Questions after a near PS3 loss

[Meathead40]

Hi all -

PS3 owner here. I've really enjoyed this new hobby. I've had mine for about 2 months now and continue to learn all that goes with owning this unit.

That said, yesterday I somewhat foolishly decided to fly in wind conditions that were a bit too much for the drone. Long story short, I was able to return to home after much difficulty. The situation made me realize a few questions I wanted to ask the forum:

1. If I have to make an emergency landing somewhere - how do I get the last known GPS coordinates out of DJI app and into a mapping application to make the data useful? Is there a way to export the flight data to easily see where the drone's last known location is on a map? Maybe a google map?

2. Continuing on #1 - is there a way to put the drone in a 'beacon' mode where it will emit a beep of some sort, in effort to find it in a field or forest after an emergency landing or wind related flyway?

Just trying to understand my emergency options if the worst ends up happening.. thanks!!

 

[WilliamM]

Using the Go app there's two things. First you can just look at the map view (if you have the map cached) and just see where it is (last know spot). Next in the lower left of the screen when playing back the flight log you will see GPS cords, just input those into a map app. On your last question, no the craft does not beep. But if your still connected you'll see the drone icon on your device and can just walk toward it. But lastly you can buy a GPS tracker as a add-on.

 

[Jayfdee]

Number 1.Healthy drones would be a good start,open a free account and you can view your flight as an overlay on Google Earth. Where it ends is a good place to hunt.
Number 2 no not to my knowledge.
Many people add a tracker, eg Trackimo to their craft, me personally I do not use a tracker.

 

[WilliamM]

But to the main issue here, the wind. Flying in anything over 15+ mph you need to be very careful about which way your flying. ALWAYS fly into the wind, never with it, otherwise things like this will happen. Even have to watch flying cross wind if over 15+ mph because if you lose GPS your fling 100% manual and the craft could be blown sideways from your location.

 

[NiallxD]

Additionally to what WilliamM said, if you fly down wind and loose signal, the drone will RTH and cruise along at around half speed. I've seen a few posts where the drone just can't make it back against the wind and emergency lands.

If you get back in range, you can speed up RTH manually with the stick.

I use Hover to get a sense of the conditions before flight.

https://appsto.re/gb/SY9E4.i


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[BillW50]

Good advice about windy conditions. And while I have a wind vane out in my 15 acre field, I'm in the country and most of the land around here is all forest (including around my house). And I could have a 15MPH wind whipping around the house, while the wind vane is showing a 3MPH wind out in the field (or the reverse). But that is nothing. Even with virtually no breeze near the ground, get up over the forest canopy and it could be a totally different story. It could be 25+ MPH easily. Lately I have been turning GPS off just above the canopy at the beginning and selecting ATTI mode and watching which direction and how fast it drifts. Just today (it's calm near the ground and the wind vane barely turning) I did it and it drifted east at about 20MPH.

 

[Meathead40]

Thank you all - super helpful. Appreciate all the feedback on this forum! I will take into account the advice for future flights.

 

[solentlife]

Lost me finders are getting smaller and cheaper day by day.

The Keyfinder - for example is a completely stand alone self powered signal generator. It has good range of 300ft and a powerful beep alarm. 300ft may not sound much to 'drone' flyers - but its good if you know the general area to look. Its not cheap compared to usual key finders - but is good for us modellers. The onboard chip is light and small - easily velcro'd or double side taped to model.

Over on another forum - myself and others are trying out various lost model alarms and evaluating ..... and what is surprising is the usual recc'd ones are proving to be not as good as cracked up to be ! Especially when price is considered.
One of the biggest problems with SIM card based trackers is the expense of 3G or better units. If you are lucky enough live in a country that will keep 2G available for reasonable time - then the 2G versions can be had cheaply.

If you are close flyer and want a budget unit to find your model in the brush / long grass ..... believe me you can literally tread on even a big model before seeing it in long grass / brush areas ... then the Bluetooth funders can be used. But take care - they use BT4 which most BT equipped PC, phones etc. are not equipped with. BT4 has a far greater range for its power demand.

Its a big market actually for good finder alarms. Give it a while and far better items will be on market .....

Later I may post up a thread detailing findings and info on finders. At this time we are still evaluating so no good asking about it !

Nigel