fact that I can let Litchi do the flying whilst I focus on my camera work....helps make things very smooth....almost pro-grade video. Always double check your flight plan when using Litchi....especially altitudes, speed, and estimated flying time for the mission route.
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