Tips for recovering lost Phantom

Joined
Mar 27, 2014
Messages
514
Reaction score
170
Last week I recovered a flyaway (strong wind) drone that landed 3 miles from me. When you lose your Phantom for whatever reason, panic has already taken over you. If your screen says lost connection this is what will happen. The Phantom at some point will auto land itself. The last contact your remote had with your drone will show as an arrow on your screen. Calm down first, not easy. Go get in your car while everything is still turned on. Drive to the general location of the arrow. If this is over water, stop reading any of this. While you are driving you will see you as a moving dot on the screen.
drive as close as you can to the arrow and then get out and walk towards the arrow. Not always easy to do this. Your goal is to get your dot right under the arrow. Then look up. and around. If after 15 minutes you have not found it, it is somewhere else. The arrow is showing the last location at which it lost connection. Doesn't mean it came down there. Remember, the battery is very low at this point. Now, turn off remote and DJI Go app. Then turn them back on. I did this and the arrow moved about 1/4 miles away. When the phone app came back on, it sent a signal to the drone and they reconnected. It said "Weak signal". I knew I had connected. Drove over to the new location. Got the dot right under the arrow and looked up. The was my Phantom! I believe the arrow is accurate to a foot. So try to remember all of this the next time you lose your drone. Remember though you have to find it before the battery dies. I was down to 1%. So get moving.
 
I've been very impressed by this device I purchased about a year ago and use it on multiple drones as well as being able to put it in a vehicle or luggage as a real time tracker. You call it's number and it replies via txt and email the exact Google map links as well as lat/log. numbers.
Drone Mods UAV Locator
Full details. Well worth the money for sure and always spot on location.

The Drone Mods UAV Locator is a simple, effective, reliable solution for retrieving the location of your UAV in the event you lose it or experience a fly-away.
Designed specifically for R/C enthusiasts located in the United States. Don't be fooled by the cheap GPS tracking devices sold on eBay. We say that because
we tried them. They are not reliable enough to report an accurate position each and every time. Most are based on outdated protocols that will not work reliably
or accurately within the U.S. The Drone Mods UAV Locator is backed by GTXCorp, one of the largest and most reputable GPS tracking companies in the U.S.

Features

* Standalone device powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion 1300 mAh battery that will last up to 12 days.
* Compact and lightweight; the device measures 2.6" L x 1.45" W x .75" H (67mm x 37mm x 20mm) and weighs only 53 grams.
* 6 months of service included for free!
* Carrier agnostic. Not forced to rely on a single carrier's network. Triangulates position using all available networks in the area.
* Includes a specialized SIM card that utilizes network hopping to ensure GPS coordinates can be retrieved 99% of the time.
* Two low-cost service plan options to keep your device activated after your free service period expires.
* SOS button for sending GPS coordinates on-demand. Useful if someone else finds your UAV before you do.
* Uses high sensitivity GPS and assisted GPS and operates on the GPRS/GSM network; accuracy range of 3 ft. to 150 ft.
* Thoroughly beta tested by volunteers on a number of popular UAV's: AR.Drone, RC Eye 450, DJI Phantom 1/2/3, Phantom Vision/Vision+, DJI F450, DJI S1000
* Very reliable even in rural or densely populated areas.
* Will not interfere with your UAV's onboard GPS systems.
* U.S. based phone number.
* Crash proof, non-magnetic, water resistant case.
* Two low-cost service plan options to keep your device activated after your 6 months of service expires.
* 1-year manufacturer's warranty
* FCC and CE certified device; RoHS compliant

The Drone Mods UAV Locator was featured in episode 2 of the Multirotor Magazine podcast. CLICK HERE to listen to the segment.

How it works

The Drone Mods UAV Locator is a small, lightweight, self-powered, standalone device that attaches to your UAV. If at anytime you need to retrieve the location of
your UAV, simply call the phone number assigned to your device. Within 15-60 seconds you will receive a text message and an email containing a Google Maps
link with the GPS (latitude/longitude) coordinates of the device. View an example of what you will see in Google Maps. A green arrow pinpoints the location of
your UAV on the map. Go to this location and look around for your UAV. Search within a range of 3ft to 150ft from the green arrow. The distance can vary by
how obstructed your UAV might be.

What makes the Drone Mods UAV Locator different than other GPS trackers?
Our device was specifically designed for locating and retrieving unmanned aerial vehicles in the event of a loss or fly-away. The SIM card used in the Drone Mods
UAV Locator does not rely on a single carrier's network. It utilizes all the networks available in the area to triangulate your UAV's position, much the same way the
police and fire departments do when you call 911. This means you can count on getting an accurate location every time you fly. Other devices can't offer the same
dependability and reliability the Drone Mods UAV Locator can.
 
Hows this..a few months ago I was flying my P3P on a long range flight over farmland and was out 6 miles and lost signal and the words "aircraft disconnected" came up on my screen...ah oh I have a problem! but you cant panic and I new RTH would kick in but being that far out it would not make it back at that slow speed. After 5 mins nothing had changed and I was worried I might loose the quad and after waiting some more the signal finally returned but I was still 3800m from home with only 25% battery left, so I quickly took control and selected ATTI mode and it was full throttle from there and guess what I made it home landing with 4% battery left. I added a few more grey hairs to my head after that episode. I since updated my RC with 2 sunhans signal boosters to elevate this happening again..cheers
 
Last week I recovered a flyaway (strong wind) drone that landed 3 miles from me. When you lose your Phantom for whatever reason, panic has already taken over you. If your screen says lost connection this is what will happen. The Phantom at some point will auto land itself. The last contact your remote had with your drone will show as an arrow on your screen. Calm down first, not easy. Go get in your car while everything is still turned on. Drive to the general location of the arrow. If this is over water, stop reading any of this. While you are driving you will see you as a moving dot on the screen.
drive as close as you can to the arrow and then get out and walk towards the arrow. Not always easy to do this. Your goal is to get your dot right under the arrow. Then look up. and around. If after 15 minutes you have not found it, it is somewhere else. The arrow is showing the last location at which it lost connection. Doesn't mean it came down there. Remember, the battery is very low at this point. Now, turn off remote and DJI Go app. Then turn them back on. I did this and the arrow moved about 1/4 miles away. When the phone app came back on, it sent a signal to the drone and they reconnected. It said "Weak signal". I knew I had connected. Drove over to the new location. Got the dot right under the arrow and looked up. The was my Phantom! I believe the arrow is accurate to a foot. So try to remember all of this the next time you lose your drone. Remember though you have to find it before the battery dies. I was down to 1%. So get moving.

For a little added insurance I also use a marco polo tracker velcroed to mine. It has saved my butt several times. The locater battery lasts 7 days.
 
Hows this..a few months ago I was flying my P3P on a long range flight over farmland and was out 6 miles and lost signal and the words "aircraft disconnected" came up on my screen...ah oh I have a problem! but you cant panic and I new RTH would kick in but being that far out it would not make it back at that slow speed. After 5 mins nothing had changed and I was worried I might loose the quad and after waiting some more the signal finally returned but I was still 3800m from home with only 25% battery left, so I quickly took control and selected ATTI mode and it was full throttle from there and guess what I made it home landing with 4% battery left. I added a few more grey hairs to my head after that episode. I since updated my RC with 2 sunhans signal boosters to elevate this happening again..cheers


4% battery ?? Doesn't the quad auto land between 12% and 10% with no way to cancel ?
 
"Two low cost service plans . . . " So how much??
 
Yes thats correct making sure that you have the height to play with while is landing!
 
Also, during RTH I've found that holding right the stick forward increased the speed toward the home point on the return trip, regardless of which direction it's facing.

In fact, the altitude control (left stick) also functions. This is some knowledge that would have saved me from a crash awhile ago where I held that stick down into a tree.

I wonder why the bird isn't already going full speed on return automatically...

Anyhow, even if you lose video signal; (if you're like me you lose video way before you lose actual control) hold the right stick forward. Unless there is some downside to that I'm not aware of. Or if this is something only I experience... Hope that helps someone
 
Hows this..a few months ago I was flying my P3P on a long range flight over farmland and was out 6 miles and lost signal and the words "aircraft disconnected" came up on my screen...ah oh I have a problem! but you cant panic and I new RTH would kick in but being that far out it would not make it back at that slow speed. After 5 mins nothing had changed and I was worried I might loose the quad and after waiting some more the signal finally returned but I was still 3800m from home with only 25% battery left, so I quickly took control and selected ATTI mode and it was full throttle from there and guess what I made it home landing with 4% battery left. I added a few more grey hairs to my head after that episode. I since updated my RC with 2 sunhans signal boosters to elevate this happening again..cheers

Seems like bad planning to be out that far and only 25% battery left.
And now with the suntans you can go further without loosing signal, seems like a lost bird is in your future.
Sorry, just my opinion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AWD

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,054
Messages
1,467,297
Members
104,919
Latest member
BobDan