RTH anxiety

[AnchorageAk]

Try to make certain there is nothing above the drone when RTH is used.

 

[FliteDoc]

Learn step by step, make yourself comfortable first and then move to next step.

RTH feature us a safety feature to get your drone back in case you lose connection with your drone. It's important to set it before you take off your drone. One most important parameter is altitude during return. I fly usually in open areas and for me 200' is more than enough.

You can also initiate RTH if you lose the site of your drone by pressing RTH button but this needs connection between RC and AC available that time else you will not be able to send RTH command to your drone.

It's not rocket science, it's just a flying stable machine in air


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

BE CAREFUL!!

If you've had LOS and RTH is automatically activated ... and you don't know it ... and you click RTH it will stop the RTH and wait for you to take command ... If you think the RTH is occurring, and you've stopped it ... (

 

[AlecW]

BE CAREFUL!!

If you've had LOS and RTH is automatically activated ... and you don't know it ... and you click RTH it will stop the RTH and wait for you to take command ... If you think the RTH is occurring, and you've stopped it ... (

I've yet to experience LOS so correct me if I am wrong here...

When it happens the best thing to do is nothing right away and not panic. Making the assumption I've set LOS to RTH and at a decent AGL setting the bird should start coming home and reconnect. I think from what I've read the RTH button will start flashing on the rc when you get signal back. If that doesn't happen, I'll panic and cry like a girl for a few minutes or maybe longer

What do you guys set RTH height to? I've been using 150' but can't think of a reason not to set it to 250' other than battery use to fly up.

 

[alokbhargava]

BE CAREFUL!!

If you've had LOS and RTH is automatically activated ... and you don't know it ... and you click RTH it will stop the RTH and wait for you to take command ... If you think the RTH is occurring, and you've stopped it ... (

RTH automatically occurs after 3 seconds of losing signal. That's the time when is little worried of losing the craft. Nothing will happen if you click the RTH button at that time as there is no connection between RC and aircraft.

But yes one can cancel RTH if signal is reestablished later when aircraft comes in the range.

Forget about technical points, think of the anxieties of the person who is losing the craft and he suddenly sees it returning back. Wow, he would jump in the air and welcome it to come back.


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[John White]

One important note for RTH that I learned the hard way (as we usually do): If you are flying at a lower altitude and your RTH is triggered, the drone will ascend to your RTH altitude before returning. This can be a problem if you are flying under trees or other overhead cover. There is no obstacle avoidance directly above the P4, so it will ascend without knowing what's above. Fortunately, I was able to cancel RTH when I saw what was happening and avoid the tree.

 

[Travis Bowman]

I got my first drone about 3 months ago (Phantom 4) and I completely understand where you are coming from. It has taken me up until recently to trust the RTH, but from my experience losing signal close to 50 times as long as you set your RTH height right you should have nothing to worry about. I personally set mine to 100 meters just in case.

 

[tazaroo]

BE CAREFUL!!

If you've had LOS and RTH is automatically activated ... and you don't know it ... and you click RTH it will stop the RTH and wait for you to take command ... If you think the RTH is occurring, and you've stopped it ... (

Well, It did just happen to me Friday. I was flying over 2 miles away over power lines but over 100 to 300 feet over them. Then I climbed a little and thought I might could edge off to the left a little to investigate something. I was wrong and immediately lost complete signal. I tried not to panic at first but once It past a minute I did panic. After probably two minutes I pushed the return to home button on the controller in case it wasn't returning. It lit up and beeped. I'm confused by some of the comments. This wouldn't cancel the return to home if it was returning would it? The healthy drones site said I lost data connection for 251 seconds but doesn't tell me how long the RC connection was lost. Anyway, the drone finally came close enough to see the video connection again a few 1000 feet off and I noticed I was at 600 feet. Evidently I must have had RC connection before the video link came back. I forgot to look back at the green or red light on the controller while panicked. I remember pushing the left stick up for a while after a few minutes of no contact. I was taking a video the whole time and when my drone came back I watched it. The drone did not hesitate long at the point I lost the connection and started returning so I must not have cancelled the rth. I think I couldn't get the video link for so long because it came back further over a few hundred feet and not directly over the power lines which had the trees back in the way between the rc and drone. At least I know the rth function works properly.

I'm still a little worried I might accidentally cancel the automatic rth although it doesn't look like I did this time with my controller. After a few minutes I felt like I had to do something and thats when I pushed the RTH button. So if you push the button manually and light up the rth button with the controller beeping when you've lost your connection and panic like I did but just leave the controller like that till it re connects, it doesn't cancel the rth. Is that right?

 

[t2adze]

RTH automatically occurs after 3 seconds of losing signal. That's the time when is little worried of losing the craft. Nothing will happen if you click the RTH button at that time as there is no connection between RC and aircraft.

But yes one can cancel RTH if signal is reestablished later when aircraft comes in the range.

Forget about technical points, think of the anxieties of the person who is losing the craft and he suddenly sees it returning back. Wow, he would jump in the air and welcome it to come back.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

So its possible for person to cancel rth initiated by drone, when there is novideo feed but a pilot didnt notice tiny led going green on a rc?

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[aermale]

So, I ordered a nvidia shield k1 tablet. It seemed like a great idea, because I wouldn't need to use my phone anymore. I checked USB debugging was off, setup my tablet, fully charged it and was set to take off. After a very thorough pre flight, I armed the motors, took off and tested all my controller functions. I didn't realize until after my flight that the geo system warnings never appeared. They always do as I live in a warning zone. As the ac rises, I'm really loving the tablet with a sunshade. Its an instant improvement on flying with a droid ultra cell phone for sure. I'm already 2 streets over and looking at a couple kids staring up at the sky, bewildered when it happens... The tablet shut down.. I'm at a black screen and my birds out of sight.....deep breaths..the shield won't restart! ... Remember the YouTube videos. I smash RTH with all the anxiety of my previous attempts..and...she came back.
Wow... You really do learn to trust it.

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[AnchorageAk]

I'm still a little worried I might accidentally cancel the automatic rth although it doesn't look like I did this time with my controller. After a few minutes I felt like I had to do something and thats when I pushed the RTH button. So if you push the button manually and light up the rth button with the controller beeping when you've lost your connection and panic like I did but just leave the controller like that till it re connects, it doesn't cancel the rth. Is that right?

Yes that is correct. If it isn't connect when you push RTH nothing will happen.

 

[John Locke]

Just remember, if you lose your video feed from the craft that doesn't mean you have lost control signal. With a GREEN LED light on the RC, you still have control. In that circumstance, ascend to a higher elevation to help regain your video connection. If the screen says no connection, and the RC led is RED, that's when you have truly lost your control link connection. At that time the craft will go into AUTO RTH and start it's trek back to home. You should start watching the LED on the RC to go from RED to GREEN. Once the GREEN LED happens, video may come back and you can click the RTH button to regain control. If Green LED is lit and you don't have video, just wait and watch your telemetry. You'll see the craft getting closer with the distance number getting smaller. Eventually your video connection will reestablish and you can take over control again, while you empty your pants.

 

[t2adze]

Just remember, if you lose your video feed from the craft that doesn't mean you have lost control signal. With a GREEN LED light on the RC, you still have control. In that circumstance, ascend to a higher elevation to help regain your video connection. If the screen says no connection, and the RC led is RED, that's when you have truly lost your control link connection. At that time the craft will go into AUTO RTH and start it's trek back to home. You should start watching the LED on the RC to go from RED to GREEN. Once the GREEN LED happens, video may come back and you can click the RTH button to regain control. If Green LED is lit and you don't have video, just wait and watch your telemetry. You'll see the craft getting closer with the distance number getting smaller. Eventually your video connection will reestablish and you can take over control again, while you empty your pants.

So its possible for person to cancel rth initiated by drone, when there is novideo feed but a pilot didnt notice tiny led going green on a rc?

Sent from my SM-G900FD using PhantomPilots mobile app