My problem occurred while flying my P2 over an open field of soy beans. The bird is equipped with an iOSD display module, Hero3 and video downlink to a Black Pearl monitor. I use the supplied DJI controller too.
I had flown through one battery and was on my second one, which had started only partially charged at about 75% according to the lights and OSD readout. I was at about 25% battery capacity, and out 154m and 8m high according the OSD--just flying around. Then the P2 stopped responding to the controls, nor didn't appear to be returning to home. I suppose the problem might have been interference from high-tension power lines about 500' away....but who really knows.
In any case, the P2 didn't fly away, it just slowly settled into the middle of the bean field. As it disappeared, I lost the video and OSD display. I noted the OSD distance and eye-balled the best I could where I thought it was and hopped in my vehicle. As I drove up the road, I noted when a fuzzy picture first appeared on my monitor and drove on until the picture faded out again. Then I turned around and went back down the road about half way. This was similar to the technique I learned when Heli-skiing in 1978, using avalanche radio gear that each skier wore on a lanyard around their neck inside their clothing.
My first walk perpendicular into the bean field produced no results. But as the video started to fade again, I slowly rotated my body with the monitor until the picture dropped out. I reasoned that my body was shielding the video signal, and the P2 should be behind me when the picture dropped out. So I turned around 180° and started out anew in that direction.
Still no results, but the video had definitely been stronger. So I did the body shield exercise again and started out in that direction. I felt I must be close because the video was so strong. But with the beans being 2-1/2 or 3 feet high and very dense, it was difficult to see more than ten or twenty feet down the rows and even less across the rows.
Doing the body shielding exercise now didn't do any good, because the signal was so strong. So, I pointed the twin antennas downward and held them in my closed hands and rotated. My hands reduced the sensitivity of the antennas, and I was able to get a new bearing to walk.
Then wall-ahhhhh. Maybe about 25 rows of beans at about 50 feet along this new track, there she was. Pitched over, basically upright a few inches above the ground. Success, thank you Lord.
The only real damage is to my legs and knees. I was wearing shorts and sandals. 68 year old skin is pretty thin. Ugh.
It sure paid to have an engineer's mind and decades of experience (including the Heli-skiing).
Hope this helps somebody else. I don't care how experienced you are with these drone gadgets, they are not 100% reliable.
I had flown through one battery and was on my second one, which had started only partially charged at about 75% according to the lights and OSD readout. I was at about 25% battery capacity, and out 154m and 8m high according the OSD--just flying around. Then the P2 stopped responding to the controls, nor didn't appear to be returning to home. I suppose the problem might have been interference from high-tension power lines about 500' away....but who really knows.
In any case, the P2 didn't fly away, it just slowly settled into the middle of the bean field. As it disappeared, I lost the video and OSD display. I noted the OSD distance and eye-balled the best I could where I thought it was and hopped in my vehicle. As I drove up the road, I noted when a fuzzy picture first appeared on my monitor and drove on until the picture faded out again. Then I turned around and went back down the road about half way. This was similar to the technique I learned when Heli-skiing in 1978, using avalanche radio gear that each skier wore on a lanyard around their neck inside their clothing.
My first walk perpendicular into the bean field produced no results. But as the video started to fade again, I slowly rotated my body with the monitor until the picture dropped out. I reasoned that my body was shielding the video signal, and the P2 should be behind me when the picture dropped out. So I turned around 180° and started out anew in that direction.
Still no results, but the video had definitely been stronger. So I did the body shield exercise again and started out in that direction. I felt I must be close because the video was so strong. But with the beans being 2-1/2 or 3 feet high and very dense, it was difficult to see more than ten or twenty feet down the rows and even less across the rows.
Doing the body shielding exercise now didn't do any good, because the signal was so strong. So, I pointed the twin antennas downward and held them in my closed hands and rotated. My hands reduced the sensitivity of the antennas, and I was able to get a new bearing to walk.
Then wall-ahhhhh. Maybe about 25 rows of beans at about 50 feet along this new track, there she was. Pitched over, basically upright a few inches above the ground. Success, thank you Lord.
The only real damage is to my legs and knees. I was wearing shorts and sandals. 68 year old skin is pretty thin. Ugh.
It sure paid to have an engineer's mind and decades of experience (including the Heli-skiing).
Hope this helps somebody else. I don't care how experienced you are with these drone gadgets, they are not 100% reliable.