This weekend, I had my big first scare of flying the P3A. I took it to a nearby ballpark, stood in the middle of the pitching mound and proceeded to do my first long waypoint flight. I used Litchi to have it fly to my house, then back to the field (approximately 3/4 miles each way). Well there would be no line of site after a few hundred yards or so as there are many trees in the neighborhood. Total flight was 15 minutes? I had 80% on my battery so no problem. The first few minutes were fine. Then about 5 minutes later, I saw "no signal" on my remote (I am also using parabolic extenders on my antenna). I started to panic so I pressed RTH. Nothing. I see that the drone is hovering now, halfway to my house. So I got into my car and drove home. Hopefully , I can regain signal and land on my driveway. No luck. Now I'm really panicking because it's been over 15 minutes. I'm thinking it will run out of battery and drop from the sky.
So based on my tablet, I know where I am. But the signal is still lost so I don't know where the bird is. So I drive back to the park. When I got close, I regain signal. It looks like she landed on dirt. Oh no. Someone's yard? I pull into the parking lot of the park, looked at the baseball field and there it was, near the pitching mound. I was sooooo relieved.
So here's my mistake (feel free to add more):
1. I did not know that if it lost signal with the RC, it would continue it's mission
2. I thought it would come back to me once signal is lost
3. The bird did not hover. I was looking at a static picture as it was the last picture before the signal went out. The whole time it was flying
4. Shouldn't send the bird out beyong visual range
5. Make sure I'm flying mission on 100% battery
So I got to see the full video last night and have it on YouTube. It went past my house and circled back and landed (Video starts at 1:11)
There is overwhelming panic reaction out there that results in over-reliance on the RTH. I understand the theory behind RTH, having read the manuals, watched many videos. I definitely think DJI should rethink the 20m logic, with a view to reprogramming, but....Litchi docs state that in the event of signal loss it will continue the mission. On the DJI Go app, in the event of lost communication, you can program to 1)Hover 2)RTH or 3)Land in place.
If you are going to use a 3rd PARTY app, and I do, make sure you understand the programming differences.
As to RTH, I avoid it, unless I have no other choice.
Have some program takes control of your expensive copter and hoping it will do as it was programmed. I don't know, I prefer to be in control of my copter at all time.
Understood. Rookie mistake. As for Waypoints, I've tested it several times around 'the park'. It works great. I thought I would trust the technology and let it fly out a bit further BVR. BTW...the RTH feature works fine on it. I tested it as well. But it won't work when doing Waypoints.
Not sure I would agree that "4. Shouldn't send the bird out beyond visual range" is a mistake. That what Litchi is all about, or can be. Flying where you RC can't on it's own, and flying it to perfection.
Maxi3D Posted at 2016-10-11 14:09
Have some program takes control of your expensive copter and hoping it will do as it was programmed. ...
I for one have the Litchi app, only used it a few times. Not nearly putting it to a real test, but plan on doing so before the bad weather comes. Once you use it, get comfortable and trusting it. It is so cool to pre-plan a waypoint flight plan and have it shoot the video just the way you want to perfection.
You guys that fly over houses (people), out of range, are going to ruin this for everyone. Flying over houses, other than your own is a huge risk, as is flying over people. At any moment, this thing could drop from the sky and kill someone.
Kill someone, really? That's a bit overkill, won't you say. I see nothing wrong with his video, execpt he could have been a bit higher up. But that would just be a privacy issue being my only concern, not a safety issue. He was not hoving over someone's place, just passing over.
Great video! All I use is Litchi. Back in my P2 days I would fly distance runs where I would lose signal and control for 10 minutes or more. All over rural fields, so no opportunity for injury to any person or property. Litchi will continue with its mission even if you lose full control and video. When it gets back into range it will usually reconnect on it's own. The biggest thing that I can say is don't panic. In several years of flying I have yet to use the RTH feature. Here's a 6 mile Litchi mission run at different times of the year. Get comfortable with Litchi doing short runs first. Learn to fly ATTI if you haven't done so yet. Cool video!
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