Phantom 3 pro disconnected during flight and now it's lost

[msinger]

Do you have Facebook installed?

I'm on a computer. I can get to Facebook.com if that's what you're asking.

 

[Steves23]

Maybe it's because I'm on my phone. Seems like it still should work for you though on a PC

 

[msinger]

Prior to takeoff, the following settings were in place:

RTH Altitude: 131 feet
Low Battery: 25%
Critically Low Battery: 10%

Here are some important data points at the time the downlink (video) was lost at the end of your flight:

Battery: 31%
Lowest Battery Cell: 3.5V
Altitude: 645 feet
Distance from Home Point: 3,906 feet
GPS Satellites: 17

Considering the above data and the fact that your Phantom did not come home, I'm assuming the remote controller did not disconnect when the downlink dropped (which is not uncommon). Since you continued to attempt to fly, your Phantom was most likely still responding to your stick commands. Depending on the other sticks commands you issued, you could have been flying it further away from the last known location (in any direction) as you were trying to ascend to regain the signal.

Due to the distance from the home point and the battery level, I'm assuming one of the following occurred:

• Your Phantom auto landed somewhere near the last known location
• Your Phantom started to return home and then auto landed somewhere along the path between the home point and last known location
• The battery died and it dropped out of the sky as you were attempting to command it while it was auto landing on a critically low battery

 

[msinger]

This is what I see:

 

[Steves23]

Well bummer, I just wish I knew why it disconnected as it was getting closer to me, not farther away. To bad they didn't put a locator on it like a cell phone or iPad has. "A find my Drone" app haha.

 

[flyNfrank]

I know at one point near the end I saw a altitude somewhere above 700ft. Ascending up at full throttle is the 2nd most draining on the battery. I'm pretty sure if any of the battery cell's reach 3.0 volts, it will fall from the sky.

I'm not going to go into the full details on this now, but another person and I were working together on a project that has to do with the smart battery. We found rewritten code. Example, when battery displays 3.6v it is actually 3.3v. DJI screwed up and forgot to revise the a/c at firmware 1.5.0. They right away with in 4hrs published another update 1.5.2. Then another update came the next day 1.5.3(a patch). And finally then realized the update needed to be a firmware/battery firmware combo so here comes update 1.5.7.(Edit: this battery ordeal began just a little over a year ago.)

To trick the battery we are left with a less performing aircraft that is slower, less able to fly in cold climates, plus more. All this so we have to buy their battery more often. I think they have also removed the name "smart" from the battery description.

 

[AlexSP]

...

Considering the above data and the fact that your Phantom did not come home, I'm assuming the remote controller did not disconnect when the downlink dropped (which is not uncommon). Since you continued to attempt to fly, your Phantom was most likely still responding to your stick commands. Depending on the other sticks commands you issued, you could have been flying it further away from the last known location (in any direction) as you were trying to ascend to regain the signal.

Due to the distance from the home point and the battery level, I'm assuming one of the following occurred:

• Your Phantom auto landed somewhere near the last known location
• Your Phantom started to return home and then auto landed somewhere along the path between the home point and last known location
• The battery died and it dropped out of the sky as you were attempting to command it while it was auto landing on a critically low battery

Makes absolute sense to me, very logical when you look at the numbers shown. Perfect analysis IMO.

Losing contact with AC at low battery levels can be fatal. I try my best to keep it around (LOS or clearly on the way home, or at least with strong signal) when volts drop to 3.7 or thereabouts.

And also keep an eye on time in the air, of course. Hard to go wrong with that.

 

[Steves23]

I have been having problems with it disconnected and I also send in a complaint to DJI but nothing came of that they wanted me to send screenshots and I wasn't able to at the time. Maybe I'll just chalk this one up to user error and save for a couple months to buy a P4 combo deal. I guess I'll have to ebay my P3P crap

 

[KingDad1985]

I am sorry about your incident. Did you have an sticker with your phone number or email on the body of the AC?.

I have an sticker on both of my drones with "I'm lost (123)456-7890" "Reward if Found".

I did the exact same thing. It's smart offering a reward since it gives the finder incentive to return it. How much is your reward if you don't mind me asking?

 

[KingDad1985]

I have been having problems with it disconnected and I also send in a complaint to DJI but nothing came of that they wanted me to send screenshots and I wasn't able to at the time. Maybe I'll just chalk this one up to user error and save for a couple months to buy a P4 combo deal. I guess I'll have to ebay my P3P crap

I'm sorry for your loss. It's one of my biggest fears while flying. So much as I haven't flown out of sight.

 

[ElGuapo]

How much is your reward if you don't mind me asking?

Good question, I am on the fence on this one. If that was to ever happen I was thinking $100 , maybe it is a little much.
How much is yours ?

 

[ElGuapo]

I have been having problems with it disconnected and I also send in a complaint to DJI but nothing came of that they wanted me to send screenshots and I wasn't able to at the time. Maybe I'll just chalk this one up to user error and save for a couple months to buy a P4 combo deal. I guess I'll have to ebay my P3P crap

When the time comes you can sell your P3P stuff in this forum. Don't give up just yet, you may still find it.

 

[ElGuapo]

I have been having problems with it disconnected and I also send in a complaint to DJI but nothing came of that they wanted me to send screenshots and I wasn't able to at the time. Maybe I'll just chalk this one up to user error and save for a couple months to buy a P4 combo deal. I guess I'll have to ebay my P3P crap

Steves23, when you have time please read this thread: Just Lost my PSP while in litchi mission , need help !

 

[Steves23]

I want to thank all of you for your help and new wealth of knowledge. Especially FlyNFrank and MSinger. I used my brothers drone to spot it in the soy bean field and it was on its way home thank god. There is no visual damage but it did rain a little so I'm going to let it dry before putting juice to it. I'm glad I found it even if it is wrecked inside. Much Thank you Guys/Gals

 

[ElGuapo]

Congratulations.!!!

I would put the drone in a container with 20 pounds of rice, let it dry for a couple of days before attempting to power up the unit.

 

[flyNfrank]

I want to thank all of you for your help and new wealth of knowledge. Especially FlyNFrank and MSinger. I used my brothers drone to spot it in the soy bean field and it was on its way home thank god. There is no visual damage but it did rain a little so I'm going to let it dry before putting juice to it. I'm glad I found it even if it is wrecked inside. Much Thank you Guys/Gals

That's Great News! I know when I lost a a couple P2's when I was searching I said I didn't care if they were crashed I just wanted the knowledge of knowing something for piece of mind. I never found them, but I did figure out how to get that piece of mind. I invested into a GPS Live Tracker and couldn't wait to put it to use, but I never lost another A/C.

 

[pomonabill220]

I invested into a GPS Live Tracker and couldn't wait to put it to use, but I never lost another A/C.

Sounds like good karma!

 

[Apparition]

Sounds like good karma!

Like buying the biggest snowblower you can find and then not having any snow all winter.

 

[Steves23]

I work in a power plant and have an unlimited supply of desiccant. Much better than rice . Well I dried it out for a few days and hooked it all up. It started but I could not get the Government App to connect. (Disconnected). I was bummed but still happy I retrieved it. Then I tried an original Apple lightning cable and everything came alive. Must have been a bad cable doing all this to me. I took it out this morning and flew just over 2 miles away and back with no signal loss at all. Lesson here is do not skimp out on anything related to these Birds. Thank you all. And yes, I put a $100 reward if found along with name and # on it.

 

[flyNfrank]

I work in a power plant and have an unlimited supply of desiccant. Much better than rice . Well I dried it out for a few days and hooked it all up. It started but I could not get the Government App to connect. (Disconnected). I was bummed but still happy I retrieved it. Then I tried an original Apple lightning cable and everything came alive. Must have been a bad cable doing all this to me. I took it out this morning and flew just over 2 miles away and back with no signal loss at all. Lesson here is do not skimp out on anything related to these Birds. Thank you all. And yes, I put a $100 reward if found along with name and # on it.

Just glad to see you with your bird in the sky again.

Here's a couple recommendations:

1. Upload the DAT file to the flight you lost the A/C with.

2. Delete your current GO app and install version 2.8.3 which will allow us to diagnose any issues right away should something happen in the future.