Recovering a lost phantom

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So as some of you guys might remember, I lost my first FC40 back in the summer, and never was able to find it and ended up getting a horrible poison ivy rash that made me think twice about venturing back out into the good ol Tennessee wilderness around my house. Now those nasty plants are starting to die off a bit, and I've been getting most of the trees cleared out on my land (for other reasons, just in case you thought I was taking my phantom search to the next level) so now I can actually see everything better. Oh and to fill anybody in on the details, I'm talking about looking for a medium sized, white quadcopter that could be anywhere over an area of 20+ acres of land that used to be completely covered in trees as far as you could see, and if you've seen most of my flying videos, you'll know what I'm talking about. Ok, so now to the actual point I was trying to make, if by chance I did find my old phantom after it being MIA for about 4-5 months, what are the odds of it actually being able to work again if it had a fairly soft landing?
 
My bet is that it would be a complete loss. I'd expect it to be rusted out quite a bit.

But, you may be able to salvage some parts from it...
 
BuzzBuzzZoomZoom said:
My bet is that it would be a complete loss. I'd expect it to be rusted out quite a bit.

But, you may be able to salvage some parts from it...

There was one that was pulled from months in the ocean and with a lot of cleaning it flew again. If I see the link again, I'll post it here.
 
I think you will be able to plug in a new battery, maybe change some props if they broke, and fly it home. :D
Are you looking in those trees before you tip them over? We don't want to see any pictures of a phantom that has been under a dozer either. :roll:
 
I can't really comment on your odds of recovering a working quad after spending 4-5 months soaking in those Tennessee rains, bro --- but good luck in that endeavor!

However, your case got me thinking about something that might be useful to just about any of us --- a device that runs off 2 AA batteries which can emit a very loud alarm (>110 dB) when activated by a remote transmitter? I tried searching for something like this back in August when I bought my P2V+ and I did find a couple gizmos but most reviews on Amazon seemed to indicate that you had to be within very close range (<100 ft.) for the alarm to emit the loud noise. I would think for a Phantom pilot looking for a lost bird that a range of around 400-500 ft. would be a lot more practical, but I've never seen a device that works that far? Also, it would need to be waterproof to survive a long time in wet conditions like your lost machine.

I dunno --- this seems like the type of device that would be easy to design, and yet nobody has one. Could make for an interesting Kickstarter project. :p
 
I have a Flytrex Live and a Loc8or on my Phantom. The Loc8tor advertises a 400-foot range and when activated emits a high-pitch sound too.
 
And before you say that 400 feet isn't very far, a 400 foot range means that you are standing in the middle of an 11.5 acre area.
 
BobUnplugged said:
The Loc8tor advertises a 400-foot range and when activated emits a high-pitch sound too.

Hmm, that sounds like exactly what I'm looking for!

However, how is it powered? If it runs off the Phantom's battery or it's own lipo --- I'm afraid it will lose power in a few days and won't emit the alarm.

AA batteries will last months (as long as not soaked in rain) and that gives me added assurance I can locate a downed bird when better weather allows a search.
 
I don't recall the volume, (don't own one yet) BUT i know as you point in the right direction and get closer, the LED's light up
 
Interesting device. Have you tried to find something checking the actual range? Most items I have ever purchased that state a range of "whatever distance", the actual you end up with is about 1/4 of what was advertised. I expect that. When I get something that works about 1/3 of advertised range, I got lucky and got a good one. Distances listed by companies are with purfect conditions and never hold up.
 
Happyflyer said:
Interesting device. Have you tried to find something checking the actual range? Most items I have ever purchased that state a range of "whatever distance", the actual you end up with is about 1/4 of what was advertised. I expect that. When I get something that works about 1/3 of advertised range, I got lucky and got a good one. Distances listed by companies are with purfect conditions and never hold up.

I'd have to agree with ya on your statement --- advertised is 400 ft. but prolly more like 125 ft. under IDEAL conditions.

Amazon has an iron-clad 30-day return policy so looks like I will use it in this case and find out for myself.
 
Well, still no luck finding the phantom and it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I walked around most of the day and I even tried taking the new phantom out to see if anything showed up, but I didn't notice anything, it's kinda like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
 
kitari said:
Well, still no luck finding the phantom and it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I walked around most of the day and I even tried taking the new phantom out to see if anything showed up, but I didn't notice anything, it's kinda like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
....Or looking for the screw that fell on the carpet from the last time you took your quad apart. Had to get the big magnet for that one.
 
Happyflyer said:
kitari said:
Well, still no luck finding the phantom and it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I walked around most of the day and I even tried taking the new phantom out to see if anything showed up, but I didn't notice anything, it's kinda like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
....Or looking for the screw that fell on the carpet from the last time you took your quad apart. Had to get the big magnet for that one.
I feel your pain on that one, I have 3 cats that like smacking screws around.
 
kitari said:
Happyflyer said:
kitari said:
Well, still no luck finding the phantom and it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I walked around most of the day and I even tried taking the new phantom out to see if anything showed up, but I didn't notice anything, it's kinda like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
....Or looking for the screw that fell on the carpet from the last time you took your quad apart. Had to get the big magnet for that one.
I feel your pain on that one, I have 3 cats that like smacking screws around.
Ah, Ha! We have discovered another "good person." Some one that flies quads and has cats. Meow. :D
 
dirkclod said:
Get your wife to look for it as mine found the one I looked for days for in about 15 minutes and wasn't even looking for it :oops:

Great advice lol
 
I use an older android phone, wrapped in bublewrap inside a sealed food bag, tape it to the drone and it's got an app called Life 360 on it, then my iphone has the same app.

So I can then track down the phone to within 10m by the app, then call the phone and head for the ringing to locate my drone. Easy :)
 

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