Hello all!

I'm currently in Bolivia and have made already some really cool shots with my Mavic.
Couple of days ago I was flying near a canyon. I was wondering about the following:
I started the Mavic at a view point above the canyon and descended a little in to the canyon (drone was a couple of meters lower than the starting point). I didn't dare to go much deaper as I was not sure what the drone would do if the GPS signals was lost during the descend.
Therefor my question, what will the Mavic do if I descend into a canyon, GPS signal is lost and the drone is still way to high for opti mode (the gulch was almost 300meters deep and not so wide).
Later that day I descended to the bottom of the canyon by my self and there was indeed no GPS signal.

Thanks!

Maarten (the Netherlands)

Already did a flight in a canyon without any isssue! But it was 160 meters deep

Check the video I did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkoQuqYonjM&feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkoQuqYonjM&feature=share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkoQuqYonjM&feature=share

"I didn't dare to go much deaper as I was not sure what the drone would do if the GPS signals was lost during the descend."

Good thing you didn't because you'd had an AWOL drone.

If you had lost GPS signal the Mavic will default to "Atti" mode and you would be required to manually fly it with no positioning assistance. This is why you should always learn to "Fly" your drone instead of driving it through the airspace. Practice in an open field with other drones as you can not manually switch the Mavic to "Atti", have read in other posts of people trying to block GPS signal using aluminum foil to trigger "Atti" mode for practice.

Once you gain enough experience truly flying a quad it is soothing to know you can probably fly out of a Lost GPS situation.

On the other hand if you loose RC connection, depending on if the RTH setting is activated and the RTH altitude is set the Mavic "should" rise to the preset altitude and start returning back to it's HP, once out of danger you can cancel the RTH and continue the mission.

Thanks for your response.
I'm just wondering how the drone is programmed, I think I have to contact DJI directly for this.
Will the RTH work if it has no GPS signal, does it have an altimeter not working with GPS but with air pressure sensor?

Attached a picture of the canyon

djiuser_ZqRZSTa Posted at 2017-11-23 03:09
Attached a picture of the canyon

Looking at your photo I believe you probably will maintain GPS signal as the top of the canyon looks pretty wide open, but you have a good chance of loosing the RC connection as the canyon is very winding and once you go past the first turn the cliffs will most likely block the signal and trigger RTH

djiuser_ZqRZSTa Posted at 2017-11-23 03:09
Attached a picture of the canyon

Nice picture!

Gonna get a tracker to put on my Mavic, pretty sure I will  dare a bit much soon and lose my drone.  Had a scarey mo the other day, it got dark quickly and the drone was far away, then the app crashed and I had no idea where I was, started the app again, knew where the sun was setting relative to me so gained height and headed to my supposed direction.  Hit RTH and it seemed to decend and want to land  almost immediately, thought to myself goodbye drone and felt such a loser, little did I know the drone was where it should be but at 500 metrs and just wanted to land, app has no visual and light had virtually gone, on the point of despair, I heard it, right above me, i then realised, put faith in RTH, I hit the button again and my Mavic came down to home.  What a scare.  Loads to learn.

Sorry for my link but can’t put the preview...

Camogreg 9 Posted at 2017-11-23 08:51
Sorry for my link but can’t put the preview...

Yeah, was a problem the other day but I thought it got sorted.

Still by posting a video from a mobile ...