Rookie mistake, thank you RTH!

[Narrator]

So... my third day of practice flying...

I went up 200 feet the day before and got great footage of an approaching storm-front. So the next day, after some practice figure-eights I decided to go up again for a look around. I pressed up on the left stick and didn't crane my neck to watch it. My phone screen showed all was ok. Then I looked at the height. It said 75 feet and went up to 80 feet, but then started coming down again. At 70 feet, I pushed up harder on the stick, wondering why it wasn't rising.

Then I realized I was watching the distance away, not the height. Looking at the height, it said 357 feet. OMG!

I panicked a moment and brought the stick down, hoping to get it down quickly. It came down about 30 feet.

Then the feared lost communication displayed. All I could do was hold the antenna higher and pull down again. I regained communication again, but only briefly. Then, as I held the stick down, the screen finally told me that my Phantom was returning to home. Hoping that I had done everything properly, I let go of the sticks and watched apprehensively. It moved over to where home was, descended slowly, landed and switched itself off. ...phew...

 

[jadebox]

Glad it all worked out. Losing control can be nerve-wracking even when after you have more flying experience.

The quadcopter will often lose signal when it is directly overhead because of the angle of the antennas. When you accidently made the 'copter go higher when it wasn't far from you, you made the angle steeper so the signal was lost.

When it happens you can often regain control just by walking a little further away and/or playing with the angle of the controller's antenna. If RTH has started, you can regain control by flipping S1 down then back up.

-- Roger

 

[steveeds]

Turning everything off and going inside for a Fanta is my normal way to get it home, always works and no stress. "Controller Off" is our friend, It's like a faithful dog.

Getting clever leads to many negative forum posts.

 

[Narrator]

I've been flying three days now, and each day I wanted to test the RTH, but was worried I might have missed something in setting it up, so I never tested it. And now I'm very grateful that it worked well!

I saw that thing about the antenna angle on a Youtube clip. I'll remember that for the next time I lose signal. Where I've been flying is a baseball ground with 6 baseball diamonds on it, so it's quite large. It has a cage at the back of each diamond and several practice cages. I've lost signal a couple of times when I stand near those cages, but thankfully not for long.

 

[p fandango]

i always use the battery low-level rth, but always make sure you've not more than enough sats before even starting the motors

 

[Narrator]

i always use the battery low-level rth, but always make sure you've not more than enough sats before even starting the motors

How far will it fly RTH with the low battery warning sounding off? I'd be worried it would fall the 60 feet before it even got overhead.

 

[p fandango]

How far will it fly RTH with the low battery warning sounding off? I'd be worried it would fall the 60 feet before it even got overhead.

i've got the Phantom with H3-3D, so the battery rth cuts in at 15%. I only fly upto 500metres away so got more than enough battery to get it back from that distance

 

[doug86]

How far will it fly RTH with the low battery warning sounding off? I'd be worried it would fall the 60 feet before it even got overhead.

No, it will go into "autoland" mode and land where ever it is once the batteries are too low to support continued flight.

IF your Phantom is all set up properly, it should never just fall from the sky. It's programmed to come home and/or land itself before it runs out of juice.

 

[msinger]

It's best to never point the tip of the remote controller antenna at the Phantom. If overhead, either point your antenna forward (so the flat side is pointing at your Phantom) or bend it to the right at a 90-degree angle.

 

[JamesG]

I've had RTH for low battery twice now. Both times I have grabbed hold of the aircraft myself and turned it off rather than let it land - I just feel more comfortable that way, ensuring that it doesn't fall over on uneven ground and damage the props or anything.

 

[Prylar Bek]

Many opinions on this. I only hand catch when I have to. Uneven ground windy conditions. I prefer to skill land the bird as I get more satisfaction from that. Also I don't have to worry about cutting my fingers off

 

[JamesG]

Oh I normally land myself and like to think I'm pretty good at it, but when RTH kicks in I'd rather get it ASAP. Two hands grab the landing gear, then turn off the battery.

 

[PsychopathRC]

With safety first in mind (to the EXTREME in my case) I'd never hand catch or advise it. I have also never had to use RTH for more then 5 seconds (which has happened a few times due to loss of signal) For all I know, it could not work with me, lol.

 

[Happyflyer]

.....Then I realized I was watching the distance away, not the height. Looking at the height, it said 357 feet. OMG!

I panicked a moment and brought the stick down, hoping to get it down quickly. It came down about 30 feet

Nice picture from that height. You would be surprised what you can see from 1,000 feet. NOT that I would ever suggest anyone go that high.
.
Be careful about "getting it down quickly." If not moving, you can crash with too fast down.
Hand catching can be done safely

 

[Narrator]

I've had RTH for low battery twice now. Both times I have grabbed hold of the aircraft myself and turned it off rather than let it land - I just feel more comfortable that way, ensuring that it doesn't fall over on uneven ground and damage the props or anything.

I've done the hard land several times now, a few times in very gusty conditions too. It's rocked a little on landing but never tipped right over. Not sure if I'd feel as confident about that without the prop guards though. I am getting better at finessing the landing, and I haven't tried hand catching it yet - I don't want to accidentally knock the gimbal.

 

[Meta4]

Be careful about "getting it down quickly." If not moving, you can crash with too fast down.

Except that DJI took care of that when they cut the descent speed from the original 6 m/sec, then 4 and now 2 m/sec.
You can't come down too fast.

 

[Meta4]

I've done the hard land several times now, a few times in very gusty conditions too. It's rocked a little on landing but never tipped right over. Not sure if I'd feel as confident about that without the prop guards though.

The general feeling here is that prop guards cause more problems than they prevent. Landing or flying in gusty conditions is an example of when you don't want to have sails on your phantom.

I haven't tried hand catching it yet - I don't want to accidentally knock the gimbal.

One of the reasons people hand catch is that they don't want to risk the gimbal in rough landings.

 

[Happyflyer]

Be careful about "getting it down quickly." If not moving, you can crash with too fast down.

Except that DJI took care of that when they cut the descent speed from the original 6 m/sec, then 4 and now 2 m/sec.
You can't come down too fast.

Really. Then why do people still experience VRS?