Resetting HOME Location & RTH in Naza or Vision mode

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I did some tests today at my local park to confirm functionality of the resetting home functionality that was introduced in the last firmware update to the Phantom 2 Vision in mid December. I'm writing this because the manual isn't clear if this only worked in "Vision" mode or if it also worked for those of us who've switched to "Naza" mode. I can confirm it works regardless of flying in Phantom 2 or Naza mode and this is how I conducted my test and how you do it.

*Please note the below tests were done with v2 assistant firmware and not the newer v3 assistant firmware but for the most part it should all work the same. And on a side note someone on v3.04 firmware said if they reset home position at a given altitude it now ads that to the height your Phantom will ascend to when initiating RTH. So instead of flying up to 66 feet it will fly 66 feet higher than the current altitude of your Phantom was when resetting home position. *

To learn more about Naza mode and how it works read this thread.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13956

I first made sure my Phantom 2 Vision had a "Home Lock" before initial take off. I also had both my S1 and S2 switches in the up most position. You know you have a "Home Lock" by first seeing a fast green flash followed by continuous slow green blinking of the tail lights. I took off then flew away from my home position, followed by switching my S1 switch into the bottom "Fail Safe" position. If you don't have yours set that way, just turning off your transmitter will accomplish the same thing. My Phantoms tail lights turned Yellow flashing followed by it ascending to 66 feet, flying over it's original "Home" point, pausing for a bit before descending. Before allowing it to land fully I put my S1 switch into the Center Position to regain control followed by switching S1 to the top position for "GPS" mode. I then flew my Phantom above a new location in the park approximately 20 feet away.

To reset the "HOME" Position over the new location I was hovering over, I moved my S2 switch all the way down and then up 5 times. I then immediately observed the rear tail lights doing a quick flashing green to confirm the new Home position. To confirm my new "Home Lock" position I flew my Phantom away to see if it would return to the new Home spot when initiating Fail Safe. I flew a hundred or so feet away, as before moving my S1 switch to the bottom "Fail Safe" mode, again turning off your transmitter will do the same thing. And my Phantom flew up to 66 feet as before before flying straight over my new Home position coming in for a landing. This time I let it land all the way, it finished by turning off it's engines after touch down.

Resetting HOME position where the new HOME point is at either a Higher or Lower altitude. I just came home running secondary additional tests to confirm what I already theorized, which is that resetting your Home location to a place that is either a higher, or lower elevation makes absolutely no difference in RTH behavior. So no worries there, you can mark your new home location, anyplace, at any elevation, with your Phantom at any elevation, it all makes no difference. I'll explain below exactly how I conducted these tests.

I started my tests by taking off on a multi level stair case in my park at one of the lower levels. From there I powered on my Phantom where it marked it's home point. I took off and flew the Phantom over a grassy field where I proceeded to remark my home position. The grassy field was roughly 5 feet below the stair case where I took off. After the home point was marked I flew my Phantom away then initiated the Fail Safe and it returned to the new home point and landed perfectly at this new lower elevation. No premature engine shut off mid air as some worried. I restarted my engines and flew the Phantom hovering back over my original position on the lower level of the stair case marking the new Home position. I flew my Phantom away, again hitting Fail Safe made it returned perfectly to this new slightly higher elevation. I then decided to UP the ante literally by taking off again and flying over the ground past the stair case at the highest level. This is roughly 10 feet higher from the take off position. I marked my new home point at this higher location, flew it over the grass just a couple feet hovering, initiated the Fail Safe and it flew back to this new elevated location without a problem landing perfectly shutting off it's motors when it touched down. Now the crem de la crem. Keep in mind the Home point is now currently marked at the highest location in the Park, about 20 feet higher than the grass field. I took off, Flew the Phantom above a random spot of the grassy field and reset it's home point while it was hovering mid air, I then flew the Phantom away and initiated Fail Safe. Again, another perfect landing. It touched down on the grass perfectly, shutting off it's engines when done.

In Summary: You can reset your Home position in either flight mode, Phantom 2 Vision or Naza mode. And it can be reset in flight at any altitude. It also does not matter if the new Home point you mark is either a lower or higher altitude than the altitude of your original take off, it will still function properly. Knowing about the ability to reset your home location can be useful for those of you flying your Phantom's from a moving boat. You can occasionally reset your home position as necessary. Also handy if you're walking around your neighborhood or a beach boardwalk for a great distance, Resetting your home position on occasion will also be useful there as well should you somehow end up in a fail safe.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME RTH Location in flight.

I did the same test (only in NazaM mode however) and it worked fine. Also tried the Course Lock reorientation in flight and it works.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME RTH Location in flight.

MikeON said:
I did the same test (only in NazaM mode however) and it worked fine. Also tried the Course Lock reorientation in flight and it works.

Yes I was in Naza mode that's the whole point. It wasn't entirely clear just by reading the Manual from DJI if this would work if you switched your Phantom 2 Vision from Vision mode to Naza. It's now confirmed 100% as well as the fact it can be done while hovering above any particular location.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

Handy post great to know wonder if it does the same for the phantom v1.1.1 & phantom 2 as well ??? As I have all 3 phantoms
 
Re: Resetting your HOME RTH Location in flight.

MikeON said:
I did the same test (only in NazaM mode however) and it worked fine. Also tried the Course Lock reorientation in flight and it works.

What is the S2 switch settings to reset the Course Lock heading?
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

If the new home is set in the air and the ground level in the new home location is higher than the original home, how P2V knows to smoothly land on elevated spot? Not trying to dig into the ground? Or if the new home is lower, not to stop motors while still in the air?
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

AnselA said:
If the new home is set in the air and the ground level in the new home location is higher than the original home, how P2V knows to smoothly land on elevated spot? Not trying to dig into the ground? Or if the new home is lower, not to stop motors while still in the air?
Judging from the behavior of the device, the elevation of the home spot is used for choosing the altitude to fly back at, but the actual landing is done by "feeling" for the ground--it descends at a constant rate until the altimeter tells it that it isn't sinking any more, at which point it shuts off the motors.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

AnselA said:
If the new home is set in the air and the ground level in the new home location is higher than the original home, how P2V knows to smoothly land on elevated spot? Not trying to dig into the ground? Or if the new home is lower, not to stop motors while still in the air?


I m nearly certain it doesn't matter if the new home location is higher or lower. Use hand landings as an example of that. When the barometric sensor realizes the plane is no longer moving downward it will consider that having landed. I will test to confirm both scenarios but I'm positive it will work. First I will have a home lock at a higher altitude than my secondary location, followed by using the power altitude location as a start point followed by the higher altitude secondary home position. It will be a whole tho as it's going to be snowing here next couple days.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME RTH Location in flight.

BManCan said:
MikeON said:
I did the same test (only in NazaM mode however) and it worked fine. Also tried the Course Lock reorientation in flight and it works.

What is the S2 switch settings to reset the Course Lock heading?
Toggle S2 between top and middle position 5 times.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

BenDronePilot said:
I did some tests today at my local park to confirm functionality of the resetting home functionality that was introduced in the last firmware update to the Phantom 2 Vision in mid December. I'm writing this because the manual isn't clear if this only worked in "Vision" mode or if it also worked for those of us who've switched to "Naza" mode. I can confirm it works regardless of flying in Phantom 2 or Naza mode and this is how I conducted my test and how you do it.

I first made sure my Phantom 2 Vision had a "Home Lock" before initial take off. I also had both my S1 and S2 switches in the up most position. You know you have a "Home Lock" by first seeing a fast green flash followed by continuous slow green blinking of the tail lights. I took off then flew away from my home position, followed by switching my S1 switch into the bottom "Fail Safe" position. If you don't have yours set that way, just turning off your transmitter will accomplish the same thing. My Phantoms tail lights turned Yellow flashing followed by it ascending to 66 feet, flying over it's original "Home" point, pausing for a bit before descending. Before allowing it to land fully I put my S1 switch into the Center Position to regain control followed by switching S1 to the top position for "GPS" mode. I then flew my Phantom above a new location in the park approximately 20 feet away.

To reset the "HOME" Position over the new location I was hovering over, I moved my S2 switch all the way down and then up 5 times. I then immediately observed the rear tail lights doing a quick flashing green to confirm the new Home position. To confirm my new "Home Lock" position I flew my Phantom away to see if it would return to the new Home spot when initiating Fail Safe. I flew a hundred or so feet away, as before moving my S1 switch to the bottom "Fail Safe" mode, again turning off your transmitter will do the same thing. And my Phantom flew up to 66 feet as before before flying straight over my new Home position coming in for a landing. This time I let it land all the way, it finished by turning off it's engines after touch down.

So there you have it. You can reset your Home position in either flight mode, Phantom 2 Vision or Naza mode. And it can be reset in flight. Which will be useful for those of you flying your Phantom's from a moving boat. You can occasionally reset your home position as necessary. Of if you're walking around your neighborhood or a beach boardwalk for a great distance, Resetting your home position on occasion will also be useful there as well should you somehow end up in a fail safe.

thank you :D :cool:
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

BenDronePilot said:
As I explained in my post I reset my home point while at altitude. Changing home point does not re located what altitude the Phantom thinks it is. Home point can be reset with the Phantom at any altitude when performing the function and come to a full and safe landing upon entering fail safe.
This makes the most sense.

One reason I think so is from watching how they autoland (a couple of bounces and then it decides to throttle down). It sure looks like it's figuring out that the ground is there, but verifies it a couple of times to withstand altimeter glitches (you wouldn't want the motors shutting down in the air).

Another reason is that altimetry is not terribly precise, and certainly not at this price point. GPS is inaccurate vertically, which is why they have a baro altimeter. Without extremely repeatable altitude measurements, you're either going to drop in part of the time, or else you have to try to consistently land below your target altitude and drive it on. In which case you should just drive it on without worrying about the altitude and shut down the motors when you figure out that you've stopped descending.

But the fact that you can change the home point means that it must work this way, or else the craft would crash half the time when you changed it (even DJI's QA ought to notice that).
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

FYI I just got home from doing a 2:30am run to my park to do additional test flights (and as an excuse to sneak in one last flight before it snows) to confirm that re-marking your Home Location to a place that is at either a higher or lower altitude has absolutely no negative effect. Your Phantom will not shut off mid air should you mark a new home point that is at a lower altitude from the original. And it's no problem setting a new home point over a higher altitude location either. The results are exactly the same as if that was the original take off point. I will also be updating my original post in this thread with this information. As well as very detailed information as to how I conducted this additional test.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

Phantasmic said:
Ah, Ben. Now you're flailing and deflecting even more than you were before.

Everyone of your posts have been a FAIL thus far, Phantasmic. You fail to add any real useful information. You keep coming back with your defensive posts trying to prove yourself right when you're not. And you're just a general waste of forum space. I'm sorry that other nice members in this forum have to be forced to read through your insecure rants. Other people reading should do them selves a favor and click your name, followed by clicking the "foe" button so they can ignore the idiot that you are. I may very well be doing the same thing myself very soon, or maybe not, you can be good for a laugh.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

Thanks for the info ben :)
This is good to know as I have sometimes thought what would happen if you got behind a tall tree and a return to home was initiated (actually I know what would happen and it would not be nice !)
Just ignore the other guy, he is being deliberately obtuse and I am sure I am not the only one who appreciates your efforts on behalf of us all (well, most of us ;)).
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

I am still confused about the altitude refence level. If I (re)set home location at 30 ft above the ground, will RTH flight happen at 60 ft or 90 ft above the ground?

90 ft would be nice if you are surrounded by 60 ft tall trees.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

Yeah thanks for verifying it Ben. I did try to correct that guy too but he shut me down saying I was the one that was wrong. Now he claims that he "technically" never said "resetting the home point" even though the essence of his statement was exactly that.

Anyway thanks to your test we can now be happy that the Phantom will not 'drop' out of the sky just because it was at an altitude when the home point was reset.

Now let's all get along...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

AnselA said:
I am still confused about the altitude refence level. If I (re)set home location at 30 ft above the ground, will RTH flight happen at 60 ft or 90 ft above the ground?

90 ft would be nice if you are surrounded by 60 ft tall trees.

If, unlike me, you've got the weather to try it, why not give it a go? It's a relatively low risk test to do...
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

djayz said:
Yeah thanks for verifying it Ben. I did try to correct that guy too but he shut me down saying I was the one that was wrong. Now he claims that he "technically" never said "resetting the home point" even though the essence of his statement was exactly that.

Anyway thanks to your test we can now be happy that the Phantom will not 'drop' out of the sky just because it was at an altitude when the home point was reset.

Now let's all get along...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My pleasure, and yeah that guy Phantasmic is some piece of work. He was calling you wrong and saying in his initial post the Phantom would drop like a rock if the home point was set at altitude, then he trys to go back saying he didn't say it. He's just a troll. Anyway I'm glad my post helped you out and thanks for the feedback.
 
Re: Resetting your HOME Location in Naza or Vision mode.

Pull_Up said:
AnselA said:
I am still confused about the altitude refence level. If I (re)set home location at 30 ft above the ground, will RTH flight happen at 60 ft or 90 ft above the ground?

90 ft would be nice if you are surrounded by 60 ft tall trees.

If, unlike me, you've got the weather to try it, why not give it a go? It's a relatively low risk test to do...

I have -17 C ...
 

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