So the GTU10 & RTH works... a most unwanted test!

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So I took delivery of a Garmin GTU10 this morning. A doddle to set up and up and running in no time. I decided to attach it to the back of my GorPro 3 skeleton case via the velcro and it seems nice and secure.

Today's flight was being done as a favour to my Mother (a local historian) wanting an overview of a local Castle ruins. No drama at all until about 6 minutes in where we both lost visual on the Phantom behind a tree (The Phantom was about 250 meters away at the time. I pushed for more altitude to gain some safe air but neither of us could see it at all. Not a pleasant feeling as I'm sure many new flyers have experienced!

I think a 'medium panic' set in as opposed to 'good sense' (good sense would have been to put the IOC in Home Lock and pull back!) so I put my faith in Return to Home function (via a transmitter disconnect). Minutes passed like hours, the faint buzz of the props could be heard out there somewhere but no sign at all... ugg.

So I reached for the iPhone and booted up the GTU10 app knowing it was almost certainly over the river at the time I lost sight. Still a hike into a field would be worth it knowing the Phantom 'should' land when the batt dies! The app loaded up and I refreshed the location. To my dismay it had its location as being where I was standing!! Great so a busted GTU10 and a lost phantom/gopro was on the cards!! But why can I still hear the props out there somewhere?!

Then of course it dawned on me and rather than staring just above the tree line in the direction from where it vanished, I looked straight up.... high up! Sure enough there was the Phantom directly over my head at what seemed like a lot higher that the RTH 60 feet! I let it float down a little closer knowing it was now easily 10+ mins flying on the stock battery and 250gram extra pay load.

I flipped it Into attitude mode and regained control. At this point the batt was clearly on its last beat with red lights flashing away. Indeed as i descended there was no up thrust at all from 6 feet and a somewhat bumpy landing followed.

Still what can I say! I am one happy man with DJI and the Naza's RTH. A lesson well learnt that is for **** sure but it was comforting to know had it have landed the GTU10 would have been pretty **** accurate in helping me recover it (in a 'feet dry' situation of course!
 
Honestly it was such a horrible feeling. I had 'some' faith in the RTH working but at 6mins and 250 meters away it was the battery that worried me most. I assumed it had auto landed on its way home due to lack of power! Proof at least that 10 mins is possible with a heavy payload!

My entertainment for tonight will be seeing if/how two batts can be mounted/used. I want to go fpv + a T8J eventually but it may simply be asking too much of the phantom on 10 mins flight time.
 
Do you know what the final voltage was on your battery? I wonder if could have been damaged by over-discharge? Even if it was, I'd rather buy a battery than all or part of a new Phantom!

I can see that FPV will be in my future also. But, I live in a heavily forested area so I want to be sure that the system I choose can actually penetrate tree cover. In other words, a lot more research....
 
Sadly i didn't have my multimeter with me so couldn't take a reading. It still had power enough to glide to the ground and it can't have lost enough to activate the auto landing so the only question is why the semi-rapid descent from 6ft. I'll test on a low hover just incase.
Seems parallel is possible but a lot of questions on the benefits from added weight and the whole 4s upgrade looks iffy and unproven.
 
Good to hear the GTU-10 works fine!

My Phantom came in from above after a very long flight in Hawaii and screaming RED RED RED as it did so... in my case it dropped the last 20 to 30 feet really hard. Bent up a landing gear strut, but that was the only damage. The wind had blown it behind me at high altitude so there was no way to spot it visually until I heard it buzzing way over my head.

Here's the video in case you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LIGf-uAAS8
 
Can't seem to play the vid on the ipad but sounds bad! You kind of forget that RTH puts it over your head.... Would be a hell of a way to get it back if it landed on you skull from 30 feet due to a dead batt. :lol:
 
Great story, similar thing happened to me when I lost visual behind a wood. The Phantom went into rth and headed for home, but not having on-board radar, it did not see the wood in front of it. Sod's law it clipped the top of the tallest tree and came down inside the wood without any serious damage (bent prop and accellerometer knocked out of whack).
 
Must have some tall trees out there! I was really surprised how hight up the '60feet' looked. I might most the video of the event soon. I only hold back because, like a donut, I decided to try having the gopro facing directly down and to do this i used about 4 mount extensions... the result of course was incredible camer wobble (so bad that it was visible when it did land). Still it does show how high it went to 'go home'.

I am glad you found yours and it wasn't in a bad way (a GTU10 would help ease that worry!).

I lost visual again on mine today as it went in front of a white cloud. 5-10 seconds of worry but I picked it up again soon after so no drama (plus it was only 3 mins into flight and now i know RTH works it makes the 'pucker' effect less!). I think I'll buy a spare body soon so I can paint it a more obvious colour like black or day glow (I know...eww but visible!). It will also allow me to mod the bejesus out of it while knowing i can go back to stock should i choose to sell it.
 

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