Question about lost drone and GPS

[Cactus Wren]

So I'm still pretty new to the drone game, and I've seen various ads for the TrackiMo and the TrackR, for using GPS to find lost items (such as a drone that goes down in dense forest).
These drones ALREADY have GPS, so would one not be able to easily find a downed drone with the existing GPS?

 

[msinger]

Once the downlink disconnects, your Phantom's location will no longer be sent back to the remote controller. At that point, you're going to need a GPS tracker in order to find the exact location of your Phantom. Without that, the best you could do is view the TXT flight log and take an educated guess as to where it went.

 

[Cactus Wren]

Once the downlink disconnects, your Phantom's location will no longer be sent back to the remote controller. At that point, you're going to need a GPS tracker in order to find the exact location of your Phantom. Without that, the best you could do is view the TXT flight log and take an educated guess as to where it went.

Thanks. I just assumed there would be a way to link into the drone's GPS using a smartphone or tablet.

 

[msinger]

That's not possible since the drone does not have a cellular connection (like most GPS trackers). It's only able to communicate with the remote controller.

 

[Suhail78]

DJI probably has access to the location data from the satellites, they could easily show the last known location through the app right?

 

[Meta4]

DJI probably has access to the location data from the satellites, they could easily show the last known location through the app right?

No ..
If you choose to upload your flight records to DJI they can see where you were flying in the past just like you can by looking at your flight records.
But DJI has no idea you are flying or where your Phantom is now.
GPS is a one-way technology.
The GPS sats broadcast their signals and your Phantom uses them to determine its position but the Phantom doesn't send back any information to DJI or any satellites.